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Born in Auvergne, Thierry Busset trained with European masters before taking his pastry prowess to London’s Le Gavroche and Marco Pierre White (both of which peaked at three Michelin stars). His talent even tamed the famously mercurial Gordon Ramsay, who called Busset “one of the finest pastry chefs in the world.” Nestled on Alberni Street (which is rapidly turning into Vancouver’s version of Rodeo Drive), Busset’s eponymous café is constantly bustling. Pop in for the pillowy macarons, but stay for the soups, quiches, and sandwiches crafted with house-baked bread. Open until midnight daily, the chic eatery also serves spiked drinks, perfect for sipping on the gorgeous heated patio. If you have your heart set on a particular treat, swing by early—fan favorites can easily sell out before noon.

The Inca Trail is perhaps the most famous trek in Peru. This is the road to Machu Picchu, an ancient route that leads from the Sacred Valley into the heart of the Andes. You must obtain a permit and hire an official guide in order to hike the Inca Trail proper. There are plenty of tour operators in Cusco that offer trips up to Machu Picchu, so you should definitely look at reviews before you choose. For better or for worse, the tours are all-inclusive. The local tour operators employ porters to carry your packs and set up a camp. A team of local chefs will prepare three meals a day, and many hikers come back raving about the delicious meals. Keep in mind that the trek can be tough, especially in the first few days. The trail is often narrow, and it flirts with formidable heights. The mountains in this part of the Andes can rise well over 13,000 feet, and many hikers find themselves suffering from altitude sickness. Make sure to take a few days (in Cusco or the Sacred Valley) to acclimatize before you begin the journey. Finally: make sure to plan ahead! The Peruvian government limits trail access to 500 people per day, including porters. This regulation protects the local ecosystem and the delicate ruins, and it ensures that the trail won’t be too crowded. However, it also means that permits for the peak summer season sell out months in advance. If you aren’t able to get a permit for the classic Inca Trail, never fear: there are various other trails that lead to Machu Picchu.

You enter Mister Jiu’s off of Waverly Place and step first into the dark and dreamy bar, a perfect place to pause for one of the restaurant’s inventive cocktails. With the mood set, follow the hallway, which gives way to the light and bright dining room that overlooks the lanterns and Chinese signs of Grant Avenue. Chef Brandon Jew and his talented team buzz around the open kitchen, whipping up small and large dishes of organic, locally sourced meat, fish, and vegetables. The cuisine makes modern versions of old classics: instead of the usual white doughy wrap, pork buns here are served on Dutch crunch rolls; hot and sour soup is served with Dungeness crab; and shui jiao dumplings are filled with lamb. Banquet-style dining is encouraged—how else will you get to test out that old-school Chinese restaurant mainstay, the lazy Susan, built into each round teak table? A prix fixe menu and à la carte ordering are available. Within six months of opening, Mister Jiu’s earned a Michelin star.

Crowds may swarm upon it daily from sunrise onwards, but exposure hasn’t dulled the impact of the largest religious monument in the world. Commissioned by King Suryavarman II in the 12th century as the centerpiece of the mighty Khmer empire, the structure is inspired by Hindu sacred design and is estimated to have taken around 30 years to build. The biggest surprise upon visiting might be learning that the vast complex of spires, moats, frescoes, cloisters, and balustrades was constructed in such speedy fashion. You won’t be alone while witnessing it, but sunrise over the iconic temple remains one of the essential experiences in Southeast Asia. A return in the afternoon when the camera-toting hordes have dispersed is also advisable.

For pure private island bliss with a serious side of digital detox, I love hopping on the private boat charter and cutting through a sea of turquoise for 20 minutes to arrive at The Meridian Club on gorgeous, isolated Pine Cay. The only resort on the 800-acre private island, which also features 35 private homes but nothing else, has just 14 beachfront rooms and is luxe zen to the core.

The property has just 12 suites and two freestanding cottages and is the kind of place you come to digitally detox, to rewind and rejuvenate — there are no cars on this island and the most traffic you’ll see on the electric golf car is an iguana family crossing the road. There are also no televisions or telephones in the rooms although there is WiFi (but you are asked to not conduct phone conversations while here unless it’s an emergency as noise carries). The rooms are beyond spacious with a whitewashed beach vibe and large screen in porches with ocean views and direct beach access. I loved falling asleep to the sound of the ocean every night and the beds and linens were top notch comfortable. The suites also feature landscaped outdoor showers. The cottages are even larger with separate living and lounging spaces as well as having the screen-in porch and outdoor shower set up.

