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Few Austin businesses, much less restaurants, have a history that stretches back as far as that of Mattie’s at Green Pastures. Before it opened as a restaurant in 1946, the elegant Victorian was a private home. A successful Austin hospitality veteran and his partners purchased the property in 2016 and have transformed it from a sleepy establishment kindly referred to as a grande dame of Austin dining into an exquisite showpiece. Plush couches offer seating areas, two handsome bar areas both upstairs and down make for ideal spots to sip cocktails, and the sweeping patio and veranda are well-suited for alfresco dining and peacock-watching. The menu is a pan-Southern celebration, with fried chicken and eggs Benedict starring at brunch and pimento cheese grabbing the spotlight of the evening appetizers.

For decades, Québec was viewed by many Canadians, and even many Québecois, as a conservative, traditional, and rural part of the country that was falling behind other provinces that were looking optimistically toward the future. Those are the years that would come to be known as the Grande Noirceur, or the Great Darkness. In 1959, Maurice Duplessis, known for his staunch Catholicism as well as fierce anti-Communist and anti-union policies, died, and he was followed by Liberal governments that led the so-called Quiet Revolution. Québec would emerge from this period as a decidedly cosmopolitan and socially liberal province. The Expo 1967 and the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal proved to be key moments in which newly transformed Québec introduced itself to the world, and the buildings from both had huge impacts on the cityscape. The Olympic Park’s stadium, designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, is still used for sporting events as well as concerts. The inclined tower on the site has an observatory with sweeping city views. You can explore on your own, though there are also guided tours that provide an introduction to the architectural and engineering innovations of the Olympic Park’s buildings.

Colca Canyon, a three-hour drive north of Arequipa, is one of Peru’s most popular and extraordinary tourist attractions. The chasm is over 13,600 feet deep, making it one of the deepest in the world, and more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. From the Cruz del Condor viewpoint, it is possible to get a panoramic view of this special place along with the chance to witness the flight of majestic Andean condors. This is a great place for partaking in adventure sports with a surreal view.

There are no inhabitants on Petite Terre, a protected pair of islands a few miles southeast of Grande-Terre. One of them is off-limits due to conservation efforts, but Terre-de-Bas is open to visitors and home to iguanas, birds, and hermit crabs, with a reef-protected shore and waters abundant with turtles and colorful fish, including lemon sharks. You can day-trip over from the shores of Saint Francois and enjoy white-sand beaches, swimming, snorkeling, wildlife spotting, and hiking to a lighthouse.

Without a doubt Versailles is the most luxurious palace in Europe, built to astound visitors and impress the king’s subjects into awed submission with crystal chandeliers, gilt, and fine art. This opulent monument is also attractive to those with simpler tastes: Visitors with green thumbs will love the king’s kitchen gardens while others may want to rent bicycles to pedal the lavish grounds, and animal lovers will enjoy the sheep, goats, and chickens receiving the royal treatment at the queen’s quaint hamlet. La Petite Venise, an excellent restaurant on the grounds, offers garden seating on sunny days.

Before the French Revolution, this park used to be the site of the Royal Palace. Today, the garden, which separates the Louvre from Place de la Concorde, is a place where Parisians and tourists stroll amid Rodin and Maillol statues or relax alongside the many fountains after a long afternoon spent at the city’s museums. Done in a formal French style, the garden features manicured rows of trees and grassy areas punctuated by gravel walkways. There are benches throughout but the green metal chairs are the most popular choice of seating; pull one around the ponds as the Parisians do and enjoy your book or a snack while taking in the view. On warm days, people gather at shady cafés around the park; during chilly months, vendors sell mulled wine. Whenever you come, though, we recommend you don’t wear your finest shoes, as the gravel paths will get your kicks quite dusty.

One of the most popular beaches on Guadeloupe is Sainte-Anne, a family-friendly, mile-long stretch of white sand on the south coast of Grand-Terre. A coral reef protects the beach and the resulting calm water offers shallow swimming for the little ones. The beach has everything you need, including a fruit and spice market, casual beachfront restaurants, and a nearby arts and crafts shopping mall. After sunset, it is illuminated until midnight and active families come for a cool night swim, beach volleyball, and street snacks. Food trucks come out for the night, serving up bokits (a kind of fried sandwich) and conch kebabs.

Famous for bringing the world the likes of Arrogant Bastard Ale, Stone Brewing is nothing if not cheeky. This is, after all, the first American craft brewer bold enough to open an outpost in Germany, a country steeped in beer-making tradition. But Stone’s audacity is hardly unfounded, as you’ll discover when you visit the company’s headquarters in Escondido—ideally, for a private tour and tasting. If you’re not already a fan of San Diego’s particularly hoppy style of IPAs, there will be at least one beer on tap that makes you a convert. But first, you’ll walk through the brew house—past mash kettles and whirlpools and fermenters—to learn all kinds of fun facts, whether it’s the surprise source of the chocolaty notes in Stone’s porters and stouts (mega-roasted malted barley) or what the upcycling options are for spent grains (cow feed and dog bones). Pro tip: After your tour, bypass the lovely indoor restaurant for the even lovelier outdoor gardens—all bamboo and koi ponds and hummingbirds. Sit back in an Adirondack chair with a beer (try one of the extra-innovative brews on offer only here) and warm pretzels with Stone Ripper Pale Ale beer cheese sauce.

