Japan's island of Naoshima is devoted to contemporary art

Whatever you do, make both the Chichu Art Museum and Benesse House essential stops on your island tour. The former is built underground so it doesn't compromise the natural beauty of the site. Only small concrete openings and skylights are visible on the surface.

The space below is otherworldly: Ando uses large, cast concrete blocks set at skewed angles to create disorientating pathways that serve to heighten anticipation. He uses natural light throughout and this contributes to the magic, too. When the sun is shining, the polished concrete glows silver and the shards of light illuminating the room that houses some of Monet's water lilies make the scenes appear even more lifelike.

Turrell's Open Sky also celebrates the island's incandescent light. Here, the lines between art and architecture are beautifully blurred, and as you sit in the concrete-hewn space and stare up at the square of open sky above, you are transported to another realm that sits just beside reality.