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Ask anyone you know who grew up in the Bay Area about the Exploratorium, and they’ll likely be able to share stories of class trips and seeing their hair stand on end at an installation about electricity or fun-house mirrors that taught about optics and visual perception. This is not, however, a museum simply for kids—though curious kids will definitely be entertained while learning. Instead, its exhibits aim to raise the scientific literacy of visitors of all ages, by providing engaging, amusing, and hands-on experiences. Long housed at the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium opened in its current, and much larger, space on Piers 15 and 17 in 2013. One advantage of the new waterfront location is the North Gallery and its outdoor spaces, focused on environmental phenomena like the wind, rain, and tides. The completely dark Tactile Dome and the disorienting Monochromatic Room may prove not just the highlights of your visit to the Exploratorium but the most memorable, or at least strangest, moments of your time in San Francisco.

In 1979, what started as a mail order book business has grown into an impressive storefront and gallery. Spend ample time in this smartly-curated, stellar photography bookstore with rare and unusual finds devoted to contemporary photography. The gallery also presents fine photography.

There is a reason why renting a villa in Tuscany is so popular - rustic farmhouses, rolling hills filled with olive and plum trees, golden sunsets, locally-harvested wine, creamy cheeses, and cool evenings spent with friends and family. Renting a villa provides a relaxing base for your sightseeing in the region. Almost all Tuscan towns allow easy day trips to the main sights: - Florence‘s art and Renaissance history (Duomo, Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo’s David) - Cortona’s steep, narrow streets and medieval walls - Siena’s cultural city center, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site - San Gimignano’s fortified towers set amidst picture-perfect Tuscan hillsides - Montelpulciano’s world-famous wineries and more This offers the best of both worlds - after a dusty day of sightseeing, you can relax at your villa with a jump in the pool and a glass of wine. Watch the sun go down in a purplish haze, unwind with friends, and enjoy the lovely moment. I recommend YourTuscany.com, which is where we found Villa Coloniale (above) in the town of Pergine Valdarno. The infinity pool and covered patio are guaranteed to put you in a relaxed, Italian frame of mind!

One could argue that the Pulitzer Amsterdam isn’t actually one hotel. Before 1960, each of its 25 buildings was an individual, 17th- or 18th-century merchant canal house. Painstaking renovations over the years have guaranteed that each room feels distinct, maintaining original architectural details from each house, such as arched windows, exposed beams, and friezes. And, from the outside, each house still looks separate, so that the glamorous, art-filled hotel blends right into its surroundings, seeming to be just another of the neighborhood’s picturesque historic buildings.

The recently restored hotel has entrances on and views over two of the city’s main canals—Prinsengracht and Keizersgracht—with a tranquil garden in the middle. The 225 guest rooms blend traditional and modern Dutch craftsmanship and service, while the authentic restaurant and bar showcase local flavors. Located in the heart of Amsterdam’s historic city center, the hotel is within easy reach of the Rijksmuseum, Stedelijk Museum, Van Gogh Museum, and the Anne Frank House. It’s also a quick walk, bike, or boat ride to the fashionable Nine Streets, the quaint shops of Jordaan, the flower market, and the Royal Palace.

Art woman about town Rebecca Camhi has been in the city since 1995, but hers was one of first galleries to settle into Athens’ now trendy, and still somewhat sketchy, Metaxourgeio neighborhood. Expect to see beautifully curated and often provocative shows in the upstairs white-cube space (Camhi has exhibited the work of photographer Nan Goldin), but downstairs you’ll find something unusual—a gallery boutique. Here Camhi sells one-of-a-kind ceramics, ethnic textiles, and other small objects at real-world prices. The gallerist lives in the back part of the building, and here you can feel the proximity of an aesthetic visionary.

Fireworks Gallery is that rare thing — an airport gift shop that you actually want to buy things from. A Seattle-based boutique with several locations, Fireworks is packed with designer jewelry, bags and wallets, housewares, novelty items, party supplies, decor, and children’s books and toys. During the holidays, they also have beautiful and elaborate tree ornaments and menorahs. They also have stores at the University Village shopping center and downtown at Westlake Center. So, just in case you suddenly realize you’ve forgotten a hostess gift, souvenir, or thanks-for-watching-my-pet present, Fireworks has a ready supply of last-minute gifts that will make you look like a savvy shopper.

The Glass Academy is the instructive branch of the Furnace Design Studio, a glassblowing gallery and workshop in metro Detroit. Visitors can register for monthly classes and studio workshops that teach everything from beadmaking to beer mug design—and swing through the gallery shop to (carefully!) take a look at each one-of-a-kind creation.

There’s plenty of art in Venice, from the churches to the Scuoli to the Accademia. But when you just can’t look at another Caravaggio, and even Titian hair doesn’t move you any more, refresh yourself with a visit to Peggy’s house. The renowned American heiress lived here for 30 years and houses a beautiful selection of her famous modern art collection. It’s a real jewel, small enough to feel manageable, significant enough to cover almost all of the modern art movements and include important pieces from Jackson Pollock and Mondrian to Picasso, Dalí and Kandinsky. The petite sculpture garden (above) has the kind of works that will make you smile, and there are also temporary exhibitions. I was there during a special Futurism collection and a young intern, seeing me with my 13-year-old friend Niambh, offered us a special one-on-one guide to the paintings. A joy.

