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The rugged American frontiersman and trapper Kit Carson purchased this territorial style 4-room adobe in 1843 for his wife. Step back into time; furnished rooms remain as Carson and his family once dwelled. The adventurer and military buff will appreciate the display of old rifles, stunning beaded leather cases, Caron’s Masonic hat and early Taos artifacts and antiques. The courtyard reveals a cool adobe baking oven (called a horno). It’s a small museum with deep, historical roots. The onsite gift shop carries comprehensive Carson and southwest biographies.

This West Hobart café has long been known for sourdough: stone-ground, organic fruit, fig and walnut—you name it. But the owners of Weston Farm took it over in 2013 and added new breakfast and lunch favorites that outshine the bread—from baked eggs over chorizo hash coated in saffron yogurt to pork and fennel meatballs smothered in spicy paprika sauce. Most produce comes from the farm, including the smoked paprika, which won gold in the 2017 Delicious Magazine awards. (The farm also rents out a cottage overlooking its olive groves.) A mini marble-bar bakery, Pigeon Whole Bakers, fronts Franklin restaurant and is run by the original Pigeon Hole baker, Jay Patey. This is now the place to get your sourdough bread and doughnuts.

A Hawaiian fantasyland on Oahu’s more remote leeward coast, about 40 minutes from Waikiki, Aulani is so seductive—for all ages—that many guests are loath to leave the property at all. And who can blame them? The beach is an idyllic cove (albeit a man-made one) stocked with kayaks, boogie boards, and everything else little beach bums could want. Then there are the three pools, including one for adults only and one filled with tropical fish for snorkelers-in-training, two impressive waterslides, and the biggest crowd-pleaser of them all, a 900-foot-long lazy river where guests, big and small, splash around on inner tubes as they meander around a faux-rock grotto. Goofy, Minnie, Mickey, and the rest—all in their vacation outfits—make occasional cameos at the breakfast buffet or by (sometimes, in) the pool. But while Aulani is most assuredly every kid’s dream, it is not every parent’s nightmare. The resort decor is more traditionally Hawaiian than obnoxiously Magic Kingdom; the lobby is built to recall an old canoe house, on a grand scale, and is covered in murals, painted by local artists, depicting island life. Hawaiian storytellers gather around a fire pit at night, and rooms have warm woods, with a single subtle reference to the Mouse King—a wooden carving of Mickey with a surfboard and ukulele that doubles as a desk lamp. Perhaps best of all, the Aulani has an outstanding, supervised kids’ club that’s free to guests ages 3 to 12. Babysitters are available for kids as young as six weeks old.

Tsavo gained a reputation as home of the “man eating lions” when, in the late 1800s, several construction workers were killed by hungry lions as they built the railway from Mombasa to Uganda. Today, it’s known for less frightening reasons, like the spectacle that is Mzima Springs: icy clear water flowing rapidly from under a lava rock, as well as the Shetani Lava Flows. Like Tsavo East, this is a fiercely beautiful region - wild and untamed in places, open grassland in others, and the wildlife viewing here rivals any of Kenya’s best parks. Expect to see the ‘Big 5' as well as a huge range of bird and plant species. Aside of enjoying the views and wildlife on offer, the park is also well-renowned for its adventurous rock climbing opportunities.

Opened in 1865 as a restaurant, event space, and wine store, Café Royal quickly became a gathering spot for London’s intelligentsia and glitterati. Over the following 150 years, everyone from Winston Churchill and Oscar Wilde to Muhammed Ali and David Bowie was spotted here swapping stories and hosting celebrations. Re-launched in 2012 as a hotel, Café Royal continues to serve as a vibrant hub for guests, thanks to its central location between Mayfair and Soho, a short walk from theaters, shops, and tourist attractions.

