Pacific – Eastbound

Dense and delightful, there’s nowhere else like Japan’s kinetic capital – a city where ancient traditions blend seamlessly with a relentless pursuit for the future’s sharpest edge. See the city from above, as elevators rocket you up to towering viewing platforms, from which you can survey a vast urban ocean, interspersed with sky-scraping needles. Look out as far as the distant loom of Mount Fuji’s cone on clear days. View less

Futuristic – second-accurate – transport seamlessly links Tokyo’s 14 districts, while the glow of flashing advertisement boards, clanks of arcade machines, and waves of humanity flowing along its streets, adds to the sense of mesmerising, dizzying and glorious sensory overload. One of Tokyo’s most iconic sights, don’t miss the flood of people scrambling to cross Shibuya’s famous intersection. Join the choreographed dance, as crowds of briefcase-carrying commuters are given the green light to cross at the same time – bathed in the light of massive neon advertisements. The culture is immensely rich and deep, with 7th-century, lantern-decorated temples, stunning palaces and tranquil scarlet shrines waiting below cloaks of incense and nestling between soaring skyscrapers. Restaurants serve up precisely prepared sushi, and wafer-thin seafood slivers, offering a unique taste of the country’s refined cuisine. Settle into traditional teahouses, to witness intricate ceremonies, or join the locals as they fill out karaoke bars to sing the night away. In the spring, cherry blossom paints a delicate pink sheen over the city’s innumerable parks and gardens.

Gaze down over Hakodate, from the heights of its namesake peak – Mount Hakodate – to see the city stretching out spectacularly, with back-to-back twin bays splitting the ocean. Hakodate port was one of the first to open Japan up to the world, and to international trade in 1859 – a fact reflected in the architecture, with its influences from the West and beyond. The port area is a redbrick wash of warehouses turned shopping malls, all observed by the onion domes of the city’s Russian Orthodox church.

The Salmon Capital of the World is a thrilling introduction to wild and wonderful Alaska, sitting at the southern gateway to the Inside Passage’s famed route of larger than life scenery. Cruise through the waters, or soar just above in a sightseeing plane, to take in the full majesty of the magnificent Misty Fjords National Monument. Home to grizzly and black bears – as well as cruising whales and swimming seals – the wildlife spotting opportunities in this majestic corner of the world are nothing short of spectacular. View less

Towered over by steep banks and valley walls, Ketchikan’s ocean inlet is peppered with granite stacks, looming from the waters. Surrounded by glorious landscapes, head to the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary, which is alive with bald eagles, black bears and remarkable, thick, yellow banana slugs – the squeamish are advised to keep well clear. Visit Ketchikan’s Heritage Centre, where a collection of intricately carved totem poles rise up, preserving the heritage of the indigenous Tlingit and Haida people of these lands. Ketchikan has the world’s largest collection, and some of the oldest and most precious totems in existence. This frontier city hasn’t always been so wholesome, however. See the colourful historic street that is built on crooked stilts over Ketchikan Creek, which has a crude history as the main red-light district in the city. The brothels closed in the 1950s, but you can explore this legendarily seedy past at Dolly’s House – a brothel turned museum. See the Married Man trail, a historical route used to enter Creek Street away from prying eyes.

Pine Island is an island of Northern Ontario, Canada, in the northwestern portion of Lake Huron, near the mouth of the St. Marys River, which connects Lake