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Belizean cuisine includes a healthy dose of Middle Eastern influence, thanks to the small but established Lebanese community in Belize. If you’re on the hunt for authentic shawarmas, kebabs, hummus, and gyros, the tastiest and most affordable versions you’ll find are at Sahara Grill. The restaurant, across from the Best Western Biltmore, might not look like much from the outside, but that quickly becomes a distant concern once you dig into one of the flavorful platters.

Husband-and-wife team Hugue Dufour and Sarah Obraitis have pulled off a remarkable feat, managing to entice gourmets to travel to Long Island City in Queens for a meal. While Obraitis manages M. Wells Steakhouse, Dufour presides over the kitchen. Having honed his craft at Montreal‘s celebrated Au Pied de Cochon, here Dufour reimagines an old-school chophouse by venturing beyond the typical prime cuts of beef to include sweetbreads and pig’s head on the menu. Among the sides, the poutine is a nod to Dufour’s Quebecois roots as are seasonal dishes like the meat pies sold during the winter holidays. Other steak-house classics are updated with touches like candied nuts on the wedge salad. If you want to sample Dufour’s contemporary Quebecois cuisine and aren’t in the mood for steak, the M. Wells Dinette at MoMA PS1 is another option, though it has a limited menu.

Nobu Restaurant, located at the marina of Four Seasons Hotel Doha, is the biggest Nobu restaurant in the world. Its Friday brunches are a true epicurean adventure from 12:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Its elite brunch includes sushi stations, foie gras, oysters, salads, fresh orange-spotted trevally, wild caught black-streaked monocle, spicy chicken tacos, wagyu rib eye with anticucho, shrimp tempura amazu ponzuand, and its signature dish: black cod in yusu miso, among other mouth-watering dishes. Of course, all of this comes with a price tag. Regular brunch is 355 QAR, ($98); Brunch with alcohol is 475 QAR, ($130). Then again, the place is right along the water’s edge on the Arabian Gulf, boasts massive amounts of room for everyone to move around both indoors and outdoors, and has a 360-degree panoramic cityscape and water views, creating an unrivaled ambiance to dine, dish and spend time with family and friends.

Atop Cap Diamant (Cape Diamond), at the city’s highest point, the Citadelle overlooks Old Québec, the St. Lawrence River, and the Plains of Abraham. There have been defensive structures here as early as the French period—in fact, the location of Québec City was chosen because Samuel de Champlain saw the strategic advantages that Cap Diamant offered. The fortifications you see today, however, date to the 19th century: They were built after a failed attempt by Americans to conquer Québec City during the War of 1812. Students of World War II history may be familiar with the Citadelle as the site of the Québec Conferences, when Winston Churchill, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and Canada‘s prime minister, William Lyon Mackenzie King, met to plan their countries’ strategies during the war. The Citadelle is still an active military base; the museum inside is devoted to the 22nd Regiment, which makes its headquarters here.

One of Australia’s most acclaimed restaurants happens to be in Hobart, where chef Analiese Gregory plays with local, foraged, and homegrown ingredients in her daily-changing menu. One night, you might find burrata curd tossed with saltbush and fermented Jerusalem artichoke. Another, it’ll be licorice-seasoned lamb ribs, grilled for everyone to see in the 10-tonne Scotch oven, which emits the smell of burnt honey. The modern concrete dining room, housed in a 1923 Ford showroom next to the old Mercury newspaper offices (reimagined as the Press Hall), is outfitted with blond wood tables and animal-hide rugs. House-made wines and tangy desserts—perhaps strawberry gum milk sorbet scooped over rhubarb and damson plum sauce—add to the fun.

A city of red-tiled rooftops, pine- and cypress-shaded hills, and sparkling turquoise waters, the Old Town of Dubrovnik stuns with both its architecture and scenery. Its surrounding stone walls, built between the 11th and 13th centuries to protect the city from war and epidemics, stretch for a full 1.3 miles, comprising an immense system of forts, bastions, and walkways that offer breathtaking views. Hike along them, then be sure to check out the Lovrijenac Fortress, built atop a 100-foot rock looking out toward Venice (Dubrovnik’s historic rival). The Old Town’s main street of Stradun, known locally as Placa, is also worth exploring. It’s especially nice in the late afternoon, when the sun shines off the historic buildings and swallows soar in the blue sky above.

In the tiny, quirky town of Hilo, a perfect date night starts with a stroll on the elevated sidewalks along the Victorian-style storefronts to check out the local creative scene. It ends at Kaleo’s Restaurant, where flip-flops are welcome and smiles guaranteed in the finest restaurant in town. The farmhouse appearance of Kaleo’s is indicative of the warmth put into the menu—a locally inspired selection of flavors that includes such dishes as Dynamite, a seafood and mushroom dish with veggies baked in spicy mayo, or the hearty Kaluna steak and potatoes. Cap it all off with a Chocolate Lava Cake while you reminisce over your molten experiences at Volcanoes National Park. But before digging into dessert, enjoy the live music—it creates a lovely atmosphere to let the romance sizzle.

