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In 1995, Scottsdale residents voted to set aside a large parcel of undeveloped city land as protected open space. Today, the roughly 30,000-acre McDowell Sonoran Preserve provides an opportunity for adventure. Hike, bike, and rock climb, or take to the trails with local guides from Arizona Outback Adventures and learn all about the desert along the way. Because most of the creatures that live in this desert habitat are more active at night, the best time to view animals is on early morning or evening hikes.

San Juan Cemetery lies on the coast adjacent to El Morro (San Juan’s beloved fort) and nestled in the district La Perla, a rougher part of town. Its statues and tombs make it as beautiful as a New Orleans cemetery. Exiting El Morro, head down the grassy field to your left to catch this flustering overhead view. On this day, a powerful storm was rolling in, casting everything in gray.

This historic market has been in operation since 1892, and is beloved by locals as a destination for lunch, grocery shopping, or buying regional gifts at the Pennsylvania General Store. More than 70 businesses sell fresh wares here, including ice cream, cookies, meat, seafood, produce, Mexican cuisine, and artisanal grilled-cheese sandwiches—just to name a few. Philadelphians line up daily for just-baked goods from the Amish-owned Beiler’s Bakery, which also runs a separate doughnut stand in the Pennsylvania Dutch section of the market. The market’s location, across the street from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, can mean throngs of visitors on convention days; try to get to the market as early as possible to avoid the crowds.

Every city has a building with great views and Chicago’s most famous is the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower. But a little Chicago secret is that the John Hancock building has better views and their Signature Lounge on the 96th floor has free admission so you can enjoy a cocktail while you take in the sights! My favorite time to visit is late afternoon for a happy hour Old Fashioned while the sun sets and the Chicago lights start to sparkle. It’s a great place to take visitors, it’s a great place for tourists, it’s a great place to start or end an evening but I wouldn’t bother with the food, which is overpriced for the quality and selection. The drinks are pricey but the view is truly worth it.

El Charro sits in a converted set of historic houses & buildings a block off Tucson’s old town district—the same location where it began serving food in 1922. We had lunch here, at a big old wooden table in a warmly decorated dining room. Ask to be seated inside, or else in the garden, if the weather’s amenable. It’s a bit cold and dim in the front of the restaurant. I had an amazing vegetarian burrito, stuffed with roasted veggies, avocado and a green corn tamale. The others went for the excellent chimichangas, reputedly invented here (you can read the story on the menu). The special-brewed beer, an amber, was great, the salsa verde addictive, the decor a great talking point.

The Grill is the only restaurant in Arizona to receive the “Award of Ultimate Distinction” from Wine Enthusiast. History, quiet service, and the most romantic dining in Tucson are all here. For the best dinner-with-a-view, ask for a table in the West Patio where you’ll have a panoramic view from the city lights to the peaks of the Santa Catalina mountains. The ranch on which The Grill is located, Hacienda del Sol, began in the 1920’s as an exclusive private girls’ school in the still-wilderness foothills above Tucson. In the 1940’s, the 34-acre estate became a guest ranch popular with the Hollywood stars of the time—Spencer Tracy, John Wayne, Katharine Hepburn, and Clark Gable.

When the southern Arizona desert gets just the right mix of rains at the right time in fall and winter, the following spring can produce a riot of wildflowers. People around Tucson said that the spring of 2010 was one of the best displays in decades--poppies and lupine for miles...perhaps the most vibrant ‘show’ in a generation.

There is something truly distinctive yet quirky about staying in a former fine department store. Situated in a plum spot on West Broad Street, a convenient 30-minute ride from the Richmond airport, is the Quirk hotel, which is part of the Destinations Hotel Group. This is the labor of love of owners Katie and Ted Ukrop, who spent more than 10 years transforming a 100-year-old department store into a 75-room hotel with a rip-roaring rooftop bar scene, arguably the finest in the city. You’ll sleep on cushy beds made with joists salvaged from the former store, and bathe in the Barbie-like aura of the “love and happiness” rooms (incidentally, Sherwin Williams has a paint swatch by that same name). Rooms have lovely details like scallop-patterned nightstands, Tivoli radios, generously sized bay windows, and well-worn floors that look vintage. You can slake your caffeine addiction at the chic coffee bar in the lobby, or do a bit of retail therapy in the “Gallery” boutique off the lobby. It sells branded pink-and-white plaid pajamas and items like custom Na Nin hand-poured double-wick candles, crafted by Richmond resident Kate Jennings. The coffee for sale comes in brightly patterned signature rose tins that won a packaging award. “There’s no decade or theme to this gallery,” one employee assured me, but the vibe is decidedly mod-chic and whimsical, befitting the hotel’s name. The communal-style restaurant, Maple & Pine, is situated right in the middle of the lobby and is truly convivial. The culinary program is headed by chef David Dunlap, who was formerly with the Ashby Inn. Room rates from $225.

