Caribbean from Port Canaveral (Orlando)

Port Canaveral, Florida's celebrated gateway to the cosmos, pairs the drama of Kennedy Space Center rocket launches with the languid pleasures of the Space Coast. Watch SpaceX boosters return to Earth before retreating to Cocoa Beach's sun-bleached shores or the quiet streets of Cocoa Village with its farm-to-table bistros. The Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge shelters manatees and over three hundred migratory bird species within sight of the launch pads. Orlando's world-famous theme parks lie just an hour inland. Visit between October and April for the most pleasant weather.

Miami is a city of perpetual reinvention — the Art Deco jewel of South Beach giving way to the street-art murals of Wynwood, the Cuban rhythms of Calle Ocho, and the glass-and-steel towers of a skyline that has redrawn itself every decade since Julia Tuttle convinced Henry Flagler to extend his railroad south in 1896. Must-dos include strolling the pastel-fronted Ocean Drive at dusk and exploring the world-class collections at the Pérez Art Museum Miami overlooking Biscayne Bay. November through April delivers idyllic weather — warm and dry — while summer brings heat, humidity, and hurricane risk. Miami handles cruise departures elegantly, with the Port of Miami a short taxi ride from the best neighbourhoods.

Philipsburg, capital of the Dutch side of Sint Maarten, packs extraordinary energy onto a narrow sand spit between Great Bay and the Great Salt Pond — two parallel streets of duty-free boutiques, creole restaurants, and rum bars backed by a beach where cruise ships anchor so close that their hulls seem to dominate the shoreline. The island's most celebrated spectacle is entirely involuntary: Princess Juliana International Airport, where landing aircraft pass at rooftop height over Maho Beach, drawing crowds of thrill-seekers every day. The 1648 Mount Concordia Treaty, dividing this sliver of land between France and the Netherlands, created the world's smallest territory shared by two nations. The dry season from December to April is optimal.

Funchal — Madeira's radiant capital, its name derived from the wild fennel that greeted Portuguese settlers in 1419 — cascades down volcanic hillsides to a deep-water harbour that has welcomed mariners and wanderers for six centuries. The Reid's Palace, opened in 1891, remains one of the Atlantic's most legendary hotels, its clifftop terraces commanding views that inspired Churchill, Shaw, and a century of distinguished guests. The city's floating flower market, levada walks through ancient laurisilva forest, and the exhilarating toboggan descent from Monte combine for days of effortless discovery. The subtropical climate makes Funchal appealing year-round, with spring particularly spectacular for wildflowers.

Barcelona is the city where Roman history, Gothic grandeur, and Gaudí's delirious Modernisme collide in a Mediterranean coastal capital of astonishing energy and beauty. The Sagrada Família — still under construction after 140 years — continues its audacious ascent toward completion, while the Gothic Quarter's Roman-era foundations and the Passeig de Gràcia's extraordinary concentration of Modernisme masterpieces reward days of exploration. For a complete sensory experience, lose an afternoon in the covered labyrinth of La Boqueria market before descending to the waterfront for Catalan seafood at its finest. May through June and September through October offer the most pleasant weather; the city connects directly to Paris by overnight train.

Cannes, transformed from a sleepy Provençal fishing village into the Riviera's most glamorous resort by an English lord's chance quarantine in 1834, and immortalized by the Film Festival since 1946, remains the French Riviera's most theatrical stage — where La Croisette's curved promenade of Art Deco palaces, private beach clubs, and Palme d'Or dreams meets the quiet authenticity of the Suquet hilltop quarter above the old port. For shopping, the Marché Forville bursts with Provençal produce, truffle vendors, and cut flowers each morning; for dining, the restaurants of the old port district offer bouillabaisse and socca that need no red-carpet backdrop. Visit in spring or September; Nice is twenty minutes by rail and Monaco thirty.