Morskie Oko lake in Tatra National Park, Poland

Wouldn’t you love to just walk right into this photo? If you could, you’d find yourself on the shore of Morskie Oko, a deep lake in the hills of Tatra National Park in Poland. The Tatra Mountains form a natural border between Poland and Slovakia, with each side of the border having its own Tatra National Park. (This photo was taken in the Polish park. But the Slovakian park has the same name.) Morskie Oko means Sea Eye, which is thought to be a reference to the old belief that there was a hole at the bottom of the lake, connecting it to the sea.

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What type of rocks are these?

Welcome to the coastal rocks of Pemaquid Point, in the US’s easternmost state, Maine. With roughly 5,000 miles of jagged, rocky coastline, Maine boasts dozens of charming lighthouses but the light at Pemaquid Point is one of the most celebrated. US President John Quincy Adams commissioned the lighthouse in 1827 but it needed to be rebuilt in 1835 after the original began falling apart. (Lesson: Don't use saltwater when mixing your mortar.) At the top of its 38ft tower is the beacon's original Fresnel lens, which is still in use. Below, the ancient metamorphic coastal rock has stripes of lighter igneous rock, creating banded ledges and lots of scenic drama.

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Bioluminescence in the surf near Shirley, Vancouver Island, Canada

Day or night, the shores of Vancouver Island in British Columbia offer striking views. This is especially true when the light show arrives. Pick a moonless night, venture out to a part of the coast far removed from city lights, and cast your eyes seaward. When ocean conditions are just right, bioluminescent ‘sea sparkle’ will glow as the waves churn. The single-celled plankton (called Noctiluca scintillans) is one of the many organisms capable of bioluminescence, or the emission of light. The behaviour has a number of purposes, including attracting a mate or luring prey. Or it could be to scare away predators, as some scientists believe this sea sparkle is doing while the waves jostle the microscopic critters around.

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Why did this castle fall into ruin?

Welcome to Seacliff Beach in East Lothian and its enviable view of the last of Scotland’s mighty medieval fortresses, Tantallon Castle. Spectacular by day or by dusk, Tantallon has perched high on the cliff edge here since it was built for nobleman William Douglas in the mid 14th century. The house of Douglas split into two branches, the Black and the Red, and it was the Red Douglas dynasty which owned the castle for three centuries, occasionally clashing with the Crown. Tantallon saw off sieges in 1491 and 1528 but was finally left in ruins by Oliver Cromwell’s troops in 1651.

Its imposing 50ft red sandstone wall was built to withstand trebuchets, battering rams and arrows in the days before gunpowder. These days you can walk along the top for fabulous views over 98ft cliffs, the Firth of Forth and the Bass Rock - an internationally renowned seabird colony. There’s also plenty to see in the remains of the castle itself, including a spooky pit prison - if you are feeling brave (there has been at least one reported ghost sighting at Tantallon).

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Where do bluebells thrive?

The sweet scent of wild bluebells wafts through Micheldever Wood, in Hampshire, at this time of year. This ancient wood, largely made up of beech trees, offers the perfect leafy cover for the native Hyacinthoides Non-scripta, as they thrive in the dappled shade on the forest floor. Bluebells are great for woodlands’ ecosystems, attracting pollinators like bees and butterflies but they are delicate and take a while to get established – so watch where you step and don’t go picking them, native wild bluebells are protected by law.

Can you tell the difference between them and the invasive Hyacinthoides hispanica, the Spanish bluebell, which was introduced to the UK in the late 17th Century? The native version’s flowers are narrow with straight sides and mostly appear on one side of the droopy stem. The Spanish variety tend to have cone shaped flowers, straight stems and flowers all the way around. And you can sniff out a native bluebell while the Spanish one has little to no smell.

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How old is this cathedral?

We're in Wiltshire to celebrate the 800th anniversary of Salisbury Cathedral, the towering Gothic marvel behind these grazing sheep. The massive church's first foundation stones were laid here, then called New Sarum, on 28 April, 1220. The structure itself dates back even further, the bulk of it having been moved over a mile, piece by piece, from the former Roman stronghold of Old Sarum.

The building's main body was complete by the time the cathedral was consecrated in 1258, and the magnificent spire was finished in its centennial year, in 1320. Even taller towers were built for cathedrals in London and Lincoln, but the Salisbury spire outlived both of those and, for more than four centuries now, has been the tallest church spire in England.

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Where's this natural bridge?

The story of this striking sandstone formation in the US state of Utah begins around 10 million years ago. That's when tectonic shifts began slowly lifting the 130,000 square-mile Colorado Plateau above the surrounding plains. Later streams from the Colorado River cut through the elevated land, creating deep canyons. When water broke through a canyon wall, sometimes a natural bridge like this one remained above the gap between canyons.

The Natural Bridges National Monument – a protected area similar to a national park - protects three major bridges: Sipapu (pictured, and the largest), Kachina, and Owachomo. But its status can't stop the slow ravages of time. Thousands of tonnes fell from the inside of Kachina in 1992, slimming the bridge, and the remains of many other fallen bridges are scattered across the area, hinting at the fate awaiting those which remain. When the sun goes down, the stars shine extra bright here, with some of the lowest levels of light pollution ever recorded.

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