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This 19th-century complex, originally built as a hospital for the disadvantaged, is host to an impressive display of modern art, most notably a series of frescoes by famous Mexican muralist Jose Clemente Orozco. The collection includes one of his most well-known murals, El Hombre de Fuego, which earned its building the nickname “the Sistine Chapel of the Americas.” A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Hospicio Cabañas is a perfect example of Guadalajara’s ability to embrace its history and its future, combining 1790s architecture, 1930s murals, and, finally, a space for rotating exhibitions of contemporary art.

Having functioned as an orphanage, an insane asylum, and a military barracks in the past, Hospicio Cabañas also has a spooky side. There are several ghost stories about the space, including a legend about a clock that stopped whenever a child died in the orphanage.

Once Istanbul’s notorious prison, a lavish conversion in 1996 transformed this site, set amid the squiggle of lanes behind the colossal competing domes of the Hagia Sophia and Blue Mosque, into the city’s landmark Four Seasons Sultanahmet. Built in 1918, the hotel’s ornate neoclassical architecture has been finely restored, while the enclosed exercise yard is now a courtyard garden where guests can escape the hustle of the historic quarter. Classically designed rooms are awash with light blue and green hues and subtly scattered Turkish textiles and motifs.

On a hot summer’s day, cool off with cocktails overlooking the old city’s minarets on the rooftop A’Ya Lounge. Eagle-eyed history fans can hunt for the 1938 graffiti left by a former inmate on a pillar near the courtyard. Being neighbors with the Hagia Sophia has extra benefits. The Four Seasons’ Extraordinary Experiences service offers a privileged chance to explore Emperor Justinian’s greatest achievement without the crowds, on an after-dark tour of the Hagia Sophia.

Starchitect Tadao Ando (who designed Fort Worth’s sublime Museum of Modern Art) masterminded the concrete building that’s home to Japan’s largest bookstore and this romance-themed hotel. Popular especially with wedding groups, the Harmonie Embrassee fills floors 10–23 of the Chaska Chayamachi tower and has a glass Sky Chapel on its top floor, with striking views of the surrounding Umeda neighborhood. It’s also where 450 couples tie the knot each year. The high-ceilinged lobby has giant glass windows, while rooms come in four schemes ranging from classically elegant to Asian minimalist with dark tones and padded leather headboards. All accommodations come with a private balconies, panoramic views, and Cassina furnishings.

Witness the destruction wrought by Mt. Vesuvius nearly 2,000 year ago at the archaeological site of Pompeii. The ancient village was frozen in time beneath a blanket of hot ash during an eruption in 79 C.E. Among the ruins that have been uncovered are buildings that shed light on aspects of ancient life both grand and mundane, from the temples, the coliseum and homes with fine frescoes, to public baths, chariot-rutted streets and grain stores which now hold plaster casts of the people who perished that fateful day.

While it’s not in Mexico City proper, the sacred pre-Hispanic city of Teotihuacan is close enough–about 30 miles– for an easy day trip if you’re interested in architecture, archaeology, and indigenous history. The site’s primary structures, the Temple of Quetzalcoatl and the Pyramids of the Sun and the Moon, have been designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Sites, and it is possible to explore the pyramids–and even climb them–either independently or with a guide. After ascending nearly 250 steps on the Pyramid of the Sun, you’ll have a greater appreciation for these ancient structures and the civilization responsible for having built them. In addition to the pyramids, an on-site museum documents the history of the so-called “City of the Gods,” and displays archaeological finds, including pottery, bones, and other important objects.

Santa María del Coro is San Sebastián‘s token beautiful European church. It has the quiet, sunlit beauty that one comes to expect in European churches. It also is the site of several of the city’s unique celebrations, organ concerts, and the iconic San Sebastián, pierced with the famed arrows.

The Liberty Bell, long associated with the American Revolution, actually predates the conflict. It arrived in Philadelphia in 1752 at Independence Hall, then known as the Pennsylvania State House. The bell was inscribed with a Bible verse: “Proclaim Liberty Throughout All the Land Unto All the Inhabitants thereof.” An initial crack in the bell was attributed to a test ring that occurred right after it came to the city. But popular legend has it that the bell was still rung in 1776 to officially proclaim American independence. In 1846, the Liberty Bell was cracked for good after being repaired so it could be sounded on George Washington’s birthday; it hasn’t rung since. No tickets are required to view the bell, but visitors must pass through a security screening. Photo tip: For a classic shot, snap a photo of the icon with Independence Hall in the background.

Not everyone gets to live across the street from the White House. Before the current Italian-Renaissance hotel was constructed in 1927, the prime real estate was occupied by the homes of two little-known American icons: John Hay—personal secretary to Abraham Lincoln, ambassador to the United Kingdom, and Secretary of State under both William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt—and Henry Adams, Harvard professor and great-grandson of John Adams. Their houses were hubs of D.C. culture for decades at the turn of the last century, and so, when the Hay-Adams opened, it was only logical that the hotel would continue that tradition. Washingtonians play at the sultry bar scene, everyone from Amelia Earhart to the Obamas has stayed in its elegantly Old World rooms overlooking historic Lafayette Square and the White House beyond, and the hotel is known for its discreet and comprehensive, no-questions-asked service. Should guests need a ride to one of the District’s many important meetings, the house Mercedes drops off anywhere downtown, guaranteeing a first impression worthy of a luminary. Though if you insisted on the meeting coming to you, no Beltway insider would mind.

