All cameras

Hokkaido's capital. Every February its snow festival builds giant snow sculptures several storeys high downtown.

One of Japan's three great night views. The camera sits at the 334 m summit; below it the lights of Hakodate are squeezed into an hourglass between two bays.

The Shibuya scramble. When the lights change, hundreds of people step into the intersection from every direction at once.

Kabukicho, Japan's largest nightlife district. The signs stay lit from dusk until morning.

Tokyo Tower, 333 m tall and standing since 1958. This camera is the tower's own, looking up at the whole structure; it is lit after dark.

The 634 m Tokyo Skytree, the tallest tower in the world, seen across the low rooftops of the old downtown.

The camera sits at the foot of the mountain, not the summit — so the weather shown is the weather down here, which can differ by more than 10°C.

Kiyomizu-zaka, the sloping lane up to Kiyomizu-dera. Old shops the whole way, and foot traffic from morning to night.

Dotonbori — the canal with the giant running Glico man sign. After dark the whole street is neon.

Outside Hakata station. Fukuoka has the strongest street-stall culture in Japan; after dark a whole row of them opens along the river in Nakasu.

Mt. Nabekanmuri, 169 m above Nagasaki harbour. Low enough that the city stays close instead of flattening into a map. The red glow on the far hill is the tower on Mt. Inasa. This one has sound.

Kokusai-dori in Naha, a 1.6 km shopping street. Okinawa's climate has nothing in common with mainland Japan.

The Han River. The camera sits on the bank, taking in the Seoul skyline and several of the bridges.

Haeundae Beach, Korea's most famous stretch of sand. On the hottest summer days it takes a hundred thousand people.

Seongsan Ilchulbong, a crater blown out of the sea about 5,000 years ago and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Jeju is a volcanic island off the Korean coast; the peak at its centre is the highest in South Korea.

A street view along Sukhumvit Road, which runs the whole way through the city and is the longest road in Bangkok.

Fisherman's Village in Bophut. Thailand's second-largest island, and far quieter than Phuket.

A street in Patong. Phuket is Thailand's largest island and its busiest.

Indonesia's only majority-Hindu island. The cameras usually face the water, and the sunset is what people come for.

Indonesia's capital, and one of the most congested cities on earth. It is also sinking several centimetres a year.

The Khumbu, on the Nepali side of Everest, from a hotel roof at 3,880 m. This is an all-sky camera pointed straight up, which is why the image is a circle: high-altitude cloud by day, Himalayan stars after dark.

Nepal's capital, in a valley at 1,400 m. On a clear day the Himalaya are visible to the north.

Formerly Saigon. The wall of motorbikes is the signature view — nearly eight million are registered in the city.

Vietnam's capital. The camera faces the Vinh Tuy bridge and the traffic crossing the Red River.

Victoria Harbour. At 8pm the towers on both shores light up together — one of the largest light shows anywhere.

India's most populous city — twenty million people on one peninsula. Bollywood is here.

A city held sacred by Judaism, Christianity and Islam alike. The camera usually watches the Old City.

The Petronas Towers were once the tallest buildings on earth; the skybridge between them sits on the 41st floor.

The Philippines' best-known volcano, famous for its near-perfect cone, seen from Legazpi 14 km south. Its alert level has not sat at zero in years, and in an eruptive phase lava runs down it after dark.

Telok Ayer, downtown. The orange-tiled roofs on the left are 19th-century shophouses; the glass towers stand directly behind them. One degree north of the equator: no seasons, just 30°C and an afternoon storm.

Sri Lanka's largest city and commercial hub, sitting right on the Indian Ocean shipping lanes.

Shot from Elephant Mountain, looking straight at Taipei 101. At dusk you watch the whole basin light up.

A city on two continents, split by the Bosphorus. There is always a ship on the strait.

The Burj Khalifa stands 828 m and is still the tallest building in the world, by a wide margin.

Tasmania's capital. Head south from here and the next land is Antarctica.

The Harbour Bridge and the Opera House in a single shot. The New Year fireworks go up from that bridge.

Regularly ranked among the most liveable cities in the world. The camera usually watches a downtown intersection.

Surfers Paradise — a wall of towers built right against the sand, throwing their shadows onto the water each afternoon.

Queensland's capital, with around 300 sunny days a year.

The gateway to the Great Barrier Reef — the dive boats all leave from here.

The Sky Tower and the harbour in one frame. A third of New Zealand lives in this single city.

New Zealand's capital, famous for its wind. This camera watches Lyall Bay, where the surf almost never stops.

