WHERE: Iceland, Finland, Norway, Canada or Alaska
WHEN: December to March

Gaseous particles colliding in the sky create the most amazing lightshow you’ll ever see. The colours change – green, yellow and blue are among the most common aurora shades – and the movement varies, too. Sometimes you’ll see a quick flash, other times there’s a soft, long glow along the horizon and often they dance before your eyes. You’re never guaranteed to see the Northern Lights, but your best chance is to go as far north as possible.

WHERE: Antarcica, Tasmania, southern New Zealand and South America’s most southerly city, Ushuaia, Argentina
WHEN: Year-round, though the longer nights during winter months provide more opportunity

Aurora borealis has an exact counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere, aurora australis. Due to larger areas of uninhabited land close to the South Pole, the lights of the aurora australis are even more elusive to spot than their Northern Hemisphere counterparts. The higher you climb, the higher the chance you'll see the lights: Tasmania's Mount Wellington and New Zealand's Lake Tekapo are two of the best viewing spots.

WHERE: Zhangye, China
WHEN: Year round, best time to visit is June to September

For millennia, the Rainbow Mountains have been the canvas for an organic artwork, thanks to changes in the mineral make-up of the layers of sandstone that are the peaks’ base material, leading to the unexpected palette of colours. The mountain range is part of the Zhangye Danxia Landform Geological Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in China’s north-western Gansu province.

WHERE: McMurdo Dry Valleys region of Antarctica
WHEN: Year-round

The sight of crimson liquid gushing out over crisp white snow is downright creepy. The red rush that flows from the aptly named Blood Falls is not so sinister, however. It’s actually a combination of salt water, iron and bacteria rising from underground before being exposed to oxygen at the surface. Visitors must board a cruise ship visiting Antarctica’s Ross Sea in order to see it.

WHERE: Northern Ireland
WHEN: Year-round, though you’ll get the best photographs at sunset at spring and autumn

Basalt columns are geological phenomena that form as a result of the cooling and cracking of thick lava. The famous Giant’s Causeway on the coast of Northern Ireland is one of the most beautiful examples: an estimated 40,000 mostly hexagonal columns of varying heights rise out of the Atlantic Ocean like some kind of real-life M.C. Escher staircase. It's free to stroll around, though there is a fee to enter the visitors 'centre.

WHERE: Middle Island, Western Australia
WHEN: Year-round

Nestled photogenically behind a fringe of white sand on Middle Island, 11 kilometres off the south-east coast of Western Australia, Lake Hillier isn’t a place you’d chance upon on a road trip. But its startling bubblegum hue, best seen from the sky on a bright, sunny afternoon or via one of the limited number of cruises to this protected spot in the Recherche Archipelago, makes this 600-metre-long strip of surprise worth a detour.

WHERE: Belize
WHEN: Year-round

Generally speaking, sinkholes form in the ground when the earth is weakened by water that cannot be drained. “Blue holes” are thought to be massive submarine sinkholes that were formed during the Ice Ages and are now filled with water. One of the most popular examples is the Great Blue Hole in Belize, which is more than 300 metres in diameter and 125 metres deep. Confident dives can take the plunge into its centre; landlubbers can take a charter boat or light aircraft tour from several departure points on the mainland.

WHERE: Britain
WHEN: Late April to early May

Come spring, forests and meadows around Britain are carpeted with electric blue flowers named bluebells. The springtime bluebell season is an antidote to the winter blues and the show can be seen right around the country. The Woodland Trust has a Bluebell Watch where eager spotters can post their sightings, as well as maps displaying the annual bluebell spread.

WHERE: Christmas Island
WHEN: October to November

The 135 square kilometres that make up Christmas Island are home to an estimated 40-50 million red crabs. In the wet season,  they migrate en masse to the beaches to release their eggs into the sea. While spawning dates can vary, the Christmas Island Tourism Association posts estimated dates on their site for visitors planning to witness the spectacle first-hand.

WHERE: Great Barrier Reef
WHEN: November to December

A colourful underwater blizzard is caused by the mass spawning of coral as it rises from the ocean floor. Spawning season in the Great Barrier Reef is typically , however it doesn’t happen at once and times can vary depending location. Keen to see it? Contact a local dive operator to discuss their packages for viewing.

WHERE: Chile
WHEN: Followng extensive rainfall

The 105,000-square-kilometre Atacama Desert is the driest non-polar region in the world, thanks to its location between two mountain ranges and the heavy dry winds that blow through them. So when the landscape here erupts with a blanket of colourful flowers it is a pretty awesome sight. It’s hard to predict exactly when this will occur – it relates to the El Niño/La Niña weather cycles that bring higher volumes of rainfall – but there was a particularly incredible display in September and October 2015 after a massive rainfall in March of that year.

WHERE: Antartica
WHEN: Year-round

These huge structures look like massive waves right before a surfer disappears into the barrel – only they never break. They are compacted masses of snow that have been pressurised, frozen in time to form these towering, wave-like beauties. Seeing these is all about luck: you'll have to be aboard cruise ship visiting Antarctica that's in the right place at the right time.

WHERE: Northern Territory, Australia
WHEN: Year round

The magnetic termite species found in northern parts of Australia build their own skyscrapers in the form of flat, sand structures that are about two metres in height and all with the exact same north-to-south alignment. Hundreds of them can be viewed inside Litchfield National Park, around 120 kilometres outside of Darwin.

WHERE: Norway
WHEN: July to August

Maelstroms are systems of tidal whirlpools. One of the most famous examples, and the second most powerful of its kind, is the Moskstraumen system, which is located off the Lofoten Islands on the mid-north coast of Norway. The best way to see it – from a safe distance – is on a private boat tour during peak season.

WHERE: Tanzania
WHEN: September to December

Lake Natron, a shallow pink-hued lake with surface patterns like cracked clay, is a sight in its own right. What makes it even more special, however, is that up to three-quarters of the world’s population of lesser flamingos (the smallest species of flamingo) are born here each year. There are several lodges and campgrounds nearby; and several tour operators stop at Lake Natron on safaris.

WHERE: Shikoku, Japan
WHEN: May to July, between 7:30pm and 9pm

In the forests of Shikoku, multitudes of fireflies appear during Japan’s early-summer rainy season. As many as 50 species of fireflies call the waterways, parks and forests of Japan home, though not all are bioluminescent. Emerging after sunset to captivate visitors and, more pressingly, a mate, the fireflies exist for a brief but glorious few weeks.

WHERE: Vík, Iceland
WHEN: Year-round, May to August for puffins and mid-September to mid-April for the Northern Lights

For thousands of years, the ferocious Atlantic Ocean has been whipping the coast of southern Iceland, eroding its ebony volcanic cliffs and turning them to dust – or black sand – that now carpets the beach. Not everything has been diminished by the waves, though. Thousands of basalt columns still stand sentinel to this timeless tussle between land and sea. It’s a striking juxtaposition – frothy white waters, dark obsidian sand and stern soaring cliffs holding their own against the sheer force of the ocean.

WHERE: California, United States
WHEN: Year-round

For years the mysterious movement of stones – some as large as a microwave oven – at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park confounded visitors and scientists alike. With nobody having witnessed rocks gliding through the desert, the only proof of the curious event were the trails they left behind, sometimes more than 400 metres long. Extraterrestrial activity is a popular theory. Six years ago, researchers claimed to have cracked the case: as frozen rainwater melts in the heat of the day, it breaks into sheets of ice that are propelled forward by winds, pushing the rocks along the desert floor. But believing in aliens is more fun.