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A local favorite on postcard-pretty Piazza della Passera in the Oltrarno neighborhood, Il Magazzino serves up delicious Florentine food with a special emphasis on offal. If you are up for it, there’s no better place to sample stalwarts of the indigenous cuisine in dishes such as grilled udder or classic trippa alla fiorentina, or tripe stewed in a tomato sauce topped with grated Parmesan. If offal’s not your thing, opt instead for the mouthwatering linguine with kale pesto. The great wine list offers some affordable choices.

Everyone seems to be talking about Chez Nous and, frankly, it’s easy to see why. A meal here feels like dining at your most fashionable friend’s place. The restaurant is tucked away from the main drag in a beautiful Charleston single house, with a handwritten menu that changes daily, with the chef taking inspiration from the daily market as well as the cuisines of Northern Italy, Northern Spain, and Southern France. If the weather’s nice, request a table on the porch or in the courtyard.

Isola has become Milan‘s hipster hangout, so you are going to want spend a lot of time here. Best way is sleeping over, and the Isola Apartments are key. Lots of light, minimal decor and all the trappings of home, the loft apartments are great for couples with kids or other kids of third wheels.

Start your day at Deus Ex Machina, a motorcycle store in an alley full of them, whose café is the perfect spot for a cappuccino and soft scrambled eggs while you ogle the Ducatis.

Camogli is a quick 30-minute train ride out of Genoa, making it easy for an evening out for cocktails and dinner. Leave from Brignole Station, and arrive in Camogli by 6:30pm so that you can get a seaside table at Bar Auriga for a perfect Aperol Spritz as the sun sets and the waves crash in.

If you come to Genoa in late winter, you will have to deal with many cool and rainy days. BUT, you will get the privilege of shopping the amazing (i.e. 40/50% off) sales. So it’s a toss-up! If you are looking for women’s clothing, Lo Spaventarasseri has beautiful, artisan options in a lovely calm environment - perfect for trying clothing on after the holidays of overeating!

Enjoy your Pasta Alla Norma (one of the most traditional Sicilian pastas with tomatoes and roasted/fried eggplant) like the Sicilians—straight from the eggplant itself! Find a gorgeous (and large!) eggplant in one of the many street markets in Cefalu, slice off the top, and roast it whole. When soft, scoop out the eggplant flesh, and fill it with the Pasta Alla Norma. A perfect one-dish-wonder.

Just be sure to get to the markets early for good produce.

The scents that go into Ortigia’s gorgeous bath and beauty products are inspired by Sicilian plants (orange blossom, Sicilian lime, pomegranate, almond) and evoke the essence of this exotic, southern Mediterranean island. Beautifully presented in exquisite packaging, the bath essences, soaps, body lotions, scents and scented candles are all made from natural products in Sicily. They make wonderful gifts (if you can bear to give them away, that is…).

The recipe for the delicious, tiny truffle-cream sandwiches at atmospheric old Procacci is a guarded secret but, oh boy, are they good, especially when accompanied by a glass of prosecco. Smart Florentine ladies-who-shop flock here for a pit stop between purchases, but it’s also popular for an early-evening aperitivo. Procacci is additionally one of the few places to buy just-harvested truffles in Florence: look out for them in November and December. Heap truffle shavings over fresh, buttered taglierini pasta or a simple scrambled egg—after only one bite, you’ll understand the attraction to these precious, musty-smelling delicacies.

Hop on the commuter train at Lido Station (next to the Piramide Metro stop) and make the 25-minute trip to Ostia Antica, Rome’s ancient port town and administrative center. The teeming city of up to 100,000 residents is relatively well preserved and allows visitors a peek into the daily life of ancient Romans. Walk the basalt streets, visit the Forum, descend into Mithraic sanctuaries, and peruse the market stalls, which were in use until around the 5th century C.E.

In Florence‘s Oltrarno neighborhood, an area known for its craftsmanship, this modern store stands out. Run by a couple, the store is full of fabric and paper goods. There are books covered in silk screen designs, and elegant prints on bags made of upholstery fabric and beach chair fabric. There’s a worktable at the back of the store where you can see the goods being made.

Once the bayside palazzo of a shipping magnate, the recently restored Romeo juxtaposes antique and modern art in a world-class collection. Fabrics, serving pieces, and porcelain by Hermès, Andrée Putman, and J.L. Coquet complement the Kenzo Tange–designed facade of undulate glass. Doubles from $240, 39/081-017-5001. Read Tom Downey’s “Tailor Made in Naples.”

The 1950s facade of The Laurel Inn reveals that this property—now a Joie de Vivre Hotel—has been part of San Francisco‘s Pacific Heights neighborhood for many decades. But a multimillion dollar renovation in 2017 refreshed the boutique hotel’s 49 guest rooms, while keeping the retro charm intact with midcentury modern furniture and rich velvet and wool textiles. Located within a few blocks of the Presidio and mere steps from the shops and restaurants of Sacramento Street, many of the spacious rooms have been designed with kitchenettes to add to the residential feel of the hotel. Ask for a room with a city view—watching the fog roll in over Pacific Heights and the downtown skyscrapers beyond that each morning from bed is an experience not to be missed.

This top-of-the-line property of the San Vicente Hotel Group (which owns the nearby San Vicente and Hostal Villamil), is a three-level, all-white hotel that feels almost like a beach villa. It’s actually just a couple of blocks from Puerto Villamil’s two-mile-long stretch of municipal sand, and most of the surrounding sandy streets are filled with palm trees. The facilities here provide enough so that guests’ only real concern will be getting to other parts of the island. The restaurant stays open all day with a varied menu and drinks list. There are flat-screen TVs in the rooms and free Wi-Fi in common areas. Shaded by a few umbrellas and a cane canopy over the Jacuzzi, the rooftop terrace is the favorite hangout for most guests at this small hotel. In every direction comes another jaw-dropping view, such as the Pacific Ocean, the Sierra Negra Volcano, the highlands, or a saltwater lagoon filled with flamingos.

In 2001, hotelier Ian Schrager tapped French designer Philippe Starck to reconceptualize The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel’s wildly modern interiors. A complete contrast to the building’s historic facade, the lobby is dark, edgy and filled with a quirky smattering of cool furniture—among them chairs by Ray and Charles Eames, a coffee table by Salvador Dali, and a surreal stool by Renee Marguerite. Upstairs, splashes of lavender brighten more neutral rooms, which feature wheelbarrow-shaped chairs and sleigh beds designed by Starck. Merino wool blankets are primed to battle foggy nights, while MALIN+GOETZ bath products soothe well-traveled skin with natural ingredients and science. Downstairs in the Redwood Room, a see-and-be-seen crowd nurses drinks. The swanky lounge sports sleek backlit shelves, its original redwood paneling, and a bar supposedly crafted from a single redwood tree. Though The Clift sits just up the street from Union Square, it feels far away from the tourists.