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Tucked away in the heart of downtown Seoul is the quaint Insadong district, where a Korea of yore comes to life in the form of traditional artists and musicians, shops selling Korean crafts and souvenirs, and street performers dressed in native costumes. This is the place to go if you’re set on buying the wooden masks, paper lanterns, and tea sets that the country is famous for. Two other stores also stand out from the crowd in Insadong: Gounjae Handcraft can be smelled before you even enter the door. This handmade soap shop, in the small brick courtyard of Ssamji Gil Center, offers sumptuously scented soaps, lotions, and bath products in scents like avocado, ginger, and almond. I love the tiny, traditional mask-shaped soaps that make inexpensive and lightweight souvenirs. The Ee Gee boutique is a veritable treasure chest bursting with glimmering necklaces, bracelets, and other one-of-a-kind baubles–it’s located on Insadong’s main drag.

Most people come to the tiny town of Ioannina to cruise Lake Pamvotida -- the town’s most popular landmark. You’ll find yourself on a small island in the middle of a beautiful fjord, where the water is smooth as glass and your surroundings are spectacular. Ioannina itself is an intellectual city, known particularly for its university. Several famous poets and novelists call this place home, and the city often runs several arts-related events year round.

Don’t let your eyes fool you. Villa Panza is a not just a gorgeous 18th-century estate. The villa and grounds host the spectacular Panza Collection, an amazing grouping of art from the 1960s through 1980s, with particular attention to American artists. The individual pieces (paintings, sculptures, drawings) are incredible but what makes the collection are the site-specific installations from artists such as Dan Flavin.

Considered “an urban renaissance”, this up-and-coming area in Shanghai is tucked a block off the Bund (right behind the Peninsula Hotel) and boasts charming cafes, high-end dining, the Rock Bund Art Museum and more. If you’re looking for a scenic stroll, you won’t want to miss this. Looking for fine dining? Check out Light & Salt 6/F 133 Yuanmingyuan Lu

Café Toscano sits on the edge of Plaza Rio de Janeiro, its walls opening up practically to the park itself. WiFi, light café fare, and the people-watching are all complemented by the fact that the café is less than a two-minute walk to several galleries that are also on the park’s periphery, including OMR and El 52, both specializing in contemporary art.

Founded in 1867, Cafe Mangini is a gorgeous homage to the literary and artistic ‘salons’ of Genoa‘s past: stucco ceilings, art-nouveau mirrors, and a checkerboard floor that has lasted for nearly 150 years. Located at the end of the beautiful shopping street, Via Roma, Cafe Mangini offers a beautiful setting for a delicious post-shopping cappuccino, especially when paired with a slice of crostata pinoli (a pine nut and almond paste tart).

Loreak Mendian is the epitome of youthful Basque couture for the people. Carefully designed, shying away from trends and focusing on classic cuts and prints with a bit of ‘edge’, their clothing walks a lovely line between wearable art and utilitarian. The boutique also has a winsome collection of carefully curated shoes and accessories. Worth a visit to pick up a catalog and check out the shop window display alone.

During the late 19th and most of the 20th centuries, the Testaccio district hummed with activity from the sprawling slaughterhouse. Thought animal slaughter was moved away from Testaccio in 1975, most of the building has been preserved. In recent decades, areas have been slowly transformed for new functions. The place houses a contemporary art exhibition space called the MACRO, a university campus, and even an organic supermarket (open Tuesday to Sunday).

See our full list of Where to Go in 2015. According to legend, the ancient gods battled it out to become Athens’ patron deity. The showdown came after the Phoenicians founded a city at a giant rock near the Aegean some two and a half million years ago. The gods of Olympus issued a challenge: the deity who could provide the most valuable legacy for mortals would become the city’s namesake. Athena, goddess of wisdom, produced an olive tree, symbol of peace and prosperity. Poseidon, god of the sea, pounded his trident into the ground and out came a saltwater spring (or a horse, depending on the legend you read). The gods decided Athena’s gift would serve the city better with food, oil, and wood. To this day, her legacy is revered throughout Greece. Named after Erechtheus, a mythical king of Athens, the Erechtheion is Ionic architecture at its finest, easily recognizable by the Caryatids, six larger-than-life maidens modeled on women from ancient Karyai who seem to be casually supporting its southern portico. Those holding up the porch now are plaster casts; the originals are preserved in the Acropolis Museum in Athens.

The Rome Cavalieri, like the Hassler and St. Regis, is synonymous with five-star luxury in Rome. The hotel, opened in the 1960s, channels a Versailles-meets–Dolce Vita vibe, and given its unbridled opulence, it’s a top destination for honeymooners and jet-setters seeking the ultimate comforts. Its location atop Montemario, a hillside residential district north of the Vatican, offers spectacular views of the city from various terraced levels and many of the rooms. The very location, affording such panoramas, is also a drawback for travelers wishing to be in the thick of it all, so the Rome Cavalieri is best suited to those who relish spending significant time in the hotel rather than out on the town.

