Amara Okafor

Cherry blossoms & quiet shrines Kyoto in early April is unreal — the whole city turns pink. I spent mornings walking the Philosopher's Path and afternoons getting lost in Gion's la…

• Fushimi Inari Taisha
• Kinkaku-ji
• Gion

Suizen ji and a castle reborn Kumamoto surprised me. Suizen ji Jōju en is a strolling garden that miniaturises the old Tōkaidō road — including a little Mt Fuji of clipped grass. T…

• Suizen-ji Jōju-en
• Kumamoto Castle
• Sakuranobaba Jōsaien

The barrier of spears The Drakensberg is the most dramatic landscape I've ever hiked. Sheer basalt escarpments, valleys swallowed by afternoon mist, and a silence you can feel. I c…

• Amphitheatre
• Tugela Falls
• Cathedral Peak

A week of bread and museums Paris is a city you eat your way through. Croissants in the 6th, falafel in the Marais, and far too much cheese. The Musée d'Orsay beat the Louvre for m…

• Musée d'Orsay
• Le Marais
• Montmartre

Gilt, gables and waffles The Grand Place stopped me in my tracks — a whole square of guildhalls dripping in gold leaf. Add frites with too many sauces, a dozen beers I couldn't pro…

• Grand-Place
• Manneken Pis
• Galeries Royales

Red buses and river light London in early spring: low golden sun down the Strand, a Routemaster rattling past, and Tower Bridge glowing over the Thames at night. I walked until my…

• Trafalgar Square
• Tower Bridge
• South Bank

Home country capital A planned city in the green heart of Nigeria, ringed by giant granite monoliths. Aso Rock looms over everything; Millennium Park is where the whole city exhale…

• Aso Rock
• Zuma Rock
• Jabi Lake

Motorbikes and morning phở Saigon is gloriously loud. A million motorbikes, ca phe sua da strong enough to wake the dead, and the best street food I've eaten anywhere. Crossing the…

• Bến Thành Market
• War Remnants Museum
• Bùi Viện

Faded paint and live son Havana feels like walking inside a sun bleached photograph. Pastel facades held up by hope, '55 Chevys in candy colours, and live son spilling out of every…

• Habana Vieja
• El Malecón
• Fábrica de Arte

Mezcal, mole and marigolds I timed Oaxaca for Día de los Muertos and the whole city became an altar — marigold paths, candlelit cemeteries, comparsas dancing through the streets. S…

• Monte Albán
• Mercado 20 de Noviembre
• Hierve el Agua