GuGong, China

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - $1,497; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $1,356; from London (LHR) - $1,071
• Nearest Hotel: Shangri-la China World Hotel; Cost per night (avg.) - $314
  

Imperial Palace or GuGong (Forbidden City, Zijincheng) in China was a Royal Administrative site for royal use and public access during the Ming and Qing Dynasties in Chinese history. It was recorded that the third emperor of dynasty Ming built this palace before he successfully took over the politic and crowned himself emperor. There have been a total of 24 emperors of Ming and Qing who dwelt in this palace. The palace has 9,000 rooms to accommodate imperial families, administrators, eunuchs, maids and soldiers. It has also served as a major location for discussing internal administrative affairs. Now, this palace has been turned into a national museum for tourists to visit and preserves many classical Chinese architectural structures of imperial splendor.

Located in the heart of Beijing, it has easy access to Tiananmen Square while the city of Wangfujing is located to the east. In 1961, this ancient palace was approved by the State Council as the National Palace Museum displaying protected heritages. By 1987, the palace was listed by UNESCO as a “World Heritage”, reflecting the cultural dimension of historical value which has gained international recognition.

The White House, United States of America

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - $136; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $226; from London (LHR) - $684
• Nearest Hotel: The Captial Hilton; Cost per night (avg.) - $399

The White House is one of the more well known symbols of America and is obviously home to the president of the United States and his family. This "palace" is a two-story building and is located in Washington, DC. It was initially established in 1792 and officially became the US President’s official residence in 1800. President Roosevelt first used the phrase “White House” in 1902, referring the to white color of the Presidential residence.

Buckingham Palace, England

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - ; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $614
• Nearest Hotel: Crown Plaza London St. James; Cost per night (avg.) - $296

Buckingham Palace was a palace originally established for the Duke of Buckingham in 1703. In 1761, George III used this palace as his private residence and it was then known as “The Queen’s House”. It became the royal palace of Queen Victoria in 1837 and includes 19 state rooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms and 52 principal bedrooms as reported in a 1999 book published by the Royal Collection Department. There is a well known statue of Queen Victoria created by the sculptor Sir Thomas Brock in 1911 in front of the main gate.

Grand Kremlin Palace, Russia

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - $972; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $1207; from London (LHR) - $520
• Nearest Hotel: Swissotel Krasnye Holmy; Cost per night (avg.) - $438

Grand Kremlin Palace or Great Kremlin Palace was built between 1837 to 1851 on Borovitsky Hill in Moscow, Russia. The exterior building portrays medieval Russian and Byzantine architecture and includes nine churches from the 14th, 16th and 17th centuries, and more than 700 rooms. It was reported that the former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and the former Soviet General Secretary Mikhael Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty at the Grand Kremlin Palace during the Moscow Summit on June 1, 1988.

Palace of Versailles, France

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - $629; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $759; from London (LHR) - $214
• Nearest Hotel: Pullman Versailles Château; Cost per night (avg.) - $237

Palace of Versailles or Versailles was built in the 16th century under Louis XVI. It is located in the city of Versailles, 16 km west-southwest of Paris, France. It includes a 70 meter long hall of mirrors, luxurious apartments built for the king and the queen and the famous Le Norte French park. Before the 1789 revolution, it served as the center of the French monarchy which housed 20,000 nobles and was finally turned into a museum by Louis-Philippe in 1837.

The Potala Palace, Tibet

Due to the present unrest in Tibet, travel anywhere near the palace is currently highly restricted.

The Potala Palace was established at an altitude of 3,700 meters on the side of the Marpo Ri in the center of Lhasa Valley in China. The palace was built by King Songtsen Gambo to greet his bride, Princess Wen Cheng of the Tang Dynasty of China. This palace has been recently named one of the “New Seven Wonders” by the American television show “Good Morning America” and the newspaper “USA Today”. The palace occupies an area of 41 hectares, is 115 meters in height and has a 13-storey main residence. It is divided into the “red palace” for religious affairs and the "white palace" for political affairs. The palace is richly decorated with paintings, jewels and ornaments.

The Topkapi Palace, Turkey

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - $1,262; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $1,239; from London (LHR) - $375
• Nearest Hotel: 7 Hills Hotel; Cost per night (avg.) - $322

The Topkapi Palace is a glorious building located on the Seraglio Point overlooking the Sea of Marmara and Bosphorus in Istanbul, Turkey. Its initial construction commenced in 1459 and it was built under the orders of Sultan Mehmed II who was a conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. From the 15th to the 19th centuries, this palace was the official and primary residence of Ottoman Sultans until the reign of Abdulmecid I (1839-1860). The palace portrays classic Ottoman architecture and also contains huge collections of Ottoman miniatures, Islamic calligraphic manuscripts and murals, robes, porcelain, shields, armor, and a large display of Ottoman treasure and jewelry as well.

