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The Culebra Cut, which links Gatún Lake with the Pedro Miguel and Miraflores locks, is a catchy name for a channel that the French started digging. Under the Americans, the canal’s most backbreaking work took place here where hills once stood 160 meters (525 feet) above sea level. Thousands of workers blasted through rock and shale, and shoveled and hauled earth, to create what is essentially an underwater valley as well as a peaceful passageway for passengers.

Across New Zealand you’ll find weekend farmers’ markets packed with vendors of artisanal products and organic fruit and vegetables, as well as innovative food trucks providing tasty options for breakfast or lunch. Held in the leafy surrounds of Christchurch’s historic Riccarton House, this Saturday-morning institution attracts gourmands from across the city. For travelers, it’s a great place to try cheese and salmon from around the South Island, sample craft beer from local breweries, and stock up on baked goods for on-the-road picnics. Must-visit stalls include Sausage Sisters (for hearty pork-and-apple-sausage rolls) and Utopia Hot (for freshly baked waffles with seasonal fruit).

This tiny joint on the Big Island serves what many consider the planet’s best poke (raw-fish salad). In fact, Yelp ranked it No. 1 among America’s top 100 places to eat in 2014. Go traditional with just salt, limu kohu (seaweed), and inamona (a roasted-candlenut relish) for toppings. Or opt for a more contemporary twist with anything from onions to avocado aioli, perhaps paired with a side of crisp kimchi cucumbers. Be forewarned: This casual spot runs on island time so don’t expect exact adherence to business hours.

While in Italy, you won’t want to miss the medieval hill town of Erice. One of the best things to do while there is take the funivia, or cable car, from Trapani up to this hilltop town for a thrilling 10-minute ride. First Trapani telescopes into view, followed by the harbor and the salt pans to the south, with their sheets of salt in various stages of evaporation, and then the blue mounds of the Aegadian Islands out at sea.


After the ride, enter the city gate and follow the vertical, cobblestone streets to the crest of the hill and the ruins of Castello di Venere, a 12th-century Norman castle. Walk the castle walls for stunning views of Sicily’s north coast, as cove after cove of deep blue water disappears into the horizon.


Once done, head down to the heart of the hill town to explore its small shops and restaurants, such as Ceramica Ericina, which sells traditional handmade Sicilian ceramics. Pieces range from plates and serving dishes to wall decorations, and most are Majolica ceramics, which use a unique enameling process to create brilliantly painted designs.

While Japan often remains aloof to many first-time visitors, Kyoto feels intentionally difficult to get to know—even to Tokyoites who visit frequently. Getting some kind of entrée to hidden gems is especially useful here. Enter humble American-turned-Kyotoite Nemo Glassman, founder of Plus Alpha Japan. Many years living in Kyoto has given him a deep understanding of the city’s idiosyncrasies, of which there are many. Plus Alpha will arrange insider tours and intimate experiences throughout Kyoto and beyond. His tours aim to facilitate deeper engagement for travelers, whether imbibing with izakaya chefs, practicing zazen meditation with Buddhist abbots, or enjoying a tea ceremony performed by a maiko (apprentice geisha).

Aroos Damascus (which translates as “the Bride of Damascus”), on Al Muraqqabat Road in Dubai’s old Deira district, is an ode to Syrian cuisine. The lively atmosphere and great food draw a diverse crowd of South Asians, Filipinos, and locals looking for an alternative to enclosed malls and expensive restaurants. Platters of assorted appetizer, and entrees of kebabs, steaks, kibbeh, fatoosh, and flavorful Arabic pizzas (manaeesh) are served all day (and until late in the evening) inside or on the patio.

Bloody Mary’s, entertaining tourists since it opened in 1979, is one of those Bora Bora experiences that simply must be done. The ambience is beach-bar hip, with sand floors, colored lights, and coconut stools in a dining room under a thatched roof and surrounded by tropical foliage. Even if you don’t eat here, at least come for a cocktail to experience the vibe and mingle with the crowd of local pension, or guesthouse, owners, visiting celebrities, and other travelers. The food’s quite good, too: Fresh fish, seafood, and meats are grilled, American-barbecue style, with tasty results.

On Friday afternoons, this unassuming expanse of sand comes to life with music and athletes practicing the lively art of pehlwani, a South Asian wrestling tradition. Spectators sit on the ground to listen to the ringmaster and watch scantily clad wrestlers engage in a tight embrace until one is overpowered and falls to the sand. The winner then runs around in celebration, and some spectators give him money for his victory. Depending on how many wrestlers step up to fight, the matches usually end right before sundown.

This property is currently closed for hurricane-related repairs.

