%2C_Opera_House_--_2019_--_2994.jpg?width=1400)
%2C_Petra%2C_Jordan.jpg?width=1400)
GoTerraVoya · Cultural Travel Guide
Understand a place,
then go.
From the rules of a temple to the story behind a festival: 369 field notes on local culture to help you truly understand a place.
369cultural notes
76city guides
51countries & territories
Destinations
Follow the cultural trail through 10 regions
More than a whirlwind tour: every region is organised into festivals, local life, landmarks & hidden gems, and local taboos.
.jpg?width=1400)
CHINA
China
From the Terracotta Army and the Forbidden City to Jiangnan gardens and the Tibetan plateau, discover China along six themes: ancient capitals, imperial architecture, water towns, ethnic frontiers, city life and landscapes.
Explore China · 37 articles →
36 articlesAsia · SOUTHEAST ASIA
Southeast Asia
Temples, islands and street food
11 articlesAsia · CENTRAL ASIA
Central Asia
Blue domes on the Silk Road
19 articlesAsia · SOUTH ASIA
South Asia
Sacred rivers, palaces and Buddhist lands
%2C_Petra%2C_Jordan.jpg?width=900)
25 articlesMIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA
Middle East & North Africa
Mosques, old cities and deserts
45 articlesEUROPE
Europe
Churches, squares and the slow life
38 articlesTHE AMERICAS
The Americas
Wilderness, ancient civilisations and the open road
%2C_Opera_House_--_2019_--_2994.jpg?width=900)
23 articlesOceania · AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
Australia & New Zealand
Coasts, red earth and Aboriginal culture
22 articlesIslands & polar regions · ISLANDS & POLAR
Islands & Polar Regions
Ice fields, volcanoes and ocean islands
City guides
Start with a city
One city, one page: a timeline, local figures, festivals and etiquette woven into an in-depth profile. 76 cities so far.
東京 Tokyo
Tokyo
11 places
From the fishing village of Edo to a world city: old temples, neon and working-class shitamachi in one city
.jpg?width=800)
西安 · 古称长安
Xi'an
4 places
Chang'an, a thousand-year capital: the Terracotta Army, the Wild Goose Pagoda and six-hundred-year-old walls
กรุงเทพฯ Bangkok
Bangkok
5 places
Two royal capitals on the Chao Phraya: Wat Arun in Thonburi and the Grand Palace on Rattanakosin
Samarqand
Samarkand
4 places
The blue capital of the Timurid Empire: Registan and Gur-e-Amir
आगरा Agra
Agra
2 places
The capital of the Mughal Empire: the Taj Mahal and Agra Fort
_Sultanahmet_Mosque_(Blue_Mosque)%2C_having_6_minarets_(25457308960).jpg?width=800)
İstanbul
Istanbul
2 places
A thousand-year imperial capital spanning two continents: Byzantium, the Ottomans and the Bosphorus
.jpg?width=800)
Paris
Paris
4 places
From an island in the Seine to the 'City of Light': Notre-Dame, the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower
New York City
New York
5 places
From New Amsterdam to five boroughs: a world capital written by immigrants
_2019-06-21.jpg?width=800)
Sydney
Sydney
6 places
The harbour where the First Fleet landed: the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge and Bondi Beach
Taste of place
A taste of place
Behind every dish is a city’s history and manners. 47 signature dishes, with their origins, how to eat them and local etiquette.
Uzbek plov
Lamb, carrots and rice cooked in a giant pot that can feed a thousand people on a wedding morning.
Pavlova
A meringue cake named after a Russian ballerina, fought over for a hundred years by Australia and New Zealand.
Turkish coffee
Unfiltered coffee — and when you finish, the grounds in the cup can 'tell your fortune'.
Hawaiian poke
'Poke' simply means 'to cut' in Hawaiian: fishermen's offcuts mixed with salt and candlenut as a snack.
Hakata tonkotsu ramen
Milky pork-bone broth, very thin noodles, and kaedama — a refill of noodles.
