Founded in the early 16th century, Buenos Aires was transformed from a colonial port into a cosmopolitan metropolis – the “Paris of the South” – by the cattle boom of the 1880s. As in the American West, boom was followed by bust. But that did not stop Buenos Aires from becoming the city it is today. With its air of haunted grandeur, Buenos Aires is a place of icy intellect and smoldering passion. It is a city where the elegant Colon Theater, one of the world’s great opera houses, stands in counterpoint to the working class barrios that gave birth to the tango. Perhaps the city’s enigmas and contradictions are best embodied by its two most famous citizens – the reclusive librarian and literary genius Jorge Luis Borges and the showgirl turned First Lady, Evita Peron.

The “Paris of the South” flaunts its European heritage. One of the pleasures of Buenos Aires is simply absorbing its charm and flavor, from Parisian-style confiterias – cafés – to the city’s popular tango clubs.

Pulsing to a samba beat and thriving in the hedonism of Carnival, there is literally no place on Earth like Rio, as the city natives — the Cariocas — will tell you. Founded in the early 16th century, Rio was once the capital of Brazil. It remains the nation’s cultural and spiritual center, a dazzling amalgam of Latin and African cultures, with more than five-million city inhabitants.

Tenerife is the largest island in the Canary Archipelago. Like its brethren, Tenerife was formed by fierce volcanic activity. Its landscape remains dotted with volcanic cones and areas of intense geothermal activity. Towering over the island is Mt Teide, an extinct volcano that, at 12,200 feet above sea level, is the highest peak in Spanish territory. Santa Cruz de Tenerife is the island’s capital and your port of call.

Tenerife’s north shore is separated from the south by rugged mountains, creating a rain shadow. The majority of the islands most recent resorts are found in the sere and parched south shore.

Lanzarote is the fourth-largest island in the Canary chain. The most easterly of the Canaries, the island lies some 70 miles off the shore of North Africa. Like its neighbours, Lanzarote was shaped by a period of intense volcanic activity. The resulting landscape possesses a stark, near-lunar beauty: Over 300 now-dormant volcanoes left behind petrified lava seas and deep layers of volcanic ash. Today, visitors to these “Mountains of Fire” ride camels through the lava beds and even enjoy a volcano-broiled steak at the park’s restaurant. (Subsurface temperatures still reach 800F in the park.) Despite the seemingly barren land scape, island farmers grow abundant crops of tomatoes, onions, melons, and figs in addition to Malvasia, a clear yellow wine produced from malmsey grapes. Lanzarote’s rugged landscape, its warm climate, its lack of rainfall, and its beaches have proved attracted to travellers: Tourism dominates the island economy with some 2 million visitors arriving annually.

For many, the word Casablanca conjures up Hollywood’s vision of an exotic city of intrigue. But the reality is far removed from film fantasy, more complex and fascinating. Casablanca is Morocco’s largest city, the busiest port in North Africa, and home to nearly four million people. An important trading center since the days of the Phoenicians, Casablanca is an evocative blend of more new than old, more familiar than exotic. It is a modern commercial city with an old heart that is home to narrow, cobbled alleys, bazaars and souks, minarets and medinas.

Casablanca is a modern city with beaches bordering the Atlantic and broad, tree-lined avenues. The city is also your gateway to Morocco’s interior and the exotic “Imperial Cities” of Rabat and Marrakech.

The Rock crouches over the sea like an ancient stone beast, looking Sphinx-like to Africa. Beneath the white cliffs of this natural fortress grows a profusion of palm, pine, and cypress. No fewer than 600 varieties of flowers thrive here, some not found anywhere else on Earth. Gibraltar’s stunning setting is matched by its history – five countries have battled for 13 centuries to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The result made for a cultural melting pot. Veiled Moroccan women in caftans and vacationing Englishmen and Spaniards stroll along the narrow, steep lanes. The locals revert to a liquid Spanish when talking among themselves. And visitors to a 15th-century cathedral pass through a blue-tiled courtyard, once part of a 13th-century mosque.

The 1992 Summer Olympics revealed to the world what Europeans and seasoned travelers already knew – Barcelona is one of the world’s greatest treasures. Vibrant and earthy, commercial and cultural, this city of two million residents is the capital of Spain’s autonomous region of Catalonia. Stroll along the wide, tree-lined promenades of Las Ramblas and marvel at the spires of Gaudi’s Basilica La Sagrada Familia. Or visit the former Olympic Ring on the hill of Montjuic – also home to world-class parks, fountains and museums. Barcelona, which nurtured such artistic giants as Picasso, Dali, Miro and Casals, is definitely a traveler’s paradise.