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Restaurants abound in the heavily touristed Gothic Quarter, but few of them are particularly good. Irati is one of the exceptions, a bustling spot popular with locals thanks to its excellent pintxos, traditional Basque tapas served on bread and speared with a toothpick. There’s seating in the back, but you’re really here for the experience of eating pintxos, which means standing shoulder-to-shoulder at the bar and helping yourself to the buffet of bite-size offerings. A sure bet is the jamón, lightly drizzled in olive oil, and the blue cheese topped with quince paste and walnuts. Save room for the hot snacks, like ham-and-cheese croquetas, which are brought out at regular intervals from the kitchen. And don’t toss your toothpicks—that’s how the bill is tallied.

Mexico City is full of architectural masterpieces, but there is nothing like the experience of being inside a Barragán-designed home. Very few are still in good shape and open to the public, including Casa Luis Barragán (the architect’s former home and studio that’s the only private residency to be named a UNESCO World Heritage site). Once you’ve visited this more famous house, get in touch with the owners of Casa Gilardi and ask for a tour. The last project Barragán completed before he died, Casa Gilardi is known for the huge jacaranda tree decorating its interior courtyard, and for a striking hallway with vertical apertures that bounce sunlight against brightly painted yellow walls and out into an electric blue room with an indoor pool. The artist James Turrell spent a month living in the house, taking black and white photos to study Barragán’s use of light.

The town of Gamboa lies at the center of a rain forest on the banks of the Panama Canal, where Lake Gatún and the River Chagres meet about 20 miles from the capital. Gamboa’s Summit Park is home to Panama’s national bird, the harpy eagle, as well as to Soberanía National Park and the Panama Rainforest Discovery Center, where visitors can walk the Camino del Oleoducto (Pipeline Road), a famous bird-watching path where up to 300 avian species can be spotted on a single day. Another tip might be sailing the Chagres in piraguas (local pirogues or handmade dugout canoes) that plumb dense jungles and give visitors the chance to interact with the Emberá Quera indigenous community. This historic community lives off fishing, farming, artisanal craft-making, and tourism. Native-led tours showcase various local customs such as dances as well as vegetable-dye body-painting techniques and their meanings (known as jagua), in addition to the people’s relationship with nature. Navigating the rain forest with a traditional Emberá botanist is a singular experience.

There’s no shortage of world-class restaurants in Switzerland but a few stand out for their exquisite culinary experience. With three Michelin stars to its name, Schauenstein Schloss is such a place. Housed in a tiny, renovated castle in Fürstenau, the restaurant serves beautifully crafted dishes, dreamed up by award-winning chef Andreas Caminada. Look forward to a vast wine selection, impeccable service, and signature courses like succulent Graubünden lamb and ravioli with lemon peel.

Petra flourished more than 2,000 years ago, trading with Rome as an equal before being abandoned after a series of earthquakes in the 4th and 6th centuries C.E. It wasn’t until the 19th century, when European explorers “rediscovered” it, that the ancient city returned to the public consciousness. Now, visitors can walk down the narrow canyon of the siq to the city entrance—as dramatic an approach as any to a tourist attraction on the planet. The canyon opens up onto the carved facade of the Treasury, Petra’s most iconic site. From there, you can explore the cliffside tombs with their colorful bands of sandstone, the Street of Facades, and the amphitheater hewn from living rock. The ancient center lies some distance off, along with the splendid old Monastery, which sits at the top of a steep but rewarding climb. Consider buying a three-day ticket and visiting at different times of day to enjoy the changing light—early in the morning is best for the Treasury, while late afternoon is better for the Royal Tombs.

This small-production and boutique winery near downtown Sonoma has achieved cult status in recent years for the exclusivity of the experiences that owners (and brothers) Andrew and Adam Mariani have put together. Standard tastings run about 90 minutes and include four current-release wines paired with four food courses served family-style. On sunny days, the tastings unfold on open-air patios in the shade of big white umbrellas; when the weather is less than stellar, guests are greeted and served in one of the many rooms of the circa-1858 hacienda. Reservations are only accepted by phone and often book out weeks in advance, especially in summer. For an even more intimate experience, reserve seats for one of the many pop-up dinners pairing Scribe wines with multiple courses prepared by visiting chefs who come in for brief residencies. The Marianis espouse organic and biodynamic farming methods and non-interventionist winemaking techniques, which translates into distinct fruit-forward estate wines that rarely overpower. Pro tip: Most visits don’t include tours, but if you book an early morning tasting midweek, you might get the chance to explore the hacienda before the formal visit begins.

