Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore occupies a long stretch of northwestern Michigan’s Lower Peninsula along Lake Michigan, protecting towering dunes, sandy beaches, forests, inland lakes, and steep coastal bluffs. The protected area extends across the Leelanau and Benzie county region and includes the Manitou Islands offshore. Its most recognizable feature is the Sleeping Bear Dune, which rises high above Lake Michigan and the surrounding landscape.
Replete with windmills and old-world charm, the village of Kinderdijk lies east of Rotterdam on the Lek River and is a popular stop for European river cruises. Home to the largest concentration of old windmills in the Netherlands, Kinderdijk was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
Liepāja is a coastal city in western Latvia, positioned between the Baltic Sea and Lake Liepāja. Its identity has long been shaped by the sea, port activity, industry, and music, while the city center contains a notable collection of wooden and Art Nouveau buildings. A broad sandy beach stretches along the coast, separated from the urban area by the large Seaside Park.
Potsdam, the capital of Germany’s Brandenburg state, lies just southwest of Berlin and is best known for its grand palaces, landscaped gardens, and role as a seat of Prussian royalty.
Bodrum is a resort town on the dazzling blue bay, in which the Aegean and the Mediterranean Seas meet. The town's charm is well-known, attracting a diverse population of vacationers who stroll along its long palm-lined waterfront, while elegant yachts crowd the marina. Not far from town , you can swim in absolutely clear, tideless, warm seas.
Other Popular Destinations in Turkey
Istanbul
Istanbul is a city built on layers of empire. Spanning two continents, it was once the capital of three major empires: Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman. Visitors walking through the Sultanahmet district can witness this timeline firsthand, from the Roman-era Hippodrome to the Byzantine mosaics of Hagia Sophia, and the towering minarets of the Blue Mosque. At nearby Topkapi Palace, rooms still display the jeweled swords, ceremonial robes, and handwritten Qurans once used by Ottoman sultans.
Cappadocia
The ancient region of Cappadocia lies in Central Anatolia, between the cities of Nevsehir, Kayseri and Nigde. Here, the traveler finds one of the most fantastic landscapes in the world. Wind and weather have eroded the soft volcanic rock with hundreds of strangely shaped pillars, cones and "fairy chimneys", often very tall, and in every shade from pink through yellow to russet browns.