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Let’s face it, Stockholm is three things for travelers: It’s cold. It’s expensive. And it’s home to some of the most gorgeous human specimens on this dear planet of ours. I may have found the perfect place to remedy these issues, should they be considered as such—Gilda’s Café. Set in the heart of the boho district of Södermalm in south Stockholm, Gilda’s is the perfect place to shelter from the cold with a warm cup of coffee in hand, inexpensive pastries (fika, anyone?), and some good old people watching. Trust me when I say that people watching does not get any better than in Stockholm. Locals are very fond of hipster ways. They are relaxed, friendly, and could all be on the front cover of a fashion magazine. Beautiful people aside, Gilda’s is a little slice of heaven on its own. Think unmatched tableware, indie music, eclectic furniture, and delicious homemade dishes. Worlds away from the compartmentalism and practicality of Ikea. The change of scenery is most welcome and enjoyable. Save your precious kronors, daydream about a handsome Swedish Viking while sipping a comforting latte, and go to Gilda’s. It’s the ultimate south Stockholm thing to do, and you won’t regret it.

Many Caribbean islands (Anguilla included) are made primarily of limestone. Over many thousands of years, caves often form in this type of rock speckling the islands with tons of little caves to explore. On Anguilla there are plenty to explore, but the hike to the Iguana Cave is particularly pleasant. It starts on the quiet and isolated sands of Katouche Bay Beach just past the Masara Resort. It’s pretty much due West of the capital of The Valley and very easy to find. The only awkward part is the very steep road that descends the last mile toward the shore. There you should find a gap in the sea grape trees. Staying on this path will take you past a salt pond, through a forest crawling with hermit crabs, up an old stone staircase, through a grove of cactus, past the occasional red-footed tortoise, and finally to the cave. Going at an easy pace, the hike clocks in at around 45 minutes up and 45 minutes back. For the most part, it’s pleasant and I highly recommend it as a way to break up a bounty of beautiful beach days.

Built in the style of a desert fortress near an endurance horseracing center 45 minutes from the city of Dubai, the family-friendly Bab Al Shams Desert Resort & Spa wraps around an oasis and looks out over gently rolling sand dunes that guests explore by 4x4, horse, camel, and mountain bike. Rooms with private balconies or garden patios cluster in double-story buildings that surround courtyards, shaded corridors, and infinity pools. Stone bathtubs, wood furniture, chests, kelims, colorful textiles, and a reproduction spice souk create a Disney-meets-Bedouin lifestyle setting. For peace and quiet, stay during the week, since the main restaurant fills on weekends with locals and bus tours.

Many visitors to Peru stay in Miraflores, and for good reason: The neighborhood is where you’ll find most of the better hotels, as well as the top restaurants. Get off main streets to stroll the pretty side streets. Down by the ocean, walk the Malecón seawall and visit the Parque del Amor, or Love Park, to watch paragliders soar and bank overhead. The oceanfront is also home to Larcomar, an open-air shopping mall where you can grab a bite or shop for any items you may have forgotten.

Ancient Hawaiians believed their souls would leap into the spirit world from this lava shoreline on the western tip of Oahu. These days, people jump off here in gliders instead, soaking up views of the Waiʻanae coast to the south, Mokuleʻia to the north—and the glorious, denim-blue Pacific stretching from here to eternity. Take a 5.4-mile round-trip hike and check out the albatross sanctuary on Kaʻena’s wild coastal acreage (free to visit). Keep an eye out for monk seals, one of the world’s most endangered species, found only in Hawaii. Watch for their silvery-gray sausage shapes as they lounge on the beach, but give them space. Always retreat if a seal awakes, vocalizes, shies away, or tries to shield a pup.

Dilli Haat is an open-air market with 62 stalls that features both permanent and transitional vendors, allowing original items to be introduced regularly. The space, designed to resemble a traditional village market, was created to showcase products from across India. There is an application process to determine the temporary vendors who generally stay for 15 days. Items include textiles, crafts, clothing, shoes, beads, gems, and art, as well as a food court with specialty items from across the country. The small entrance fee and gated exterior keep unwanted panhandlers at bay, allowing for a leisurely shopping experience. Though prices are reasonable, bargaining is still encouraged. Dilli Haat is a favorite jaunt for locals and tourists, adding to the diversity of the experience.

Named for the Japanese word for enlightenment, this boutique property marries classic Cycladic architecture (cube-shaped structures, whitewashed stone walls, arched entryways) with the clean lines of locally made furnishings in naked wood. None of the 25 rooms and 10 suites are the same, but most have private outdoor whirlpools or plunge pools, plus plush beds that make it impossible to leave. Nearly all of the public spaces, however, offer stunning views over Mykonos (about 1.5 miles away) and the bay, and make striking use of night-lighting, especially at the pool, which is built into the natural rock face. A grottolike spa features two treatment rooms, a futuristic-looking whirlpool area, and a hammam for stylish pampering sessions. The hotel offers complimentary transportation to Mykonos, but with its inviting Bar & Sunset Lounge and a restaurant that is garnering awards and accolades, you may decide to stay put for the duration of your vacation.

Following a powerful earthquake in February 2011, the Christchurch Cathedral was severely damaged, and while there is an ongoing ideological and economic debate over whether or not the Gothic-style church can, or should be, repaired, the Anglican parishioners of New Zealand‘s second-largest city can now worship in this fascinating edifice made of, among other things, 96 giant cardboard tubes. Designed by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect who specializes in building temporary structures following natural disasters, the Cardboard Cathedral (formerly called Christchurch’s Transitional Cathedral), was erected in less than a year. Its excellent acoustics are also regularly utilized for concerts and events.