Past a stunning lobby (which recently underwent a $6.6 million re-design), the 160 rooms and suites are warm and streamlined, crafted with materials like Carrera marble, English oak, and Portland stone, and outfitted with Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, sound proofing, rainfall showers, luxury linens, and free Wi-Fi. All rooms come with perks like complimentary John Lobb shoe shines, while the seven super-luxe Signature Suites feature things like Tudor fireplaces, deep-soaking tubs, private screening rooms, dining areas, and butler service. In keeping with the building’s gourmet history, dining and drinking options include the Laurent at Café Royal grill and sushi bar from celebrated chef Laurent Tourondel; the gilded Oscar Wilde Lounge for traditional afternoon tea service; the bright and modern Papillon for all-day dining with British-French flavors; and Green Bar for botanical-based cocktails and fine liquors. Launched in 2018 inside the Laurent restaurant, Ziggy’s bar serves expertly crafted drinks in a space that pays homage to the late David Bowie, who held a “retirement party” for his Ziggy Stardust alter-ego at the Café Royal in 1970. A spacious gym (with LifeFitness equipment, class studios, and a 60-foot lap pool) and the Akasha Spa (with sauna, hammam, and nine rooms for East-meets-West treatments) round out the facilities.

It might be a part of the Colorado River—a man-made reservoir carved out of the river in 1960—but everyone calls the body of water bisecting Austin Lady Bird Lake. On hot summer days, scores of walkers and joggers move along the lakeside paths through nearby Zilker Park, but you can also take to the water by canoe, kayak, water bike, or stand-up paddleboard. You can’t swim here, but the left fork (heading west) in the river will take you to Barton Springs Pool, a popular Austin hangout, where you can splash in the water to your heart’s—and body temperature’s—delight.

The &Beyond Ngala Safari Lodge is located on the Ngala Private Game Reserve, an unfenced private concession wedged between the Timbavati Private Nature Reserve and Kruger National Park. &Beyond leases the land from World Wildlife Fund South Africa and donates a portion of its profits to the South African National Parks Trust. As a result, the trust has been able to fund special projects and maintain West Coast National Park, located just an hour north of Cape Town.

Conservation efforts aside, &Beyond Nagala Safari Lodge is most known for offering a luxury safari experience. Guests can spot wildlife from the lounge, then be completely surrounded by the bush in their air-conditioned rooms. Have breakfast under the shade of an enormous weeping boer bean tree, while away hours at the pool with a book and your favorite drink, and indulge in a fireside dinner, surrounded by lanterns and candles. During their stay, guests even enjoy a dedicated vehicle and tracker team to guide them on twice-daily drives, bush strolls, and walking safaris. The lodge is about an hour’s drive from Hoedspruit Airport, but Airlink also operates daily direct flights from Johannesburg and Nelspruit to Ngala’s private airstrip.

New York City’s Chinese and Chinese American populations total around 570,000, making this the largest concentration of Chinese outside the mother country. The first Chinatown in Manhattan dates to the 1870s, and while it continues to grow, it has also been joined by other Chinatowns, including one in Flushing, Queens. That is where Joe’s Shanghai opened its first location, in 1995—though the two in Manhattan, on Pell Street in Chinatown and West 56th Street in Midtown, will be more convenient for most travelers. You can expect a wait for a table, and when you are seated you may be sharing it with strangers. The restaurant can be noisy, and as soon as you have finished your meal, you’ll be encouraged to settle up and leave. In other words, people don’t come here for the atmosphere or the service. Instead, the excellent and generous renditions of favorite Chinese dishes, especially the restaurant’s signature soup dumplings, are the draw. The dumplings are served in bamboo steamer baskets and each one holds a pork or crab meatball in a hot broth, all wrapped up in a doughy package. It may prove to be the most flavorful moment of your trip to New York.

If you’re fascinated by the Wild West, you’ll love this fantastic museum, where culture and history come together to transport you back in time. Named in honor of late Texas governor Dolph Briscoe and his wife, Janey, the museum is located along the River Walk, inside San Antonio’s first public library. In addition to hosting exhibitions, educational programs, and special events, the Briscoe features a Wells, Fargo & Co. Nine-Passenger Western Mail Stagecoach replica and the beautiful McNutt Sculpture Garden, which brings the West to life through intricate bronze pieces.

