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Located 100 miles south of Santiago, the Colchagua Valley has in the past decade become one of Chile‘s wine hotbeds for the production of robust red wines. Stretching from the Andean foothills in the east through the coastal mountains to west, always following the Tinguirrica River, the valley is renowned for its “big” reds like Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, and Chile‘s flagship wine, Carmenere. The majority of the vineyards lie in the center of the valley around the small country town of Santa Cruz with its charming colonial plaza and several hotels. New vineyard plantations are also extending into the hillsides in prestigious sub appellations like Apalta nearby and to the west towards the sea. Besides red wine, Colchagua is also steeped heavily in Chile’s country traditions and cowboy culture as an agricultural valley, making it an ideal weekend getaway. For wine enthusiasts, every March during harvest the valley puts on its annual harvest festival during a whole weekend with tastings from valley wineries, regional food, music, dance, and local color.

People in tiny towns deserve great food as much as city folk do, but it’s still a surprise when a town of fewer than 9,000 residents can sustain a restaurant as good—excellent, really—as Ludvig’s Bistro. Open daily during the summer months and for plenty of special occasions off-season, the restaurant has been one of Alaska’s best for more than a decade. Chef/owner Colette Nelson puts a Mediterranean spin on all the local ingredients she can get her hands on. The restaurant is all bright pops of color, too. Even Southeast Alaska’s rainiest days can’t knock the happy off of Ludvig’s. Don’t you dare show your face without making a reservation first—even if Sitka weren’t one of the world’s most magical little towns, Ludvig’s would make it a worthy destination.

About an hour’s drive south of Barcelona, past scruffy beach towns along the Costa Dorada, Le Meridien Ra Resort and Spa stands out from its neighbors on a beautiful length of the Mediterranean. Inside the resort gates, an elegant central building, buffed out for the 21st century, does not fail to impress. Originally built as a tuberculosis hospital for children, the hotel has turned its focus from illness to wellness: A three-story modern addition contains the Explore spa, with treatments ranging from all sorts of massages and facials to ayurvedic experiences and thalasso body masks with iodine-rich algae. After treatment, clients are encouraged to prolong the self-care vibe with a visit to the roof, where an indoor-outdoor complex offers glamorous sun beds on a deck, steam and sauna rooms, as well as a pool with stations for bubble jets of varying intensities as well as shoulder-massaging water spouts and soothing currents. Guest rooms are spacious and cleanly modern with midcentury design touches (an angular sconce beside the bed, a curvy Hans Wegner-inspired chair and stool) and a mild color palette. Generous cabinet space speaks to the resort’s summer season—many repeat guests come for a week or two. (For additional space, families can opt to rent one of the on-site apartments.) The resort’s kitchen, which draws inspiration from Catalan traditions, is inventive and playful, employing some molecular gastronomy techniques without any fussiness. Small dishes—accompanied by tiny pearls filled with local vinegar or topped with foam or served in paper cones—are perfect for summer appetites (and can be augmented by more traditional seafood, fish, and ham dishes). The beach itself is a wide, sandy stretch planted with a few palm trees and several rows of beach loungers and umbrellas. Beach servers ferry food and drink from the airy dining pavilion, and a masseuse offers complimentary chair massages. The Mediterranean here, a vivid blue, contains 10% more iodine than elsewhere—a health benefit espoused both by the religious order who ran the sanitarium and by the resort now. As a brand, Le Meridien supports local arts and culture and this hotel is a bright example of that ethos: among many offerings, it hosts literary festivals, visits to the nearby studio of a ceramic artist, cooking lessons on the nuances of Catalan rice dishes, winery tours, live music in the gardens, and is home to four grand bronze sculptures by Salvador Dali. But for all these options, days can pass lazily, too, with a lunch under the grape arbor, or a round of backgammon on the shady terrace facing the beach, accompanied by a glass of rosé. ¡Salud!

It may not be the smallest U.S. national park (that honor goes to Pennsylvania’s Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, at 0.02 acres), but the Seattle unit of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is a small hidden gem in Pioneer Square. Interactive exhibits allow visitors of all ages to follow actual gold-rush stampeders on their cross-country adventure through journals, personal papers, and artifacts. Step into a miner’s cabin or hop on a scale to calculate your actual worth in gold. Learn about the entrepreneurs, like John Nordstrom or George Bartell, who came to the area to make their fortunes outfitting gold prospectors (and whose businesses survive today). This fascinating free museum is kid-friendly and a welcome rest stop for downtown visitors.

Bouchon Bakery, with its origins in Yountville, California, and under the aegis of world renowned chef Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, now has three locations—and, lucky enough for Vegas, one of them is on the Strip. The menu is classic French bistro, done extremely well, and with a carefully selected (and extensive) wine list to match. It’s also open for breakfast & brunch.

