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Founded in 2002, Big Lou’s is famous for its enormous pizzas. Ringing in at 42 inches, the pies have been featured everywhere from the Food Network to the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food. Cover yours in classic toppings, or order specialty versions such as the white, the veggie, or barbecue, which comes slathered in two types of cheese and barbecue sauce. In case you’re not a pizza person, the menu also features wings, salads, sandwiches, calzones, and pasta.

The name says it all: To dine at Bliss is pure euphoria. In an intimate space with just 52 seats, this Southtown restaurant offers a dining experience you won’t soon forget. Mixing hearty classics with Southwest-inspired cuisine, the menu ranges from braised beef short ribs with buttery mashed potatoes to vegetarian enchiladas stuffed with roasted butternut squash, cremini mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, and cheese. Appetizers are equally enticing, especially the Japanese hamachi sashimi tostadas and the oyster sliders, served with candied bacon on buttermilk chive biscuits.

The Verandah makes up the restaurant section of 40 North, a small food outlet in the unlikely location of North Bragar, on the west side of the Isle of Lewis. It’s less than 25 minutes from the town of Stornoway but feels much farther when driving the windswept coastline. Opened in 2017, the intimate eatery features just 20 seats for dinner service only. Reservations are essential to enjoy such delicious dishes as roast ginger sea bass with crab, and lamb loin in a sauce of mint, rosemary, currant, red wine, port, and brandy.

This three-mile stretch of white sand is the only public beach at the gated Puntacana Resort & Club. Even so, non-guests can only reach the beach after dining at the resort’s oceanfront Playa Blanca Restaurant. It’s worth it, though, as the calm turquoise water is ideal for swimming, kayaking, and catamaran sailing. A mesh barrier keeps seaweed out of the swimming and beach areas, ensuring pristine water and sand as far as the eye can see.

Built in 1901, the legendary “First Lady of Waikiki” blends Victorian architecture with a golden beach and turquoise seas. Putting a luxury hotel in a deserted backwater was a bold move—but one that paid off. Tourism took off here and the Moana remains its ruling monarch. One of the most lovely, historical hotels in Hawaii, it still has Ionic columns supporting an elegant porte-cochère, plus a long shaded gallery along its facade where rocking chairs encourage guests to watch the world go by. A $21-million renovation brought it up-to-date in 2014 and added a new beach club. But an exhibit room still honors its rich past on the second floor of the Banyan Wing, and serves as a jumping-off point for free historical tours (11 a.m., Mondays and Wednesdays).

The mysterious rooftop of Casa Mila both charms and haunts visitors. The glorious October sky above frames the organic forms, each sculpted face watching as I creep up and down the rolling ramps. Children can’t resist playing here, and fortunately there are now fences all around. In my mind, I erase all of those pesky safety features to envision the smooth sculptures growing towards the sky from a scrolling sandy field. Once a site for a scene from Star Wars, the rooftop is now a destination for lovers of Barcelona and Antoni Guadi’s “Modernisma” style. When you visit, you’ll learn the secret behind those long vertical faces rising up above the mystical rooftop.

From the luxury Oetker Collection, Le Bristol is one of the first hotels in France to obtain Palace distinction. Occupying nearly an entire block on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré near the Élysée presidential palace, this soulful property has been a gathering place for Parisians since 1925. The 190 guest rooms, which feel like private apartments, are decorated with precious fabrics, paintings, and 18th-century antiques. The on-site attractions include a spa by Le Prairie, a teak-lined pool resembling a yacht, and a courtyard garden fragrant with jasmine. For more than a decade, chef Eric Frechon has held three Michelin stars at Epicure, where menu fixtures include the macaroni stuffed with black truffle and foie gras. Frechon’s culinary dominions are a portal into French gastronomy itself: The hotel has its own chocolate factory, cheese cellar, flour mill, and boulangerie.

Jaffa, the oldest seaport in the world, is home to a vibrant multiethnic community of Muslims, Christians, and Jews next to Tel Aviv. Archaeology and ancient documents show that Jaffa has been in existence as a port city for more than 4,000 years and is where Jonah (of Jonah and the whale) set off from. Until recently, the port had become derelict, but after major renovations, it now teems with life and culture, from seafood restaurants and organic-coffee cafés to bookstores and theaters. The Old Port (known as Namal Yafo) is also a sort of artist colony, with numerous art galleries and studios. The views are breathtaking, especially at sunset.

