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Pack your bikini and a bottle of cold Ticinese rosé and head to the campanile-spiked hills above Locarno. In Switzerland’s sunny and steep-sloped Italian-speaking Canton Ticino, locals and visitors alike love a bracing dip in the cool mountain water—and there’s no better place to witness this than at the historic Ponte dei Salti (Jumping Bridge), a double-arched bridge across the Verzasca River where bronzed young Ticinese plunge into the river’s lustrous emerald depths. From the city of Locarno, the intense hike to the ancient Roman relic hugs the Verzasca River and passes through chestnut groves, vineyards, fragrant pine forests, and the iconic Contra (or Verzasca) Dam where scenes from the James Bond thriller GoldenEye were shot. If your time is limited, take the 45-minute PostBus to the bridge (included with a Swiss Travel Pass) and walk down. Or take the bus all the way to the end of the road in the Alpine village of Sonogno, where a jade-colored waterfall pool, the river’s source, awaits.

Bordeaux’ river Garonne is a tricky one to navigate. The tidal changes are impressive; they often make the river flow in one direction in the morning and the opposite at night. The training of the river captains has to be rigorous.

One morning we left Bordeaux just before sunrise to catch a short window with just the right tidal conditions, that let our ship carefully sail through the arches of the famous Pont de Pierre,....without much room to spare. It was definitely a morning to haul out of bed for.

A short history: the Pont de Pierre was designed under Napoleon I, and inaugurated in 1822. It has 17 arches, one for each letter in Napoleon Bonaparte’s name. Until 1965 (!!) it was the only bridge that crossed the Garonne in Bordeaux.

Located in the northwest corner of France, the provinces of Alsace and Lorraine are at once proudly French and slightly German. Here, you’ll find traditionally French attractions like soaring cathedrals, manicured parks, and art nouveau mansions, but you’ll also encounter half-timbered houses, historic breweries, and lots and lots of sauerkraut. Visit cities like Metz, Nancy, Strasbourg, and Colmar and you may find yourself wondering what country you’re in, or ride a bike over the Pont de l’Europe and see both France and Germany in one day.

From rivers and trails to gardens and parks, come enjoy seasonal fun and local flavors across the Richmond Region.

This Ferragamo-owned restaurant is located on the river with in-your-face views of the Ponte Vecchio for the lucky few who manage to book one of the tables on the terrace. Chef Peter Brunel has been making waves with his creative menus: Borgo San Jacopo has been awarded a Michelin star for the past several years in a row. Yes, it’s expensive, but with a tasting menu featuring dishes such as porcini mushroom ice cream and fig molasses and risotto with sea urchin, it’s a meal you won’t soon forget.

A fully vegetarian menu is also available, as is a wine pairing for those adventurous eaters who would prefer for the team’s experienced somms to take the lead.

Kong restaurant is one of the stylish and trendies places in Paris. Its glass rooftop on the second floor allow the diners to overlook Paris’ lights at night. Very hip and trendy location, which makes the night in Paris very magical. Some of you might recognize the place from one of ‘Sex and the City’ final episodes. Make sure to make reservations for your special night.

While fields of sheep, cattle and horses are common sights in rural Belgium, you may do a double-take while passing by L’Autrucherie du Pont d’Amour, near Dinant. Yes those giant birds are ostriches (and a few emus, rheas and cassowaries). The ostrich farm has been in operation since 1995 and sells many different products in its farm shop. You an purchase ostrich meat, which is extremely low in cholesterol, ostrich eggs, which can feed up to 8 people, feathers and even ostrich leather. The farm also sells home-made sausages and pates. The farm has open days and you can arrange a tour of the facilities. Even if you don’t stop by the shop, it’s worth driving by the farm just to see these majestic birds in such an unlikely place.

Every city has an eatery that’s a mainstay for shoppers, and in Milan, it’s the tony Brera neighborhood restaurant Convivium. House specialties include complimentary rosemary flatbread, four-cheese pizza, and sea salt−encrusted sea bass for two. Via Ponte Vetero 21, 39/02-8646-3708.

I love the Mashatu Game Reserve in Botswana, near the Limpopo River. The opportunity to explore the 25,000-hectare reserve by bicycle or by foot is something that rarely happens on a safari. You can arrange morning and late afternoon walks with one of their phenomenal rangers, staying in the comfort of camp in the evenings, or you can opt to head out on a three- or four-day adventure on foot, camping each night. Either way, you’ll soon be among the elephants, giraffes, and other beautiful animals in their natural surrounds.

