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Board an elegant 1930s Venetian taxi boat for the most romantic Seine River tour on the waters of Paris. Champagne is chilling in the ice bucket and a few snacks are served as well, but the real show is life on the river, up-close and more personal than you could ever get on the larger boat tours. Wave to picnickers on the berges, spy on lovers canoodling under the bridges, and peek into barge homes from your 30-foot wood and chrome beauty. Take the evening tour, and you’ll witness the Eiffel Tower sparkling every hour on the hour.

With almost 20 years at the helm of a dining room that’s jammed every afternoon, Gabriela Cámara at Contramar must be doing something right. For one, the seafood on offer—traditional, even homey recipes, impeccably prepared—is among the freshest available. Service is quick, yet warm and enjoyable. It brings in a well-dressed, deliberately coiffed crowd that loves table-hopping, seeing and being seen, and air-kissing; but most of all, they relish digging into house specialties like the fish carnitas, the legendary tuna tostadas, and the grilled pescado a la talla (ordered by weight, and served in a red adobo or a parsley rub). Some afternoons (especially Fridays) you can’t believe the waiters have actually squeezed one more person in, yet everyone is very glad they came. Desserts are especially recommended. Open for lunch only—which may explain the sense of urgency at the door.

Few Austin businesses, much less restaurants, have a history that stretches back as far as that of Mattie’s at Green Pastures. Before it opened as a restaurant in 1946, the elegant Victorian was a private home. A successful Austin hospitality veteran and his partners purchased the property in 2016 and have transformed it from a sleepy establishment kindly referred to as a grande dame of Austin dining into an exquisite showpiece. Plush couches offer seating areas, two handsome bar areas both upstairs and down make for ideal spots to sip cocktails, and the sweeping patio and veranda are well-suited for alfresco dining and peacock-watching. The menu is a pan-Southern celebration, with fried chicken and eggs Benedict starring at brunch and pimento cheese grabbing the spotlight of the evening appetizers.

Looking for traditional Mexican crafts and home wares, such as the beautifully colored, hand-painted bowls and plates you’ve eaten off of at so many restaurants? Head to La Ciudadela, an artists’ market that for more than a century has drawn craftspeople from all over Mexico to sell their goods. In addition to kitchenware (handmade, blown glass swizzle sticks are a must-buy!), there are clothes, toys, and even musical instruments available for purchase. The market is big but not overwhelming, and bargaining is acceptable.

For decades, Québec was viewed by many Canadians, and even many Québecois, as a conservative, traditional, and rural part of the country that was falling behind other provinces that were looking optimistically toward the future. Those are the years that would come to be known as the Grande Noirceur, or the Great Darkness. In 1959, Maurice Duplessis, known for his staunch Catholicism as well as fierce anti-Communist and anti-union policies, died, and he was followed by Liberal governments that led the so-called Quiet Revolution. Québec would emerge from this period as a decidedly cosmopolitan and socially liberal province. The Expo 1967 and the 1976 Olympic Games in Montréal proved to be key moments in which newly transformed Québec introduced itself to the world, and the buildings from both had huge impacts on the cityscape. The Olympic Park’s stadium, designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, is still used for sporting events as well as concerts. The inclined tower on the site has an observatory with sweeping city views. You can explore on your own, though there are also guided tours that provide an introduction to the architectural and engineering innovations of the Olympic Park’s buildings.

Since launching her handbags and accessories line in 2008, accessories designer Clare Vivier has mastered the delicate combination of Parisian chic, American prep, and California cool. While her brand has spread to seven boutiques across California and New York, her flagship shop in Silverlake may best personify her brand. Two walls of windows let the California sun stream in each morning and afternoon, and shadowboxes designed by local architect Barbara Bestor hold the goods that lure passersby along Sunset Boulevard. Technicolor best sellers such as the La Tropezienne, Simple Tote, and coveted Foldover Clutches may sit on copies of the most recent Paris Review or Louis Vuitton City Guides, which are also for sale. Everything in the well-rounded space has a connection to France, Los Angeles, or Vivier herself. The shop stocks jewelry by her friends Annie Costello Brown and Grace Lee, for example, along with French Veja sneakers and candles from West Hollywood’s iconic Chateau Marmont. Pro tip: Head here for a last-minute gift—clutches and other leather items can be monogrammed on the spot.

This minimalist clothing boutique comes courtesy of Mexican fashion designers and sisters Julia and Renata Franco, who both graduated from the Fashion Design Center in Guadalajara. The store’s geometric space and bright, asymmetrical clothing echo the city’s architecture and overall aesthetic, making for an artful shopping experience.

Opened in 1980, Willi’s, with its bright blue facade, is a fixture in the 1st arrondissement. This French wine bar, which is actually owned by an Englishman, is perhaps most famous for its wine-themed posters, which are commissioned each year and created by contemporary artists. A selection of them hang throughout the two-room space, which includes a long wood bar area with stools and an adjacent, larger dining room. The wine list specializes in the best Rhone vintages, but also includes a nice selection of White Burgundies. Affordable a la carte dishes and prix-fixe menus of French classics, as well as Spanish charcuterie, are also a draw.

