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Vancouver’s cocktail bar scene is top notch, featuring award-winning bartenders, excellent hospitality, and some truly innovative cocktail lists. If you want to go really local, ask your bartender to use a BC-made spirit in your drink. The area’s microdistilleries are producing some of the world’s best liquors. Of course, the wine and craft beer scene offers plenty of delights too. Oh, there are plenty of happy hour spots worth popping into too if you’ve got food and drink on your mind. Stay an extra week. You’re going to need the time.

There is so much to fall in love with in Providenciales, the only touristy island in the Turks and Caicos, but there are certain experiences you just must do. The Turks and Caicos are a true paradise, and Providenciales (Provo, to locals) is home to one of the world’s most stunning shorelines, the 12-mile Grace Bay Beach. Other top experiences in the Turks and Caicos include DIY snorkeling, an island fish fry, or taking a homeless “potcake” dog to the beach.

The traditional seat of business and fashion in Italy, Milan is the place other Italians love to hate—which means that it obviously has much to love. On the obvious side of the scales you’ll find Leonardo’s “Last Supper” and an outrageously beautiful cathedral, less so are the art and dining scenes which become more complex by the day. Ranging further afield, travelers will discover day trips to great wine regions, incredible contemporary art collections, and Lake Como (and George Clooney).

Verde is actually two stores in one. It carries one-of-a-kind accessories, jewelry, and gifts, which makes it stand out as one of several unique shops in the Midtown Village district of Center City. Serendipitously, the boutique shares space with Marcie Blaine Artisanal Chocolates. In fact, you can watch the chocolate confections being made in the back room by peeking through the large window. A shopa-choco-holic’s dream! While in Midtown Village, venture across the street to another notable shopping stop, Open House, which sells Philly-themed items as well as a curated selection of housewares and accessories.

A journey through one of the world’s last, best travel secrets.

Everyday Universal Experiences: Audrey Scott and Dan Noll, Uncornered Market

A highlight of Bavaria—and Germany in general—Franconia is beloved for its picturesque landscapes, medieval towns, and rich beer and food traditions. Formerly a separate duchy of the Holy Roman Empire, the region is dotted with dense woodlands, national parks, and grapevine-covered hillsides, as well as castles, palaces, and UNESCO World Heritage sites like the old town of Bamberg and the Würzburg Residence.

New Zealand’s North Island is home to volcanoes, beaches, movie scene locations, stellar dining options, and cosmpolitan (but always friendly) cities. Easy to travel around in, you’ll find that you’re not far from anything including friendly North Island locals willing to personally point you in the right direction and show you what ‘secret places’ not to miss out on. Your best route: Start in Auckland, rent a car, and head south to settle in at Rotorua and Taupo. Enjoy the capital Wellington before heading home or, better idea, making your way to the South Island.

These Cape Town markets peddle everything from native crafts and flea market goodies to artisanal food, local designs, and fresh flowers. Some pop up weekly in neighborhood squares, others operate full-time in airy refurbished warehouses, others are in luxury malls, but what they have in common is that they all sell authentic local flavor.

Houston may have the reputation as a business-oriented city, but it also has a plethora of unique and offbeat attractions. Discover Houston’s unpretentious side by visiting a monument inspired by oranges, a beer can house, or a weekly bingo night at the lodge. Yup—wacky, weird, and quirky—this city has got it all and may surprise you.

No trip to Antigua, the “Land of Sea and Sun,” would be complete without spending quality time on one (or two, or three) of its fabled 365 sugar-white, sparkling beaches and the Galley Bay Resort and Spa sits on one of the best of the bunch. Galley Bay Beach is graced with three-quarters of a mile of quintessential Antiguan beach. Perfectly sized sand won’t blow in the breeze, palm trees dot its length providing natural shade, beds and hammocks dare you escape their relaxing embrace, and the water… Well… The water looks like you see above. Immaculate. Turquoise. Radiant. In the distance, you can see Nevis and St. Kitts on the horizon almost close enough to touch adding to the impossible perfection.

Muay Thai is Thailand’s national sport, but shopping might be its national pastime. Bangkok has some of Thailand’s best shopping, if not all of Southeast Asia. You’ll find high-end designers, international brands, and Thai labels at megamalls like Siam Paragon. Or enjoy the ever-so-Thai shopping experiences of a floating market or night market. For handicrafts and and a wide range of souvenirs, stroll the thousands of stalls at Chatuchak Weekend Market.

Off-the-beaten-path, unusual, and beautiful places to spend a Christmas holiday.

In the country’s wine region, you can pick grapes, sing songs, and keep ancient harvest traditions alive. It’s so much fun, you can taste it.

One would be hard pressed to find a country more steeped in history, culture, and religious tradition than Israel. Once there, you’ll find a vibrant mix of modernity and antiquity, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern philosophies and practices, and dramatic landscapes. A major focal point for three of the world’s major religions, the spiritual weight and sanctity of the city is almost palpable in the winding streets of Jerusalem.