Norway's capital. In midwinter it is dark by three in the afternoon; in summer it barely gets dark at all.

Fishing villages among mountains that rise straight out of the sea, inside the Arctic Circle — kept ice-free by the Gulf Stream.

A Norwegian city inside the Arctic Circle, directly under the auroral oval. From November to January the sun does not rise.

The leaning wooden wharf houses of Bryggen. It rains on more than 200 days a year — among the wettest cities in Europe.

The northernmost point of mainland Europe. Midnight sun in summer; in winter the sun stays down for over two months.

A city with no cars. Everything moves by boat, including the rubbish collection and the ambulances.

The camera currently faces the Vatican and St Peter’s Basilica. Michelangelo designed that dome.

The most photographed of the five villages. Houses stacked up the cliff above a harbour barely wide enough for the boats. The camera sits on a restaurant terrace across the ravine — the postcard angle.

Where the Renaissance began. That brick-red dome is the Duomo — nobody knew how to hold one up when building started.

The camera currently sits on a pedestrian street in Walthamstow, north-east London — everyday city, not the tourist route.

The zebra crossing from the Beatles album cover. Tourists pose on it all day, and get honked at by drivers who actually need to get through.

Arthur's Seat, an extinct volcano in the middle of the city. Forty minutes up, and the whole town is below you.

The northern English coast at 55°N. Most people file the aurora under "Iceland" — but on a strong night it genuinely shows up here.

The South Harbour. Ferries to Estonia come and go all day — Tallinn is two hours across the water.

A city in Finnish Lapland sitting right on the Arctic Circle — and the official home of Santa Claus.

Finland's far northwest corner, where three countries meet. In winter the sun never rises — which means the aurora can appear at any hour.

An island off western Greece, with the camera on Arillas beach. The Ionian Sea runs far greener than the Aegean.

Looking towards the Acropolis. The Parthenon on that hill went up in the 5th century BC — five centuries before the Colosseum.

White villages on the rim of a volcano. The whole crescent-shaped island is what a colossal eruption left behind.

From a rooftop in Baix Guinardó, looking across the city. That cluster of spires on the far skyline is Gaudí's Sagrada Família, under construction since 1882 and still unfinished.

A small cove on the Costa Brava, with the camera mounted on the local sailing club.

Puerta del Sol. Every road distance in Spain is measured from a marker set into this square.

The Promenade des Anglais, running along the Mediterranean. It is named for the English who wintered here in the 1800s.

The Sacré-Cœur on the hill of Montmartre, one of the high points of Paris, above the old rooftops of the quarter. Floodlit at night.

The camera currently sits on a rooftop, looking across the trees of the Tiergarten to the city skyline. That sheeting on the right is scaffolding.

The home of Oktoberfest. This camera sits out in the suburbs, so what you see is ordinary Munich, not the festival.

Looking north across the bay at Mount Esja, the mountain that stands behind Reykjavík; the city itself is on this side of the camera. The world's northernmost capital, heated entirely by geothermal water.

A small fishing harbour in the East Fjords of Iceland, home to fewer than five hundred people.

The mouth of the Douro. Port wine came down this river from the vineyards inland.

A volcanic archipelago in the middle of the Atlantic, about 1,500 km from both Europe and America.

Switzerland's largest city, and one of the most expensive places to live anywhere.

A village in the Glarus Alps with no road in — the only way up is by funicular.

Stephansplatz, beside the Gothic cathedral at the heart of the city. Vienna tops the liveability rankings year after year.

The Grand-Place. Victor Hugo called it the most beautiful square in Europe; the guild houses are trimmed in gold leaf.

A complete medieval wall rings the old town. This is where King’s Landing was filmed for Game of Thrones.

The whole old town is a World Heritage site. It was barely bombed in the war, so its medieval shape survives intact.

Nyhavn — the row of coloured houses from every postcard. Hans Christian Andersen lived in one of them for eighteen years.

A medieval old town that survived almost intact, walls and towers included. Walking in feels like the 14th century.

Eighteen islands in the middle of the North Atlantic where the weather changes several times a day. There are more sheep than people.

The Danube splits the city in two — Buda on the hills, Pest on the flat. They were separate cities until 1873.

Temple Bar, the centre of live music in Ireland. In the evening almost every pub has someone playing.

Dam Square. The city has more than 160 canals and more bridges than Venice.

Ninety percent of it was flattened in the war. The old town was rebuilt afterwards, building by building, from 18th-century paintings.

A city built across fourteen islands — there is water at the end of almost every street.

The only capital city in the world with a national park on its doorstep — lions and skyline in the same view.

