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The most famous café in town, this historic spot oozes period charm and maintains much of its original Belle Epoque decor. The main bar is for stand-up coffees and aperitivi, but there are several cozy salons for a sit-down treat. The terrace is a great place for people-watching.

Overlooking a postcard-perfect Venetian street (a former canal, now paved over) in the artistic Dorsoduro district, this 500-year-old merchant’s townhouse has been revamped as the boutique hotel Ca’Pisani. Behind the traditional exterior lies a modern den with clean lines and sharp, geometric forms that’s enhanced by original work from one of Italy’s most notable Futurist artists, Fortunato Depero. Architects Roberto Luigi Canovaro and Pierluigi Pescolderung balanced original design elements—exposed beam ceilings, brickwork—with 1930s touches, including one-of-a-kind inlay door designs and custom masonry and marble work.

Gaze out at the city’s rooftops from the hotel’s roof terrace, or mingle with locals over wine or an espresso at the street-level café. With the Peggy Guggenheim collection and the Gallerie dell’Accademia gallery just a stroll away, you’ll be able to journey from 16^th-century Venice to the 20^th century all in a few famous paintings.

Don’t be confused by the name: This isn’t street food so much as dockside warehouse food. Walk over Inderhavnsbroen, one of the city’s newer bridges (opened in 2016), and you’ll cross from the heart of Copenhagen to a former industrial area that is now a foodie paradise. It is to the city what Borough Market is to London—a hugely popular attraction where people flock to eat great food off paper plates. Chinese, Korean, Italian, Moroccan . . . It’s all here and so inviting that it’s hard to know where to start. The only note of caution: Copenhagen Street Food is so popular that the weekend crowds can be intimidating.

Sure, it’s a bit rustic and the pebbled beach is small, but this beach club has reached legendary status with Amalfi Coast travelers for its charm. And its food. Everything served is fresh and local, and made in a tiny kitchen built into the rocks at a precipitous height. One suggesion for a long and leisurely lunch: Start with grilled mozzarella served on lemon leaves before moving on to the zuppe de cozze, a giant bowl of mussels drenched in a garlicky, tomatoey stew. If friggitelli (sweet Italian chili peppers) are on the menu, by all means order them. A pitcher of cold white wine with peaches is also recommended. Call ahead to reserve a chair on the beach and a table for lunch, and at the ferry jetty in Positano, your ride to the beach club is the boat with the red fish on its mast.

Housed in a trio of historic buildings spanning the 14th to the 20th centuries, the Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, overlooks Venice’s lively Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront promenade in San Marco—a prime people-watching spot. The noble family who lived in the original Byzantine-style palazzo had four doges in their line. Its second act as a hotel began in 1822, and it has continued to host notable guests, from Charles Dickens to Charlie Chaplin. The gilded lobby, with its Murano glass chandeliers, pink marble columns, and stained-glass windows, sets the opulent tone throughout.


Rooms are styled with Italian antiques, original artwork, and Murano glass mirrors or chandeliers, and many have gorgeous lagoon views. Mingle with guests over martinis at the award-winning bar, or watch the sunset from the terrazza.

Don’t miss dinner at the restaurant, either—a location you may recognize. In the Angelina Jolie/Johnny Depp film The Tourist, the famous twosome dine at this famous restaurant. Part of the historic Hotel Danieli, the stupendous views from the terrace give you a front seat to the great show of the Grand Canal.

A real Western experience is easy to come by at the Yellowstone Valley Lodge. The Lodge includes a number of beautiful cabins and a restaurant situated along the Yellowstone River in Montana‘s spectacular Paradise Valley. The lodge is known for the bespoke touches found throughout the property, from the food in the kitchen to the design of the cabins. This is one of the finest Yellowstone National Park bases you’ll ever find, and perhaps the only one you’ll ever return to after a night or two of falling asleep along the river.

Visiting the 17th-century Büyük Valide Han in Eminönü is my all-time favorite experience in Istanbul. It’s an Ottoman inn that accommodated traveling merchants over 350 years ago and also stored the Oriental and European wares from the wooden ships moored in the Golden Horn. The han is hidden away in the backstreets of the Spice Bazaar, though got some big-time exposure when featured in a montage in the 007 movie Skyfall. Artisans still make and repair some of Turkey’s well-known handicrafts in the timeworn workshops upstairs, but my favorite feature is the view from the roof. To experience this you need to locate the building off Çakmakçılar Yokuşu. Then go up the steep stairs and say, “Merhaba” (hello) to the craftspeople. If you’re lucky, the caretaker will agree to unlock a door that hides a secret staircase to the roof. Do give him a tip for his kindness and time because the view of the Bosporus, dividing Europe and Asia, is spectacular. A little word of warning: The roof is flat (with some domes), and there are no safety rails—so watch your step. Please respect the history of the building too and collect only memories and leave only your fondness for Istanbul to waft away in the Bosporus breeze.