There are plenty of appealing amenities for guests who choose to stick around the property. The outdoor pools, the finest in Rome, are set amid lush gardens. The pool area doubles as a sort of private club for local elite and is ripe for Italian athlete and celebrity sightings. Back inside, the lobby and rooms are sumptuously furnished and feature antiques and original works of art.

Hotel restaurants rarely garner culinary nods, but the Vendue Hotel took steps to differentiate its 2018 opening, Revival. The airy, white-tablecloth room, overseen by suspendered waitstaff, is framed by brick walls and windows out to East Bay Street—potential diners may be drawn in without ever knowing there are high-end hotel rooms just above them. Most importantly, the classic cuisine stands alone. She-crab soup rivals shrimp and grits for Charleston’s signature dish, and the kitchen offers exemplary versions of each, featuring black rice grits in the latter. Entrees are pricey but impressive, including a pirlou, a rice-based staple of Lowcountry cuisine, that adds butter poached lobster and uses Carolina Gold rice. In its efforts to showcase historic Charleston dishes in fine-dining atmosphere, Revival fills a void that Hominy Grill left when it shuttered dinner service. And don’t head straight out after dinner—the Vendue’s ground floor also doubles as an art gallery, presenting rotating exhibitions that rival the upscale art galleries in the surrounding French Quarter neighborhood.

For a New York experience that’s equally extravagant and convenient, visitors should consider a stay at this five-star hotel, located just blocks away from Midtown Manhattan sites like Central Park, the Museum of Modern Art, and Carnegie Hall. Built in 1904 by John Jacob Astor, the Beaux-Arts building houses 239 rooms across 20 floors, plus an incredibly prized means of accessing each one—an original brass-and-marble staircase runs from the lobby level to the 19th floor (a development that cost Astor $1 million of his $5.5 million investment in the hotel). Once guests do land in their rooms, it will be tough to leave thanks to the signature butler service, available 24/7 for any number of requests, from the everyday to the once-in-a-lifetime. One of your asks should most definitely be a reservation at the on-site King Cole Bar, where bartender Fernand Petiot allegedly invented the Bloody Mary in 1934.

The Darcy is high on style and also loaded with substance, thanks its eye-popping design, contemporary art collection, and free amenities that make every guest feel like a VIP. Kids can check out a Darcy Daypack full of items chosen to encourage a space or art-themed adventure in the city. Gentlemen can take advantage of the in-house haberdashery service to borrow or buy a pair of cufflinks or accessory, or have a whole suit custom-tailored in their room. A bike and scooter rental helps guests explore beyond the trendy Logan Circle neighborhood, while a nightly happy hour gives a taste of local grain-to-glass Green Hat gin. The swank captain’s quarters of Siren Restaurant serves a seasonal seafood menu, raw bar and caviar service, and craft cocktails, while the Lil’B Coffee Bar goes full Southern with a day menu of espresso drinks and New Orleans favorites.

Canada’s first aboriginal arts hotel opened in 2014. Part luxury hotel and part social enterprise, Skwachays Lodge ticks all the right boxes. On the luxe side: plush linens, Hypnos beds (the same as the British royal family sleep on), spacious rooms, and abundant on-theme extras including Spirit Bear coffee (the company works with the Tsimshian Nation) and aboriginal-owned Mother Earth toiletries. The social enterprise part: all profits from the hotel and its gallery, which doubles as the check-in and lobby, go into subsidizing 24 live-work art studios on the lower floors of the lodge. Each room is unique, decorated with custom-made reclaimed wood furniture and designed as a partnership between local Vancouver artists and First Nations artists, including Corrine Hunt (a member of the Raven Gwa’wina clan from Ts’akis, who codesigned the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics and Paralympics medals). BC First Nations themes of eagles, ravens, bears, whales, and the sun and the moon all feature strongly in the design.

Located just across from the famous Vienna State Opera, Hotel Bristol exemplifies classic Viennese charm and grandeur. A part of the Luxury Collection, Hotel Bristol offers the chance to stay in elegant art deco style or more classic Viennese period rooms with a noble ambience. A restoration by interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon has revived some of the original art deco style and underlines the elegance the hotel has been known for since its opening in 1892. Five new spacious Bristol Suites, designed by Pierre Yves Rochon, offer floor-to-ceiling windows and a panoramic view of the Opera and bustling Ringstraße.

While all the rooms are stunning, guests will want to explore. Open spaces—the foyer, salons, and stairways—reflect beautiful design details, marble floors, and artwork. Take time to savor a meal in the Bristol Lounge, or gather for drinks after the opera in the intimate and plush Bristol Bar.