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A weekend getaway guide to Quebec City filled with local-approved recommendations for first-timers. What are the main sights? Where should you eat? What are Quebec City’s best kept secrets? Use this easy-to-follow guide to Montreal’s stunning little sister to plan your trip.

While you’ll never have time for all of Shanghai’s best sights, here are some of our favorites. Seek out the city’s art and mind-blowing architecture, decompress in tranquil gardens, or tour long-forgotten nightclubs. Trust us: You won’t be bored.

The food and wine of the Amalfi Coast, local and impossibly fresh, are the perfect companions to the landscape. Savor every taste, from the morning’s pastry eaten on a sunny piazza to the evening’s final sip of grappa enjoyed on a seaside terrace.

Independent for 1100 years, Venice still looks and feels very distinct from much of Italy. It’s been overrun by tourists, especially cruise lines, but still has so much to offer that it’s well worth spending a few days here. The city is one massive atmospheric experience so stroll far and wide. One note about dining: Venice is overrun by tourist traps. You’ll know them by their plastic coated menus and hawkers. Look for the Slow Food snail icon in the window as a guide to quality.

There are few more picturesque destinations than southern Italy’s Sorrentine peninsula. Stretching from the Bay of Naples to the Gulf of Salerno, the dramatic coastline is dotted with cliff-side towns that overlook brilliant blue waters and are favored by the jetset for their pebbled beaches and terraced gardens, dreamy lemon groves and villa retreats—think Amalfi, Ravello, Positano. Want your own piece of la dolce vita? Here are the hotels and resorts where you’ll find it.

A journey into Morocco’s Berber territory, where tradition and modern life meet.

Without traveling far, you can visit three countries in one day. From the tiny principality of Monaco, explore the legendary French Riviera, and cross the border to Italy’s picturesque Ventimiglia.

There is a reason why renting a villa in Tuscany is so popular - rustic farmhouses, rolling hills filled with olive and plum trees, golden sunsets, locally-harvested wine, creamy cheeses, and cool evenings spent with friends and family. Renting a villa provides a relaxing base for your sightseeing in the region. Almost all Tuscan towns allow easy day trips to the main sights: - Florence‘s art and Renaissance history (Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo’s David) - Cortona’s steep, narrow streets and medieval walls - Siena’s cultural city center, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site - San Gimignano’s fortified towers set amidst picture-perfect Tuscan hillsides - Montelpulciano’s world-famous wineries and more This offers the best of both worlds - after a dusty day of sightseeing, you can relax at your villa with a jump in the pool and a glass of wine. Watch the sun go down in a purplish haze, unwind with friends, and enjoy the lovely moment. I recommend YourTuscany.com, which is where we found Villa Coloniale (above) in the town of Pergine Valdarno. The infinity pool and covered patio are guaranteed to put you in a relaxed, Italian frame of mind!

If you plan to visit Yellowstone National Park in the summer—when grizzly bear sightings, hot spring treks, and Grand Teton Mountain vistas are at their peak—remember to reserve a room far in advance. With their guided tours and unparalleled access to nature, these lodges fill up fast.

Walk the Forum, queue early for the Vatican Museums, get reserved tickets for the Borghese Galleries. These and a host of other museums are all mind blowing. Stroll Trastevere, with Its vibrant local culture. Take a boat trip down the Tiber to Ostia Antica, Ancient Rome’s port city.Rome has cornered the contemporary arts scene for quite some time and now has two massive institutions to show for it, the Macro and the Zaha Hadid designed Maxxi.

Young artists stake their claim to the city’s open spaces.

No Roman holiday would be complete without spending some time, at the very least, window shopping your way through the city. But it will be hard to stave off the urge to buy goods on some of the world’s best shopping streets. (Roads leading to the Spanish Steps tend to be lined with beautiful goods.) Rome’s shops sell exquisite delights from Italian designers, including leather bags, clothes and accessories (the eyeglasses at Ottica Spiezia will make you swoon), and much more. Of course, there are also plenty of food shops so you can bring home the tastes of Rome too.

Morning, afternoon, or evening, Milan knows how to do caffè culture right. Known as “bars” in Italy, these local spots serve coffee drinks and pastries in the morning, and delicious savory and apertif menus in the afternoons.

There are so many cafes in Cape Town, it’s not hard to find a place for brunch on the weekends or during the work week. A classic breakfast in Cape Town features eggs, slices of broiled tomato, Canadian-style bacon, and toast or pastries. Fresh fruit, granola and yogurt is also a common choice. For a local delicacy, try buttermilk rusks, which are best eaten after dipping for a few seconds in your morning coffee. These brunch spots will start your full day of sightseeing in Cape Town off right.