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Château de Montaigne is worth a detour, especially if you need a little break from the wine tastings, that Bordeaux is so known for. The 14th century castle is nestled deep in the countryside near Bergerac and Saint-Émilion and was once the residence of Michel de Montaigne, one of France’s most important, early philosophers. If you haven’t heard of him, he is the one you may (or may not) thank for making essays popular as a literary genre.

A fixture with Glasgow’s cool kids, Chinaski’s continues to thrive. It may not look like much from the outside, but interiors inspired by novelist Charles Bukowski, a great selection of music and some excellent drinks and bar food ensure its popularity. Although more famed for its drinks, dishes such as crisp whitebait and parmesan crusted rack of lamb prove that the kitchen knows its stuff.

When it comes to safari experiences, South Africa is filled with luxury lodge selections. But what sets Jaci’s Safari Lodge, and the adjacent Jaci’s Tree Lodge, apart is their location in off the radar Madikwe Game Reserve (Big Five territory), their amazing hospitality and their perfectly on-point style. Magnificent Madikwe is located in the North West Province, on the border with Botswana, and the southern edge of the Kalahari Desert’s famed red sands. It’s a stunning landscape for a safari that looks quite different than what you find in the reserves like the luxe Sabi Sands around Kruger National Park and is just as accessible. Arrive via car on paved roads from Johannesburg in just about 4 hours or hop on a quick hour long scenic flight with the excellent Federal Airlines that will take you to an airstrip about 15- minutes drive through the park from the lodge — you’ll be greeted by a safari vehicle and on the way may just encounter a herd or elephant or pride of lions as we did.

Upon arrival at Jaci’s Safari Lodge you’ll be greeted by the beyond friendly and professional staff and offered a welcome drink in the gorgeous, vibrantly colored lounge and dining room area while your luggage is whisked away to your tent or suite. Jaci’s Safari Lodge offers six vintage posh Tented Suites, two privat eFamily Suites and two ultra luxe Starbed Suites, which have the option of sleeping al fresco under the stars listening to the sounds of nature — a rhino was just below us against the fence when we stayed making noise as he stomped and munched. But if sleeping al fresco isn’t for you, don’t worry as the Starbed Suites are in proper glass, steel and concrete structures with interior bedrooms completely closed off from the outside. There are more options at the adjacent Jaci’s Tree Lodge, which offers eight Treehosue Suites on custom wooden stilts connected by raised walkways that appear to float above the ground.

The food here is delicious and Madikwe Game Reserve is a hidden secret among South African parks and filled with dozens upon dozens of big cats (so many they had to remove a number of lions over the years) as well as two packs of rare wild dogs and a healthy rhino and elephant population. The guides are amazing and the bush dinners truly special. They even have a program that allows you to rent high end Canon DSLR cameras for your safaris that will bring out your inner wildlife photographer — we used these and the experience was a highlight of the trip.

Ask anyone you know who grew up in the Bay Area about the Exploratorium, and they’ll likely be able to share stories of class trips and seeing their hair stand on end at an installation about electricity or fun-house mirrors that taught about optics and visual perception. This is not, however, a museum simply for kids—though curious kids will definitely be entertained while learning. Instead, its exhibits aim to raise the scientific literacy of visitors of all ages, by providing engaging, amusing, and hands-on experiences. Long housed at the Palace of Fine Arts, the Exploratorium opened in its current, and much larger, space on Piers 15 and 17 in 2013. One advantage of the new waterfront location is the North Gallery and its outdoor spaces, focused on environmental phenomena like the wind, rain, and tides. The completely dark Tactile Dome and the disorienting Monochromatic Room may prove not just the highlights of your visit to the Exploratorium but the most memorable, or at least strangest, moments of your time in San Francisco.

