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Amazon headquarters might be in Seattle, but the city still has—and proudly supports—many independent bookstores with enthusiastic and knowledgeable staff members. From general interest to children’s bookstores and even a cookbook store, you can feed your need to read at these bibliophile havens in Capitol Hill and beyond.

San Antonio caters to every traveler with a wide range of accommodations, from a design hotel in the Pearl Brewery district to a Hill Country resort with impressive amenities. Many offer award-winning restaurants or spas, while others put you in close proximity to the River Walk with its Tex-Mex restaurants and live music venues.

The best accommodations in Rio have access to the city’s beaches, views, or both. For a stylish stay, try one of the design hotels that keep cropping up in Rio’s hills, especially in the bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood.

A week in San Antonio provides plenty of time to explore the city’s many historic landmarks, wander the River Walk, taste your way through the Pearly Brewery, and head out to Hill Country on a day trip or, perhaps, an overnight.

Sweden’s southernmost region, Skåne, feels like its own country. Malmö is its eco-friendly capital, plus there’s historic Helsingborg, university town Lund, and lush, rolling hills in the countryside. They even have their own special dialect. And it’s just a 35-minute dash across the Öresund Bridge from Malmö to Copenhagen, Denmark.

If eating huge plates of pork, deciphering local slang, and snowshoeing through the woods of Québec can’t bring two siblings together, what can?

In Japan’s capital, youth dress up—and let loose—in over-the-top themed establishments.

AFAR chose a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sent David Farley on a spontaneous journey to Bolivia.

How do you make sense of diverse, dizzying São Paolo? Talk to the people who make the sushi, spray the graffiti, and build the giant watermelons.

The Spirit of Istanbul

Three days in Tokyo offers just enough time to give you a taste of the city’s range. Explore the Nezu Museum, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo National Museum, and the Meiji Shrine to immerse yourself in Japanese history, art, and culture. Start one of your days early with a tuna auction at the Toyosu Market--formerly the Tsukiji Fish Market--before heading off do some shopping, head to the top of Roppongi Hills for a view of the city, or to taste your way around the world--without leaving Tokyo.

What could an Alaska local ever discover on a voyage through the Inside Passage? Just the essence of the place he thought he knew.

How can you go wrong when you’re surrounded by spectacular hills, crashing waterfalls, shaded paths, glinting mountain lakes, winding highways with dramatic overlooks, and all of it within reach of Dollywood? Come to the Smokies and have some natural fun.

All along the Eastern Seashore of Australia you will encounter spheres of sand in patterns, lines, and random assortments on the beach. At first, it looks a bit like sand circles after an alien beach landing, but if you wait around long enough, you will observe the a sand bubbler crab hard at work on a natural masterpiece. On this particular evening, the tide was low and the entire beach was covered with little balls of sand. Cape Hillsborough National Park is a stunning bit of land with plenty of curiosities, including friendly beach-minded kangaroos and several walks including a long stretch of beach to amble along at the end of the day. If you are camping, this park is not to be missed!

The terraced organic garden that steps down the hillside in front of the Stanford Inn (above Mendocino Bay) provides some of the vegetables and herbs for the innovative cuisine in the hotel’s Ravens’ Restaurant. A stroll through the farm, with a visit to the donkeys and horses and llamas, helps work up an appetite for the vegetable-based whole-food meals that raise the bar on all-vegan fine dining. Innkeeper Jeff Stanford puts his ethics on the plate: Vegan for both health and philosophical reasons, Stanford collaborates with certified nutrition consultant Sid Hillman and the Ravens’ chefs to create dazzling meals, including one of the most innovative and tempting brunch menus I’ve ever encountered. The Inn, a large boutique hotel with panoramic ocean views, an organic farm, luxury amenities, and a bookstore and wine shop, gains additional points for being dog-friendly--even in a special dining area.