This hotel is on our list of the best hotels in Washington D.C.

On the principal Orkney island, some 30 miles from the north coast of mainland Scotland, sits the best-preserved Neolithic settlement in Western Europe. From 3000 to 2400 B.C.E.—long before Stonehenge or even the Egyptian pyramids—Skara Brae was a thriving village, full of farmers, hunters, and fishermen. It was rediscovered in 1850 after a particularly strong storm and now serves as a fascinating tourist attraction, complete with nine surviving Neolithic houses. Outfitted with stone furniture made 5,000 years ago, the dwellings are linked by low corridors, roofed with what are believed to be original slabs of boulder. When you’re done exploring the village, head to the visitor center to view additional artifacts like gaming dice, tools, and jewelry.

Goldeneye, to be clear, is not an easy place to leave. The land—the former home of Ian Fleming, where he wrote each of the 14 James Bond thrillers that would cement his place in literary and cinematic history—sits next to the tiny town of Oracabessa, on the northern coast. A warm, blue-green lagoon curls from the ocean around a small island and then lets out into a bay. You can look one direction and see a jungle, then turn around and see pristine white sand.

Blackwell bought the property in 1976 as a vacation home and a space to entertain family and friends but later he decided to transform it. In 2016, Goldeneye debuted a jumble of new huts, arranged around a small cove, a short walk from Fleming’s house and the resort’s original villas. The huts vary in height, designed to capture cooling breezes and allow guests to forgo air conditioning. And, crucially, they’re much cheaper to book than the Villas. Which is key because, up until this point, if you wanted to plan a visit to Goldeneye, you needed to either know Blackwell personally or have the excess capital to shell out potentially five figures on a vacation. (Part of the resort’s enduring gravitational pull is that many of the celebrity guests check both boxes.) With the beach huts, Blackwell has expanded, once again, the ambition of his famous resort.

The historic El Porteño building, a onetime grain warehouse made of imported Manchester bricks, was slated for demolition in 1998 before a local cultural preservation group stepped in. Soon after, Argentine fashion designer Alan Faena picked it up and hired designer Philippe Starck to turn the old mill into his outlandish dream of a hotel, the Faena Hotel. It opened in 2004 on the now-gentrifying Puerto Madero waterfront, becoming an anchor for future developments—apartment buildings, international hotel brands, and ritzy restaurants. The Faena dares to be different in every aspect. Guests are introduced to the hotel creators’ own ideas of luxury, where black marble meets claw-foot tubs and red velvet meets white leather. The property has become something of a social center and playground for the wealthy, attracting locals to the funky cabaret with nightly tango performances, now almost legendary, or to the antique book–lined lounge and 1920s throwback decor. Multiple restaurants and a pool bar, fronting one of the largest pools in the city, help maintain a steady stream of activity.

A popular hangout, Kits Beach—as the locals call it—faces English Bay, and in the summertime it buzzes with beach activities. Volleyball players and Frisbee tossers mingle with sun worshippers, windsurfers and skim boarders. For sand-free dips and swimming lessons, there’s a heated saltwater pool that’s open when weather permits. Also in the vicinity is the Boathouse Restaurant, which serves peel-and-eat shrimp, tasty chowders and fresh grilled fish on a patio with panoramic views.

Located where the mountains meet the sea, Port-Cros National Park is only partially visible from the shore, as nearly half of its land is underwater. While this island park offers plenty of hiking, cycling, and beach activities for landlubbers, the park’s main draw is its unique set of seven underwater hikes for snorkelers. Well-marked paths lead swimmers of all ages to Roman ruins, a reconstructed shipwreck, and protected marine gardens, while signage and buoys explain the region’s flora and fauna, which include starfish, octopuses, and sea anemones. Visitors can arrange for both guided tours and snorkeling equipment rentals upon arrival.

As tourists gaze up at Michelangelo’s dome in St. Peter’s Basilica, many have no idea that one of Vatican City’s most compelling historic sites is directly beneath their feet: the Vatican Necropolis, also known as the scavi (excavations). This multilevel subterranean area tells the story of Vatican Hill’s ancient Roman suburban beginnings. Take a walk through a 1st-century C.E. necropolis (once a cemetery and mausoleum), 5th-century Christian burial area, the Vatican grottoes, and the original 4th-century church foundation walls.

A modest entryway opens onto a bright, colonial Mexico fantasia, complete with blue tiles, crisp white linen, colorful pottery, and would-be-viceregal artworks. Since 1912, Café de Tacuba has opened early and stayed up late to serve classic Mexican fare like enchiladas and chalupitas, excellent tamales, hearty breakfasts, a wide variety of soups, and even more-ambitious entrees, attracting an amenable congress of families, foreigners, work groups, and confidence-exchanging senoras. Order the café con leche for a smart jolt of showmanship; Spanish troubadours serenade the proceedings most nights and weekends. Maybe it’s your grandmother’s Mexico, but the old girl knew a thing or two.