A whole lot of history converges at the Fairmont San Francisco—as do all of the city’s cable car lines, which offer easy transportation to the Financial District, Union Square, and Fisherman’s Wharf. The hotel was built in 1906 but damaged in the Great Earthquake and subsequent fires before it even opened, so celebrated architect Julia Morgan was brought in to repair the building. Once it debuted, the hotel quickly became a city favorite, hosting more than its share of historic events, including the series of meetings in 1945 that resulted in the formation of the United Nations. The hotel’s storied bar, The Venetian Room, also featured big names, from Ella Fitzgerald and Nat ‘King’ Cole to Tony Bennett, who first performed I Left My Heart in San Francisco here in 1961 (Bennett still frequents the hotel).

Today, the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar is a draw for tourists and locals seeking a kitschy, iconic San Francisco experience, with live music, Polynesian food, and Mai Tais severed against a backdrop of occasional staged thunderstorms. Other dining options include Laurel Court for all-day coastal California fare and the famous Afternoon Tea, a local tradition since 1907. The opulent design of the hotel extends from its lobby—with marble floors and sumptuous fabrics—to the 606 luxurious rooms, each outfitted with comfortable furnishings and modern technologies. Of the 62 suites, 10 also include balconies with city and bay views.

The Newseum is an interactive, ever-evolving tribute to our First Amendment freedoms of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Powerful exhibits such as eight sections of the Berlin Wall (the largest display outside Germany) provide historical context for the importance of free press, while timely exhibits about the civil rights movement provoke reflection on the progress of achieving equality. The daily-updated “Front Pages” gallery of local, national, and international publications is a comparative study on current events, while the archive of headlines highlighting momentous events from the 1400s through today is an engaging history lesson. Peruse Pulitzer Prize–winning photography, enjoy panoramic views down Pennsylvania Avenue, and test your journalistic skills with a recorded mock-broadcast—reading a teleprompter is not as easy as you may think!

So you want to drive through a tree? Well, you’ve got options. (At least for now. Since no new drive-through trees will be created any time soon, for obvious environmental reasons, the existing ones are maybe the last of their kind.) There are actually three trees in the vicinity of Redwood National and State Parks whose trunks are wide enough to accommodate a car. The Chandelier Tree, at the Drive-Thru Tree Park, may be the most well-known and most frequently photographed; pay your $5 and get behind the wheel. The Tour Thru Tree, near Klamath, is the other tree with a human-constructed tunnel. The only organically occurring drive-through tree in the area is the Shrine Tree in Myers Flat, on Avenue of the Giants. The opening in this tree was primarily nature-created—though at this point it’s held together with some human help. Shrine also has a fallen tree with a drive-up ramp, a stump you can walk through, and a couple of playhouses carved from redwoods.

First domesticated on this tiny island in 1840, the aloe plant is so important to Aruba that its image is emblazoned on the nation’s crest. Crops once extended over nearly two-thirds of the island and, to this day, remain Aruba’s largest export, explaining why the plant is a frequent motif in local art and architecture. For more information, visit the Aruba Aloe Factory, where you take a guided tour and learn about the manufacturing process. Then, head to the museum to browse a small collection of ancient aloe planting tools as well as books on the plant and its history.

Housed in a trio of historic buildings spanning the 14th to the 20th centuries, the Hotel Danieli, a Luxury Collection Hotel, overlooks Venice’s lively Riva degli Schiavoni waterfront promenade in San Marco—a prime people-watching spot. The noble family who lived in the original Byzantine-style palazzo had four doges in their line. Its second act as a hotel began in 1822, and it has continued to host notable guests, from Charles Dickens to Charlie Chaplin. The gilded lobby, with its Murano glass chandeliers, pink marble columns, and stained-glass windows, sets the opulent tone throughout.


Rooms are styled with Italian antiques, original artwork, and Murano glass mirrors or chandeliers, and many have gorgeous lagoon views. Mingle with guests over martinis at the award-winning bar, or watch the sunset from the terrazza.

