Located off the coast of West Africa, Cape Verde is one of the continent’s best-kept island secrets. If you’re a water-sports fanatic, this is the destination for you, plus the blend of Brazilian and West African cultures boosts the excitement level of Cape Verde. From daytime surfing to nighttime dancing, Cape Verde’s perfect for the adventurous and curious spirit.

In the off-season, even Corfu Town slows down. It becomes easy to find a table along the elegant Liston arcade and no one complains if you decide to spend hours and hours reading your newspaper while slowly sipping a coffee or ouzo. In the narrow alleys of Corfu Town, you can enjoy the small family-run tavernas that have been serving lunch to the locals for generations.

The unaccelerated process of tasting wine is typical of slow travel. Both involve a deliberate, sensory-rich lesson in how to appreciate something to the fullest. Mendoza, Argentina, lends itself nicely to a slow travel experience in other ways too. If you can, stop in Mendoza. Stay for a while, at least a month. Take small sips. Discuss.

Phnom Penh demands your attention from the moment you arrive. Vibrant, exciting and utterly unpredictable are just a few words to describe Cambodia’s capital. It’s a city of stark contrasts: slick SUVs share the road with old-world cyclos; visitors can relax in a posh cafe and think they are in Paris, or join the locals at a pop-up stall selling fried noodles.

While the celebrated Christmas markets in Germany, Poland and Switzerland always crowd up for the holiday season, there are other well-established European markets slightly further off the beaten track that offer thinner crowds and beautiful locally made products. Eastern Europe in particular is a great place to check out the growing markets, while farther in the west of the continent, the funky holiday Christmas stirred up in Amsterdam is not to be missed.

East of Cape Town in South Africa, the Cape Winelands region encompasses a mountain chain, nearly 7,000 species of endemic plant life, hundreds of wine vineyards and over a quarter of a million people. No single feature of the Cape Winelands stands on its own. Rather, they form a complex web of connections: the gorgeous nature is related to the local agriculture, which is in turn connected to a history of colonisation and cultural development that continues to affect social and environmental issues today.