Beyond the rooms, I loved the staff at this property. Everyone was so friendly and went out of their way to cater to my every whim. The meals, which are included in the rate, are also quite good with a varied menu and beautiful presentation. The restaurant, known as The Bistro, is open to hotel guests and also the homeowners who live or vacation on the island, and on weekend nights post dinner it can take on a very fun vibe with dancing by the pool or cocktails in the second floor lounge space.

Staying here is definitely an isolated experience. It isn’t easy or cheap to access Provo for an afternoon, so it is best for couples or friends (it’s not very child focused) that are looking for a digital detox style getaway where you don’t need to be constantly connected (but there is still WiFi to Netflix and chill at night) or entertained by a myriad of restaurants, shops or bars. Here you get back to nature. Enjoy fresh, seasonal, well-prepared meals and stiff drinks at the bar and just soak up the island vibes in a beautiful private island atmosphere for a four or five nights. Afterwards, you can hit up Provo for a few more and it will feel like a big city adventure! Oh and it’s not like you will be sans activity. There is great snorkeling and diving on reefs just off Pine Cay and there are also opportunities for fishing, walking and yoga. Yep, when it comes to wellness getaways, The Meridian Club delivers.

People in tiny towns deserve great food as much as city folk do, but it’s still a surprise when a town of fewer than 9,000 residents can sustain a restaurant as good—excellent, really—as Ludvig’s Bistro. Open daily during the summer months and for plenty of special occasions off-season, the restaurant has been one of Alaska’s best for more than a decade. Chef/owner Colette Nelson puts a Mediterranean spin on all the local ingredients she can get her hands on. The restaurant is all bright pops of color, too. Even Southeast Alaska’s rainiest days can’t knock the happy off of Ludvig’s. Don’t you dare show your face without making a reservation first—even if Sitka weren’t one of the world’s most magical little towns, Ludvig’s would make it a worthy destination.

The woodblock prints from ukiyo-e artist Hokusai first introduced me to Japan’s most iconic volcano. Between 1826 and 1833, Hokusai traveled to many provinces in Japan to see Mount Fuji from different vantage points as represented in his works Great Wave off Kanagawa, Watermill at Onden, and Nihonbashi bridge in Edo in order to produce the famous “36 views of Mount Fuji” series. I have always loved these graphic prints and was determined to get at least one view of this magnetic mountain in my lifetime. During my stay at Hoshinoya Fuji, I was able to get the same view that Hokusai etched almost two centuries ago in print number #35 of the series: Mount Fuji reflected in Lake Kawaguchi.

Set northeast of Lake Kawaguchi, Hoshino Fuji is the destination for those interested in “glamping” and exploring Japan’s natural side. Barely a year old, the resort rises like concrete tree houses among the red pine forest. Upon check-in you’ll be given a backpack with headlight, water bottle, snacks and portable blanket to urge you on for nearby adventures. Around the resort, camping elements are incorporated with hammocks between the pines, open camp-fires at the Cloud Terrace, and portable in-room coffee kit. Each cabin has a plush bed, minimal furniture and a balcony for panoramic views of the lake and Mount Fuji.

You can “rough it” with nature outside, but I couldn’t resist pampering myself with the amenities provided by the resort. My perfect morning started with a bath scented with hinoki and flowers before a wholesome breakfast with fresh baked bread on my private balcony. During the day you can go out for a hike or kayak or learn how to smoke food from one of the members of staff. In the evening, learn how to cook over an open fire from the chefs before you enjoy the best dinner with local meat and vegetables. The staff at Hoshinoya Fuji thought of all the details that would create a great camping trip and combined it with the attentiveness of a luxury hotel to create a truly unforgettable experience. A work of art led me here and I can’t wait to return and experience this level of hospitality again.

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.

A 1,200-acre green space filled with museums, theaters, and gardens, Balboa Park is the center of art and culture in San Diego. It’s also one of the city’s most historic sites, built for the Panama–California exhibition in 1915. While the museums are definitely worth seeing, there are also a number of free attractions, including the photogenic Botanical Building, which houses more than 2,100 plants (including Venus flytraps); the Desert Garden, filled with succulents from around the world; and a sculpture court with works by Miró and Rodin. For one of the area’s best views, purchase a timed ticket to climb the California Tower in the Museum of Man. The ornate structure reopened to the public in 2015 after being closed for nearly 80 years and features a spiral staircase to the eighth floor, where you can catch a glimpse of the Cuyamaca Mountains, the Cabrillo Bridge, and even Mexico’s Coronado Islands.

