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With dark walls, natural wood accents, and red curtains in front of the elevators, the trend-setting Andaz hotel feels like more of a scene than any other property in downtown Napa. In the center of downtown Napa, the hotel is mere steps from restaurants, shops, and arguably Napa’s best pub: the Norman Rose Tavern.

On check-in, all guests over 21 receive a complimentary glass of red or white wine. The swanky vibe continues into the 141 guest rooms, where hardwood hickory floors complement white marble bathrooms and midcentury modern furniture. The most convivial space in the hotel is the Mercantile Terrace, a second-story roof deck with a full bar menu and fire pits, a favorite of couples and business travelers alike.

The lounge is operated by Mercantile Social, the restaurant in the lobby that serves small-plate food items and cocktails; it also books live acoustic music sets a few nights a week. (And Mercantile Social sponsors free wine tastings daily.) If you haven’t had enough wine, fear not—on site are two tasting rooms from the wine empire built by Napa native John Anthony Truchard: John Anthony and JaM Cellars.

When the hip Andaz hotel chain opened in downtown Napa in 2012 it brought a youthful energy to wine country. In addition to its affordable rooms and excellent locavore-minded small plates restaurant, Farmer’s Table, the Andaz also gives guests a dose of culture. The brand’s Andaz Salon program introduces art, photography, music, and readings throughout its different properties.

When a restaurant has only four items on the menu, chances are good it will be an expert at preparing them. Myeongdong Kyoja is one such establishment. The restaurant’s signature dish is kalguksu, a hearty soup with chicken broth, hand-cut noodles, minced meat, dumplings, and vegetables. Also on offer is kongguksu, a cooling soup of soymilk broth and nutrient-rich chlorella noodles that’s perfect for summer. On the other end of the spectrum is guksu, a wheat-noodle dish coated with spicy red-pepper paste. Lastly, there are mandu—baskets of steamed dumplings stuffed with fresh pork and vegetables. As servings here tend to be large and optimal for sharing, it’s best to come with a friend or two.

Another Hong Kong “who knew?"—you can surf right off of Hong Kong Island at the aptly named Big Wave Bay Beach. Follow the local surfers to the scenic eastern end of the island near the Dragon’s Back hiking trails. It’s considered the best spot in Hong Kong for beginners; there are board rentals and lessons, too. Expect weekends to be crowded. While you’re there, check out prehistoric rock carvings nearby that depict animals and geometric designs, similar to other carvings found along the shoreline of Hong Kong. To reach the beach, get out at the MTR Shau Kei Wan Station, Exit A2, and then take the red mini bus marked Shek O.

One thing you’ll likely notice when walking the streets of Cuzco is how many places advertise pizza. If you’re dying for a slice, there’s no better spot than La Cantina. Primarily a wine bar—bottles of all-Italian vintages line the walls—this place also happens to serve the best pizza in town, with a delicately thin crust topped with ingredients like authentic salami, prosciutto, arugula, olives, a variety of cheeses, and more. You’ll also find imported meat and cheese plates, lasagna, bruschetta, and salads. If you’re lucky, there’s tiramisu at the meal’s end, plus artisanal limoncello. Go for the wine, but be sure to try the food while you’re there.

Whether you’re celebrating Cinco de Mayo, a romantic anniversary or the fact that it’s Wednesday and you’re in Bermuda, Rosa’s Bermuda makes a great lunch or dinner spot. Located on Front Street, above the Docksider Pub & Restaurant, Rosa’s overlooks Hamilton Harbor. Rosa’s features all of the traditional Mexican menu staples you would expect: tacos, fajitas, quesadillas, burritos, and the like. A signature margarita menu offers 10 different tequilas from which to choose as well as wine, beer, and cocktail selections. Gosling’s Black Seal rum is, of course, on the list of libations. Not in the mood for Mexican? No problem. Rosa’s also serves wings, wraps, burgers, ribeye steak, seafood, and the recently awarded number one fish sandwich in Bermuda. Photo by Jeffreyw/Flickr/CC

Adolf Hitler’s mountain retreat, the Eagle’s Nest combines haunting history with stunning panoramic views. Located high in the Bavarian Alps, this famous Third Reich construction was bought for the former German Führer as a 50th-birthday present. Today, the spot (also known as Kehlsteinhaus) is open to the public. After a bus journey to the base of the Eagle’s Nest, visitors walk through a long tunnel and make a final 406-foot ascent in an elevator embedded into the mountainside. Once inside the building, don’t miss the Italian marble fireplace—a present from Benito Mussolini. Also note that weather conditions may cause the Eagle’s Nest to close at certain times of year, so summer is your best bet to visit.

