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Like all outdoor markets in Rome, Campo de’ Fiori is a bustling social center where locals push past throngs of tourists to complete their errands. Every morning you can find nonni shopping for produce with their grandchildren, feisty butchers running the day’s orders, and barmen hand-delivering trays of espresso to the vendors. By late afternoon, the market quiets down as vendors head home for the evening, and slowly buskers and musicians make their way to the square. By sunset, Campo once again surges with energy, this time to fuel the nightlife.

No trip to Oaxaca is complete without spending at least a few hours sitting in one of the outdoor cafes around the Oaxaca city main square (the “Zocalo”). It’s the perfect spot to watch the street scene: couples and families walking by, vendors selling their wares, shoeshine boys offering to polish your footwear to a gleam. Strolling musicians wander by and perform a few songs in exchange for a handful of pesos. Balloon sellers with their colorful merchandise suspended above and around them entice passing children. In the morning enjoy a frothy hot chocolate with pan de yema, a local bread made with egg yolk. In the afternoon, sip a cold beer and snack on some spicy peanuts or chapulines, spicy fried grasshoppers. Any time of day, this is a wonderful spot to enjoy the bustling but unhurried pace of life in Oaxaca.

This is the oldest and grandest art institute in a city that’s long captivated artists. The Neoclassical building sits amid the greenery of massive City Park (conveniently at the end of the Canal Streetcar Line). It’s an especially good destination for admirers of Edgar Degas, who spent an extended vacation in New Orleans visiting relatives in 1872; a number of his works are displayed here. Just outside the museum is the beautifully landscaped and well-curated five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which perfectly melds the old and new. Some 60 sculptures are arrayed amid reflecting lagoons and 200-year-old live oaks.

At Salt Water Farm, students return to the land—and the sea—to learn forage, fillet, and feast.

This historic market has been in operation since 1892, and is beloved by locals as a destination for lunch, grocery shopping, or buying regional gifts at the Pennsylvania General Store. More than 70 businesses sell fresh wares here, including ice cream, cookies, meat, seafood, produce, Mexican cuisine, and artisanal grilled-cheese sandwiches—just to name a few. Philadelphians line up daily for just-baked goods from the Amish-owned Beiler’s Bakery, which also runs a separate doughnut stand in the Pennsylvania Dutch section of the market. The market’s location, across the street from the Pennsylvania Convention Center, can mean throngs of visitors on convention days; try to get to the market as early as possible to avoid the crowds.

Walking down the alley to the courtyard of Patch NYC, you’ll probably think-Where is she sending me? Trust me, there’s gold at the end of the tunnel! In the beautifully designed shop, you’ll find the the work of a highly curated group of vendors, vintage flea market finds, as well as the lifestyle collection of the owner/designers. Don Carney and John Ross have collaborated with such high profile clients as Anthropologie, Barneys and most recently Astier de Villatte. Their home decor and fashion accessories includes costume jewelry, original artwork and scarves and special occasion handbags.

The Dubai Spice Souk is a traditional market located in Deira, near the famed Gold Souk. It’s easy to overlook the Spice Souk if you’re not looking carefully; tucked into alleyways off of Baniyas Street, the souk is small, but manages to pack a pungent punch. If you plan on purchasing spices – from cardamon to cumin to turmeric to nutmeg, and everything in between – be prepared to haggle. A good rule of thumb is to cut the vendor’s opening salvo in half, and then barter upwards from there until you reach a number you’re both comfortable with.

After a couple of days in Mexico City, once you’re well-rested and adjusted to the altitude, why not try a little street eating? After all, some locals do it every day, and the techniques vendors use have been in place for centuries, if not millennia. A good jumping-off point is the sometimes-grilled sandwich known as a torta. The ingredient combinations are endless, ranging from egg, shredded chicken, and pork loin to the Mexican piece of breaded beef known as a milanesa—and the list goes on. String cheese and chipotles or pickled jalapeños add a lot of flavor, but do it your way. A lot of customers at a stall is good sign both in terms of taste and cleanliness. With a torta under your belt, start thinking about tacos. Or that spot with the caldo de pollo chicken soup, perfect for all kinds of add-ins. Soon enough you’re a seasoned streeter.

