Search results for

Visitors often want to bring a souvenir from San Miguel back to the kids or friends at home...nothing too elaborate, but authentic nonetheless. Head to the three-block Mercado de Artesanías for a leisurely stroll amid the stalls. Start at the west end and work your way east to find silver, crafts, jewelry, pottery…if it fits in a suitcase, you can buy it here. To the east of the artisans’ market, visit the Mercado Ignacio Ramírez, where you’ll find head-high pyramids of fruits and vegetables, perfect for great photos; nightstand-worthy flowers; and food stalls offering everything from custom-made licuados—think smoothies, Mexican style—to peeled cactus leaves freshly prepared for a nopal salad. Good hunting!

In recent years, this pretty neighborhood, located just five minutes north of downtown Orlando, has become a dining, shopping, and entertainment destination in its own right. Edgewater Drive is lined with restaurants, shops, and offices, while the surrounding residential areas feature historic bungalows, Craftsman-style homes, brick streets, and lakefront views. Favorite eateries in the neighborhood include Jade Sushi & New Asian and K Restaurant, which is nestled in a cute old house. While there isn’t a college nearby, the area gets its moniker from streets named after famed universities like Princeton, Dartmouth, and Harvard.

The quintessential Florida sunset moment plays out night after night at this waterfront pub and restaurant in Captiva. Open since the 1970s, the British-style spot draws tourists and locals alike with sweeping views of the Gulf of Mexico and more than 16 different beers. To eat, there are seafood classics like clam chowder, fried calamari, and oysters Rockefeller. Go right before sunset and gather with everyone on the sand to catch the elusive green flash before settling in for your meal.

One of the most beloved Vietnamese eateries in Saigon, SH Garden has lovely views of a pretty part of the city, but it has earned its following with dishes that celebrate the flavors of all the country’s regions, from north to south. Situated on the rooftop of an old colonial edifice at the intersection of Nguyen Hue and Le Loi streets, around the corner from the Opera House, it surveys a pretty part of the city with plenty of other colonial buildings nearby. Named for its owners Son and Ha, the restaurant doesn’t compete with the higher-price-point options in the city and instead serves good old mom-style cooking.

Chullpi is a top choice for haute cuisine Peruvian-style. Its chefs insist on Cuzco-adjacent ingredient sourcing that supports local economies, at the same time keeping traditional dishes like cuy (a regional guinea pig species) relevant through contemporary iterations. The flavors are fabulous and the presentation winningly incorporates local history, such as using a serving dish carved to look like the circular terraces at Moray or presenting a pressed guinea pig on skewers over a small fire made of palo santo, a local incense. Portion sizes can be small—the perfect excuse to order more.

It is easy to indulge yourself without too much guilt in San Miguel—walking the town’s hills burns up plenty of calories. The restaurant Cumpanio operates three local bakeries, each called Panio (pictured here), which make out-of-this-world croissants, tarts, and cakes. San Miguel’s longtime stalwart bakery Petit Four serves many more tasty options than the namesake sweets. Enjoy baked goods served family-style at a large community table at Robin’s La Mesa Grande. Don’t worry when La Buena Vida sells out of its famous orange doughnuts, because more are made throughout the day. You can find a couple of the best purveyors of sweets with your eyes: Panadería El Maple is known by its Canadian maple leaf sign, while everyone calls La Colmena “The Blue Door Bakery,” for its impossible-to-miss entry.

The surprises at this excellent Italian restaurant in Disney Springs start right when you arrive and gaze upon the airy dining room. Complete with 50-foot-high ceilings, a grand staircase, and sweeping views over Lake Buena Vista, it’s themed after an abandoned airline terminal, with lots of fun travel touches that include a vintage-style glove dangling like a giant chandelier overhead. Chef Theo Schoenegger is a native of Italy, and his menu spotlights specialties from Rome and Sicily. Delicious Italian cheeses and cured meats are perfect starters for sharing. And signature dishes include Sicilian arancini di carne (rice balls with meat) and a spiral pasta dish topped with crab called busiate con granchio. Italian red, white, and Prosecco wines star on the well-informed wine list. And don’t miss a plate of cannoli to share for a sweet finish.

Superlatives abound at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown. The 73-story structure is the tallest building west of Chicago and, at 889 rooms, the largest InterContinental in the Americas. Opened in 2017, the hotel was also downtown’s first LEED Gold Certified building for Building Design and Construction. All that record setting is matched by a big personality and plenty of luxury, too. Inspired by architectural historian Reyner Banham’s book Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies, the hotel features light fixtures based on schematic maps of L.A.’s freeways, hand-painted murals, and billboard-style headboards with city scenes.

