Visit Shimla, India

The 19th-century British colonial government couldn’t cope with the heat of the Indian summers and searched the foothills of the Himalaya for a cool retreat. Some 2,100 m (6,889 ft) above sea level, they found the ideal climate in the tiny hamlet of Shimla, which was conveniently surrounded by a pine forest for building materials. The village blossomed into a thriving British hill station, where croquet on the lawn, rounds of golf, and afternoon tea on the terrace whiled away the days.

Today, the government may be Indian, but the town still exudes a colonial charm. Local people are proud of Shimla’s faded grandeur, children run around in English-style school uniforms and judges leave the town hall in wigs and robes.