At the Hyatt Centric, luxury amenities meet front-door access to 7,300 acres of ski terrain, including the 314 trails, 40 chairlifts, and six natural half-pipes that make up the Park City Mountain area of Canyons Village. For even more adventure, the hotel’s in-house activities company, Wasatch Adventure Guide, can arrange for dogsledding, fly-fishing, heli-skiing, hot-air ballooning, and even ice-climbing excursions. If you’d rather soak up some culture, there’s complimentary seasonal transport to Park City’s charming Main Street and its dozens of galleries. After a long day of exploring, guests can unwind in the resort’s heated outdoor pool, or in front of their own stone fireplace. The 120 guest rooms and apartment-style residences offer a home-away-from-home feel, with even the standard rooms featuring a partial kitchen stocked with china for four. In case you don’t feel like entertaining, the on-site Escala Provisions Company Restaurant & Bar offers après-ski fare like classic fondue as well as a dinner menu with dishes like a grass-fed beef burger with tomato jam, pork belly, and pommes frites.

There’s plenty to do in Paracas, from sandboarding in Paracas National Reserve to boating around the Ballestas Islands to flying over the nearby Nazca Lines—that is, if you can tear yourself away from the pool at Hotel Paracas. The 120-room resort was all but leveled by the 2007 Peru earthquake, but reopened two years later with a fresh new look, including a blue-taupe-and-white color scheme to reflect the surrounding ocean, desert, and sky. A great choice for families, Hotel Paracas features a children’s club and kids’ pool as well as three restaurants, including a casual seafood spot, an Italian trattoria, and a fine-dining option. Also on-site are two bars serving drinks and light fare, plus a spa and 24-hour fitness center. Guests even have access to complimentary bikes and water-sport equipment.

Spread over six levels, rooms feature either terraces or balconies with garden or ocean views as well as spacious bathrooms with separate showers and tubs. Suites also include a dining area, and some even have private plunge pools.

Opened in May 2014 with a facade mildly reminiscent of a 19th-century European grand hotel, the Mandarin Oriental Taipei might seem incongruous in an Asian city—at least to those unacquainted with the Taiwanese penchant for blending international styles with more typically Asian motifs. The hotel’s Old World luxury extends throughout, from the marble-floored lobby (complete with white columns holding up high cathedral ceilings) to the rooms themselves, which are coolly stunning. Each room, from the standard Deluxe to the sprawling Presidential Suite, has separate tubs and walk-in showers inside a marble bathroom designed to make anyone feel like royalty. As for sleeping arrangements, “plush” is an overused word in hotel reviews, but it’s hard to find a better one to describe the feeling of sinking into a bed with 480-thread-count satin linen (which rises to 1,000 in certain suites) and a goose-down duvet. As a finishing touch, look up: Every room basks in the glow of its own chandelier. Though Marie Antoinette and the Empress Dowager Cixi lived on different continents, both would feel quite at home at the Mandarin Oriental.

The Saguaro Scottsdale is among the handful of downtown Scottsdale hotels that embrace the urban Southwest vibe. Although it began life as a 1970s chain motel—evident in its blocky structure and the compactness of most rooms—this now-hip address has blossomed into the visual equivalent of desert wildflowers at the height of a wet spring. Especially striking against the desert tan that coats just about every other structure in Scottsdale, both outside and in, are a riot of colors that go beyond orange and purple and pink and yellow to such wildflower shades as California Poppy and Red Desert Globemallow. Just as vibrant is the Saguaro’s pool-party scene, aided, no doubt, by water temps chilled or heated as the season dictates. A complete redo of the Saguaro’s rooms in January 2017 gave them a modern Southwest vibe (think pastel-colored prints of cacti and desert-hued furnishings), but not so much that guests will be asking the concierge where to shop for cowboy boots (which would be Saba’s, just down the street, in Old Town).

Reachable only by boat, Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa has incredible views of virgin forest, mountains, and water. The Aysén region is one of the least accessible, less touristy areas of Chile, and it’s really worth going the extra mile. The hotel was created by businessman Eberhard Kossmann, who in 1986 sailed with his family through the fjords south of Puerto Montt. He fell in love with this spot and by a stroke of luck was offered to buy the plot of land a few years later—and so began his first venture into tourism.

Built from local wood, Puyuhuapi Lodge & Spa sits alongside the Termas de Puyuhuapi (Puyuhuapi Hot Springs), and all the hotel’s hot water and heating is sourced from the thermal waters. Guests spend days exploring this beautiful part of Chile on excursions that range from hiking and kayaking to bird-watching and trips to glaciers. Evenings are spent soaking in the hot springs and relaxing in this picture-perfect wooden lodge on the waterfront.

Better known as MOHAI, this collection dives deep into local history, from the region’s maritime history to its tradition of technological innovation. Highlights include Boeing’s first commercial plane, the 1856 Petticoat Flag sewn by women during the Battle of Seattle, and the original Rainier Brewing Company neon R sign. Behind the stunning building—overlooking Lake Union—bob National Historic Landmark vessels: most notably the star of the 1934 MGM movie Tugboat Annie and the 1921 Virginia V, a steamer that opens its decks for balls, excursions, and trivia nights. The Center for Wooden Boats has displays and rents vessels on the neighboring docks (cwb.org).

You have to be a little bit loco to want to visit Central de Abasto, much less actually go there, but it is the ultimate market experience. Central de Abasto is the market that supplies all of the other fruit and vegetable markets in the city and many others throughout the country. More than 30,000 tons of fresh produce enter and leave the market daily, or the equivalent of 80% of the fruits and vegetables consumed in the capital. It’s not for the faint of heart, though; this market is all business and hustle is the name of the game. Browsing and taking photos of towers of colorful vegetables are not recommended because aisles are crowded and fleet-on-their-feet workers moving hand trucks of goods don’t tolerate dawdling slowpokes.