At the Wine Gallery, oenophiles and wine novices alike gather to sip old favorites or try new varietals. The team here crisscrossed the globe to curate an impressive menu of limited-edition wines, 25 of which are available by the glass. All are well-priced and accessible to even the most basic of tastes, but should you have trouble choosing, the friendly staff is available to make suggestions and help you discover new flavors and aromas with every sip. Once you’ve picked a wine, pair it with something from the food menu, which is built around the restaurant’s wood-fired oven. Options range from small plates like oven-roasted meatballs to charcuterie boards, crispy pizzas, and entrées like flatiron steak with hand-cut herbed frites. Swing by on a night when there’s live music, or make plans to attend one of the regular tastings to learn even more about the wines on offer.

The imposing, white-domed wedding cake now known as Palacio de Bellas Artes was originally planned as a national theater, and construction was begun in 1904. The Mexican Revolution, among other things, postponed its completion until 1934, which explains the stark contrast between its creamy art nouveau exterior (note amazing iron- and stonework with local motifs like serpents) and its art-deco-inspired interior, finished in black and red marbles, and with walls that feature dazzling murals by Rivera, Siqueiros, and other postrevolutionary masters. Today the beloved edifice is home to a concert hall, exhibition areas given over to blockbuster shows, and Mexico’s National Architecture Museum; take an auditorium tour—or better yet, see a performance—to lay eyes on the theater’s magnificent Tiffany glass “curtain,” a mosaic formed (they say) by more than 1 million separate glass components.

The Blue Ridge Mountains stand in for the Black Forest at Grand Bohemian Asheville, a 104-room luxury property inspired by old-world Bavarian hunting lodges, complete with stag-antler chandeliers, rich velvet and brocade textiles, and a popular mascot in the lobby—a taxidermied wild boar named Zsa Zsa. In contrast to the more dramatic public spaces, rooms and suites are spacious and light with crisp white bedding and tufted headboards; almost all of the bathrooms have large tubs with shutters that open up to the sleeping area. In addition to the rare original artwork that’s scattered throughout the hotel, there’s a gallery featuring paintings, art glass, woodwork, and sculptures from local, regional, and international artists. George W. Vanderbilt’s Gilded Age castle is across the street, and the hotel is within walking distance of Biltmore Village’s popular restaurants and shops and only two miles from trendy downtown Asheville, making it a convenient jump-off for exploring the Great Smokies.

Caesarea, the city and harbor that Herod built, is now preserved as a national park. A walk along its pathways allows visitors to experience the city’s role as part of ancient Rome and its days during the Crusades in the Byzantine era. Check out a concert at the partially restored amphitheater, or dive in Caesarea’s sunken harbor and underwater archaelogical park. Ancient ruins, including the remains of Herod’s palace, sit along the coastline. A state-of-the-art visitor center offers a historical perspective, complete with famous figures presented as hologram tour guides: King Herod, Rabbi Akiva, the Apostle Paul, and Hannah Senesh. Right outside the park’s boundaries, find a modern city with restaurants, cafés, and some eclectic galleries selling wine, cheese, olive oil, and jewelry—plus a lovely stretch of Mediterranean beach.

More than any other of the luxury beach-colonies that opened in Jamaica in the 1950s, Tryall has retained the feel of a private club. Yet this 2,200-acre property, with 87 villas, almost all having views that sweep down to the Caribbean, is Jamaica’s largest all-villa resort, and home to one of the Caribbean’s finest golf courses. Created by a group of Texas investors that included a future governor (John Connally) and future senator (Lloyd Bentsen), the resort, backing its own private beach just west of Montego Bay, continues to add villas notable for their luxury and individuality, one with a gallery devoted to Jamaican art, another with its own basketball court. Each villa has a dedicated staff, including a chef, housekeeper, butler, laundress, and gardener. And although each villa is essentially self-contained, the resort’s restored 1834 Georgian Great House, with its restaurant and bar, where events such as the manager’s cocktail party are held, serves as focal point for guests who want to “get out” without leaving the property.

It’s pretty amazing what you can do with some old stables. Vienna’s vast former quarters for the imperial horses, designed by the great baroque architect Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, were turned in recent years into the MuseumsQuartier. It could take days to see all the works in this 15-acre, multi-museum complex that lies just off the Ringstrasse and is devoted to collections of modern and contemporary art. The limestone Leopold Museum for Austrian art is named after an early collector of the bold painter Egon Schiele. Its Café Leopold includes courtyard seating under umbrellas. For your Picassos and Giacomettis, the nearby MUMOK specializes in the giants of modern art. The MuseumsQuartier’s huge courtyard is a popular Vienna hangout where many festivals take place and DJs spin on weekends.

This hotel is on our list of The 10 Best Hotels in Canada.

Originally opened in 1927, Vancouver‘s Hotel Georgia was the celebrity haunt of everyone from Elvis and the Rat Pack to Errol Flynn and Katharine Hepburn. The hotel closed in 2006 for a multimillion-dollar restoration project and reopened as the Rosewood Hotel Georgia in 2011. Elvis may have left the building, but the old-school glamour remains—with a modern twist. The spacious rooms glow with a soft palette of warm gold, vanilla, and cocoa. Rain showers, heated marble floors in the bathrooms, and fine linens add to the hotel’s luxury appeal. The wood-paneled lobby buzzes with guests and locals en route to the acclaimed Hawksworth restaurant. The hotel has a large private art collection and there are pieces on display from founders of Canada’s modern art movement and famous international artists; the reverse-perspective Patrick Hughes piece opposite the reception desk is fantastic—walk back and forth to see the painting “move.” At the gleaming bar, guests can try the Hotel Georgia cocktail—a modern take on the original Prohibition-era recipe.