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Santa María del Coro is San Sebastián‘s token beautiful European church. It has the quiet, sunlit beauty that one comes to expect in European churches. It also is the site of several of the city’s unique celebrations, organ concerts, and the iconic San Sebastián, pierced with the famed arrows.

Part cigar store, part bar, and part lounge: Corona Cigar Company is pretty much cigar nirvana for some. With indoor and outdoor seating, including sumptuous leather and wood chairs, this is a chilled spot for a smoke and a drink. Go before a movie or after dinner at the Colonial Town Park.

Piranha fishing...pink dolphin sightings...holding a caimen...beautiful day explorations by skiff and canoe along the Ucayali River and in the Pacaya Samiria National Reserve. Add to jaw-dropping explorations, the 5-star comfort of the Aqua Amazon with large, comfortable and well-designed, air-conditioned staterooms with picture windows allowing the world to float by as you relax, showers big enough for two, great cuisine, and an amazing staff—as well as congenial company on board in an intimate, yet spacious, cruise. Just 12 cabins means no crowds, just fun at mealtimes and in the salon/bar. Excellent, knowledgeable river guides are from the Amazon—so they know it, and the wildlife, intimately.

San Juan Cemetery lies on the coast adjacent to El Morro (San Juan’s beloved fort) and nestled in the district La Perla, a rougher part of town. Its statues and tombs make it as beautiful as a New Orleans cemetery. Exiting El Morro, head down the grassy field to your left to catch this flustering overhead view. On this day, a powerful storm was rolling in, casting everything in gray.

Each Saturday from October to July (and once a month in August and September), the marina of Cabo San Lucas becomes a stage for local artists, musicians, and performers to peddle their wares and showcase their creative skills in the Circuito Cultural (Cultural Circuit), an event started by local entrepreneurs. Artists display their work from noon to 10 pm and live music and dance keep crowd entertained from 6 pm to 11 pm. The performances aren’t just Mexican in inspiration or origin; recent highlights even included Scottish country dancing.

The church of the mission of San Jose del Cabo is simple, both inside and out, but one of its charms is a special area where locals tie ribbons with petitions for divine intervention or expressions of thanks written on them. If you’d like to join in on the tradition and express your thanks, choose a white ribbon and write about what you’re grateful for on it. Then, tie it to the rack near St. Charbel Mahklouf, the somewhat obscure Lebanese saint who is believed to work miracles.

Whether you’re a frequent flier or a first time traveler, Red Oxx bags and luggage will outfit your exploration with style. Red Oxx carries a multitude of high quality bags and suitcases specifically designed for whatever adventure you’re about to embark upon, whether it be a wild African safari or a business meeting a state away. Safari bags, expedition bags, day packs, briefcases and garment bags are just a few of their products; all hand made in Montana.

Sugar sands, shallow waters, and consistently smooth seas are just a few factors that make Captiva Beach a Southwest Florida favorite. The shelling is great here, especially after storms, but it’s the sunsets that make it famous—and why Captiva is considered one of the most romantic beaches in the state. For a swim, stroll, or sunset viewing party, it can’t be beat. Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for the dolphins that are regularly spotted offshore.

Old San Juan offers historically and culturally significant experiences including a walk through 500-year-old forts, visits to UNESCO sites, historic churches, museums, the second oldest cathedral in the Americas and Ponce de Leon’s mansion. Cobblestone streets and pastel buildings are perfect for exploration during the day and variety of restaurants and shops make for a complementary evening.

You might have caught wind of some recent buzz about this contemporary patisserie with its unveiling of the haute dog, Craftsman and Wolves Chef William Werner’s upscale version of the classic American food (think better meat and a flaky, buttery croissant instead of a bun). Or perhaps you’ve heard people talking about a Mission bakery that served a savory muffin with a soft-cooked egg inside of it (it’s call the Rebel Within). Whatever the reason, head to Craftsman and Wolves for a changing menu of classic and innovative breakfast pastries, cakes, confections, confitures, desserts, lunch, and savory fare, with coffee, tea, hot chocolate, beer, and wine to wash it down. Craftsman and Wolves is open Mondays through Thursdays from 7 am to 7 pm, Fridays from 7 am to 8 pm, Saturdays from 8 am to 8 pm, and Sundays from 8 am to 7 pm. Can’t make it to Mission? Stop by the Ferry Plaza Farmer’s Market on Saturdays from 8 am to 2 pm or order through their online shop.

