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If you ask anyone who’s visited Atlanta for restaurant recommendations, they’ll almost certainly suggest Mary Mac’s Tea Room. While the spot is a favorite of tourists—and celebrities, for that matter—it’s also a classic American eatery that locals frequent for special occasions. The space itself is sprawling, covering dozens of rooms and feeling much like a teahouse—although the only tea you’ll be drinking here is sweet and cold. The menu has remained relatively unchanged since Mary Mac’s opened in 1945 and includes hearty portions of fried chicken, fried green tomatoes, and Georgia peach cobbler. Go with a group, order several items to share, and don’t be alarmed when goodwill ambassador Jo Carter comes by your table to rub your shoulders. It’s all part of the experience here.

Originally opened in 1946 as a luxury hideaway for the rich and famous, the Hotel Bel-Air’s brilliance as a Hollywood icon has, if anything, increased since its renovation, finished in 2011, by the renowned design teams at Alexandra Champalimaud and the Rockwell Group. Surrounded by 12 acres of fragrant, exotic gardens, the decadent rooms have housed everyone from Grace Kelly to Oprah, from Richard Nixon to the Prince of Wales, all of whom sought serene privacy—and the staff’s renowned discretion.

Ranging from historic riads to big-name resorts, hotels in the Red City are as magical as you’d imagine, with unique amenities like luxurious hammams, central courtyard pools, and rooftop terraces with sweeping views of the Atlas Mountains. Whether you want a place with mint tea, traditional Moroccan décor, or a restaurant once frequented by Winston Churchill, you can find it here, all in close proximity to attractions like the Jardin Majorelle, the Yves Saint Laurent Museum, Djemaa el Fna Square, Bahia Palace, and the Saadiens Tombs.

In the city’s once-gritty fishermen’s quarter, a group of activist chefs is reviving—and reinventing—traditional cuisine.

The perfect one-week trip to Taiwan is best spent in Taipei, with several side trips. There are mountains, beaches, tea farms, hot springs, and waterfalls all close to the capital city, and a few hours away is the spectacular Taroko Gorge. In Taipei, visitors will find traditional markets and temples minutes away from chic shopping, fine dining, and amazing museums. This is the best area to squeeze the most out of a week in Taiwan.

From traditional Moroccan dishes like pigeon pastilla to a chateaubriand steak accompanied by one of the area’s sturdy-yet-subtle red wines, dining in Marrakech means an intoxicating mélange of North African flavors and European-inspired cuisine. Whether you’re on a day tour of tastes around the Red City or you’re spending a weekend in town, you’ll eat in central courtyards, high-end hotels, on balconies, and, if it’s a burger you’re after, the converted schoolhouse of Cafe Clock. One of the flavor threads through all of it: Morocco’s mint tea.

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

If you still need a gift for that one person on your shopping list who doesn’t eat chocolate, head to one of the many Maison Dandoy cookie shops dotted around Brussels. Dandoy is a Belgian institution and they have been making cookies in Brussels since 1829. The cookies are from 100% natural ingredients and some of the recipes are 180 years old. Try the traditional Belgian speculoos, a spicy biscuit a bit like gingerbread, or Pain a la Greque, a Brussels favourite. There is even an Earl Grey cookie with tealeaves – delicious. Not only do Dandoy cookies taste wonderful, but their packaging is lovely, making them the perfect gift. Choose from the newly designed Maison Dandoy boxes or a variety of tin boxes, perfect for travelling.

Housed on the wilder south side of Tahiti near Teahupo’o, Vanira Lodge is easily the island’s best boutique lodging option. Its idyllic location—on the mountain side of the road up a very steep driveway—offers sweeping views of the lagoon, while its bungalows feature a beautiful mix of bamboo, coral, rock, reed, and stained glass. Each room showcases a slightly different design; some have hard-carved furniture and, others, outdoor kitchens. There’s also a swimming pool, lily pond, and plenty of space to children to play, as well as an onsite restaurant, which is a relief to families since the resort is a good 15-minute walk away from Teahupo’o village and the surf beach. During the day, the staff can arrange a myriad of activities, from snorkeling trips to surf lessons. Guests also have access to bikes, although having a rental car makes getting around much easier.

Tokyo has a dizzying number of things to do. Don’t think of that as a problem. Look at a visit to Tokyo—whether your first or your fifth—as an opportunity to go a bit deeper, to peel off layers, to write a list of things you need to visit on your next trip. Ponder that list while at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government building, where you can take in views of Tokyo from the 54th floor observation decks. Make sure it includes visits to Toyosu Market (formerly part of the Tsukiji fish market) for the tuna auctions, the Ghibli Museum (animation fan or not), and Shibuya Crossing. In season, take in the scent of cherry blossoms before heading to a cat cafe for a cup of tea and a cat cuddle. Or just go do all of those things now and create your own deep cuts list for your next visit.