When local restaurateurs Brooks Reitz and Tim Mink shut down Saint Alban, Charleston was distraught. They had something different in mind for the space, however, and replaced their airy, all-day café with a cozy steak house straight out of the 1950s. Much like its predecessor, Little Jack’s has quickly established itself as a neighborhood favorite. It’s open every day from 11 a.m. until late in the evening and serves classic, meat-heavy dishes (steak, sliders, pastrami) alongside seasonal salads. A solid menu of classic cocktails (Harvey Wallbangers, sidecars) rounds out the throwback experience.

Run by well-known chef Jeff Balfour, Southerleigh brings cross-cultural cuisine to the bustling Pearl Brewery complex. Here, the seasonal menu ranges from crispy fried half-chicken with coffee-crusted bacon and thyme red-eye gravy to Gulf red snapper with charred tomato sauce piquant and pickled fennel salad. Housed in a historic building that was once Pearl’s Brewhouse, Southerleigh also references its past with an on-site brewery and nearly two dozen beers on tap.

The name says it all: To dine at Bliss is pure euphoria. In an intimate space with just 52 seats, this Southtown restaurant offers a dining experience you won’t soon forget. Mixing hearty classics with Southwest-inspired cuisine, the menu ranges from braised beef short ribs with buttery mashed potatoes to vegetarian enchiladas stuffed with roasted butternut squash, cremini mushrooms, zucchini, bell peppers, eggplant, and cheese. Appetizers are equally enticing, especially the Japanese hamachi sashimi tostadas and the oyster sliders, served with candied bacon on buttermilk chive biscuits.

Walk down this narrow alley connecting Valencia and Mission Streets and you’ll be surrounded by dozens of colorful murals by local artists depicting environmental and social justice, artistic freedom, and community collaboration. Funded by the nonprofit Intersection for the Arts, more than 700 murals have been painted in this vibrant display of public art since CAMP began in 1992. In a city known for its rising rents and gentrification—and especially in the Mission neighborhood at its epicenter—Clarion Alley is a sight worth visiting.

Nassau’s Christ Church Cathedral sits near the site of the first church built in the Bahamas. The original church, built in 1670, was called the Parish of Christ Church, and it was destroyed by the Spanish just 14 years later. After a few iterations, the stone church that stands there today went up in 1841, and it still holds services more than 170 years later. Visitors can explore this historical landmark, located on George Street in downtown Nassau, or even join one of the daily services, prayer sessions, or Holy Communions.

Open for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late-night fare, this bistro-style American eatery is located in the lobby of the historical Continental Bank, right in the middle of downtown. Chef Nathan Powers and his team draw locals working nearby, tourists from afar, and businesspeople looking to impress and woo clients. The menu for each of the meals served throughout the day is sophisticated but not overwhelming, and Powers slowly rotates items as the seasons change and new inspiration strikes. Bambara offers a number of seafood dishes and provides a range of portion sizes to accommodate different appetites.

A 1901 landmark in Hanoi’s French Quarter, the colonial-style Sofitel Legend Metropole has long been a celebrity magnet, welcoming presidents, ambassadors, and literary and cinematic royalty into its marble lobby. Somerset Maugham and Graham Greene both wrote books here (The Gentleman in the Parlour and The Quiet American, respectively); Charlie Chaplin and Paulette Goddard celebrated their honeymoon at the property; and Jane Fonda and Joan Baez took to the bomb shelter beneath the hotel during air raids (book the complementary Path of History Tour, held every day at 5 and 6 p.m., for a chance to see where they hid out).

The 364 guest rooms are divided between two wings: The historic Metropole section has decor shaped by French architecture and Vietnamese culture (think wood floors, louver windows, bird-cage lampshades, and porcelain light fixtures); the newer wing, opened in 1996 just across the traffic circle from the Opera House, has a strong Neoclassical edge with rooms in dramatic red, black, and white. With its green awning, filigree ironwork, and outdoor wood-deck seating, La Terrasse has the feel of a Parisian café, while Le Beaulieu restaurant serves classic French fare and a decadent Sunday brunch. Spices Garden showcases Vietnamese flavors, and three drinking dens—sleek Angelina, gentlemanly Le Club Bar, and poolside Bamboo Bar—appeal to every kind of spirits lover. Between the central courtyard garden and the pool sit the SoFit gym and Le Spa, with eight rooms for soothing East-meets-West treatments.

Located just off Main Street, the Washington School House Hotel eschews Park City’s typical rustic style for a pared-down, flea-market–chic aesthetic. Before being reimagined as a design-oriented inn in 2011, the 1889 building served as a schoolhouse for miners’ children and a dancehall for the local outpost of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Today, the interior is anything but traditional, from the whitewashed living room with 16-foot ceilings to the antique mirror and the white, lacquered antler chandelier. Outside, a heated pool sits on the hillside surrounded by aspens and boulders. There’s also a fire pit, fashioned from a steel Olympic torch from the 2002 Winter Games.

Each of the guestrooms and suites is unique, though all feature reclaimed wood floors, crystal chandeliers, and tall windows. An artful collection of European antiques and vintage paintings adds a bohemian vibe, while white marble bathrooms offer heated floors, walk-in showers, clawfoot tubs, and period fixtures. Guests can also look forward to plush hooded robes and top-notch toiletries from Molton Brown.