World's best selfie spots

The world is full of fantastic places, but it's much more fun if you can prove you have been there too.

Of course we have been to many places too, but usually we're behind the cameras. However click on the pics and you can read plenty more (and see even more pictures!). The two pictures (above) are at Bangkok's glittering over-the-top Grand Palace, rich with gold and gems and ornate architecture that begs you to take 'just one more selfie'.

In the past few years, selfies have become almost the rule in any scenic place. We all want to see ourselves with a scenic backdrop, so this week we thought we'd provide a few for your to visit and try.

It seems that the Kowloon side of Hong Kong Harbour has become Selfie-Central as everyone wants to see themselves with Hong Kong's mountain and highrise behind. Come back in the evening when the 8pm laser show begins, for yet another angle, or hop on a Star Ferry and take some as you cross the harbour.

Hope you're not afraid of heights! You'll need to travel to Argentina to see this steep spiral staircase in the Alvear Palace Hotel, Buenos Aires. You will fall in love instantly with this hotel, so stand to one side for your selfie shot so that your friends can also enjoy seeing it.

Or perhaps you want your family's envy as you relax under waving palms with a front row view of tropical waters in Queensland's beautiful Whitsundays, on the coast at Airlie Beach. Make sure you have a tall cold drink in your other hand as you take this one!

Talking of the cold.... you'll need to put your fingerless gloves on to take your shot here!

Wear red, if you can too, for a great contrast. Penguins are only found in the Southern Hemisphere, so this is a no-brainer as to where it is, but click on the pic to find out more.

It's OK to brag about things when you travel. After all you've spent a bit and it may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Position yourself in the frame and hint that this was your hotel. Chances are it wasn't, as this is the newly refurbed Hotel de Crillon in Paris, where rooms come price-tagged upwards from a thousand Euros - a night!

But you can always dream - and take a selfie – for free.

Maybe wildlife is your thing and Africa is too far away. This 'heeland koo' as the locals call it, might let you pose with him - at a polite distance!

Stunning localities often come at the price of queuing and waiting for your turn to take a selfie. Not here! Lucky Bay is a long way from any landmark, and its isolation and sparkling pure-white sands, teamed with that water, wins it accolades as one of the world's finest beaches.

Guess you can see where you would stand for this one in Trani, a tranquil fishing port in Puglia, southern Italy.

Water makes a great selfie-background, but sometimes you want to cosy up with someone else - even if you are travelling solo. This little fellow gazing out to Stevenson's Island won't mind being included.

Cruising offers great selfie opportunities. The height of the deck, and the ship's distance from the central city area, as well as the time of day when you depart (often at the end of a day's sightseeing), all work together. Have you guess this is Honolulu? Give this city a thumb and little-fingered shaka as you pose!

Begging for your face to appear here is Hidden Beach one of the most interesting beaches in the world. Located just an hour-long boat ride from Puerto Vallarta on the Islas Marietas, the only way to reach the golden sand at Hidden Beach is to jump off a boat and swim or kayak through a tunnel to shore. FlightNetwork ranked it #9 of the World's 50 Best Beaches.

If you prefer a wildlife and statue combo to pose beside, then how about these golden beauties on a roundabout in Sihanouk, Cambodia? Get the angle right and it might look as if the lion is about to chomp your finger. This a popular evening hangout for the locals, particularly teens, so you may find some enthusiastic locals to pose with you.

Elevation makes for more interesting photographs and you can squeeze a panorama in more easily. But add water and the mix becomes magic. Here on the rooftop of the one-of-a-kind Marina Bay Sands Hotel, the sign says it all.

Can't place this hotel? You will have seen photos of it even if you have never visited Singapore. It looks like three towers with a boat on top!

As I said, we are usually too busy with cameras to do a selfie, but our guide had this idea - and of course you can tell immediately where I am.

Plenty options here of where (and when) to stand with this long jetty behind you. But where is it? Not many people get to this remote spot of Ceduna, South Australia on the Southern Ocean. One weekend a year, there is a festival celebrating the area's famous seafood. This town has another claim to fame. Click on the picture (above).

Everyone loves a selfie!