The city beneath Table Mountain. Its summit really is flat, and when cloud pours over it locals call it the tablecloth.

From the roof of the Museum of Science, with the Charles River and the Zakim Bridge in frame. The elevated track beside it carries the Green Line — the oldest subway line in the United States, running since 1897.

Times Square, where the walls are screens — so it never really gets dark here.

The Brooklyn Bridge, opened in 1883 — the longest suspension bridge in the world at the time.

Lady Liberty across New York Harbor, seen from the Brooklyn side. She stands 93 m including the pedestal, and is floodlit at night.

Shot from the top of the Washington Monument, so the 169 m obelisk itself is not in frame. Height limits across the district make this the highest viewpoint in the city.

Sunny Isles Beach. The sand here was imported; the original beach washed away decades ago.

The southernmost island of the continental US. Duval Street is bars end to end, and at sunset people gather on the pier to applaud.

Looking out from the Willis Tower skydeck. The skyscraper as a building type was invented in this city.

Bourbon Street in the French Quarter. Jazz was born here, and it is busier at midnight than at noon.

Sixth Street, the live music heart of Texas. The city calls itself the Live Music Capital of the World.

Exactly one mile above sea level — hence the Mile High City. Look west and the Rockies begin.

A small-town square in Wyoming. This camera has a minor internet following of people who simply watch it.

Harbor Island. Temperatures stay in the mild teens and twenties all year round — often called the best weather in America.

The corner of Hollywood and Highland. The arch in the middle of the frame is the Dolby Theatre, where the Oscars are handed out every year, and the pavement below it is the Walk of Fame.

The Golden Gate seen across the bay. Summer here is often fog all day — locals have named it Karl.

Known for independent bookshops, craft beer and rose gardens. It also has a public park measuring six square metres.

A camera on a University of Washington rooftop looking across the city. On a clear day the Space Needle is visible.

Lake Hood, the busiest seaplane base in the world — much of Alaska has no roads, so the plane is the bus. Around the summer solstice there are 19 hours of daylight; at midwinter, five and a half.

The Kīlauea crater. Most of the time it is a black rock desert; during an eruption it glows. It is one of the most active volcanoes on earth.

Wailea Beach. From December to April humpback whales are often visible — they swim down from Alaska to calve.

Waikiki Beach. The flat-topped hill behind it is Diamond Head, a crater some 300,000 years old.

Interior Alaska, one of the likeliest places on earth to see the aurora. Activity peaks around the equinoxes.

Famous for some of the worst weather on earth — a gust of 372 km/h was recorded at the summit.

The easternmost city in North America — further east than South America, and its time zone is offset by a half hour from its neighbours. The camera is the CBC's, pointed at the harbour.

A port on Canada's east coast. After the Titanic sank, more than a hundred of the dead were brought here and buried.

The Canadian side of Niagara. The volume of water keeps a permanent cloud of spray in the frame.

The CN Tower and Lake Ontario. It held the record for the tallest free-standing structure on earth for thirty-two years.

The cruise terminal at Canada Place. Most ships bound for Alaska leave from here.

An aurora camera in the Yukon. It needs darkness, clear skies and an active sun all at once, so by day there is nothing to see.

A Caribbean resort strip. The water is an implausible turquoise because the seabed is white limestone.

The Zócalo, one of the largest city squares in the world — built directly over the ruins of the Aztec capital.

The mouth of a Greenland glacier, a UNESCO site. Those white shapes drifting across the water are icebergs.

Argentina's lake district, built to look like a Swiss alpine town. Being southern hemisphere, its ski season is July and August.

The camera faces Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world — up to sixteen lanes in one direction. This is the birthplace of tango, and the centre really was built in imitation of Paris.

A wall of more than two hundred waterfalls on the Brazil–Argentina border — far wider than Niagara.

A rotating set of cameras, cycling between Lago Argentino, El Calafate and El Chaltén — on the El Chaltén view, the row of jagged peaks behind is Mount Fitz Roy. El Calafate is the gateway to Perito Moreno.

The southernmost city in the world, and where most Antarctic voyages begin. Its seasons run opposite to the northern hemisphere.

Copacabana. The black-and-white wave-patterned promenade runs four kilometres and is the symbol of Rio.

The camera currently watches trains at Barra Funda station. With 22 million people, it is the most populous city in the southern hemisphere.

Peru's capital. It almost never rains here, yet sea fog covers the city most of the year. It is built on desert.

The Inca capital, at 3,400 m. Everyone heading to Machu Picchu starts here.