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Wish that your one-stop shopping and dining location had high-concept ice cream, ramen, and New York–style pizza? Look no further than Pine Street Market, Portland’s first modern food hall. Home to some of the city’s best-loved restaurateurs, it counts among its popular food stands Wiz Bang Bar (featuring the nation’s only high-concept soft serve from the folks at Salt & Straw), Bless Your Heart Burger (done Carolina-style, from Toro Bravo’s John Gorham), and OP Wurst (from local wurst-meisters Olympia Provisions). The 10,000-square-foot space in the renovated 1886 Carriage & Baggage Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was the site of the Old Spaghetti Factory until 1981.

Le Sérac demonstrates that not all fabulous fondue spots must be tucked away inside a mountainous Alpine chalet. This restaurant, located on Chamonix‘s main street, serves a host of Savoyard classics—including the iconic bubbly-cheese delight—as well as exquisite modern French fare, plus a kid’s menu. While there are elements of traditional Haute Savoie ambience, such as the wood-planked walls, the restaurant’s decor holds a touch of contemporary sheen with a glass fireplace and modern furniture. During the warmer months, choose a table on the outside terrace, a great spot for people watching.

Like nearly every Latin American city, Santiago has at its heart a civic square open to the public and brimming with life (and these squares are often named Plaza de Armas). Santiago’s Plaza de Armas is distinguished by two fine buildings, the Central Post Office and the Metropolitan Cathedral. Both buildings were constructed in the 18th century, although the cathedral was much altered in later years. The square is full of lively activity—an excellent spot for people-watching and getting to know this city’s energy.

Opened as the Grand Hotel Royal in 1896, the luxurious Corinthia Hotel has a long and storied past. It was here that the first film was ever screened in Budapest, and the building weathered fires and war before relaunching in its most recent incarnation in 2004. Travelers who really want to learn about the hotel’s history can take one of two weekly tours with manager Tibor Meskál, who has worked on and off here since 1961. Though the original interiors were demolished long ago, the property nevertheless retains a regal atmosphere. Italian limestone, Spanish marble, and gilded molding lend a sense of grandeur in the Grand Ballroom, a marble lobby is accented with swirling golden filigrees in the flooring, and guest rooms feature warm wood furnishings and creamy palettes. Even the leisure facilities skew toward the opulent: the courtyard-style indoor swimming pool is topped with a stunning stained-glass ceiling.

Take home the essence of Argentina with a fragrance inspired by pampas grasses, the northern desert, or Patagonian lupine blossoms. Fueguia 1833, a perfume lab on ultra-chic Avenida Alvear in Recoleta, creates scents from all-natural ingredients. Only the best-quality plants and spices available at production time make the cut, meaning aromas vary from batch to batch. Each bottle bears an engraved lot number, and large flagons come in handsome handmade boxes. Even better: A Fueguia scent does more than make you irresistible—a portion of all proceeds goes to the NGO Help Argentina, a fund-raising organization that supports environmental, human-rights, and public education charities.

The name Fleischmarkt goes back to the medieval butchers who worked along this Inner City street. The surrounding blocks are still home to long-standing merchants like Mühlbauer Hut, a century-old hatmaker. Strolling the area also takes you to Vienna’s oldest church, the tiny Romanesque Ruprechtskirche. Located in a Biedermeier-era house, the nearby Stadttempel synagogue survived Kristallnacht. The Orendi-Hof at Fleischmarkt 1 is a stunning art nouveau building, followed a few doors down by Max Kropf’s richly detailed 1899 neoclassical building and then by a Byzantine-style Greek Orthodox church, all in one short block. In recent decades, the Fleischmarkt bar area gained the nickname Bermudadreieck—the Bermuda Triangle—in reference to tipsy revelers getting lost in its twisting alleys.

Nuzzled up against the Arizona border about 100 miles west of Four Corners are some 30 square miles of the most iconic scenery in the American West. Monument Valley is one of those places that you’ll recognize as soon as you see it, even if you’ve never been there before, as dozens of movies, TV shows, and even video games have used the area as a setting. It’s made up of mesas both small and large reaching up from the valley floor, some rising as high as 1,000 feet into the sky. Part of the Navajo Reservation, the area charges a $20-per-vehicle entrance fee to drive the dirt-road loop. Once in, however, you can also enjoy a number of hikes, or hire a guide for a horseback tour.

