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Montauk State Park sits at the head of the Current River, where seven springs converge to form a breathtakingly beautiful area. The park is popular with anglers who come to fish for rainbow trout in the cool waters, but also offers ample opportunity for hiking, biking, and picnicking in shady groves. Visitors can even learn a bit of history during tours of the old gristmill, built in 1896 at the center of what was once a thriving community. For a relaxing day in nature, follow the locals to the river, where they float in canoes with coolers of cold drinks in tow, then spend the night at one of the modern campgrounds, rental cabins, or motel rooms that dot the park grounds.

Tannersville’s Deer Mountain Inn looks more like a gigantic personal home than it does a hotel, but therein lies its charm. Set on 168 acres in the Catskills, the gorgeous property features six rooms in an Arts and Crafts-style summer home dating back to 1880, along with a couple of cottages for groups or those seeking extra space. Each room is individually decorated with details like big stone fireplaces, wood-paneled ceilings, and wainscoating, and most have lovely views of the surrounding lawn and forest. There’s no shortage of hiking trails on and around the property and the hotel can arrange bicycle rentals on request. For something a bit more relaxed, there’s a cozy game room with an antique pool table, and regular outdoor painting sessions for the artistically inclined.

Cruise the Venice lagoon on one of the few remaining bragozzo boats still working this body of water. The vintage double-masted, flat-bottom fishing boat, once a common type of vessel here, dates back to 1946. The captain and owner, Mauro Stoppo, is also an excellent chef, which comes in very handy. Charter a daytrip (the boat comfortably carries 6–10 people) and sail to a lesser visited portion of the lagoon. The pace is slow; the food and wine decadent. If you want to charter a longer trip, you’ll explore more of the lagoon by day, learning its history and ecology, and then sleeping in private villas at night.

A two-minute ferry ride from St. Vincent’s Villa Beach brings you to Young Island—the first of the Grenadines. Here, the Young Island Resort welcomes guests and visitors alike to its beachside restaurant for casual breakfasts, local curry buffet lunches, prix-fixe dinners, and barbecue parties. Seated in an open-air hut surrounded by tropical flowers, you can dine on local specialties like freshly caught fish and lobster while enjoying the ocean breeze. Whatever you order, pair it with the restaurant’s signature bread, which comes in banana, coconut, cinnamon, white, wheat, and raisin varieties and gets sliced tableside right before your eyes. Just know that reservations are required to eat here, no matter the time of day.

There’s no better place to enjoy authentic Shanghainese food than inside a 1920s Spanish villa. Right? Right! Take a seat at one of Fu 1088’s vintage tables, and get ready to savor a parade of elegantly plated local dishes. If you’re keen to try a classic Shanghai dish (or you’re all about unapologetically rich cuisine), order the hongshao rou (red braised pork). Or enjoy the lighter tea-smoked duck eggs and drunken chicken made with rice wine and topped with goji berries. The appetizers here skew a bit more modern, with deep-fried prawns with wasabi mayonnaise stealing the show. Note: There’s a minimum per person spend of about $46 at lunch and $77 at dinner.

Architects clearly had fun designing Saruni Samburu, an eco-lodge tucked away in the private Kalama Conservancy in central Kenya. Set on a giant outcropping of volcanic rock, stone serves as furniture and structure in the six spacious villas—jutting out of walls, punctuating the outdoor decking, and transformed into shower stalls with some clever pipework. Creative decor aside, the family-friendly resort enjoys spectacular views over billowing golden rangelands, a scene best appreciated from one of the two infinity pools on site, or with a gin and tonic in hand from the decked patio area. Just be sure to call it an early night: Guests are assigned their own jeeps and guides for daily safari excursions to spot elephants, giraffes, and endangered Grevy’s zebras.

The Palatine Hill was home to an early Roman settlement and had major significance for the city’s history. Legend states that Romulus founded Rome on that hill in 753 B.C.E., and Romans even maintained a cult site sacred to the founding father for about 1,000 years. When the emperors rose to power, they chose the Palatine as the location for their sprawling villas and built enormous marble-clad structures to showcase their wealth and power. Today, the ruins of their majestic estates rise above the Forum and Circus Maximus, reminders of the grand imperial past. A visit is included in the price of a ticket to the Forum or Colosseum.

While the surroundings of the gilded tower of the Waldorf Astoria Beijing aren’t exactly inspiring, the sea of people pouring into Wangfujing gives the neighborhood a lively feel. Opened in 2014, the elegant Waldorf Astoria is undoubtedly designed to cater to nouveau-riche Chinese. The lobby is classic Art Deco, with traces of the orientalism that so fascinated the West during the early 20th century. The Waldorf Astoria Hutong Courtyard, where you’ll find the Waldorf Hutong Villa and four Hutong Studios, evokes the Beijing of bygone ages. It’s not exactly historic, but it does offer a sense of hutong living.

Fifteen minutes south of the Puntacana Resort & Club, Eden Roc at Cap Cana is the most exclusive of the six hotels in the gated Cap Cana Reserve. At this Relais & Châteaux property, guests have their choice of beachfront suites with kitchens; stand-alone suites with private pools, gardens, and verandas; and oceanfront villas that come with butler service. Whichever you pick, you’ll also have access to an oceanfront infinity pool, a 30,000-square-foot spa and wellness center, and a private, Blue Flag–certified beach. There’s even a kids’ club in a lagoon-side treehouse for when adults need some alone time.