Nasi lemak
Malaysia's national dish: rice cooked in coconut milk and pandan, with sambal.
Browse by theme
Explore by theme
Beyond geography: northern lights, temples or mosques? Follow one theme across many countries.
Northern lightsAURORA · 11Hot springsONSEN · 13ShrinesSHRINES · 31TemplesTEMPLES · 61ChurchesCHURCHES · 20BeachesBEACHES · 29HikingHIKING · 15FireworksFIREWORKS · 16World HeritageWORLD HERITAGE · 72MosquesMOSQUES · 17GardensGARDENS · 31DesertsDESERTS · 9
Editor's picks
Editor’s picks: hidden gems away from the crowds, and classics worth the queue
_22_Nov%2C_2014_-_panoramio.jpg?width=800)
01Shimonada Station
An unstaffed little station facing the Iyo Sea: waiting here for a tangerine-coloured dusk
02Hongcun
A Huizhou merchant village laid out in the shape of an ox, with horse-head walls reflected in South Lake and Moon Pond — a location for Crouchin…
03Shah-i-Zinda, Samarkand
The street of the 'Living King': a blue lane of royal tombs from the 11th to the 19th century.
04Abisko National Park
A lakeside national park 195 km north of the Arctic Circle, free of light pollution, at the start of the King's Trail.
05Hallstatt
A lakeside salt-mining village, the postcard model for 'the world's most beautiful village'
06Boudhanath Stupa
A circuit under the Buddha's eyes, the spiritual centre of Tibetan Buddhism.
Festivals this season
Which festivals can you catch next?
Sorted by date. Every festival shows its verification status, so you can plan without regrets.
- Nov1Coming up
Day of the Dead
Marigolds pave the way home, and altars hold the dead's favourite foods: Mexicans welcome their departed loved ones with…
- Nov7Coming up
Tsuchiura National Fireworks Competition
The only one of Japan's three great fireworks competitions held in one of the three big metropolitan areas — an autumn c…
- Nov24Coming up
Loy Krathong
On the full-moon night of the twelfth Thai month, people float candlelit krathongs on the river to thank the water and s…
- Nov27Coming up
Nuremberg Christmas Market
One of Germany's most famous Christmas markets: wooden huts on the old-town square, finger-length grilled sausages and t…
- Jan23Coming up
Carnival of Venice
Put on a mask and a cloak, and step into the old Venetian Republic in St Mark's Square.
Stories behind the places
Behind every view, real people
An exiled poet became the god of learning; a fairy-tale king spent his fortune on castles. Read their stories and the scenery comes alive.
Heian period · 845–903
Sugawara no Michizane
Scholar and poet, later revered as the god of learning
1 related places
Tang dynasty · 602–664
Xuanzang
Monk, traveller and translator
1 related places
19th–20th century · 1852–1926
Antoni Gaudí
Catalan architect
2 related places
.png?width=400)
14th–15th century · 1320s–1405
Timur
Founder of the Timurid Empire
2 related places
19th century · 1845–1886
Ludwig II
King of Bavaria, 'the Fairy-Tale King'
2 related places
19th–20th century · 1867–1917
Kristian Birkeland
Norwegian space physicist and pioneer in explaining the aurora
1 related places
Before you go
Before you go, learn the local rules
We sort etiquette and taboos into three levels: red lines you must never cross, taboos that are easy to trip over, and good manners that earn a smile. 113 rules so far, each with a source.
RED LINE
Red line
Illegal, or can get you refused entry.
Australia · Uluru: climbing is not allowedThe climb closed permanently on 26 October 2019; climbing breaks the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and is punished.TABOO
Taboo
Not illegal, but easily offends locals.
Japan · No phone calls on trains and the shinkansen; queue to boardNot illegal, but you will get looks and a reminder from the conductor.GOOD MANNERS
Good manners
Respect local ways and earn a smile.
Germany · Germany: most shops close on SundaysThere is no penalty — you will just find everything closed. Sunday is protected as a day of rest by the constitution, and each state allows only a few 'open Sundays' a year.