August, at the world’s best hotels.

August Paris: the city exhales, and grand hotels quietly discount.

Green-season Niseko: alpine hiking and onsen at a fraction of powder-season rates.

Green-season Kyoto: river dining and mossy temples between the tourist waves.

Green-season Kyoto: river dining and mossy temples between the tourist waves.

The southwest monsoon barely brushes the high tea country — misty mornings, low rates.

Green-season Angkor: moats full, rice paddies electric green, temples uncrowded.

The green season in Lanna country: dramatic skies, full rivers, empty temples.

Off-season Rajasthan: hot afternoons, yes — and palace hotels at half their winter rates.

The monsoon on the Narmada: the river high, the ghats washed clean, the fort quiet.

High summer in the palm grove — early desert mornings and long shaded afternoons.

Winelands winter: fireside tastings, green vineyards, and the Cape to yourself.

Summer Marrakech: courtyard plunge pools earn their keep and riad rates drop.

Summer on the west bank: dawn temple visits, pool afternoons, tombs without the queues.

Big Sky without ski-season prices: hiking, fly fishing, dark-sky nights.

Green season in the rainforest: rivers full, wildlife loud, lodges at their gentlest rates.

Late-summer Baja: warm Pacific swells and the desert before the winter crowd.

Wild winter on the Southern Ocean: storm-watching, whales offshore, fires lit.

New Zealand's quiet season: misty river mornings and the lodge at winter rates.