When hunger strikes, head to La Palapa for seafood and Caribbean fare, or Blue Grill Bar + Restaurant for Nikkei and robatayaki cuisine. Should you want to venture off-property, know that Cap Cana is home to an 18-hole Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Bespoke helicopter outings, visits to the Punta Espada equestrian ranch, and days at Scape Park (a natural theme park with attractions like zip-lining and cave expeditions) can also be arranged.

If you’re looking for a break from Oaxaca‘s cultural delights and would like some downtime, maybe to enjoy some swimming during your stay, the best place is in San Agustin Etla. It’s about a 20-minute drive from the Oaxaca city center, but it’s well worth making the excursion. This swimming place has five pools, with a couple that are good for kids and one that is heated, as well as a couple of water slides. The setting is beautiful with great views of the surrounding mountains. You can choose a table near the pool of your choice and order drinks and food from passing waiters. During Easter break and on weekends when the weather is hot, Vista Hermosa Balneario can get very crowded. For a quiet and relaxing time, head there during the week.

Adobe streetfront: door...window...sky. Color. Much of Tucson, like most western U.S. cities, is devoted to strip malls and parking lots, but the historic core still has blocks of 19th-century Sonoran-style row houses. In the 1960s, acres and acres of the Barrio Viejo was razed, but fortunately not all of it. Today it’s a combination of gentrification and the pleasantly decrepit: attorney’s offices, student rentals, and family homes share this yard-less streetscape in a bilingual neighborhood. In reading about the history of the neighborhood, I came across this description, written back in the 1930s by Dr. James Harvey Robinson of Columbia University, who was visiting Tucson for the first time: “But this cannot be the United States of America, Tucson, Arizona! This is northern Africa - Tunis! Algiers! - or even Greece, where I have seen as here, houses built flush with the sidewalks with pink, blue, green and yellow walls, flowers climbing out of hidden patios and overall, an unbelievable blue sky. And the sweet-acrid smell in the air? Burning mesquite. Lovely! And the people - charming. But all this is the Old World, not America.” The Barrio Viejo is perfect for a bike ride. You do feel as if you’ve left reality-TV-obsessed Gringolandia...if only for a few blocks...

In the past few years, Las Terrenas has become a popular bohemian style destination alternative for those you are not into all inclusive resorts in Punta Cana. The European expat community has infused an international flavor into the local hotel, b&b, and dining scene. Las Terrenas is a bit over 2 hours by car from the capital Santo Domingo on the new highway. Caribe Tours bus terminal in Santo Domingo has frequent buses to town of Sanchez, and from there one takes a local mini bus to Las Terrenas. This way it can take up to 4 hours. Pueblo de los Pescadores (Fishermen’s Village) is a small area of charming restaurants and bars close to the beach. Years ago, this cluster of new establishments used to be a fishing village. There are still many fishermen who use the area as a base for daily fishing. At night the area is a great spot to try some of the local Dominican cuisine, and fusion restaurants. For a nice breakfast, stop by French-owned bakery El Pan de Antes (Plaza Kanesh on Calle Carmen ) in the center of town for delicious croissants, quiche, bread, and strong tasty Dominican coffee. A small, cozy, romantic bungalow style hotel to stay at is Casa Robinson, located at Calle E Prud’Homme 2, a few steps away from the ocean. The atmosphere of the hotel is wonderful along with great staff and service. At the end of the day, walk along the beach around sunset time and watch gorgeous colors come alive.

Dana Biosphere Reserve is the largest nature reserve in Jordan. For hikers and trekkers, it’s one of Jordan’s top places to get out into the wilderness, but even the less adventurous will enjoy a stop here simply to enjoy the tranquillity of Dana village, with its majestic views over the tumbling hills below. The reserve is dominated by enormous sandstone cliffs that guard the valley, creating a series of microclimates and ecosystems that house nearly 200 species of birds and most of Jordan’s mammals. Sightings of ibex, gazelles, and even wolves are not uncommon. At the entrance to the reserve in Dana village, you’ll find an excellent visitor center run by the Royal Society for the Conservation of Nature, which can recommend park guides. For a different way to experience the reserve, consider the five-day hike from Dana to Petra—deemed one of the greatest treks in the Middle East. It’s particularly pretty early in the year, when the route is laid with spring flowers.

The world-famous Road to Hana hugs a jagged black lava shore. Just past mile marker 16 lies the Keanae Peninsula, where visitors can explore a traditional village, a stone church from 1856, and vast taro fields. The peninsula itself was formed by a massive lava flow from Haleakala, then softened by native Hawaiians, who carried soil down basket by basket to blanket the young rock. Today, the area is covered in lush greenery, which makes for an impressive sight against the turquoise sea and Maui’s famous North Shore waves. Before getting back on the road, be sure to stop at Aunty Sandy’s, one of the best banana bread stands along the Hana Highway, for a slice, a shaved ice, or a pork sandwich if you’re hungrier.

With its lanes of thatched-roof, old-Irish bungalows fronted by flowering gardens, lovely little Adare is beloved by a certain subset of Irish grannies as the prettiest village in Ireland. It’s easy to see why: An hour south of Shannon Airport on the river Maigue, the town has charm to spare (although it’s quite touristy these days). Adare’s crown jewel is east of the town center, where the 19th-century Adare Manor lies with its pergola-covered stone walls, turrets, and gables on 840 acres of manicured gardens and wild woodlands.

Designed in grand Gothic Revival style and completed in 1862, the manor took 30 years to build—and provided valuable industry for villagers during the potato famine years. Inside, it’s a castle with some quirks: 365 stained-glass windows and 52 chimneys, for instance, for each day and week of the year. Rooms have four-poster or carved-mahogany beds, sitting areas, and semi-chintzy drapes.