These green huts are known as Cabman’s Shelters. They first started appearing around London in 1875 to provide cheap hot meals to cabbies. Even though the huts are pretty small, there’s enough room inside for a little kitchen and some seats. I wasn’t particularly aware of these huts until I saw a documentary on TV. Apparently, there are now only 13 of them left. This one is located at Thurloe Place in Kensington, opposite the Victoria & Albert Museum. As you can see, it’s located in the middle of the road, and cabbies, stopping for a bite, park their taxis behind it. I walked past the back of the hut and peeped through the window. The place was packed full of diners (around 10 of them) all squeezed in side by side, enjoying their meals.

A real Western experience is easy to come by at the Yellowstone Valley Lodge. The Lodge includes a number of beautiful cabins and a restaurant situated along the Yellowstone River in Montana‘s spectacular Paradise Valley. The lodge is known for the bespoke touches found throughout the property, from the food in the kitchen to the design of the cabins. This is one of the finest Yellowstone National Park bases you’ll ever find, and perhaps the only one you’ll ever return to after a night or two of falling asleep along the river.

Over the past two centuries, the covered market at Borough, not far from London Bridge, has become one of the country’s most famous foodie spots. From Wednesday to Saturday each week hundreds of traders gather to sell homemade breads, hand-reared pork, artisan chocolate and all manner of ingredients—plus excellent coffee, fresh juices and organic wine. Plentiful samples add to the convivial vibe, and restaurants around the market’s edge provide additional sustenance for longer stops.

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.

If visiting the site of the Terracotta Warriors wasn’t enough to fulfill your Xi’an excursion, carry on the adventures at Park Qin. The popular Shuyuan International Party Hostel, near South Gate, is home to this Terracotta warriors-themed bar. Here, you’ll find the city’s hipsters catching up over drinks and live music, nestled among replicas of Xi’an biggest attraction. If you get hungry, the restaurant at the hostel will take care of your midnight cravings.

Marilyn Monroe once proclaimed that her favorite swimming pool was at the Arizona Biltmore. And Irving Berlin, obviously a person who didn’t know how to relax, is said to have written “White Christmas” while a guest at the hotel. Other musical guests have included Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr., who were known to play on a piano in the lobby. But that’s history, and the Jewel of the Desert, as the 90-year-old hotel was once known, is now just one more sparkling gem in a treasure chest of Arizona resorts. To continue shining, the Biltmore underwent a major renovation that was completed in late 2016. Much of the update focused on restoring the hotel’s original main building, but the guest rooms, meeting spaces, ballrooms, and spa were also polished. The contemporary style that now dominates the Biltmore was inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright, who played a significant role in determining the hotel’s original look. In the guest rooms, Wright’s influence is most notable in the wall coverings, embossed with a design similar to that found on his “Biltmore Blocks,” used in the construction of most of the resort. Of course, for guests who didn’t come for the history, or the design lecture, there are still the eight swimming pools, seven tennis courts, and, next door at the Arizona Biltmore Golf Club, 36 holes of golf.

Film fans may remember the scene in Out of Africa when Denys Finch Hatton’s little yellow gypsy plane swooped above the pink flamingo–filled waters of Lake Nakuru to the sound of the John Barry soundtrack. The lake is indeed known for the thousands of flamingos that nest along its shores, attracted to the lake’s vast quantities of tasty algae. (Recent rising water levels have resulted in many of the birds moving their nests elsewhere, but naturalists believe they’ll return when the waters recede.) In 1961, the lake and its surrounding land were named Lake Nakuru National Park, now protecting the black and southern white rhinos, warthogs, lions, baboons, and other wildlife that live here. The lake is a roughly three-hour drive from Nairobi.

Named after Louis Mountbatten, Britain’s supreme allied commander in Southeast Asia, Mountbatten Road was originally known as Grove Road. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries it became a popular place for the wealthy to build country homes just a few yards from the sea and its refreshing breezes. Today, due to land reclamation, the sea is more than half a mile away. A number of them, nicknamed “millionaires’ bungalows,” were single-story houses with conical roofs that were built on brick posts for protection against heavy rains, snakes, and wildlife—a design modeled after similar dwellings in tropical India which provides the cooling effects of under-floor ventilation.

An hour south of Hambantota, bustling Tangalle is the center of commerce in this part of the island. Every Wednesday and Saturday, vendors flock to its covered market to sell their wares—everything from pots of buffalo curd to fruits and vegetables to handwoven baskets and ayurvedic potions. The town’s main drag is also home to a procession of clothes and souvenir shops where you can spend some of your rupees.

Take the bus south to the neighboring town of Mölndal to visit Gunnebo Slott och Trädgårdar. This charming 18th-century castle and garden has been restored to its original style, both inside and out. Built in 1778 as a summer home for a wealthy Gothenburg family, it is now a living museum where everything from the greenhouse to the kitchen garden evokes that era. Don’t miss the café, where sandwiches and cakes are made using produce grown in the outside garden.