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Hitachinaka, Japan

This young city on the shores of the Pacific was created from two former towns just 30 years ago. Yet it has already won hearts, especially for the Hitachi Seaside Park, a heart-sighing vision of blossoms - carpets of delicate "baby blue eyes" in spring and fiery red kochia, or "burning bush", in autumn. While you're by the ocean, take a stroll on the golden sands of Ajigaura and Hiraisio beaches or go crabbing on the rocky shore a little further north, where you'll also find plenty of fossils amid the geological layers dating back 75 million years.

Hakodate (Hokkaido), Japan

When Japan ended two centuries of self-imposed silence, Hakodate was one of the first ports to open to the outside world. That was in 1859 - fast-forward to today and you'll find a modern metropolis capitalizing on its prime location at the southern edge of Hakkaido, just across the water from Honshu. Yet this city values its heritage, especially the impressive 19th- and 20th-century buildings that blend Japanese and Western styles in the Motomachi district, such as the grandiose Old Public Hall of Hakodate and the Former British Consulate, where you can sip tea looking out at a rose garden. 

Kodiak Island, United States Of America

If you're going on a bear hunt, there are few better places to do - the 3,500 Kodiak bears on this island equate to one every 0.7 square mile. You'll find this unique sub-species of brown bear and mainland grizzly reaching a paw into a salmon-rich river or ambling about the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge - its pristine forests and meadows explain why Kodiak's moniker is the Emerald Isle. This could equally be called the fishing island, with halibut, salmon, and king crab all found in the waters lapping its shores. And don't forget the whales - this is one of Alaska's best places to watch them.