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The Maremma region of southern Tuscany, about an hour south of Siena, is an area of olive groves, wooded valleys, and ancient legends. One such tale, dating from the days of the Etruscans and Romans, chronicles an epic battle in which Jupiter threw lightning bolts at Saturn—and missed. As the story goes, when the bolts landed on the ground, they formed the bubbling hot springs now known as the Terme di Saturnia. Full of therapeutic minerals, the hot springs feed a variety of pools throughout the valley that have warmed and healed centuries of bathers. Today, you can soak up the goodness at the luxury Terme di Saturnia Hotel & Spa, which offers therapies performed with the waters, or at a free public bathing spot. To find the main one, head down a dirt path just outside of town, past a parking lot and changing area, until you spy a waterfall feeding a series of natural pools, each turned white by the mineral-rich water.

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.

There aren’t many other places in the world where you can buy luxury bags, wallets, belts and jewelry made from local crocodile skins. Welcome to the Northern Territory. Di Croco in Darwin offers some of the finest products from the most valuable of all croc skins—that of the saltwater crocodile, which has a beautifully intricate small-scale pattern. The shop works with two of the eight licensed crocodile farms in Australia and is involved in every step of the process from procuring skins to tanning, finishing and making hardware. An Italian-made collection features bags with custom-made lining designed by one of the artists of the Merrepen arts community in the Daly River Region of the Northern Territory. A beautiful red handbag could set you back $5,000 AUD, but it’s a bargain compared to the high fashion houses, and a literal piece of the Northern Territory that you can take home.

Sitting at the tip of the peninsula of St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, which juts out into the Mediterranean, the iconic Grand-Hôtel du Cap-Ferrat, is now under the management of the Four Seasons brand. Located halfway between Nice and Monaco in the striking Antibes cape, the beyond-glamorous property first opened in 1908, and remains the epitome of the bonne vie, Jazz-era French Riviera. A destination resort, it has hosted everyone from Winston Churchill to Charlie Chaplin to Pablo Picasso, and is set on multiple lushly landscaped acres full of gardens, pools, and tennis courts that tumble down to the Mediterranean. Rooms are in three buildings. Try for one in the hotel’s original core, as these have soaring ceilings and floor-to-ceiling, sliding-glass-door windows looking out to the sea. The suites are also enormous, but ask for a higher floor for the best ocean views.

After achieving tremendous success in Paris, London, New York, and Ibiza with the Experimental Cocktail Club and a handful of other nightlife hangouts, the three bons vivants behind the Experimental Group have expanded the concept into hospitality. Their first hotel is located in Paris’s most coveted neighborhood, South Pigalle, overlooking the Villa Frochot (Toulouse-Lautrec’s former abode). Unsurprisingly, these pioneers of the Paris cocktail movement have integrated their savoir-faire in top-shelf drinks. In fact, they go so far as to bill it a “bed and beverage” boutique hotel, which translates to custom cocktails offered in the ground-floor lounge, delivered straight to rooms, and available in guestroom minibars. To further drive their vision, the trio enlisted the talents of Dorothée Meilichzon, the city’s most in-demand interior designer, who has already directed the look and feel of each of the group’s establishments. Here, she applies her flair for mixing unique patterns and design styles to the cocktail lounge and rooms, kitted out with sumptuous velour sofas, black leather armchairs, and brass light fixtures. The result is a style that feels like understated Hollywood regency meets 1920s Parisian glam. While rooms afford less quiet and privacy than most design hotels, the (tolerable) din feels like a necessary component to the stay-up-late Pigalle experience.

When you see this UNESCO World Heritage–listed train station, you’ll understand why it’s described as an eastern version of London’s St. Pancras. This imposing reminder of the British raj, designed in an extravagant Victorian-Gothic style with Islamic and Hindu elements thrown in, is often referred to by its colonial name of Victoria Terminus, or VT; a statue of Queen Victoria still lords over the building’s dome. Inside, watch with awe as thousands of people spill on and off the trains—and if you’re feeling brave, have a go at riding the rails yourself.

While much attention is paid to the Japanese and Italian influences on Los Cabos cuisine, one of the very best spots in town is an Argentine entry. The low-key, low-lit courtyard restaurant Chamuyo features a dozen or so tables, a long bar, and a traditional Argentine grill. The steak-house menu sends you on a culinary adventure through Buenos Aires dance halls and the verdant pampas. Meat-stuffed Argentine empanadas (markedly different from the Mexican variety) are served oven-baked or fried, and make excellent starters. For your main course, try chef Marcelo Romby’s 22-ounce beef ribs, which he slow-cooks for more than four hours. Pair it with a bottle of Baja red and, if you can, save room for some first-rate alfajor cookies.