São Martinho do Porto is a bay located at the Silver Coast in Portugal. In a bit more than one hour (by car) from Lisbon and few minutes away from Nazaré or from Alcobaça, where you can visit the monastery. In Summer time, blue and white tents invade the sandy beach. Walking along the bay, heading South, you will easily reach Salir do Porto, a former salination village; with low tide, you can cross the river and go up the Salir dune, so that you can then slide or run down…or in another way. Heading to the North side of the bay, you will reach the port. There are many small anchored boats and it is possible to go sailing or canoeing.

Swimming and snorkeling around Xtabi (pronounced “X-tah-bee”) Resort’s underwater caves are a unique experience and a well-kept secret from first-timers. While it’s a great place to stay, overshadowed by places like Rockhouse Hotel, you don’t have to be a guest to enjoy this “meeting place of the Gods” as the name describes. You’ll want to have lunch at the casual, outdoor restaurant first--choices are excellent and include club sandwiches to jerk chicken (even if a tad pricier than from the street grills). After lunch and a rest, change into your swimwear and make your way carefully down the steps until you reach a sandy cove entrance into the sea, beside caves and jutting rocks. Splash in and come out on the front side of the cliffs, where there are ladders to exit or enter as well, if you’re feeling a bit timid. A laid back environment, gorgeous waters--just a tad more jade-colored on this end, for some reason--and underground caves ideal for photo ops make Xtabi a great spot to spend the afternoon. When you tire, climb back up to sip on a Dirty Banana and sunbathe on one of the platforms beside splashing waves.

Also called Matías de Gálvez, Santo Tomás de Castilla has been functioning as a leisure cruise port since 2004. Whatever you call the coastal town, it was once under Belgian rule. The European influence is most notable in the streets—literally. The main promenade was constructed using Belgian stones, and it is lined with local shops and homes. The Belgian cemetery houses 19th-century pioneers.

While The Kitchin is among Edinburgh’s best restaurants—it was awarded a Michelin star in 2007—it’s far from stuffy or pretentious. Housed in a renovated warehouse on the Port of Leith, it revolves around chef Tom Kitchin’s passion for Scotland’s natural larder, offering modern British cuisine made with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Menus range from à la carte to surprise tasting options, and include such creative dishes as a rockpool of local seafood with sea vegetables, ginger, and shellfish consommé, and roasted deer loin with carrot, fresh apple, and red wine sauce.

Mandarin Oriental’s first Caribbean resort has all the amenities you’d expect from the luxury brand—with the price tag to match. Nestled within lush greenery overlooking the white sands of Godahl Beach, the 26 suites and villas, which sit on the grounds of a 1,200-acre estate on the island of Canouan, are elegantly appointed with modern furnishings, marble baths, and rosy accents befitting the hotel’s name. Here, though, it’s all about the public spaces, including a Jim Fazio–designed golf course overlooking sparkling blue waters, a hilltop spa specializing in island-themed treatments, and four elegant restaurants serving every kind of cuisine, from pan-Asian to Italian. At Turtles, a cocktail lounge straight out of the Hamptons, opt for the Pepper Bliss, made with rum, bell pepper syrup, and pineapple juice.

These shops in and of themselves are a treasure trove of crafts from the region, but if you venture out to their warehouse, at Mina Zayed (also called the Zayed Port), you’ll find furniture, mirrors and heaps of rugs, from intricate wool kilims to luscious handwoven silks. Bargaining at the warehouse is fine—and don’t worry, they’ll wrap your new rugs into a tiny, packable bundle.

Rafting on the Martha Brae River—a float down a three-mile segment of the river on a 30-foot bamboo raft—provides a pleasant hour or so in one of Jamaica’s gorgeous ecosystems. Passengers can slip into the water and swim beside the raft, or look for birds in the lush trees along the river’s banks, or just sit back and be carried along. The staging area is 20 miles away from Montego Bay.