Blenheim Palace, England

• Airfare from New York (JFK) - ; from Los Angeles (LAX) - $614
• Nearest Hotel: Macdonald Bear Hotel; Lowest per night (avg.) - $183

Blenheim Palace is one of England’s largest houses and was constructed between 1705 and 1722 in Woodstock, Oxfordshire, England. This palace was originally a gift to John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, in the military triumph against the Bavarians and French. The palace is surrounded by a magnificent lake, sweeping lawns and formal gardens. Inside the palace, the highlights of particular interest are the beautiful carvings and paintings, as well as the monumental Great Hall with its painted ceiling depicting the battle of Blenheim. The state rooms are decorated with numerous hanging tapestries and includes a room commemorating Sir Winston Churchill with elegant pieces of furniture and large collections of portraits by Van Dyck, Laguerre, Reynolds and Kneller. In 1987, this palace claimed its place on a list of UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Note: All prices are in US Dollars and are approximate/average prices from a general search. Airfares given are round-trip fares and do not necessarily include all taxes.

This is a leftover product of quaternary glacier which has a record of 3 million years. It is found in Chongqing, China.

This is a rare and extraordinary view of a rainbow after rain.

This is Qiaogeli Peak, situated in the northern part of Pakistan. It is regarded as the world's second highest peak. The Western climbers refer it as K2 Peak while Chinese authorities officially refer it as Qogir or Qiaogeli Feng.

This is a rare scene of a water tornado occuring in the city of Kunshan in a province of Jiangsu, China.

This is a rare sandstorm that swept through the sky of a city in Jiayuguan in Gansu Province, China.

This "strange hoop of barley field" was discovered in the southern region of Russia. It is regarded as a new discovery by the local people there.|

The photo shows a volcanic eruption that took place in the Eastern part of Java Province in Indonesia. This Buluomo Volcano spews high temperature ashes, dust, and smoke as high as 3,000m.

This is Kilauea Volcano, the world's most active volcano, situated in the island of Hawaii, which lies against the southeast flank of much larger Mauna Lao Volcano in the United States. Its eruption is always accompanied with extremely hot steam plume and lava. The hot lava flows in the lava tube and may flow to cover a local road.

This is a splendid look at a meteor and its aurora. The meteor is a meteoroid that falls to the Earth in a fiery tail which is a bright glow observed over the night sky.

This is a combination scene of comets and aurora over the sky of Alaska. The comet is a mixture of dust and frozen gases that is usually dark and in a solid body that sweeps across the space. The comets appear star-like and they look like tiny balls to our naked eyes in this picture.

This is a faint, but sporadic, atmospheric phenomenon seen in the night sky from locations at high latitudes. This aurora may develop into steady greenish arcs, swirling curtains of yellow green light.

This is an incredible lenticular cloud formation on the top of this mountain. It has the shape of a mushroom.

This is a near-death star which is surrounded by a nebulae resembling a ladder.

This is the world's tallest waterfall called Angel Falls. It is also known as Qiulumeilu Falls. It is located in the Gran Sabana region of Bolivia State, Venezuela in the Canaima National Park. Its total height is at 979m (3,212 ft) with a height of the longest drop of 807m (2,648 ft).

This is Iguazu Falls which is one of the top attractions to visit in South America. It is located on the border of Argentina and in Brazil that is 23km upstream of the converging point of Iguazu River and Parana River respectively. Iguazu Falls has the shape of a horseshoe and is 82m in height, and 4m in width. Its width is four times wider than the Niagara Falls in North America, and is slightly wider than Africa's Victoria Falls.

This is the Aconcagua volcano which is situated in Argentina. It is an extinct and inactive volcano and also the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere with its elevation of 6.959m.

This is a rare look at double rainbows that appeared over the sky of Lhasa, a traditional capital of Tibet, China.

These are a series of spectacular lightning occurrences!

This is an amazing scene that shows a thousand birds flying over the sky of the National Parks of Costa Rica during the evening hours. The sun gradually sinks beneath the earth.

This photo shows how a black hole devouring a star in the universe.

This is an icy scene near the mouth of Huang He River, China.