Everybody loves the highs and lows of Bergamo. The charming city is actually two towns--Bergamo Alta (high) and Bergamo Bassa (low). Bergamo Alta is a beautiful walled city whose architecture dates back to medieval times. Its Piazza Vecchia, slightly overhauled in the Renaissance, is considered the most beautiful square in Italy. Bergamo Bassa is the more modern city, with architecture from the 19th and 20th century, though it still has some signs of early Renaissance. Bergamo is the gateway to the Swiss Alps.

A useful address for a snack after a visit to the Uffizi or Palazzo Vecchio, this gourmet sandwich bar and deli, hidden away down a narrow lane, serves delicious panini plus the odd salad. The sandwich selection (made with focaccia freshly-baked in a wood-fired oven) changes daily but ingredients are top-notch and sourced from all over Italy: gorgonzola cheese and salty anchovies is a favourite of mine. The price of your sandwich includes a glass of wine.

Just off the Ringstrasse, the Stadtpark gives visitors to Vienna a chance to marvel at the genius of Otto Wagner: The architect’s art nouveau U-Bahn metro station is a landmark there. With the little Wienfluss (Vienna River) running through it, the 28-acre, English-style, manicured Stadtpark was laid out in the middle 19th century and is perhaps the finest city park in this greenest of cities. For maintaining the historic fountains, ornamental plants, and decorative trees along its winding paths, the botanical specialists and gardening team deserve a tip of the hat. Fine statues of composers Franz Schubert and Anton Bruckner, as well as a gilded-bronze likeness of a violin-playing Johann Strauss II—who performed here—are famous. The café in the Italianate Kursalon Hübner concert hall is a good place for a break from sightseeing.

This independent bookstore feels like a cozy home, with rooms full of books and comfortable chairs in which to sit and browse. Fans of Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code may recognize the shop as the one where Robert Langdon searched for Dante’s Divine Comedy. There is an extensive selection of English-language titles about Florence, Tuscany, and Italy that range from tiny novelty volumes to large coffee-table tomes. Head to the back and you will find a few shelves of secondhand paperbacks that provide material to read that doesn’t require Wi-Fi.

The Segantini Museum is the true gem of St. Moritz. A beautiful turn-of-the-century rotunda displaying several of the Italian painter’s masterpieces including the top level Alpine Triptych, three larger-than-life oil paintings with scenes of the Engadin valley.

On a pine-covered summit overlooking the sprawling city of Nice, Mont Gros, a 19th-century observatory, is a local icon. Built by Charles Garnier (famous for his Paris Opéra design) in collaboration with Gustave Eiffel (yes, that Eiffel), the monument has inspired film location scouts and is popular with local couples who come to take in the stunning view of the city together. The observatory is still an active science laboratory focusing on astronomy, astrophysics, and geoscience. The original 18-meter-long lens is responsible for finding 2,000 previously unrecorded double stars. There are two-hour guided tours on Wednesdays and Saturdays year-round, with a more frequent schedule during school holidays.

Lambityeco rose to prominence around the time of the decline the great Zapotec capital Monte Alban, roughly 700 A.D. The site was originally excavated in the 1960s, although some restoration work has been done since that time. Among the buildings to visit there are two important palaces, some temples and a patio, as well as a temazcal steam bath. This is just a small part of what was a much larger city. Evidently, Lambityeco was a salt production center (obtained through distillation of saline groundwater) and was an important stop in the Prehispanic trade route. This site has some examples of elaborate stucco work that are not common in ancient sites in Oaxaca. Besides the figure of Cocijo, the Zapotec rain god, pictured, there are also depictions of Zapotec rulers. This small archaeological site is often overlooked, but it is easy to visit. It is located right by the side of the highway, in the eastern valley of Oaxaca, just before Tlacolula.

A lively restaurant, Smolt blends Spanish and Italian traditions with high-quality Tasmanian ingredients—salmon ceviche with piquillo peppers, anyone? Stop by for lunch, pizza or small plates in the afternoon, and pair your food with house-made beer or wine. Then, explore the museums and other attractions in this vibrant part of town.