Club Level suites are stocked with Le Labo Santal 33 amenities, customized with guests’ names. And on the 71st floor, bathrooms are cheekily decorated in Marie Antoinette and cowboy themes. The Versailles-inspired restaurant La Boucherie is an American steakhouse with a French twist. In the restaurant’s VIP Starlight Booths, diners enjoy wine-paired chef’s tasting menus along with jaw-dropping views. Another restaurant, Sora, is the place for intimate Japanese omakase. Be sure to order the 1100 Feet—an original blend of liqueurs reflective of L.A.’s confluence of cultures—at Spire 73, the Western Hemisphere’s highest open-air bar. Pro tip: Book the Presidential Suite, and you’ll be rewarded with another kind of epic view—an infinity bathtub that fills from the ceiling.

While the Barcelona Cathedral may be the city’s more famous church, Santa Maria del Mar is just as impressive, and a masterpiece of Catalan Gothic style. The basilica was built in just 54 years—begun in 1329 and completed in 1383—and its interior is austere but architecturally dazzling. Slender 60-foot-high columns set far apart from one another give the impression of lightness and space, while the enormous, brilliantly colored stained-glass rose window at the church’s western end allows sun to flood the space. Guided tours of the rooftop are conducted for 8 euros (about $9). The church also hosts regular classical concerts.

Tucked away off a dusty road in a suburb of Nairobi, the Tin Roof Café at the Souk is a gorgeous little place with floral cushions, spindly garden chairs, tin pots of wildflowers, and mismatched pictures on the walls. The shelves are filled with books and board games, and large blackboards list the delicious array of food and drink on offer, from Ottolenghi-style salads to sandwiches, wraps, smoothies, and juices galore. Explore a bit further inside to find a bookstore, a housewares shop, and a jewelry shop. Lost your velvet bathrobe? Don’t worry—they sell them here. The café’s offbeat charm has proven so popular that a second location opened on Langata Road.

Although this bicycle company was founded in the 1930s in Tianjin by a Japanese businessman, today it’s iconically Chinese, particularly in Beijing. This is Beijing’s flagship Flying Pigeon, where you can buy 22-, 24-, and 28-inch frames. Bikes retro, modern, electric, and foldable are on display here, and everything but the electric bikes can be checked in a bicycle box and brought home. While the contemporary models are perfectly fine, it’s the handsome vintage-style bikes in Dutch-cruiser or English-roadster style that make the best souvenirs, inspiring envy and looks of awe when you ride them in the streets at home.

The Power and the Glory is a cool bistro in the center of Cape Town that has attracted a cult following among locals. The relaxed style, the bearded staff, the folding chairs, and the sidewalk stools may remind you of a Brooklyn cafe. If you can snag a chair, it makes for a great place to work or to have a meeting over a light breakfast. In the evening, the place is usually packed with revelers. Try the quiche in the morning, the pretzel bun hot dog in the evening, and the Nutella cheesecake for dessert.

Mexico City has no dearth of luxurious boutique hotels, but Las Alcobas is a special option. Designed by famed firm Yabu Pushelberg, the hotel is full of gorgeous details, from hand-stitched leather wall coverings to a spiral staircase that surges up from the lobby. Upon arrival, guests enjoy a welcome drink as a bellman leads them to their room; explains the technology that controls the light, sound and temperature; and offers them a selection of handmade soaps. Once settled in, they can lounge in plush robes on their goose-down comforters while sampling snacks from the minibar. For a heartier meal, Las Alcobas offers two excellent restaurants. Just outside the hotel’s front door, there’s also Presidente Masaryk, Polanco’s main avenue full of restaurants and high-end boutiques.

Cape Town’s Table Mountain National Park, which hugs the perimeter of the city, is so popular that the line for the cable car to the top can be longer than a queue for a Disneyland ride. But why stand in line when you can put your feet to use? There are several routes that lead to the top of the 3,562-foot, flat-topped mountain, including the two-mile Platteklip Gorge trail. Yes, it’s steep, but startling views of the city and the Atlantic await. Trek, get hungry, then picnic on local provisions—crackers, Dutch-style Gouda, and biltong, the thick-sliced South African jerky—before riding the cable car back down.

Wish that your one-stop shopping and dining location had high-concept ice cream, ramen, and New York–style pizza? Look no further than Pine Street Market, Portland’s first modern food hall. Home to some of the city’s best-loved restaurateurs, it counts among its popular food stands Wiz Bang Bar (featuring the nation’s only high-concept soft serve from the folks at Salt & Straw), Bless Your Heart Burger (done Carolina-style, from Toro Bravo’s John Gorham), and OP Wurst (from local wurst-meisters Olympia Provisions). The 10,000-square-foot space in the renovated 1886 Carriage & Baggage Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the site of the Old Spaghetti Factory until 1981.