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Lincoln Center is an iconic landmark featured in TV shows, movies, and countless city tours. It is an artist’s mecca comprised of many buildings, including Avery Fisher Hall, the Julliard School, and The Metropolitan Opera. All of the buildings were designed by different architects. The focal point and largest building in the complex is The Metropolitan Opera which houses a pair of large paintings by Marc Chagall in its interior. While Lincoln Center is beautiful in day light, it’s true beauty is witnessed at night when the lights from inside the buildings highlight the columns and arches made of travertine.

There’s no cost attached to one of Istanbul’s most distinctive photo ops, and the only lines are from fishing poles. Cross the historic Golden Horn via the Galata Bridge, where fishermen from every walk of life jostle for space, and tourist restaurants line the lower level (stop in for a drink if you’d like, but the food tends to be overpriced and mediocre). Galata Bridge isn’t beloved for its architecture (fun fact: It is supposedly the bridge for which the card game is named), but rather its views: Topkapı Palace and several domes and minarets in the Old City on one side, and the Galata Tower on the other.

Farming roots in Arizona’s third-largest city run deep, and the Fresh Foodie Trail highlights this history. Participants get a hands-on (and delicious) learning experience with pasta-making courses that use ancient grains, foraging excursions, and visits to some of the area’s best farmers markets, food trucks, and farm-to-table eateries. The farms surrounding Mesa—including those in neighboring towns like Gilbert and Queen Creek—produce a dazzling seasonal bounty: citrus in January, peaches in May, olives in October, and heirloom wheat during the winter months. The tour is an appetizing way to learn why your food choices matter.

It’s a sign of just how revered Carl Linnaeus is in Sweden that for many years many people had a picture of him, and his garden, in their pocket. That’s because the botanist, who is famed for creating the two-name system for classifying plants and animals, adorned the 100-krona banknote for many years. It’s easy to visit the garden where he did his research, as the town of Uppsala can be reached in less than 40 minutes by train. The garden was originally laid out in 1655, then redesigned by Linnaeus in 1745. You can also visit his former home, now the Linnaeus Museum. As for the banknotes: In 2017 Linnaeus was replaced by Greta Garbo.

At the eastern end of Stradun, Sponza Palace survived the great 1667 earthquake and is a rare example of the Gothic–Renaissance style in Dubrovnik. Formerly used as customs house and storage, as well as the Republic’s mint and armory, Sponza today is home to Dubrovnik National Archives. The rooms around its open-air atrium host an exhibit of copies of the Archive’s most relevant documents, some as old as the 11th century. The Memorial Room of Defenders from the 1990s conflict pays a powerful tribute to the victims of the town’s recent war.

The water is usually calm and a bit warmer on the Nantucket Sound side of the island. Steps Beach is off Cliff Road about four miles from town, sandwiched between Dionis and Jetties, and is not on most people’s radar. Before you take on the massive set of stairs leading down, enjoy the view of Great Point Light off to the right. Steps Beach offers protected shores with gentle waves washing onto the sandy beach, and gray-shingled mansions dotting the surrounding sand dunes. Come prepared, as there are no lifeguards or facilities, and make sure to save some energy to make the climb back up the steps.

Famed for its elegant, French-inspired seafood cuisine, Torfan is set in a 19th-century building (the restaurant’s name refers to Bernhöftstorfa, a historical part of the town) that’s decorated with traditional paintings on the walls, ornate ceramics, and classic wooden floors. Aside from the lauded Icelandic lobster it serves, the restaurant also offers up game, beef, fish, and even horse as à la carte options; set menus such as the Langoustine Feast and the Surf and Turf Feast; and vegetarian items like mushroom risotto and broccoli with oyster mushrooms—all of which balance tradition with modern techniques and influences. Service is friendly and professional.

Soon after conquering Constantinople and defeating the Byzantines in 1453, Ottoman Sultan Mehmet II commissioned the beginnings of the Grand Bazaar to reinvigorate trade with the city. More than 550 years later, the bazaar is one of the oldest covered markets in the world, with a labyrinth of 61 streets connecting over 4,000 shops selling all manner of treasures and souvenirs, from jewelry to silk carpets. Make a beeline for Sivasli Istanbul Yazmacisi, whose quality textiles are popular with interior decorators. Looking for currency exchange shops? You’ll find the best rates in Istanbul here.

