A FOREIGN holiday is looking highly unlikely this year.

But that doesn't mean Powys residents cannot relax in surroundings which rival better known attractions for beauty.

Powys is known as the Paradise of Wales for good reason and our beauty spots easily rival more celebrated locations from around the globe.

The County Times has scrolled through the world travel guides to find some comparisons to our much loved local beauty spots - and now we've created these sliders to let you see how the destinations match up.

I am sure you would agree, as natural wonders and places of outstanding beauty go, Powys takes some beating.

Pistyll Rhaeadr v Angel Falls

Angel Falls, familiar to many as the inspiration for Disney's hit film Up, is in Venezuela.

It is the world's highest uninterrupted waterfall, with a height of 979 metres (3,212 ft).

They were not known to the outside world until American aviator Jimmie Angel flew over them on 16 November 1933 - giving the site its familiar name.

But let's be honest - none of us are going to Venezuela this year. So Pistyll Rhaeadr, meaning 'spring of the waterfall', in Llanrhaeadr in the Tanat Valley makes a perfect alternative.

It is counted as one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

The 19th century author George Borrow wrote: "What shall I liken it to? I scarcely know, unless it is to an immense skein of silk agitated and disturbed by tempestuous blasts, or to the long tail of a grey courser at furious speed. I never saw water falling so gracefully, so much like thin, beautiful threads as here."

Llandrindod Wells v Montpellier

LLANDRINDOD Wells developed as a spa town in the 19th century, with a boom in the late 20th century as a centre of local government.

During the mid-18th century, the 'healing qualities' of the local spring waters attracted visitors to the area resulting in an economic boom with the building of a 'splendid' hotel at Llandrindod Hall.

A period of relative decline during the late 18th and early 19th centuries was reversed with the construction of the Heart of Wales line making Llandrindod accessible from south Wales, the Midlands and northwest England. Enclosure of the common in 1862 enabled the expansion of the town with the construction of new streets, hotels, shops and houses.

One of its most distinctive buildings is the Montpellier Hotel - so why not give it a go rather than travelling to France this year.

In the Middle Ages, Montpellier was an important city of the Crown of Aragon and was the birthplace of James I, and then of Majorca, before its sale to France in 1349.

Above the medieval city, the ancient citadel of Montpellier is a stronghold built in the seventeenth century by Louis XIII of France.

Llyn Clywedog v Crater Lake

Built to regulate the flow in the River Severn to mitigate flooding and to help provide drinking water, construction of the Clywedog dam started in 1963 .

Local opposition was strong as it would result in the drowning of 615 acres of agricultural land in the Clywedog valley.

On top of several disruptions and protests, during construction in 1966 a bomb was detonated within the construction site, setting work back by almost two months.

It was completed in 1967.

Crater Lake is a in south-central Oregon in the western United States.

It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and is famous for its deep blue colour and water clarity.

Unlike Clywedog, it was formed naturally by the collapse of a volcano.

The lake and surrounding park areas offer many recreational activities including hiking, biking, snowshoeing, fishing, and cross-country skiing are available.

Powis Castle v Alcazer of Segovia

Powis Castle is one of Powys' best known buildings - a medieval castle, fortress and grand country mansion near Welshpool.

The seat of the Earl of Powis, the castle is known for its gorgeous, rolling gardens, terraces, parkland, deerpark and landscaped estate.

The unusual spelling of Powis, with an 'i' instead of a 'y' as in the county spelling, derives from the Herbert family's title as Lord, and later Earl of Powis. Powis is a shortened version of the Latinised spelling of the Welsh Powys.

The semi-lookalike Alcázar of Segovia, meanwhile, is a medieval castle located in the city of Segovia in Spain, and is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

Rising out on a rocky crag above the confluence of two rivers near the Guadarrama mountains, it is one of the most distinctive castle-palaces in Spain by virtue of its shape – like the bow of a ship.

It is currently used as a museum and a military archives building.

Lake Vyrnwy v Lake Ladoga

Lake Vyrnwy is a reservoir near Llanwddyn built in the 1880s for Liverpool Corporation Waterworks to supply Liverpool with fresh water.

It flooded the head of the Vyrnwy valley and submerged the old village of Llanwddyn.

When the reservoir is full, it is 26 metres (84 ft) deep, contains 59.7 gigalitres and covers an area of 4.54 square kilometres, the equivalent of around 600 football pitches.

Lake Ladoga, meanwhile, is a freshwater lake in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, close to Saint Petersburg.

It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake after Baikal in Russia, and the 14th largest freshwater lake by area in the world.

Elan Valley v Lake Nasser

Lake Nasser is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

The vast reservoir in southern Egypt and northern Sudan is some 479 km (298 mi) long and 16 km (9.9 mi) across at its widest point, which is near the Tropic of Cancer.

But since we won't be heading to Egypt this year, why not look at the man-made reservoirs of the Elan Valley as a fine alternative?

Built by the Birmingham Corporation Water Department, they provide clean drinking water for England's Second City. The five lakes are known as the Claerwen, Craig-goch, Pen-y-garreg, Garreg-ddu, and Caban-coch.

The aqueduct, which was started in 1896 and opened in 1906, crosses several valleys and features numerous brick tunnels, pipelines, and valve houses.

Newtown Hall v Claremont

Even holidays in England may be off the table this year.

So if you were planning a trip to Surrey to visit the 18th-century Palladian mansion, perhaps it's time to redraw your plans.

And where better to look as an alternative than Newtown Hall?

The Pryce family, which supplied seven sheriffs of Montgomeryshire, lived at Newtown Hall from the the 15th century and had several memorable patriarchs.

Sir John Pryce first adhered to the king in the English Civil War, but changed sides and was appointed governor of Montgomery castle for the Parliament.

The family's fortunes declined under the rule of his descendent and namesake, Sir John Price who infamously had his two dead wives embalmed and upon the death of his third wife came to employ a faith healer to raise the dead.

His son squandered the remains of the family fortune and spent time in a debtors' prison and his own son Edward was found dead in Reading in 1791 – ending the Pryce male bloodline.