The perspective from Gary Farrell Winery, on the outskirts of Healdsburg, is distinctive. Perched high on a ridge above Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley, you get a sense of the fog that makes this growing region so perfect—the clouds trap cool air and moisture down below, enabling pinot noir and chardonnay grapes to mature slowly. This general understanding of the microclimate only enhances your enjoyment of the wine itself, which winemaker Theresa Heredia has made with a deft touch since 2012. After extensive renovations to the main tasting salons in 2017, the visitor experience at Gary Farrell now ranks as one of the best in the county, especially if you reserve a spot on the covered patio outside. All the tastings are seated; the Inspiration Tasting matches six wines with three small bites from chef Didier Ageorges, while the Exploration Tasting includes a tour, five wines, and a cheese-and-nuts plate. Both experiences take about 90 minutes and reservations are suggested. In case you’re wondering, although his name is still on the wine and the winery, Gary Farrell himself—a true pioneer of pinot noir in the Russian River Valley—hasn’t been involved in day-to-day operations since he sold the winery to the Vincraft Group in 2004.

Four Seasons might have spruced up the property slightly when it took over management from Viceroy in 2016, but the original clean lines and sharp angles of the midcentury modern architecture coupled with Kelly Wearstler’s playfully eclectic interiors are still unmistakable at this stunning property overlooking Meads and Barnes bays. Epitomizing tropical modern luxury, the property is awash in marble, natural stone, and wood, with dramatic views of the Caribbean Sea from dining rooms and infinity pools that seem to hover from their cliffside perches. Spanning 35 acres, the resort is home to 166 spacious, serene, and stylish accommodations ranging from suites to townhomes and private villas. Indulge at five dining venues, including the aptly named alfresco Sunset Lounge for sushi and the fine-dining Cobà, where fresh seafood is paired with choice cuts of meat and an impressive wine list. With three swimming pools and two distinct beaches to choose from, the most stressful part of the day is deciding where to lounge.

This stylish mall is located between the iconic Zig-Zag towers. The proximity to the Grand Hyatt and the Ritz Carlton Doha Hotels, makes this mall a favorite with tourists staying in the area. It is smaller than Villaggio, Landmark and City Centre Mall, but do not let its smaller size fool you. It houses, among other exclusive boutiques, a massive Fifty One East department store offering spectacular couture, one-of-a-kind timepieces, exclusive jewelry, unique fragrances, beauty products, and even musical instruments. Lagoona Mall’s Fifty One East department store, true to its philosophy that only the finest attracts the best, redefines the word “pamper” by offering its shoppers VIP rooms, where they enjoy a private shopping experience. There are lots of beautiful benches all over the mall for those not in the mood for shopping but wanting to relax to the piano music played live from the Yamaha shop. The Mall hours are: Sat-Wed 10:00 am-10:00 pm Thu 10:00 am-12:00 am, and Fri 2:00 pm-12:00 am

There are a few countries in the world where the ocean encroaches deep into the heart of the desert: Qatar is one of them. There only 30 singing sand dunes sites in the world and Qatar has one of them. The combination of these two unique features makes a desert safari in Qatar an unforgettable experience. Several companies offer 4x4 desert safaris which include everything from the thrill of dune bashing—the drivers go up and down giant dunes—to stops at Bedouin tents for dates and tea, full BBQ dinners at campsites, overnight camping, camel rides, and shisha stops, among others. Singing sand dunes, also called booming sand dunes, are rare dunes of sand that emit an audible acoustic reverberation when the actual grains are disturbed or moved. Luckily, catching the singing dunes doesn’t require a tour company. It requires the right combination of sand particle size, temperature and humidity for sand dunes to “sing” and some sand-boarding down the dune to create an avalanche. The bigger avalanche the louder the sound is.