The Verandah makes up the restaurant section of 40 North, a small food outlet in the unlikely location of North Bragar, on the west side of the Isle of Lewis. It’s less than 25 minutes from the town of Stornoway but feels much farther when driving the windswept coastline. Opened in 2017, the intimate eatery features just 20 seats for dinner service only. Reservations are essential to enjoy such delicious dishes as roast ginger sea bass with crab, and lamb loin in a sauce of mint, rosemary, currant, red wine, port, and brandy.

If you wanted to trace Scotland’s modern culinary renaissance, you would begin here, on Ashton Lane in Glasgow’s West End, where the late Ronnie Clydesdale opened Ubiquitous Chip in 1971. Even then, Clydesdale recognized that Scottish produce could serve as the building blocks of standout cuisine, with nary a chip in sight. Now run by his son Colin, the Ubiquitous Chip is still one of the standard-bearers of Glasgow fine dining, though the space itself is elegantly casual. The venison haggis with champit tatties (mashed potatoes with parsley) has been on the menu since the beginning, but also worth trying is the Caledonian ice cream with poached plums and honey oats.

In 1964, a 9.2-magnitude earthquake—the second most powerful ever recorded—ripped through the south coast of Alaska, devastating much of downtown Anchorage. After surveying the damage, real-estate developer Walter J. Hickel, who would later go on to serve two terms as the state’s governor, vowed to build Alaska’s biggest and best hotel. The result, a massive 546-room complex spread out over three towers, is still the city’s most luxurious, known for its attentive concierge, excellent athletic club, and wealth of dining options. The elegant Crow’s Nest restaurant offers dishes that incorporate French technique with regional ingredients, like king crab–studded bouillabaisse, along with a 10,000-bottle wine collection; on a clear day, 360-degree views include the iconic peaks of Denali. One more reason to visit: The property was inducted as a member of the Historic Hotels of America in 2016.

Housing several performance halls and many exhibition spaces, the Hong Kong Cultural Centre is the place to go to see some of the best local and international performing artists. Monthly rosters include shows from the Hong Kong Philharmonic and local children’s choirs, as well as special occasions to see touring dance companies and musical ensembles. Additionally, the annual opening of the Hong Kong Arts Festival in February marks the beginning of one of the city’s most popular events. This calendar draws audiences in to see the best musical and theatrical troupes from all around the world.

Tennessee has thousands of caves and Chattanooga itself is full of them. One such is Raccoon Mountain, a family-run cavern and campground that was discovered by Leo Lambert, the same man who turned Ruby Falls into the region’s most recognized tourist attraction. Raccoon Mountain is significantly more understated, located on the other side of Lookout Mountain, and hosts families in the summer. The caves are over 5 miles long and their Crystal Caverns tour will give you a taste. Their Wild Cave expeditions allow you to get down and dirty, exploring even more of the cave system. You can even arrange to stay underground overnight.

Vilakazi is perhaps the most famous street in Soweto—or all of Johannesburg, for that matter. It’s the only street in the world to have produced two Nobel Prize winners—His Excellency Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela and The Most Reverend Desmond Tutu. It’s also where 13-year-old Hector Pieterson was shot dead, sparking the riots on June 16, 1976.

At the corner of Vilakazi and Ngakane streets, you’ll find the Mandela House, which serves as a beautiful testament to Madiba as well as to the greater fight for equal rights in South Africa and around the world. The rest of Vilakazi Street, however, is pretty average—a place where people live and work every day. In its simplicity, it proves that greatness can come from the most ordinary of places. Since it’s still home to so many people, approach the street with respect. Hire a local guide and take care when exploring the surrounding neighborhood of Soweto.