Stallmästaregården began its life as a somewhat rural stablemaster’s farm. This was before Queen Kristina decided, in 1645, that she wanted to host her midsummer festivities here, at which point the stablemaster rapidly transformed the farm into an inn. Now, despite being within the city limits, Stallmästaregården feels like a rural retreat, flanked as it is by the expansive Royal Haga Park and scenic Brunnsviken Bay, in addition to its own verdant gardens. A painstaking restoration and redesign has left the onetime farm still rustic and homey, true to its 17th-century inn background, while simultaneously infusing it with healthy doses of both midcentury and contemporary Scandinavian design. The true star is the restaurant, an unpretentiously stylish destination that serves gourmet Swedish cuisine to discerning locals and out-of-towners against a picturesque natural backdrop. But the best part comes when everyone goes home and the inn is left to the guests.

Anchoring a $1.2 billion mixed-use development, the 23-story Palace Hotel sits opposite the ancient Otemon Gate of Edo Castle and was designed to juxtapose tranquil green space and vibrant concrete jungle, with all guestrooms featuring views of the Imperial Palace’s gardens and moats; most have open-style bathrooms, while more than half feature terraces and balconies, a rarity in Tokyo. Natural motifs—from the leaf-shaped counter and shadowy outlines of trees on the walls of Bar Lounge Privé to the hand-tufted, mossy-hued carpets in the lobby—reinforce the link to the outdoors. The hotel’s artwork brings to light the work of Japanese contemporary artists, with about 1,000 paintings and watercolor, glass, metal, and other pieces on display.

A mineral lick for wild game and a swimming place for the Nez Perce and other Native American tribes, the Lolo Hot Springs, “discovered” by Lewis and Clark in 1805, became a health resort for dudes and wealthy Westerners in the late 1880s. Today the Lolo National Forest in west central Montana, 32 miles southwest of Missoula, is a paradise for camping, hiking, fishing, and in winter, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling. In a prime location to explore 500 miles of trails and scenic drives, the Lodge at Lolo Hot Springs offers weary adventurers the chance to relax in two indoor natural hot spring mineral baths in enclosed grottoes. Built to suggest a Western fort, lodge rooms are lined with white pine logs and log furniture and have large picture windows overlooking the forest. The lodge rents ATVs and snowmobiles to guests. Lodge-based activities include geocaching, Frisbee golf, horseshoes, croquet, and volleyball.

Despite being located just outside Reykjavik’s main center, the Hilton Nordica maintains its popularity thanks to its superb service and welcoming Scandi-mod interiors. Though working travelers tend to favor the property for its many functional conference rooms and business center, leisure visitors prefer to cozy up in a leather armchair by the fire in the plush neutral-toned lobby. The aesthetic continues in the spacious rooms and suites (the smallest is 300 square feet) with their calming, natural palettes, colorful photos of Reykjavik, and large windows that allow Iceland’s generous light to flood in; suites also enjoy separate lounge areas. The VOX restaurant serves gourmet New Nordic cuisine with an emphasis on Icelandic and Scandinavian ingredients, and the open-concept bar serves coffee, tea, and cocktails, and is a comfortable spot for lounging or mingling whether you’re coming in from a busy day of sightseeing or getting ready to hit the town.

One of the most luxurious tented camps in all of Africa sits on an open plain within Singita Grumeti, a 350,000-acre private reserve that adjoins the Serengeti National Park ecosystem, through which vast herds of wildebeest and zebra migrate. Huge, ornate tents are throwbacks to 1920s expedition style, decorated with crystal port decanters, freshly cut flowers, decorative carpets and kilims, four-poster beds, clawed bathtubs, and wood-and-leather campaign chairs. A personal assistant organizes game drives, horseback riding, and hot air ballooning. Leased by American hedge fund mogul Paul Tudor Jones, the private Singita Grumeti concession has off-road driving rights (unlike the Serengeti National Park) and strategically placed manmade water holes that encourage resident wildlife to congregate for the guests. Opulence and attentive service don’t overwhelm the experience of immersion in nature; the tents’ mesh windows allow bush noises to come through at all hours, and zebra frequently dust bathe on the red-earth tennis court.

In 2001, hotelier Ian Schrager tapped French designer Philippe Starck to reconceptualize The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel’s wildly modern interiors. A complete contrast to the building’s historic facade, the lobby is dark, edgy and filled with a quirky smattering of cool furniture—among them chairs by Ray and Charles Eames, a coffee table by Salvador Dali, and a surreal stool by Renee Marguerite. Upstairs, splashes of lavender brighten more neutral rooms, which feature wheelbarrow-shaped chairs and sleigh beds designed by Starck. Merino wool blankets are primed to battle foggy nights, while MALIN+GOETZ bath products soothe well-traveled skin with natural ingredients and science. Downstairs in the Redwood Room, a see-and-be-seen crowd nurses drinks. The swanky lounge sports sleek backlit shelves, its original redwood paneling, and a bar supposedly crafted from a single redwood tree. Though The Clift sits just up the street from Union Square, it feels far away from the tourists.

The most high-adrenaline way to see Sydney Harbour, BridgeClimb has been dressing up locals and travelers in jumpsuits and safety harnesses to ascend “The Coathanger” since 1998. Along the way, they learn fun facts about the Sydney Harbour Bridge, like how it was built using six million rivets, which bridge workers tossed to each other when they were white hot and ready to weld. You’ll also gain a new appreciation for the Sydney Opera House as well as the world’s deepest natural harbor, which just so happens to be the birthplace of European Australia. At the top, strike your favorite Zoolander pose, or try “the koala,” which Ben Stiller invented during his climb.