Bangkok is a city to overload the senses. Streets are crowded by tuk-tuks (motorized tri-shaws) and the occasional elephant weaving through congested traffic.

Luxury resorts rub elbows with backpacker accommodations on the Thai island of Ko Samui, a 15-mile-long palm-covered tropical oasis located off the country's east coast.

Paphos, the capital of western Cyprus, has some serious historical clout. Site of the vast fourth-century BC Tombs of the Kings, set high on a cliff above the sparkling sea, as well as a dramatic Byzantine castle and fine mosaics, it's also known as the birthplace of the goddess Aphrodite.

If watching the sunrise from atop a 10,000-foot volcano, swimming under waterfalls, hiking through craters and luxuriating on white-, red- and even black-sand beaches sounds like paradise, then Maui awaits.