Lonely Planet's Beautiful World: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA

  Lonely Planet's Beautiful World: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA

New hardback book celebrating the most beautiful places on the planet

Lonely Planet, the world's number one travel publisher, celebrated its 40th anniversary last August and, to mark the occasion, launched this luxury pictorial collection. See everything from Botswana’s Okavango River to Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park.

Lonely Planet's Beautiful World: Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah, USA

The Wall Street Trail of Bryce Canyon has its own skyscrapers: ponderosa pines. Chasms in the rock are formed when water freezes and expands, creating alleys up to 60m deep.

Lonely Planet's Beautiful World: Lyth Valley, Lake District, Cumbria, England

The unspoilt Lyth Valley is tucked in a hidden corner of Cumbria, where trees are laden with fruit and rolling hills are the most magnificent green.

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia

This Unesco World Heritage–listed park is made up of interlinked and cascading lakes, caves and forest. The colours of the lakes range from azure to green, blue and even grey.

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: Lantern festival, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Yi Peng, Chiang Mai’s version of the Thai festival Loi Krathong, takes place during a full moon in November and sees lanterns launched into the night sky

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: Rufous hummingbird, California, USA

Rufous hummingbirds, here seen feeding on nectar at Huntington Beach, California, are just 8cm long but the hyperactive birds migrate across North America, following the blooming of wild flowers

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: The Palace of Westminster, London, England

After a fire that razed the Houses of Parliament in 1834, Sir Charles Barry redesigned the Palace of Westminster. Big Ben is the name of the bell, which tolls at the top of Elizabeth Tower.

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: Monument Valley Tribal Park, Arizona–Utah, USA

The sandstone spires of Monument Valley, part of the Colorado Plateau, are the result of millions of years of erosion. Iron oxide gives the rock its reddish tone.

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: The Dolomites. South Tyrol, Italy

Millions of years ago the pale peaks and pinnacles of the Dolomites lay on the seabed; now they are among the world’s most distinctive mountainscapes.

Lonely Planet’s Beautiful World: The Sardine Run, Eastern Cape, South Africa

During the annual migration of sardines, millions of the fish head north along the coast of South Africa, creating a feeding frenzy along the way. The migration occurs from May to July..