Don’t miss dinner at the restaurant, either—a location you may recognize. In the Angelina Jolie/Johnny Depp film The Tourist, the famous twosome dine at this famous restaurant. Part of the historic Hotel Danieli, the stupendous views from the terrace give you a front seat to the great show of the Grand Canal.

The award-winning Depot is a restaurant with a difference run by quintessential Kiwi chef and author Al Brown. Squid ink linguine, pork hock and plump fresh oysters come hand-in-hand with wine on tap, old style crockery and super friendly service. I personally think the best seats are outside. Unfortunately they’ve succumbed to the “no reservations” disease so a good approach is to put your name on the door and then grab a drink across the road at Belotta in the SkyCity complex.

Located on the northwest point of the island, Aruba’s only golf course offers views across the ocean and desert. It’s also independent, meaning guests at any resort can use the championship greens, which were designed by Robert Trent Jones II. Visitors to the course have access to club rentals as well as a putting green, a chipping area, and swing tutorials with a high-tech simulator. Note: Aruba’s constant trade winds present a challenge to even the most experienced golfers, so prepare for a somewhat frustrating game.

The award-winning Grillmarkaðurinn (Grill Market), known for working with local farmers and suppliers to create meals that are fresh, organic, seasonal, and delicious, is a definite culinary highlight for foodies visiting Iceland. The welcoming and impressive interior blends contemporary style with natural textiles, as well as elements like moss and basalt. The menu is generally centered around fish and meat, ranging from salted cod with lobster salad to grilled pork ribs and dry-aged rib eye, but there are vegetarian dishes available, too. Everything is grilled to perfection and artfully presented on wooden cutting boards. The wine list is expertly curated, too. Staff are professional and friendly.

When Southern Ocean Lodge, the flagship property of Australian hotel brand Baillie Lodges, opened in 2008, it was Kangaroo Island’s first true luxury lodge, known for its cinematic spot atop grass-covered limestone cliffs, with curved guest suites facing the namesake seas. Surrounded on three sides by national parks, Southern Ocean Lodge connected travelers with Australia’s powerful natural landscapes. Then in early January 2020, wildfires consumed more than half of Kangaroo Island, reducing the ecological paradise to sandy hills and blackened branches. Southern Ocean Lodge was a casualty of the blaze.


As AFAR’s Katherine LaGrave reported in her feature on the island, rebuilding began in earnest in February 2022, with the goal of becoming more sustainable: “The new lodge will use 25 percent less energy than the original lodge, and diesel fuel consumption will be halved. There will be rainwater harvesting, reliance on a hybrid solar-and-battery system, and elevated boardwalks to minimize impact on the health of coastal plants. Smart landscaping will create a sort of buffer around the lodge.”



Along with the new sustainable choices, the lodge has replicated the footprint of the original property, with 25 guest rooms slightly reoriented to optimize sea views. A new ultra-premium suite, the Ocean Pavilion, has up to four bedrooms and bathrooms (or two separate suites) with an outdoor terrace and private pool. And the ever-popular main lodge still has a Great Room with a suspended fireplace and a deck with a plunge pool that juts toward the sea.

Industrialization came late to Sweden, which may explain why locals have retained a love for traditional crafts. Come here for well-priced goods made from natural materials—everything from scrubbing brushes and birdhouses to bread boards and table linens—that will add a bit of Scandinavian charm to any home.

From mid-May through early October, an Asian-inspired street market springs up in the Lower Mainland on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights—and holiday Mondays, too. Just steps from the Canada Line’s Bridgeport station, the market also offers more than 1,000 free parking spots. Adventurous eaters can graze from 100-plus food stalls, serving everything from poutine and spiral-cut “potato tornado” on a stick to creamy octopus takoyaki (a circular-shaped Japanese snack). Finish with Mango Yummy’s shaved ice desserts or a box of Dragon Beard candy—similar to floss halva and spun sugar—to take home. Then, shop over 200 retail stalls or hit the carnival rides and live entertainment.