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Traditional Florentine restaurants offer visitors a chance to sample the earthy regional cuisine with dishes that include bruschetta topped with white beans; Tuscan ribollita; pappardelle pasta with hare sauce; roast pork with garlic and rosemary; and, of course, bistecca alla Fiorentina, or Florentine steak, a vast T-bone cooked the traditional way over olive wood and eaten almost raw. Here’s where to find the best authentic home cooking in Florence.

Argentina at a Gallop

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

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

One of the most dynamic conductors in the world of classical music, Alondra de la Parra, shares how music focuses her travel and informs her creative vision.

Albert Kahn’s photographic archive is a mesmerizing record of human history.

AFAR chose a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sent writer Eric Weiner on a spontaneous journey to Liechtenstein.

Chris Colin experiences a Caribbean paradise from both sides of a resort’s walls.

Known locally as Jozi or Jo’burg, South Africa’s largest city embodies modern Africa. The town’s most famous resident, Nelson Mandela, lived just up the road from the stylish Residence Boutique Hotel and penned his autobiography at the Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa. For a different side of the city, visit the Fairlawns Boutique Hotel for high tea or the Clico Boutique Hotel for a break from the hustle.

When Fairmont Century Plaza first opened in 1966, this luxury hotel on a former backlot of 20th Century Fox Studios became the first hotel in the U.S. to have color televisions. The hotel was also of the site of President Nixon’s Dinner of the Century honoring the return of the Apollo 11 astronauts, and it hosted the 10th Grammy Awards when the Beatles won Album of the Year for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Today, it sits in the epicenter of Hollywood biggest talent agency offices and a chic shopping destination.

The building itself is a midcentury work from Minoru Yamaski (designer of the original World Trade Center). A $2.5 billion dollar reimagination in 2021 by studio Yabu Pushelberg brought an updated elegance that redued the number of guest rooms from 720 to 400 larger accommodations. The cool-toned rooms and 85 terrace-studded suites are adorned with digital paintings and landscape photographs and outfitted with Le Labo amenities. The outdoor pool is an oasis between office towers. The expansive 14,000 square foot spa, one of LA’s largest, offers a range of futuristic treatments including biohacking (which involves infrared technology, neuroscience, and meditation) and an “anti-gravity chair.” Celebrity trainers work with the hotel and Techno gym bags with weights and equipment can be delivered to rooms.

Lumière is the hotel’s modern brasserie serving a California spin on French cuisine that leans on seasonal ingredients. And in keeping with the hotel’s star-spangled entertainment legacy, in the soaring, sandy-hued lobby, The Bar doubles as a drinking den for meticulously crafted cocktails and live music venue. Elton John and Mariah Carey have played here, and now a next-gen lineup of artists play neo soul, jazz and other styles five evenings a week.

Few entrances are more quintessentially Venetian than the one made gliding up in a boat to the private jetty of the Aman Canal Grande. And few addresses surpass that of the Gritti Palace hotel, located front and center on the Grand Canal in San Marco. For a classic Venice experience, saddle up to Harry’s Bar at Belmond Hotel Cipriani. To escape the crowds of bustling Piazza San Marco book a stay at the Hilton Molino Stucky, just a five-minute boat ride away on Giudecca Island.

Lest you think there’s no shopping in Aspen that’s not either Prada-fancy or wool socks-casual, this town has great boutiques, bookstores, general stores, art galleries, antique shops, housewares, purveyors of western wear, AND great luxury brands and outfitters. Take a stroll through town and see if you can resist.

AFAR chose a destination at random—by literally spinning a globe—and sent Frank Viviano on a spontaneous journey to Venezuela.

A new generation of tastemakers puts Beijing on the fashion map.

In search of a flightless, sex-crazed, and rarely seen parrot in a land once ruled by birds.