This treasure trove of curiosities by Susanne Schmid and Simon Wirth in Kreis 4 sells all sorts of vintage objects and upcycled items, including Indian Mrinmaya statues, a mango- and teakwood art deco locker from a colonial hotel in Sri Lanka, and stuffed animals made in Chile from classic men’s handkerchiefs. You’ll also find Fiona Caulfield’s exquisite fabric-covered Love Travel Guides.

In an area rife with traditional, minimalist ryokans, the Four Seasons Kyoto is a spectacle of grandeur. The opulence is subtle, however, camouflaged by clean, Zen-like style. At the hotel’s heart is a beautiful, 800-year-old pond garden, which features a picturesque teahouse surrounded by cherry, maple, and willow trees. Inside, luxurious details abound, from the seasonal floral arrangements, to the iPads and in-mirror TVs in the guest rooms, to the plush cabanas and atmospheric lighting at the underground pool. For even greater indulgence, guests can head to the spa for such treatments as sake baths, bamboo-and-green-tea scrubs, and jade-stone massages, as well as facials from cult French brand Biologique Recherche. When hunger strikes, the Michelin-starred Sushi Wakon is waiting. Helmed by master chef Rei Masuda, the 10-seat restaurant serves fresh fish, flown in daily from Tokyo’s Tsukiji market.

Yu Garden is a must-go place in Shanghai, especially you like architecture. It is such a peaceful place to go, even in the rain... This dragon rooftop is inside the Yu (Jade) Garden in Shanghai. The dragon looks toward to the sky, and about to fly into the cloud. The whole body of the dragon last the entire wall.

Yes, Angelina on the Rue de Rivoli (around the Tuileries Garden and the Louvre) is a tourist spot, but it is still one of the best places in Paris for hot chocolate. Their menu of pastries and other small dishes is good, but don’t miss out on the hot chocolate. It is also a fun place to people watch, as there is a mixture of tourists, diplomats and government workers, and grandes dames who frequent the cafe to get their sweet tooth fix. Sit as table 11 (3rd from the back against the mirror) and you’ll sit where Coco Chanel took her hot chocolate nearly every day.

“What better way to understand yoga than to travel to its birthplace?” says Katie Christ. Two years ago, the food stylist put her life in San Francisco on hold to spend two months studying at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (RIMYI) in Pune, India. “It was the biggest luxury I have ever allowed myself.” Katie had been practicing Iyengar yoga, a style of hatha yoga that focuses on alignment and uses props like blocks and belts, for more than 10 years when she decided she wanted to study in India.

She applied to RIMYI, where the venerable B.K.S. Iyengar (above), the founder of Iyengar yoga, occasionally teaches with his son and daughter. “It’s not for the faint of heart,” says Katie. “There’s no music. No incense.” RIMYI requires each applicant to have eight years of Iyengar experience plus a letter of recommendation from his or her yoga teacher. Acceptance can take up to two years. The year before she attended, Katie traveled to Pune for two weeks to experience life in the city.

That first visit happened to coincide with B.K.S. Iyengar’s 90th birthday. “I had no Indian garb appropriate for the festivities, so I went shopping, and in one afternoon I saw so much. A woman making a rangoli, a traditional folk art design, let me try to draw one with colored powder on the street. At the market I saw a man whose sole job was to peel garlic bulbs. I tasted the most amazing chai, made by a chai wallah who used pliers to crush fresh ginger into a pot of milk with tea leaves and ground spices. I knew I wanted to stay. [On my second trip] these experiences would become part of my everyday routine.”

The institute doesn’t provide housing, so Katie used her first visit to find a flat to rent for her two-month stay. “I had the perfect commute: a 10-minute walk through a public garden where I would watch teens flirting on benches and women in saris and sneakers taking their morning power walks.” Classes were held six days a week: two-hour sessions led by a member of the Iyengar family and three hours of open practice each day, and an hour of pranayama (controlled breathing) once a week. “In open practice, I experienced incredible generosity from students who were advanced teachers,” says Katie. “If someone recognized that I was struggling, they would come over to help me achieve better alignment. Several times Geeta Iyengar [the daughter of B.K.S. Iyengar] called out to give me specific instruction.

I felt incredibly fortunate, considering there were up to 120 students in a class.” When she wasn’t in class, Katie and her Australian neighbors, all senior Iyengar teachers attending the institute, would hit the markets and seek out the best chai, Indian sweets, and chappals (sandals). On Sundays they took trips to sights like the ancient sculptures and paintings in the Ellora and Ajanta caves. Katie felt her body becoming stronger and her head becoming clearer with each passing day. “The goal of yoga is to calm the chatter of the mind. When I arrived I had tons of chatter,” she says. “After practicing so intensely every day for two months, the chatter became a murmur.”

From $450 for a one-month program, not including meals and accommodations. 91/(0) 20-2565-6134, bksiyengar.com. This story appeared in the January/February 2012 issue.