While farmers’ markets have sprung up all over Prague, the Dejvice Farmers Market that sprawls out near the Dejvická metro station is the most popular because of its location and size, plus its fun fair atmosphere. On Saturday mornings, local vendors and farmers from the countryside set up their stands and offer a wide range of fruits, vegetables, juices, bread, pies, wines, and even fresh fish and oysters.

While cute souvenir shops and even haute couture boutiques exemplify the changing face of the retail scene in Siem Reap, the city’s famous Old Market remains a heady hub of traditional trade and commerce. Located right in the heart of town, Psar Chas is amply stocked with lots of things that you might want to buy—as well as plenty of things you probably do not. That said, perusing the labyrinthine aisles full of silverware, silks, handicrafts, spices, stone carvings, and other assorted ephemera is worth a couple hours of anyone’s time. Stay calm and haggle politely with a smile on your face, and you’re sure to find a bargain or two.

With over 150 vendors offering up aromatic leaves, you can sip and shop your way through this multi-floor tea market. Beyond tea, there are a number of vendors selling handmade ceramics and other tea-related necessities and accessories. Open daily from 9:30am- 8:30pm

The Eastern Market, now a National Historic Landmark, opened in 1873 to serve the Capitol Hill neighborhood (an 1805 version, located down by the Navy Yard, was a casualty of the War of 1812). The brick market hall, packed with butchers, bakers, vegetable markets, cheese vendors, flower kiosks, and a lunch counter, is bright and charming. Under the shed roof outside, additional local produce is displayed and sold. On weekends, booths selling vintage goods and handmade jewelry, housewares, and clothing do a brisk business down the center of 7th Street. Crowds spill out of the cafés, taco joints, and bagel shops occupying the first floors of the row houses along the block, adding to the lively mix at the market.

Once the center of commerce in Charleston, the City Market is now the heart of tourism. Although its location near the cruise terminal can make it feel like a kitschy open-air market in the Caribbean, the tackiness is part of its charm. Yes, you’ll find Christmas ornaments painted with Rainbow Row and enough cutely packaged pralines to give you a stomachache, but you’ll also see Gullah artisans weaving the finest examples of sweetgrass baskets available. Peak season brings 140 different merchants, and weekends include live music and food vendors. The market’s a requisite stop for any visitor and a one-stop gift shop for loved ones back home.

Located in the heart of Orlando’s Little Vietnam district, this casual eatery does Pan-Asian cuisine perfectly, with a spread of affordable, piping-hot dishes inspired by hawker-style street food. It’s hardly a new concept in a city known for great Asian restaurants, but Mamak does it exceptionally well with small plates like beef bulgogi, golden roti canai bread, Indonesian nasi goreng, and a spectacular version of Malaysian char kway teow noodles. Come with a group so you can order a little bit of everything—it’s the kind of place where sharing just two dishes is nothing short of sin.

In 2016, Ace added another link to its chain of ultracool hotels when it opened an outpost in a renovated 1928 building in the Central Business District of New Orleans. While the Ace employees here are just as edgy as their counterparts elsewhere, they temper that cool with the warm ease of New Orleans’s locals.

Guests enter the hotel through a lobby of mismatched low-slung sofas and vintage coffee tables set in conversation-friendly groupings beside a lovely and ornate wooden bar. Most of the furnishings and artwork complement the hotel’s dominant forest green hue, which itself seems to have been inspired by the color of the streetcars that trundle past on Carondelet Street. Afternoon and evening and late at night, the lobby bar is kept busy by hotel guests as well as a stream of others drawn here by the stylish vibe.