These young ladies are having a day out in Kyoto, Japan, and may well have hired these outfits for the day, but they don't want to forget a moment of it.

This wonderful mix of arches - architectural and atmospheric - was a gift one evening in Newcastle upon Tyne in England's north-east. In rainy or stormy conditions selfie-ists should always be rainbow-ready!

Here's that height-thing again. This time we were overlooking Dubrovnik in southern Croatia. Of course there was a fence between the 'official' lookout and that drop, but many had chosen to squeeze though a hole and get a closer aspect.

Truly amazing, these Hakka Houses in southern China require a coach trip from Xiamen but a well worth the journey. You can have fun seeing if any of your friends can place where you are!

And, yes, while not a true selfie, this one is too good to miss. Take note of the speed! This is the fastest I have ever travelled on land. It's the MagLev (magnetic levitation) train between Pudong and Shanghai airport. After the success of this prototype, understandably China has plans for more trains, and longer trips.

Returning to what many people say is the world's most romantic place, India's Taj Mahal in Agra, this deserves a couples-shot. Romance aside, the architecture is so perfectly balanced, it demands being positioned central to it.

Anse Lazio, in the Seychelles, was ranked #3 of FlightNetwork's World's 50 Best Beaches. Can you see why? The only improvement would be for your footprints to be in that pristine sand!

Victoria Peak on Hong Kong island rises more than 500 metres above the city, and the viewing decks have been built so that photographers can capture the panorama below. Most times around half of them face away from it, using that stunning view as a backdrop to their selfie.

Then there are the unique opportunities, begging for you to pose in front of. This one explains everything except where it is. It is a very long way from anywhere, on the Nullarbor plain, on the Eyre Highway which crosses Australia. It's remote - but there is a golf course (click on the pic).

Another romantic photo-op. These turn up in every city, beside every bridge, and are irresistible for lovers' selfies. This one is outside The Bell Tower on the Swan River foreshore in Perth, Western Australia.

It's not difficult to see where you can stand for this selfie. What might be confusing is why does this bear appear to be scrambling over the wall at the ruined Cardiff Castle in Wales? Click on the pic and find the whole story.

Position yourself correctly and it may appear you have a new hat - or a halo! After doing that do take time to browse the cavernous interior and be amazed at the colour and talent displayed here. Morocco is like that - surprises everywhere.

Is this a set-up to tempt Australians? Especially Australians with mobile phones or selfie sticks? It certainly made us do a double-take when strolling through Vienna this year.

Back to Morocco, but this time it is an alley in Fez. Stand in the centre for your shot, and see yourself surrounded by colourful heaps of woven fabrics and rugs, with locals going about their daily life in picturesque centuries-old surroundings.

Selfies are loved all round the world. Here on the ramparts of the fortress in Belgrade, Serbia, everyone seems to want to capture themselves with the famous Danube behind them.

Catch a ferry, or board a cruise ship to get distant views of a harbour scene. This is lovely Auckland, New Zealand, just as the sun dips away. It's begging for two index fingers and thumbs to shape into a heart over the city centre. Someone else will have to click the shutter though.

Australia loves to have big sculptures to underline an area's local produce. Big bananas, big oysters, and then there is Larry the Lobster in Kingston SE in south-eastern South Australia. Plenty of options here. And Larry is for sale! Click the pic to find out about this new development.

Northumberland's Angel of the North does not need to advertise for people to come and snap themselves beside it. The difficult thing is being able to get it all in the frame! It is massive - 20 metres high with a 54-metre wingspan.

Why put a fork in a lake?? Click on the pic to find out the story behind it, or just gaze (as we did) in awe of the beauty of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. Those lovers have the best seat in the house.

No need to say where this is, but sometimes it's difficult to get a new angle on famous places, but there is plenty of room here to get a mug-shot that is bit unusual. It just requires a little athleticism!

Postcard-worth, Slovenia's jaw-droppingly beautiful Lake Bled and its island church really doesn't need anything else to make it sensational. But you may want to add a personal touch. Just saying...

This captivating village was so enchanting it became the cover for my book Just a Little Italian. Picture yourself there - literally. FYI it is Castelmezzano in Basilicata, southern Italy.