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Straddling Cancun’s sandy beach in the heart of the Hotel Zone, the CasaMagna Marriott Cancun Resort features 450 re-modeled rooms and suites with balconies with ocean views. The AAA Four Diamond-award winner houses a wide selection of restaurants and bars, offering Argentine, Japanese, Southwestern, Italian or Thai cuisine. La Isla-Pool Bar serves poolside snacks and drinks in a family setting, while Bahia dishes up fresh seafood on the beach. Las Ventanas Lobby Bar is the place to meet for drinks and appetizers and enjoy nightly entertainment, while Las Ventanas Gift and Coffee shop offers “grab and go” and late night snacks. A full-service fitness center, pool and onsite tennis and water sports complete the recreational package. The Marriott Kid’s Club offers entertainment for the younger guests. High speed Wi-Fi is available in rooms and public areas throughout the resort.

Escape the hubbub of Honolulu and stretch your legs on this 4.4-mile, moderate, out-and-back path. Somewhat steep, this serious glute workout attracts a lot of trail runners, especially on the weekends. The hike begins among rocks and small shrubs, then snakes among massive tree roots, before the dirt stairs near the top. The ridge unfurls gorgeous views of Waimanalo and the Nā Mokulua Islands, as well as Rabbit Island and Koko Crater. Note: drivers have to park in a residential neighborhood, then walk up an access road. Start early to avoid the heat and crowds, and make sure to bring plenty of water.

On a street that looks a lot like one in the French Quarter of New Orleans sits one of the best markets on the planet. The Pan African Market is three stories of small shops filled with collectibles from all over Africa. My favorite section was on the second floor, full of masks and unique items I hadn’t seen anywhere else. I walked off with a weathered pink leather jewelry box from Nigeria. And while you decide if you really should buy the gigantic ceremonial headpiece made of purple feathers, take a rest at the cozy cafe on the second floor, decorated with African statues and random American paperbacks. Plop down on a comfy couch, order a tea, and watch the world walk by below.

More than a local institution dating back to the 1850s, the Café Tortoni ranks among the world’s most famous salons. As vintage photos here show, the columned establishment has hosted more literary figures than you can count. Play billiards while you enjoy a latte, or order from the full restaurant menu.

Residents and visitors alike drive out to the western edge of Tucson on most evenings. The area averages 350 sunny days a year, so viewing the sunset is almost always a possibility. Summer evenings are predictably hot, but you’re in for a technicolor show if the monsoon clouds are just right. Gates Pass is the preferred spot. Mid-week evenings, you can sometimes have the vista almost to yourself. From the middle of the city, head west on Speedway. It curves up into the Tucson Mountains after fifteen or twenty minutes, and you won’t miss the Pass. Cacti, mountains, and sky: some clichés just don’t get old...

El Charro sits in a converted set of historic houses & buildings a block off Tucson’s old town district—the same location where it began serving food in 1922. We had lunch here, at a big old wooden table in a warmly decorated dining room. Ask to be seated inside, or else in the garden, if the weather’s amenable. It’s a bit cold and dim in the front of the restaurant. I had an amazing vegetarian burrito, stuffed with roasted veggies, avocado and a green corn tamale. The others went for the excellent chimichangas, reputedly invented here (you can read the story on the menu). The special-brewed beer, an amber, was great, the salsa verde addictive, the decor a great talking point.

“Alon and I are regulars for Friday breakfast. We love their take on the Arab dish shakshuka. In the original, eggs are poached in a sauce of tomatoes and red peppers, but here they use green peppers instead of red, and they add goat cheese.” —Architect Irene Kronenberg

Swift streams and waterfalls continue to carve these vertiginous and rugged valleys as they pour into the sea. One of the most stunning wilderness areas on earth, it also contains ancient Hawaiian ruins of graves, temples, house platforms, and terraced fields. The fear factor increases past the initial two-mile path to Hanakāpīʻai Beach (best visited in summertime, as winter swells tend to wash it away). Only experienced hikers in good condition and with proper gear should venture further along the famous 11-mile Kalalau Trail. Check for path and park closures before making plans and don’t forget the $20/night permit to crash at a campsite. However long you trek, stay on the main path and pack out what you brought in.

Often described as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific, this 10-mile-long Kauai valley is a kaleidoscopic array of scarlet earth, verdant valleys, and raw volcanic crags. Bands of color streak the corrugated landscape, each representing a different eruption and layer of lava. Waimea Canyon Drive has a series of lookouts; among the most popular is Waimea Canyon (past the Mile 10 marker on Highway 550), where a number of rivers once cascaded down the gently sloping shield volcano. When part of its flank collapsed, the rivers combined with dramatic results. Continue into the mountains to explore Koke’e State Park beyond. Its small, free museum contains a 3-D map, which sheds light on the canyon’s wild beauty, while the gift shop specializes in local art, crafts, and Niihau shell jewelry.

