Your 24-hour guide to the world

Summit Mt Kilimanjaro at dawn to catch the best views over Tanzania. (Ariadne Van Zandbergen/LPI)

An hour-by-hour guide to the planet's top sights and experiences – even if you need a teletransporter to make it happen.

12 am: Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Steel yourself; this is the perfect time to start your gruelling summit attempt on the 5,895m mountain. With any luck you will be up there by sunrise.

1 am: New York, United States
Head to the top of the Empire State Building. Its observation deck is open until 2 am – the ultimate place to survey the city that never sleeps.

2 am: Lausanne, Switzerland
Listen for the last cry of the nightwatchman. Since 1405, a guardian has called from the Cathedral's belfry every hour, on the hour, from 10 pm to 2 am: “C'est le guet; il a sonné l'heure” (“This is the nightwatch; the hour has struck”).

3 am: London, England
Join the early-rising meat traders of the 140-year-old Smithfield Market – though you will have to wait until 6 am for the nearby Hope pub to open.

4 am: Toronto, Canada
Grab an early breakfast at Fran's. This atmospheric diner has been serving favourites such as prize-winning pancakes and ribs 24-hours–a-day since 1940.

5 am: Atacama Desert, Chile
Bundle up to watch the El Tatio Geysers. These high-altitude geothermal gurglings are most spectacular at sunrise, when their steam condenses in the cold air.

6 am: Mumbai, India
Flex your chuckle-muscles at a Laughter Yoga session on Chowpatty Beach, where lighthearted locals gather for a therapeutic giggle.

7 am: Sydney, Australia
Well, 6:55 am to be precise: the time when behind-the-scenes auction tours of Sydney Fish Market begin each Monday, Thursday and Friday.

8 am: Mexico City, Mexico
Prepare for the pomp and parading that accompanies the daily flag-raising in the capital's super-sized Zócalo square.

9 am: Paris, France
Get to the Louvre – perhaps the world’s biggest and best repository of art – as soon as the doors open, to make the most of your day.

10 am: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Join a free guided tour to better appreciate the elegant Sheikh Zayid Grand Mosque, one of the largest in the world.

11 am: Athens, Greece
Line Syntagma Square to watch the Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The pompom-slippered soldiers change every hour, on the hour, though Sundays at 11 am are the main event.

Noon: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
Walk into the colossal cathedral – the goal for every peregrino making the epic Camino de Santiago pilgrimage – for the special Pilgrim's Mass, held daily at noon.

1 pm: Edinburgh, Scotland
Cover your ears for the Castle's one o’clock gun, which has been fired from the battlements almost daily since 1861. Not open on Sundays.

2 pm: Jerash, Jordan
Come over gladiatorial at the Chariot Show, where sandalled warriors re-enact Roman entertainments in the city’s ancient Hippodrome.

3 pm: Istanbul, Turkey
Take afternoon tea in the piano-tinkled lounge of the Four Seasons Hotel.

4 pm: Wagah, India-Pakistan border
Cheer on the gun-toting, foot-stomping one-upmanship between India and Pakistan, played out at the daily closing of the international border.

5 pm: Memphis, United States
Watch as the resident mallards of the Peabody Hotel are led from the foyer fountain, along a red carpet, to their penthouse home.

6 pm: Borneo, Malaysia
Wait at the entrance to Gunung Mulu National Park's Deer Cave to watch millions of bats make their en-masse evening exit.

7 pm: Marrakesh, Morocco
Tantalise your tastebuds as the Djemaa el-Fna main square turns into an atmospheric open-air night market.

8 pm: Hong Kong, China
Take your place on the Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront to watch the Symphony of Lights laser show sparkle over the skyscrapers.

9 pm: Mauna Kea, Hawaii
Star-gaze from the top of the 4,200m Mauna Kea. Astronomy appreciation programmes are held at the observatory here every night, 6 pm to 10 pm.

10 pm: Buenos Aires, Argentina
Feel the power and the passion of tango at Torquato Tasso. Sultry shows are almost nightly at this authentic San Telmo spot.

11 pm: Reykjavík, Iceland
Last orders? No chance. Now is the time to begin your Icelandic runtur (pub crawl) – at weekends most bars stay open until 4 am.