Why we love it: A stylish but mellow alternative to the glitz of Los Cabos

The Highlights:
- Chic rooms, some with soaking tubs, outdoor lounges, or ocean views
- On-site restaurant Benno and its creative Mexican-Mediterranean fare
- Proximity to Todos Santos and the chance to connect with the local community

The Review:
Liz Lambert has made a name for herself converting quirky motels into cool-kid haunts in Texas and beyond. With Hotel San Cristóbal, she brings her magic to a transcendent Pueblo Mágico in the Baja Peninsula. Now she’s bringing her magic to a transcendent Pueblo Mágico in the Baja Peninsula. Just outside of Todos Santos proper, on the small fishing beach of Punta Lobos, the whitewashed, cubist property houses 32 serenely chic rooms, complete with crisp Sferra linens and serape-inspired duvets, vibrant ceramic-tiled bathrooms, and windows that overlook sunny Pacific waves (keep your eyes peeled for migrating gray and humpback whales).

Resist the urge to confine yourself to your Coco-Mat mattress, however. Adventure awaits in the form of surfing off nearby Playa Cerritos, learning to make pottery in an off-site class, or accompanying chef Edgar Palau on a trip to source fresh fish from local anglers. There’s also a beautiful central pool and lounge, a library, a seaside mirador, and a small retail shop on property. When hunger strikes, head to Benno, where biodynamic meals that fuse Mexican and Mediterranean flavors pair perfectly with small-batch mezcals and sustainably harvested regional wines.

Mexico’s most influential architect—and the only one to receive the Pritzker Prize—Luis Barragán was born and trained in Guadalajara and practiced in the city until he was 34. He then moved to Mexico City, where he achieved fame for his distinctive and colorful approach to modernism, noteworthy also for its emphasis on courtyards and gardens.

Little remains in Guadalajara of Barragán’s early work but one notable exception is the Casa Iteso Clavigero, which now serves as a cultural center for a Jesuit university. While the interiors have been redesigned into gallery spaces, the exteriors have been beautifully preserved. In 1929, when Barragán designed the house, he was still working in a largely regional style, though the house’s bright yellow walls and some ingenious details provide hints of the architectural masterpieces that he would create later in his career. It’s free to walk around the building (as well as enter it, though there are no permanent exhibits related to Barragán) and you can take photos of the exteriors (but none inside the building).

Adobe streetfront: door...window...sky. Color. Much of Tucson, like most western U.S. cities, is devoted to strip malls and parking lots, but the historic core still has blocks of 19th-century Sonoran-style row houses. In the 1960s, acres and acres of the Barrio Viejo was razed, but fortunately not all of it. Today it’s a combination of gentrification and the pleasantly decrepit: attorney’s offices, student rentals, and family homes share this yard-less streetscape in a bilingual neighborhood. In reading about the history of the neighborhood, I came across this description, written back in the 1930s by Dr. James Harvey Robinson of Columbia University, who was visiting Tucson for the first time: “But this cannot be the United States of America, Tucson, Arizona! This is northern Africa - Tunis! Algiers! - or even Greece, where I have seen as here, houses built flush with the sidewalks with pink, blue, green and yellow walls, flowers climbing out of hidden patios and overall, an unbelievable blue sky. And the sweet-acrid smell in the air? Burning mesquite. Lovely! And the people - charming. But all this is the Old World, not America.” The Barrio Viejo is perfect for a bike ride. You do feel as if you’ve left reality-TV-obsessed Gringolandia...if only for a few blocks...

Joshua Tree in the Mojave Desert is as weird as the shapes of the trees that make it up. While beautiful in its sparse vastness, it is no surprise that alien enthusiasts have taken to the area. For a taste of this, try a rejuvenating soundbath at George Van Tassel’s Integratron which was originally built on top of a “magnetic vortex” as a time machine. If you find yourself with time to kill before or after a soundbath, drive to Giant Rock, the self-proclaimed “largest boulder in the world”. While walking around the poorly graffitied boulder, watch out for motorcross riders that appear out of the dust like ghosts.