Among the neighborhood’s art-minded hotels, the Gladstone is the most interactive, with shows, classes, and ongoing events. The 37 rooms, all designed by local artists, have breathed new life into the 128-year-old icon, which filmmaker Christina Zeidler took over in 2003 and revitalized in 2005. The Victorian landmark, named for its avenue (in turn named after four-time Canadian Prime Minister William Gladstone), has been a gathering spot for over a century. And it was home to legendary Toronto characters like cowboy Hank Young, who became a fixture at the hotel as a country singer in 1961 and manned the hand-operated elevator from 2005 to 2009, and Peter Styles, former host of Karaoke Night, with applause sign in hand. The legend of Hank lives on in a framed photo in the stairwell en route to the second floor.

The Gladstone continues to push the boundaries of community and culture with creative events like its educational workshop series, Get School’d, and its annual alternative design event, Come Up to My Room (CUTMR), which runs alongside the city’s Interior Design Show. Begin your stay in this architectural gem with a drink at the Café or Melody Bar (that is, if you’re not first thrust into Fameless Karaoke Night).

Nothing defines Boston quite as much as the town’s devotion to sports (10 championships since the turn of the century doesn’t hurt), and with all due respect to the five-time-Super-Bowl-champion Patriots, it’s Fenway Park, not Gillette Stadium, that’s the temple of sports fandom. Opened in 1912, the quirky green bandbox between Lansdowne Street and Yawkey Way is almost as famous for its obstructed-view seats as it is for its fabled Green Monster wall in left field, but that’s a price Sox fans gladly pay in exchange for maintaining Fenway’s historic layout. It’s both intimate and loud on game day even in years when the Sox aren’t contenders (tickets are often hard to come by, so plan ahead); the old ballpark also is open for one-hour, behind-the-scenes tours that take you inside and atop the Green Monster. You’ll be able to stroll around the field (the warning track, not the grass), and visit the press box, the Pesky Pole, and (on days with no games) the dugouts and bull pens.

Tahitian black pearls are the one must-have. Here, you’ll find the highest quality and original designs that feature the strange deep shimmer of black pearl (and prices that seem one digit too long).

For those of us used to seeing chicken cut into parts, wrapped in plastic, and cooling in supermarket refrigerators, a trip to a local Peruvian market is fascinating and a bit daunting. At the biggest market, San Pedro, just up the street from the Plaza de Armas, you’ll find fruits, vegetables, alpaca charqui (the Quechua source of our word jerky), pig’s heads, herbs, fruit juices, weavings, and much, much more. You’ll see a fair number of foreigners wandering here as well, so for an experience that feels more authentic, try San Blas Market or Rosaspata, both off the tourist track.

No matter what kind of getaway you have in mind, you can find a guestroom to fit at Castle Hill Inn. Rooms in the main house vary in size and décor, but each is kitted out for romance with a fireplace, a king-sized bed, oversized tubs, and windows looking over the water and expanses of lawn. The Turret Suite, a bi-level space, has a bedroom on the first level; on the top floor, a soaking tub on a raised floor takes advantage of the 320° wrap-around windows. Below the main house, the Harbor House’s modern guestrooms feature front-porch views of Newport Bridge and the hotel’s Grace Kelly Beach. At the far end of the 40-acre property, the Beach Cottages and Beach Houses are set along the private beach, offering views that take in both the mansions along Ocean Drive and the wild Atlantic itself. The cottages, slightly smaller and closer to the beach, have peaked ceilings with rafters. The airy Beach Houses, compactly outfitted with galley kitchens, sunny decks, ceiling fans, fireplaces, and curated shelves of books, cast a kind of never-leave spell.

The magnificent avenue of oak trees that greets visitors at Boone Hall Plantation is, on its own, a Charleston must-see. After taking it in, guests can walk through the plantation mansion or take a driving tour of the grounds, which cover 738 acres. If the car feels too restrictive, opt instead for a garden tour, which highlights a collection of antique roses and a striking butterfly pavilion. Depending on the season, you can visit the U-Pick Fields to harvest your own strawberries or stock up on tomatoes and peaches at an adjacent farm stand. At Boone Hall’s Gullah Theater, historic reenactors recount the dark days of slavery and celebrate the African American culture that marked plantation life in centuries past. .