When I first stepped into the blue folds of the ICEHOTEL in Jukkasjärvi I thought this must be what Superman’s Fortress of Solitude looks like. It’s that blue found in the water of higher latitudes, a blue that looks photoshopped although no photograph seems to be able to reproduce it with fidelity. Most of the time you and the other hotel guests are dressed in the hotel-issued technical gear: snow suits, balaclavas, moon-boots, mittens, caps. But when you sleep in the cold hotel you strip down to your long underwear, lock your things in a locker, carry a sleeping bag and sleeping sheet to your room, and try to get as comfortable as possible on the reindeer skins. One tip to remaining comfortable is to go easy at the hotel’s ICEBAR. The drinks, inspired by and named after the rooms in the cold hotel, come in hollowed cubes of ice and go down a little too smoothly. The bathrooms, contrary to the supposition made by my friend on Facebook, are not made of ice but you do have to walk outside to reach them at night. We dressed and went to straight to breakfast when we woke. (It is busy in the locker and shower area in the morning.) I ate a protein-rich meal to restore the lost kilojoules and then sat for forty-five minutes in the sauna. When you check out you receive a diploma (write out the name of each guest if you want individual diplomas) perfect for you to share it with the very friends who thought you were nuts for wanting to sleep in the ice and snow and the cold.

Two architectural wonders helped put Dubai on the map: the Burj Al Arab hotel, which resembles the sail of a ship out on the gulf waters, and the Palm Jumeirah, a residential development on a manmade archipelago that fans out in the shape of a huge palm tree. But in 2010, the sleek Burj Khalifa stole their thunder. Now the world’s tallest structure, the tower soars 830 meters (2,722 feet) into the sky. Visitors can zoom by elevator up to the 124th floor to experience incredible views and explore interactive displays on Dubai’s history and the tale behind the building of this futuristic marvel. Another observation deck is even higher, on the 148th floor.

One of New York’s most iconic landmarks is also one of America’s: the Statue of Liberty, standing in the middle of New York Harbor as it has since 1885. The statue was famously a gift from France, built to a design by sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi and with structural engineering overseen by Gustave Eiffel. The statue was one of the first large-scale curtain wall structures—that is, one where weight is supported by an internal frame and not by the exterior walls. As one of New York’s most visited sights, some tickets sell out far in advance. There are two different levels of tickets: pedestal and crown. Tickets to the pedestal and especially those to the crown are often gone months in advance, so plan accordingly.

Hotel Nacional de Cuba wasn’t built to look historic; it is historic. Since its doors opened in 1930, the grandiose lobby has been a hub of activity, and nowadays the buildings well-preserved interiors offer an authentic glimpse back in time. The hotels halls have been walked by some of the most notable international figures of the past century; from Ernest Hemingway and Frank Sinatra to Vladimir Putin and John Kerry (though, separately). For a classically Cuban experience, treat yourself to a room that overlooks the waterfront, grab a drink at one of the property’s six bars, and watch the sun set as colorful jalopies zoom by on the Malecón.

If walking through New York’s streets seems chaotic, try getting above it all—with a panoramic view from the top of the city’s most famous skyscraper. From above, the beautifully engineered order of the buildings, parks and thoroughfares below is revealed—and at sunset, the colors reflecting off the glass towers look magical. There are actually two observation decks to choose from: one on the 86th floor, which is grand enough for most; and another more vertiginous option, on the 102nd floor.

Standard airport hotels usually veer between functional minimalism and predictable classic luxury. Not citizenM. The hotel is a perfect blend of comfort, luxury, and sass. The hip exterior gives away to a stylish lobby, bedecked with iMacs, work stations, and a hip bar. Rooms are spacious and full of quirky little touches - cushions, menus, and TV sets emblazoned with ‘citizenM welcomes you Citizen *insert guest name*' add a personal touch to the proceedings. Fast wifi and windows overlooking the runway ensure a great stay at the hotel. Our favourite part however came at breakfast - while the chic buffet has plenty of breakfast staples such as cheeses, baguettes, and cold cuts, there was a refreshing array of detox juices, fruit smoothies, and incredible coffee that made our morning. While its proximity to Charles De Gaulle Airport makes ideal for flights landing or departing at odd hours, citizenM also makes for a great base to explore the sights around Paris if you’re thinking of renting a car.