The bricked-over windows of the bookstore/wine bar Falena may have you worrying the place has closed. But the isolation from the street that the bricks provide is part of what gives Falena the feel of a hidden sanctuary. Ring to enter and step into what could be some bookworm’s particularly inviting minimalist home. Downstairs, floor-to-ceiling shelves hold books handpicked by local independent publishers; a basement wine cellar safeguards a carefully curated selection of boutique vintages. And the rooftop terrace is the perfect spot to enjoy a glass—or pore over newly acquired volumes.

At the Big White Ski Resort there is more to do than ski and snowboard which is especially useful to know when you’re not a skiing Canadian like myself. Instead of hitting the slopes there are snowshoe excursions, ice wall climbing, sledding with inflatable tubes, ice skating, sleigh rides, dog sledding, and, even more importantly, delicious restaurants and bars full of beer and locally produced wine.

When the crush of 14 million people (and what seems like an infinite number of rude taxi drivers) gets to you, Istanbul has a cure for what ails you: a peaceful ferry ride across the Bosphorus and a seat in the leafy garden at Viktor Levi wine house. The son of a fisherman, Viktor Levi started bringing back his favorite wines from the Aegean Islands more than a century ago, and his namesake restaurant, tucked into a side street in Moda in Kadiköy, now has more than a dozen house varietals, most under 100 lira. A meal by the fountain or inside the restored town house might inspire your own trip to Bozcaada, or just a return trip on the ferry.

The whisky bug has hit Seoul hard, and the past few years has seen an explosion of the fine amber liquor making its way from the bucolic Scottish Highlands to the bustling streets of Seoul. Sangsu-ri is single handedly responsible for the whisky education of hundreds of Seoulites, the bar shelves stocked with favorites including Glenfiddich, Macallan and Glenmorangie. The owner, a passionate whisky lover, spent three months biking through Scotland on his quest for the perfect dram, and brought his knowledge (and a few bottles) back to serve up in Seoul. B1, 86, Dongmak-ro, Mapo-gu

Architecture lovers flock to the Huangpu River’s western side to stroll the Bund, a waterfront tourist magnet in central Shanghai. There’s a glorious mishmash of late-19th- and early-20th-century styles here, from Gothic revival to art deco. Walk by the Fairmont Peace Hotel—first opened in 1929 as the Cathay Hotel—to behold its copper pyramid roof turned aqua with age. (Talk about aging gracefully.) Then hit the marble-floored HSBC Building (No. 12) to admire the domed ceiling’s eight mosaic murals, with frescoes depicting the 12 zodiac signs.

The Rex Hotel remains the most historic hotel in District 1. It’s undergone massive renovations since its heyday as a hangout for journalists during the war, including the addition of a luxury ground floor filled with pricey shopping. Skip that and head to the hotel’s rooftop bar. Some of my favorite memories have been talking to visitors who were here in the 1970s back to the setting of so many of their evenings. Everyone has told the same story- Saigon has changed but the roof remains frozen in time. The same kitschy elephant statues, stiff drinks, small steaks and the rotating golden crown illuminating the local Vietnamese band playing some pop love ballads. The Rex Hotel 08038292185 141 Nguyen Hue, Quan 1, Ho Chi Minh City

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.

Located at 37 Rue de la Bûcherie, a stone’s throw from the Seine and draped in the shadow of Notre Dame, is what should be proclaimed one of France’s national treasures: the Shakespeare and Company bookstore. This is actually the second site of the store; the original was closed in June 1940 due to the German occupation of Paris during the Second World War. The current location opened in 1951 as Le Mistral, but the name didn’t stick for long. Walk through the green double doors to find a world steeped in history and literary greatness. Endless stacks of books and shelves teeming with manuscripts make it hard to move around. The smell of old books hangs in the air, and that fragrance alone is reminiscent of a bygone era. My own weathered copy of A Moveable Feast was picked up here (Hemingway was a frequent visitor of the original shop). Stop in for a minute or stay for hours: Shakespeare welcomes your company.