Summer travel: Five ideas to get you going

Dazzling, dizzying Chiang Mai, Thailandhttps://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-chiangmai11mar11https://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/photo/2007-05/28305942.jpghttps://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-chiang_mai11mar11-pg,0,3289501.photogallery?track=rssIn Chiang Mai, the old northern capital of Thailand, a construction boom has given the city some of the most stylish hotels and restaurants in Southeast Asia. Galleries and design stores have opened, showcasing a trove of textiles, ceramics, furniture, antiques and architectural salvage.

MexicoLoreto, Baja California: Mexico’s relaxed fithttps://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/photo/2007-05/26362050.jpghttps://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-loreto12nov12https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-loreto-pg,0,2385591.photogallery?track=rssThirty years ago, the Mexican government designated five areas for tourism development -- Cabo San Lucas, Cancún, Huatulco, Ixtapa and Loreto in Baja California Sur. The first four have flourished as tourist destinations. Development in Loreto is still in its infancy -- but hurry, because as we know, babies grow up fast.

A portal to the new Berlinhttps://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/photogallery/2007-05/29871311.jpghttps://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-berlin24jul24For Westerners, the center of Berlin suddenly shifted east when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989. The geographic heart of the metropolis still lies in the bohemian neighborhood of Kreuzberg, with its big, loft-like apartments and sometimes raucous night life. But reunification of East and West has meant that the city’s spiritual core has returned to Museumsinsel -- Museum Island -- a spot of land in the Spree River that is home to an array of seminal art museums stuffed with astounding collections.

Tibet: Lhasa layer by layerhttps://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/photogallery/2007-05/19840412.jpghttps://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-tibet9oct09https://www.latimes.com/travel/la-tr-tibet9oct09-pg,0,3458431.photogallery?track=rssLhasa, the capital of Tibet, literally translates as “god ground.” It’s been called the farthest goal of all travel, the most hidden city on Earth, the hub of the kingdom of enlightenment, the locus of Shangri-La. Hardly a destination on Earth has been more mythologized.

Malice in the palaces of Tudor Londonhttps://www.latimes.com/media/alternatethumbnails/photo/2007-05/29869782.jpghttps://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-england5dec05?single_page=yTrace the history of the Tudors, one of England’s ruthless royal dynasties, in a tour of four sites intimately linked with the family. To visit these royal and religious residences is to step back into Britain’s past, to a time of murder and mayhem.