Lahaina, with its many Victorian flourishes, may look picturesque today, but the port town teemed with sailors, gamblers, and prostitutes in the 19th century. The Pioneer Inn changed all that when it opened for business in 1901, foreshadowing the tourist industry that would ultimately replace whaling, sugar, and pineapples. Step through the swinging doors of this vintage bar, which now bizarrely anchors the courtyard of a Best Western, and you’ll be transported back in time. Oars, harpoons, and a ship’s figurehead still adorn the space, looking down on platters of coconut shrimp, Parmesan-crusted fish over coconut rice, and margaritas made with POG (a mix of passion fruit, orange, and guava juices). Come during happy hour, which runs daily from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., for discounted beers and cocktails.

Located in Denver’s trendy River North district, the Source is a collection of 25 vendors sharing space in the hip industrial interior of a former 1880s iron foundry, where artisans and retailers include a bakery, a butcher shop, florist, coffee roaster, barber, and even a food photography studio. Restaurants include Acorn, a locally acclaimed eatery serving wood-fired specialties (a meaty oak-roasted monkfish comes rubbed with a Moroccan blend of chermoula and saffron ; Comida, a Mexican taquería known for authentic and slow-cooked pork carnitas and fantastic margaritas; as well as a couple of breweries and a cocktail bar. The space also hosts pop-up events for other food vendors, as well as jewelry, home goods, clothing, accessories, and cosmetics, and a 100-room hotel that opened in summer 2018.

Though from Guadalajara (he never let friends forget), Pritzker Prize–winning architect Luis Barragán lived much of his life in Mexico City, where he designed and constructed this, his last residence, completed in 1948. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the home is open to be toured by small groups—by appointment only; English-language guides are available upon request—who want a chance to tap into Barragán’s brand of minimalism, which involved bold monochromism and a masterful use of light; striking horizontality and framing applied to windows, gardens, and views; a highly sui generis Catholic spirituality; and, not least of all, the architect’s bizarre need for control, in everything from what staircases guests might use to what records got played in different rooms.

Probably the most visited attraction in the city, the V&A combines many elements of the greatest commercial waterfront projects around the world. There are plenty of draws for tourists (the Cape Wheel, helicopter rides, boat trips to Robben Island) and locals (450 retail outlets, from H&M to a major supermarket), but it remains a working harbor, with small seagoing vessels sailing between the main harbor and the dry dock that lies adjacent to the excellent Two Oceans Aquarium and Watershed craft and design hall. There’s even a fast-growing residential section, connected by canals that stretch toward the city. The latest addition, however, is the Silo District, which became one of Cape Town’s must-visit attractions soon after opening in late 2017. Here, a number of restaurants and boutiques, anchored by the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, are located amid old grain silos.

When it opened in 2010, the Matilda injected contemporary style into San Miguel’s old-town hotel scene—and the accolades have been pouring in ever since. On a quiet side street a block from the lush Parque Juárez—and past a small entry courtyard shaded by jacaranda trees—the boutique lodging has filled its public spaces with modern art and decor: Witness the video installation wall behind the reception area, the Aldo Chaparro light sculpture in the bar, and the works by noted “naked crowd” photographer Spencer Tunick in the hallways. (One piece that doesn’t fit the mold is the 1940s-era painting by Diego Rivera of the owner’s mother Matilda, which hangs in the ground-floor lounge.)


Bright and airy guest rooms are spread out over a few small structures and have streamlined custom furnishings, plush linens, and Malin + Goetz bath amenities. Cap a morning spent touring the city’s famous cathedral with a dip in the small infinity-edge pool that sits in the central courtyard, or a Tata Harper facial at the jewel-box spa; body treatments use fresh ingredients like corn, cocoa, and locally grown lavender custom-blended in the on-site apothecary, and a private hammam rounds out the perks. Then enjoy elevated local delicacies at the indoor/outdoor Moxi restaurant, featuring ever-changing tasting menus by celebrated Mexico City chef Enrique Olvera.