Montréal’s main artery, rue Ste-Catherine, runs for seven miles along the length of the city. From its origins as a dirt road lined with farmhouses and orchards, the street today is now a thoroughfare passing through a number of neighborhoods. The best-known stretch runs roughly from rue Guy to rue Aylmer, where La Baie department store stands. This is the heart of the city’s busy downtown shopping district, with a mix of familiar international brands and only-in-Canada department stores and shops. Continuing east, the street passes through the Quartier des Spectacles before forming the main street of Montréal’s Gay Village. There, it is closed to cars in the summer, and patrons of bars and restaurants spill into the streets.

Colca Canyon, a three-hour drive north of Arequipa, is one of Peru’s most popular and extraordinary tourist attractions. The chasm is over 13,600 feet deep, making it one of the deepest in the world, and more than twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. From the Cruz del Condor viewpoint, it is possible to get a panoramic view of this special place along with the chance to witness the flight of majestic Andean condors. This is a great place for partaking in adventure sports with a surreal view.

Tori Tori is a higher-end but not unaffordable Japanese food restaurant in Mexico City. The chain maintains three locations: one in the Condesa neighborhood and two in Polanco. The most recent of the three features a visually striking space hidden behind a simple black door. The restaurant was designed by architect Michel Rojkind, with interiors by Héctor Esrawe.

Barbuda’s most accessible beaches are located on its equally stunning southern shore. Here you’ll find the gorgeous Coral Group Bay and Access Beach, located about a half-mile north of Coco Point, which is where to head for excellent just offshore DIY snorkeling amid untouched coral reefs. There is more fantastic snorkeling in the unpolluted waters of Gravenor Bay, which is located between Coco and Spanish Points, and is home to thriving reef formations. Coco Point is where Barbuda’s leeward and windward sides meet. Make sure to walk out to this tip – it feels like walking the end of the world. The uninhabited peninsula that leads down to Spanish Point is also of note, as archaeologists believe it was once the location of a major Arawak settlement and today tours are offered to the caves where walls are adorned with ancient drawings. This area is also home to one of the island’s three resorts, the Coco Point Lodge.

Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs is a family vacation resort and conference center whose showcase feature is a 50,000-square-foot water park, heated to a humid 84 degrees Fahrenheit (a treat in the middle of the high Colorado desert). It’s next to Interstate 25, just north of Colorado Springs. Though the water park is accessible exclusively to guests at the hotel, the Adventure Park is open to the public, with completely dry activities including a ropes course, climbing wall, mini-golf, gem-panning, bowling, arcade, and several hotel-wide scavenger hunt games. Meals are not included in the room price, but there are restaurants on the property, including healthy options, allergy-friendly kitchens, and, exclusive to the Colorado property, Barnwood, a farm-to-table restaurant and bar in the lobby, which sources as many local ingredients as possible. To avoid crowds and lines, the water park at Great Wolf Lodge Colorado Springs is only open to guests of the hotel, which has 311 suites, differently configured, themed, and sized to accommodate families of all sizes; rates begin at $199 per night and include access to the water park. In celebration of the grand opening, they’re offering discounts of up to 30 percent on multi-night stays through the end of March. Pro tip: bring your own bathrobe and flip flops.

There are no inhabitants on Petite Terre, a protected pair of islands a few miles southeast of Grande-Terre. One of them is off-limits due to conservation efforts, but Terre-de-Bas is open to visitors and home to iguanas, birds, and hermit crabs, with a reef-protected shore and waters abundant with turtles and colorful fish, including lemon sharks. You can day-trip over from the shores of Saint Francois and enjoy white-sand beaches, swimming, snorkeling, wildlife spotting, and hiking to a lighthouse.

Choco–Story is located just 5 mins from the archeological site of Uxmal, so we decided to check it out on our way back to Merida. It looks a bit touristy (disney-ish) from the outside, but it turned out to be a well-executed, interactive museum, that is built around the Mayan culture and history of chocolate. A self-guided tour took us through various smaller huts chronicling the history of chocolate within the Mayan culture, and the best part? A delicious hot chocolate tasting at the end of it! Of course you can taste and buy hot chocolate powder and chocolate bars afterwards at their pretty gift store. My personal highlight though was a powerful demonstration of a Mayan rain ceremony in the forest, in honor of the god Chaac. It began with distinctive, booming sounds, alternating from different directions, from deep within the trees. It slowly traveled closer, until we saw 3 men walking towards the altar in front of us, while they continued to blow into conch shells. It was moving and allowed us a small glimpse into the mystical and majestic Mayan culture. There is also a small wildlife refuge there, with rescued Jaguars, deers, and spider monkeys, that can be fed through the chain link enclosure. OPEN EVERYDAY: 9am – 7:30pm ENTRY FEES (at time of publishing) Adults: $120.00 pesos Seniors(65+) / Students / Children (6-12 years) $90.00 pesos Children less than 6 years: free >>>A heartfelt thank you to Yucatan Tourism for an unforgettable 4 days in the Yucatan, my new favorite place in Mexico! @YucatanTourism #TravelYucatan