“What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” So said local philosopher and writer Jean-Jacques Rousseau, a statue of whom oversees his namesake island, a wee, romantic spot in the middle of the Rhone where it empties into Lake Geneva. The island-park may be served by two bridges, but it feels like a universe of its own and is a favorite of many visitors and locals in Geneva. The tranquil tree-lined island was once a 16th-century fortification that protected the city, then the site of a bustling shipyard before finally being transformed to a peaceful sanctuary in 1832, when the Pont des Bergues bridge was constructed. (The Pont des Bergues ends across from the 1834 Hotel des Bergues, which was the first meeting place of the United Nations and is now a Four Seasons Hotel.)

Matias Perdomo is an Argentinian with a preference for Molecular Gastronomy, influenced by such greats as the Roca Brothers and Ferran Adrià, running a kitchen and a dining room overflowing till late into the night in an unusual part of Milan. Far from the Duomo and the fashion boutiques of Milan’s trendier areas, Matias has instead chosen to inhabit a former trattoria along the canals in the Navigli District. So far, he has one Michelin Star that’s more than deserved. Could he get more? It isn’t likely. Adorably, Matias doesn’t play the game that so many chefs do in pursuit of Michelin’s good graces. The restroom is out back (as in, next to the deep freeze and where the employees wash their hands), the chairs are uncomfortable, the tables are often shared with fellow patrons you’ve never met, the kitchen itself might be too small to ever meet the full demand of another star or two. Yet Matias is a Michelin Man. He’s creating the kind of food that people will wait any amount of time for, return over and over to enjoy and tell their friends about for weeks, months, maybe even years after. He’s friendly, making his rounds through the dining room and resting a hand on the shoulder of a pretty Italian woman in a way that’s not unwelcome, smiling with a grin that can’t be anything but disarming and generally making friends with any patron who enters his door. Al Pont de Ferr is a place where everyone saves room for dessert and everyone leaves happy.

The Rialto Bridge is the oldest of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal, and without question it’s one of the most iconic sights in Venice. There has been a bridge at this site since the 12th century, connecting the districts of San Marco and San Polo, and until the Accademia Bridge was built in 1854, the Ponte di Rialto was the only way to cross the canal on foot. Early versions of the bridge were made of wood and eventually succumbed to fire or collapse, until its current incarnation was constructed of stone by Antonio da Ponte in 1591. Beyond the mandatory walk across the single-span stone bridge, there is an open-air market at its eastern foot that is worth a wander. Skip the stores selling jewelry on the Rialto Bridge itself, however; you’ll find better quality and value in other parts of the city.

The name says it all: this sleek bar is set right on the south bank of the Arno, just east of the Ponte Vecchio and the sunset views of the bridge as dusk falls are indeed golden. Bag a table in the window, order a cocktail and help yourself from a great selection of snacks laid out on the bar counter. If you want dinner, move to the restaurant next door where there are regular live jazz sessions.

Somewhere between a luxury yacht and a royal residence, the Hotel Lungarno seems like the sort of place where Audrey Hepburn’s Princess Ann, of Roman Holiday, would have felt right at home. A 16th-century private residence on the southern banks of the Arno, next to the iconic Ponte Vecchio, the hotel was the first entry into the Ferragamo family’s Lungarno hotel collection, lovingly restored by renowned Florentine architect/designer Michele Bönan. With rich navy carpets, stained-wood furnishings, crisp white linens, and as many large, river-facing windows as he could get away with. It comes as no surprise, either, that the house restaurant is considered among the best in the city. Even if the food and the atmosphere weren’t top-notch (and they are), the sunset views of the city lights reflected in the river would be worth it.

You can’t visit Florence without indulging in ice cream once at the very least, but it’s not so easy to find the real deal. Carapina, gelateria of choice for cognoscenti (but often overlooked by tourists), is located a stone’s throw from the Ponte Vecchio, brain child of Simone Bonin who is widely acknowledged to be one of the best ice cream makers in Italy. Sixteen flavors are available at any one time and produced in small batches each day from top-notch local, strictly seasonal ingredients. Classics include pistachio, ‘real’ yoghurt and the bitterest of bitter chocolate but there are more unusual flavors too like the sweet/salty gorgonzola, Parmigiano reggiano or creamy mozzarella di bufala.