I must have missed PROSPECT on my last visit to Park City, when truth be told, Main Street felt a bit generic, ‘ski-town anywhere’ to me. I’m not a big shopper, but I love seeing well executed, new ideas in retail, that stay true to their environment. PROSPECT, with its contemporary urban mountain town feel scores on all fronts. It’s a vivid commune of retail, barber, and coffee bar. Who would’ve thunk, but it works and helps re-energize Main Street. And best of all, it clearly aligns itself with brands that share a serious environmental vision. Sister store Park City Mercantile is just a few doors away.

Witness the destruction wrought by Mt. Vesuvius nearly 2,000 year ago at the archaeological site of Pompeii. The ancient village was frozen in time beneath a blanket of hot ash during an eruption in 79 C.E. Among the ruins that have been uncovered are buildings that shed light on aspects of ancient life both grand and mundane, from the temples, the coliseum and homes with fine frescoes, to public baths, chariot-rutted streets and grain stores which now hold plaster casts of the people who perished that fateful day.

Though it is just outside the French Quarter, St. Joseph’s Cathedral is one of the most famous landmarks of the colonial era in Hanoi. The neo-Gothic church was modeled after Paris’s Notre-Dame Cathedral and sits on the west side of Lake Hoan Kiem. The church dates from 1886, making it the oldest church in the capital city. (Vietnam has a Catholic population of around 4 million people.) After the Viet Minh officially took control of North Vietnam in 1954, following the Geneva Accords, Catholic leaders and institutions were repressed and St. Joseph’s was closed for decades. In 1990, services resumed, and now several masses take place each day, sometimes drawing more worshipers than can fit in the building.

Two of Manila’s most famous churches can be found in close proximity to each other within the historic walled city of Intramuros. The 16th-century San Agustin Church, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is the oldest church in the Philippines and was the only building in Intramuros to survive heavy bombing in World War II. It boasts an impressive interior with trompe l’oeil effects, a Baroque pulpit and a majestic pipe organ, and the museum houses treasures of Old Manila. A few blocks away, the Manila Cathedral, restored many times since the original version was built 450 years ago, hosts religious artworks and sacred relics and was visited by Pope Francis in 2015.

Once a separate town, the leafy colonial neighborhood known as Coyoacán has long been absorbed into the city at large, but retains a separate, old-fashioned air that’s impossible to resist. Restaurants and ice cream parlors (plus some venerable, divey cantinas) cluster around the quarter’s two central plazas that fill daily with strolling families, bootblacks, balloon sellers, and organ grinders. Feeling noshy? Locals swear by the esquites (stewed and seasoned corn kernels) on offer at a street stall next to the Sanborns store, right on Plaza del Centenario. A walk down Calle Francisco Sosa takes you past some of the city’s most valuable (often colonial-era) residences and ends at adorable Plaza Santa Catarina, with its petite parish church and a handful of friendly watering holes when it’s time for a drink or a snack.

Kiyomizu-dera on Mount Otowa is one of the most famous temples in Japan, a place that appears in every sequence of Japanese travel photos. The landscape is all cherry trees and forest; it is among Kyoto‘s loveliest spots. The current structure dates to 1633 and is one of 33 temples on a pilgrimage circuit in the Kansai region dedicated to Kannon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The circuit runs from the south of Wakayama north to the Sea of Japan. You’ll see pilgrims carrying nokyo-cho—books stamped to record the visit—and monks busily inscribing in calligraphy. The temple, set against a steep hill and constructed on huge pilings, is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Sustainability is the name of the game at h2hotel in downtown Healdsburg. The building is certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council and has a living roof of grass and succulents that filters rainwater to reduce the impact on Healdsburg’s storm-drain system and neighboring Foss Creek. Inside the 36 rooms, sensors turn off lights, fans, and air conditioners when guests leave, and the bamboo flooring is layered with fair-trade, chemical-free rugs. Even the way the hotel approaches in-room beverages is green; instead of plastic water bottles, guests are given recycled glass wine bottles to refill at water stations around the property (there’s at least one on each floor). The hotel isn’t only eco-friendly; it’s swanky, too. Out back, along Foss Creek, a lap pool is an inviting spot to spend a hot and sunny afternoon. In the lobby, the bar at Spoonbar! Restaurant still turns out some of the tastiest craft cocktails in town. All overnight stays include complimentary breakfast and access to the hotel’s collection of Public bikes. There’s also a free yoga class for guests every Sunday morning. Be sure to see the on-site Hand Fan Museum, a passion project for Pam Sher, the matriarch of the family in charge. Also make time for a meal at Oaxacan restaurant Mateo’s Cocina Latina across the street (chef Mateo Granados is married to the owner of the hotel).