Rio lacks São Paulo’s strong Italian traditions. Perhaps that’s why some of Rio’s best pizza in fact comes from there—like Pizzaria Bráz, if you can judge by critics and mad-crazy crowds that pack into this spot on the Jardim Botânico district’s liveliest street. The pizzas start as a thin, wood-smoked dough and then are topped with mozzarella and a sauce made from a careful selection of tomatoes, and sometimes involve elaborate toppings that add up to capreses, the classic Braz, or even more daring recipes like those with wild-game cold cuts. Appetizers, too, keep ’em coming back (pão de linguiça, a divine sausage bread, for example); and you’re served a capital chopp at your table or even as you wait in line at the door.

Maybe the most stunning of the many palatial mid-19th-century commercial edifices around the Freyung section of Vienna’s Inner City, the Italianate Palais Ferstel hosts the ground-floor Café Central and its tiny outdoor terrace. Fittingly, as it is perhaps the landmark among Vienna’s old-world coffeehouses, Central is, well, central: It boasts a prime location by the Hofburg Palace, meaning it’s touristy for sure. But one look at the forest of Gothic Revival columns and vaulted ceilings in the cathedral-like interior of this former bank building, and you won’t mind if you have to wait a few minutes to be seated. Central has an extensive menu and a huge periodical collection to peruse before you head back out to tour the Inner City’s treasures.

This cherry-red, roller-coaster-like funicular train located in Canton Bern is a destination unto itself. It’s not only the steepest funicular in Europe, with a top gradient of 106 percent (that is, at an angle of 47 degrees), but it’s also one of the oldest, having been constructed in 1926 to transport engineers to a hydroelectric dam. (It only opened to the public in 2001.) The open-air cars add to the thrill of ascending 3,373 feet to reach an altitude of 6,069 feet.

The Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden is a gorgeous park that’s just a short walk from Shinjuku Station. There are several gardens within the space, including a formal French one, an English landscape garden, and a traditional Japanese design. While the admission fee is nominal (about $2), it helps assure that it is surprisingly quiet, with fewer visitors than parks open to the public for free. If the weather is good, consider picking up a bento from nearby Takashimaya’s depachika. Convenience stores sell plastic “blue sheets” for impromptu picnics. The only downside to this park is that it is alcohol-free; if you want to drink sake at your picnic, head down the road to Yoyogi Park.

The crumbling architecture of Stone Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the town’s carved doors are one of its most recognizable features. I spent a lot of time searching for the door of Swahili merchant Tippu Tip, a notorious 19th-century slave and ivory trader who grew fabulously wealthy from his exploits in the interior of Africa. He showcased his wealth by slapping Stone Town’s most elaborately carved door on the front of his mansion in the mysteriously named Suicide Alley. If you can find Suicide Alley (it’s unmarked, near the Shangani Post Office in Stown Town), keep your eyes on the ground: the alternating black-and-white tiles of Tippu Tip’s front stoop might be the first thing you see. The house is now inhabited by several families, so be respectful when taking pictures and exploring the area.

No matter what the season, it’s worthwhile to wander through the exquisite Retiro Park when you’re in Madrid. Here you can find a tranquil escape from crowded streets and museums. The unrivaled architecture of Madrid is echoed here in the wonderful monuments, statues, and buildings. Be sure to visit the gorgeous Crystal Palace (Palacio de Cristal), originally a greenhouse and now used for art exhibitions. Look for the beautiful black swans in the lake.

San Miguel’s iconic landmark, the Parroquia (officially the Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel), is now world-famous. Look for its eclectic, neo-Gothic spires, crowning the city skyline, to locate the downtown area called the Centro. In 1880, self-taught mestizo architect and stone quarry master Zeferino Gutiérrez is said to have designed the church’s facade based on postcards of European cathedrals. He mapped out each day’s scope of work in the sand with a stick, since blueprints would have required reading and writing, two skills his craftsmen didn’t possess. You need not listen closely to hear La Luz, the largest of eight bells, tolling the hours clearly.

It’s hard to go wrong with Italian food in Boston’s North End, but one surefire way to go right is to turn left from the door of the Paul Revere House and slip inside the historic town house that’s home to Mamma Maria, an unmissable fine-dining restaurant facing North Square. Settle into the serenely elegant dining room overlooking the square to feast on classics like terrine of suckling pig, veal osso buco, Tuscan-style rabbit pappardelle, and a wide selection of seafood dishes from local waters. The uninitiated may mutter a “mamma mia” at the prices, but for Northern Italian in the North End, Mamma Maria rules the house.