Banff, in Alberta's Rocky Mountains, is Canada's first national park, founded in 1885 as Rocky Mountains Park after hot springs were discovered there. The peaks formed when sedimentary rock was pushed eastward over younger rock between 80 and 55 million years ago, then carved by ice. Grizzly bears, wolverines, elk and bighorn sheep live there. The Canadian Pacific Railway built its grand hotels to bring in tourists, and over 4.5 million now visit each year, which has forced strict wildlife-protection policies.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.