Geneva  - The Swiss seem to enjoy trains more than other nations, with the average resident travelling around 2,103 kilometres annually, the Information Service for Public Transport said putting the confederation at the top of the global list.

The Japanese came second with residents averaging 1,976 kilometres by train in 2007, though they did make the most trips with 70 a year, compared to 47 for the Swiss.

Sydney  - Tourists asked what they want from a holiday in Australia usually bang on about native animals and wide open spaces, the Sydney Opera House and a glimpse into the life of the original inhabitants of the wide brown land.

Tour operators have found an introduction to Aboriginal culture the hardest to provide.

More aborigines live in the cities than in the deserts and there are all sorts of cultural, political and social hurdles to meeting indigenous people.

It's possible, though.

Quebec City, Canada - Many travellers to Scandinavia are familiar with ice hotels, edifices of frozen water that beckon guests with the prospect of an overnight stay in arctic-like cold. There is one such hotel in North America - in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec.

This winter, it will be open from January 4 to March 29.

The only warm things at the Hotel de Glace are the candles on the bedside tables. The air is so cold you can see your breath, which adheres in tiny droplets to the opening of your sleeping bag. The tip of your nose feels numb - almost as though it were frozen. Getting up for a little while, drinking a glass of milk or going to the toilet seem impossible without risking death.

Washington  - It's known as "America's attic," but the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History in Washington has shed its dusty image.

A two-year, 85-million-dollar renovation of the museum has flooded its atrium with light in a vast space that recently hosted US President George W Bush for a rededication ceremony.

Stockholm/Madrid - Cities across Europe are busy planning festivities to ring in the New Year and those planning to uncork a bottle of champagne abroad have many foreign destinations to choose from.

The Swedish capital, Stockholm, is staging a party at the open-air museum in Skansen with thousands of expected guests.

Music and a big fireworks display are on the programme which will take place even in frosty temperatures. "If need be, wear ski trousers," said Marion Freitag of the Swedish tourist information office in Hamburg.

Shortly before midnight, guests wander outdoors to watch the fireworks display over Stockholm.

Bamyan, Afghanistan  - After three decades of conflict and persecution capped by one of history's most heinous acts of vandalism, Bamyan in central Afghanistan, is sprucing itself up for the more adventurous tourist.

Becoming the country's first declared mine-free province as hoped in 2009 will hardly attract sightseers in itself. But improved accommodation and transport from Kabul, renewal of the alcoves of the giant sixth century Buddha statues that the Taliban dynamited in 2001, and development of more sites can boost its pulling power.