This English-inspired hotel has been the place to stay in New Orleans for basically forever—well, since it opened in 1984, at least. It’s plush without being pompous, stately without being too serious, though it should be said that this is the kind of place where gents might wear a pocket square and watch fob and feel right at home. The $8 million art collection, which includes original works by Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Huysman, is museum-worthy (you can even take an audio tour), and the 4,500-square-foot spa, part of the 2012 $22 million renovation, is one of the city’s most luxurious. Other notable upgrades include the lobby cocktail bar—a more feminine alternative to the leather-clad Polo Club Lounge, and an outdoor pool.

Overshadowed by its larger and more well-known cousins, Palenque and Chichén-Itzá, Uxmal (“Oosh-mahl”) is the ruins of an ancient Maya city located near present-day Campeche. In its heyday, Uxmal was one of the largest cities of the Yucatan peninsula with a population of about 25,000 Maya. Today, it is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Ancient Maya architecture in this part of Mexico is referred to as Puuc architecture, and Uxmal is a prime example of this style. Though there are some Puuc structures in Chichén-Itzá, Uxmal is unique in all of Mexico. Puuc design is most notable for buildings with a plain lower façade and a richly decorated upper façade. Carvings most commonly found include serpents and latticework. Uxmal is dedicated to the Maya rain god, Chaac, and you can see his image everywhere. On the day we were here, it was blisteringly hot and humid; I could’ve used some rain! When I first laid eyes on the four buildings that make up the complex known as the Nunnery Quadrangle, I thought they were the most elegant Maya ruins I had ever seen. The clean lines of the buildings give them a modernity that is surprising considering Uxmal was built more than 1,000 years ago! The carvings on the upper facades are just spectacular and give the entire structure a very delicate feel. Uxmal is located close to Chichén-Itzá, so if you go to Chichén, consider going a bit further to visit Uxmal. You won’t regret it!

Locals agree that Marie-Galante is the “real” Guadeloupe. Daily ferries whisk visitors and residents back and forth to this island, 40 minutes south of Grande-Terre across occasionally choppy waters. But the charming, pastoral island is well worth it. On Marie-Galante, more farmers ride ox-drawn carts than buses, and the most uncrowded, pristine beaches line the turquoise waters here—like the secluded and brilliant white Plage Vieux Fort. The food is traditional Creole, served with pride in homes-turned-dining-rooms, while the rhum distilleries are considered the best in Guadeloupe.

Go to Hell, so named for the underworld-evoking field of jagged, blackened limestone formations that crop up in this tiny Caymanian town, where iguanas handily outnumber human residents. While you’re there, stop into Hell’s Gift Shop to browse the quip-covered stickers, mugs, and T-shirts (HAVING A HELL OF A DAY!), and send loved ones postcards from Hell’s one and only post office. You’ll be greeted by an octogenarian Lucifer, aka Ivan Farrington, who’s been dressing the part for decades—as he’ll happily demonstrate with his 1980-something star turn on Inside Edition (rest assured—he’ll have the tape all cued up in the VCR in anticipation of your arrival).

Two streets down from Bree Street, Long Street has a very different vibe, with a lively mix of shops, vendors, Victorian buildings, and backpacker accommodations. The hipster/eclectic tone of the place is reflected in names like the Widow Maker Saloon & Barber and the Grand Daddy Hotel, with its rooftop Airstream Trailer Park. Along the one-mile stretch, the offerings range from the Yours Truly coffee shop to the fabulous Clarke’s Bookshop to the Pan African Market to Mama Afrika restaurant. Some of the best burgers in town are found at the Royale Eatery. At the very top of the street is the 110-year-old Long Street Baths & Turkish Steam Bath—nothing fancy but worth visiting. Long Street and its extension, Kloof Street, come frenetically alive on weekend nights. There are a lot of foreigners doing Cape Town on the cheap here, as well as locals on the make, so keep your wits about you.

José Clemente Orozco, one of the “Tres Grandes” of Mexican muralists (along with Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros), is one of Guadalajara’s most famous sons and unlike another one, the architect Luis Barragán, many of Orozco’s most important works are in the city (at the Hospicio Cabanas, the University of Guadalajara, and other buildings). It may come as a surprise, then, that there is no museum dedicated to the painter and his works in his hometown. You might think, given its name, that the Casa Taller José Clemente Orozco would be it, but the house and studio was only used briefly by Orozco on visits to Guadalajara in the last three years of his life.

After his death, in 1951, his widow decided to turn it into a cultural center. There is only one work by Orozco on display in the building (La Buena Vida). Painted for the exclusive Turf Club, it shows a scene of festive debauchery, complete with scantily clad female dancers. Except for some perhaps veiled criticism, it shares little in common with Orozco’s more typical scenes of revolution. While the Casa Taller is not the place to go to learn about Orozco or see his works, it should be on your list if you want to see current works by contemporary Mexican and international artists. Its galleries regularly house temporary installations and shows by current artists following in Orozco’s footsteps by creating challenging socially engaged works. Admission is free.

On the west side of Arenal Volcano, this 900-acre tropical reserve was a labor of love for owner and architect Jaime Mikowski, who spent years planting acres of native plants and coaxing the land’s natural mineral springs into a river that now flows throughout the property, spilling over into dozens of waterfalls and pools that range from 72 to 105 degrees. Spacious rooms have marble floors and streamlined furnishings; splurge on a suite, which features a private terrace and a Jacuzzi tub—a little superfluous considering all the other options for soaking in warm water here, but who’s complaining? There are also five swimming pools, one with a swim-up bar and waterslide, and a spa comprising 12 bungalows with treatments that all include, you guessed it, a dip in a thermal spring-fed tub. While the property is also open to day trippers, guests of the resort have exclusive access to Shangri-La Gardens, an adults-only lounge area with pools, cabanas, and a folliage-filled bar.