Peter Island is “an oasis of tranquility,” known as much for its five flawless beaches as its word-class spas and luxurious ocean view villas. The island is the largest of the private islands and the fifth largest of the 60 islands in the BVI. Visitors can hop a ferry to reach the island from Tortola or opt for booking a helicopter, water taxi, or private yacht.

One of my favorite discoveries in Chicago is the Empire Ballroom inside The Palmer House. It’s just up the stairs from the hotel’s magnificent lobby and has a rich history most anyone working at the hotel will be willing to tell you more about. This room with its shiny wood floor and opulent chandeliers is where Frank Sinatra used to perform. While the ballroom itself is beautiful, it’s most interesting feature is what’s hidden behind the mirrored wall in its corner. Push on the last panel and you’ll stumble into a dressing room where famous acts - including Sinatra - used to get ready to go on stage. Several autographed pictures are still hanging on the walls.

Esperanza, an Auberge Resort, sits on the southern tip of the Baja California Peninsula, offering guests exceptional views of the Sea of Cortéz. Each of the hotel’s 57 rooms faces the sea and Esperanza’s private beach but also offers access to four separate swimming pools. Hotel staff keep guests as busy as they want to be with a full schedule of activities, some of which are the usual Baja resort suspects like yoga lessons and cooking classes. A number of options are quite unique, however—book a master tequilero to teach you about the fine art of tequila appreciation, or take classes in Spanish, salsa, painting, and more. Guest rooms are gorgeous, with an earth-tone color scheme and fine, locally made handicrafts as decorative accents. Bathrooms in the casitas look out onto water, while villas have full kitchens and dining rooms.

The Miami outpost of a hotel brand well known for its Los Angeles and New York properties, The Standard Spa, Miami Beach is less a hotel in the traditional sense, and more a spa with guest rooms set amid tropical gardens. The concept extends to the hotel’s atmosphere, which is downright staid compared to the party scene of so many Miami Beach hotels. A nearly all-white color scheme and extra-comfortable linens, pillows, and robes give rooms—small by local standards—a calm, comfortable air. Extra attention has been invested in the hotel’s common areas, with lots of Danish and 1950s-inspired furniture and spaces arranged in such a way that some spots offer solitude while others focus on bringing people together. There’s a reason many guests have called The Standard a playground for adults: a co-ed hamam, gardens with hammocks and swing chairs, and a hydrotherapy circuit (including bayside infinity and icy plunge pools) are just a few of the on-site attractions.

Every April, thousands of visitors descend upon Augusta, Georgia for The Masters golf tournament. While the azaleas and dogwoods that line the fairways are beautiful, the streetscape outside the Augusta National Golf Club is a car-dominated aesthetically unfortunate collection of chain restaurants and strip-mall-churches--not exactly what you’d expect if you were to believe the city’s official nickname of “The Garden City.” Drive just ten minutes away, however, and you’ll end up in the Augusta Downtown Historic District, set aside by the National Park Service due to its collection of architecture from the 1780’s to the present. (Sherman didn’t march through this part of the state, sparing it the Civil War damage that destroyed Atlanta.) Georgia’s second-largest and second-oldest city might not be a ‘destination’ in the way that Savannah and Atlanta are (unless you love golf), but if you’re in town and architecture interests you, it’s worth spending some time down by the Savannah River. One of the tallest structures is the Lamar building--built in the 1910’s. In the mid-1970’s it was topped by a glass penthouse, designed by...I. M. Pei--the same architect who is perhaps best known for the now-iconic glass pyramid that dominates the courtyard of the Louvre in Paris. Augusta’s piece of Parisian-linked-architecture-fame is locally known as “the toaster.” Just slightly irreverent...

A devastating fire on April 15, 2019, has closed the interior of the cathedral to visitors. Plans to rebuild and reopen the structure are being made, but at present, visitors are not allowed near the site.
For a first-time visitor to Notre Dame, investing in the audio guide is essential to understand this overwhelmingly significant Paris icon. There’s a lot to see and absorb—history, architecture, artifacts, theology—and the audio guide gives a much-needed sense of direction and context. Even without spiritual ties, the awe-inspiring grandeur of the cathedral is not to be missed from every angle—tour the naves, stroll around the entirety of the exterior, take in the city from the top of the towers, walk along Quai de Montebello to view it from across the water, or admire it from a river cruise down the Seine. The Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris is everything everyone says it is and more.

One of the many excellent coffee roasters in Portland, Coava occupies an industrial-chic space in the Central Eastside that’s more than a spot to duck in for an espresso. The airy 13,000-square-foot operation includes training facilities, an enormous coffee silo in which beans are stored, and, of course, a retail coffee bar from which visitors can watch much of the coffee-roasting process unfold. Though Coava’s beans are proudly served at some of Portland’s best coffee shops, many of the pour-overs at its “brew bar” are available in limited quantities and not served anywhere else.