La Casa de Don Juan knows how to do breakfast. An instant hit when it opened, the restaurant initially focused entirely on the most important meal of the day with dishes like pancakes, huevos divorciados (two fried eggs, separated on the plate by refried beans), chilaquiles (eggs, scrambled or fried with crisp strips of tortilla and topped with salsa), and several other Mexican favorites. Its café de olla—a traditional cinnamon-sugar coffee—might be the best in all Los Cabos. Everything tastes like the most incredible home cooking, and the space itself more resembles a two-story residence than a traditional restaurant. The menu and hours have now extended to include lunch. Opt for the prix fixe menu or à la carte on taquitos (rolled tacos), cochinita pibil (slow-roasted pork), or chile relleno (a poblano chile stuffed with cheese and then batter fried).

A leader in Portland’s vegetable-forward movement, Quaintrelle has quietly become one of the city’s best fine-dining choices. All this on a strip of Mississippi Street better known for bar crawls and brunch lines than for seasonal cuisine and killer cocktails. The eclectic American menu rotates based on what’s available and in season. Almost all of the food is local, from the tempura Meyer lemons to the carrot and raisin salad. Meals at Quaintrelle can easily double as a primer on what can be grown in Oregon, including wouldn’t-guess-this-is-local ingredients like quinoa and wasabi.

Never underestimate the power of shocking pink. The intimate but lively dining room at Dulce Patria—the smash hit by celebrity chef Martha Ortiz—feels not unlike a stage set. Soon after 2 p.m., it starts to fill with high-powered ladies-who-lunch types, cooing over a menu of updated Mexican classics with extravagant, architectural presentations that are at least half the fun. That said, chef Ortiz’s flavorful sculptures really deliver: Tastes are delicate, authentic, and quite delicious. The well-balanced offering presents ample choices without overwhelming, in favorites like the corn-kernel soup, a full portfolio of quesadillas, duck mole, and an extravagant dessert list (gelatin lovers rejoice) that really does drive home the dulce part. A recent seating included telenovela stars and a former Señor Presidente. And who knew there were so many edible flowers?

Just a 10-minute walk to the village from the Samedan train station will bring you to one of the best soaks in Switzerland: the Mineralbad & Spa Samedan, a day spa designed in 2010 by husband-and-wife architects Miller & Maranta, who built this compact yet incredibly spacious spa into the village’s tiny 12th-century plaza. Inside, a maze of watery caverns and tiled tunnels flicker with light while two relaxation rooms paneled with a fragrant, endemic pine tree prized for its calming properties, allow guests to take a snooze between soaks. The open-air rooftop bath is discreetly nestled under the 400-year-old Reformed Church clock tower—so close that the glockenspiel bells cause ripples in the water when they chime. The steamy 100-degree pool is an ideal place from which to watch glints of gold flash on the spines of the Rhaetian Alps when the sun sets.

Lardo, a sister restaurant to chef Elena Reygadas’s Rosetta and her bakery, is especially warm and buzzy on sunny days, when the Condesa restaurant’s full facade of French doors is thrown open and its handsome crowd spills out. The kitchen applies all the chef’s singular refinements to a winning mix of Tuscan recipes that put special focus on fine charcuterie. Menu items are (perhaps deceptively) simple: poached eggs, seasoned variously; a nice selection of pizzas; fresh, vinegary salads that don’t go overboard; grilled shellfish. The complexity arises from their delicacy on the palate, where each crisp taste is savored separately—and as a part of the whole. A nice wine list encourages sobremesa, the delightful Mexican custom of lingering over the table. Breads—either the ones that come with your meal or the ones you take home from the on-site bakery—might be the best in the city.

Teshima’s Restaurant is a historic Japanese diner on the west coast of Hawaii Island in Kealakekua. Welcoming and reasonably priced, the diner serves Hawaiian Japanese comfort food. The set meals are the best value, a sampling of small dishes that might include sashimi, sukiyaki, fried fish, rice, and sides of cucumber, cabbage, and miso soup. The ahi is excellent (and the wasabi so soft and fresh), but the restaurant is really known for its shrimp tempura: Every local we asked about Japanese food told us to try it here. You can get it on its own, or as part of the “deep sea trio” of shrimp tempura, fried fish, and sashimi.

With only a couple of exceptions, you can’t soak in Yellowstone’s thermal features (this is for numerous reasons, not the least of which is that most are so scalding hot they’d burn the flesh off you). North of Gardiner, Montana, though, in the no-stoplight community of Pray, Chico Hot Springs has welcomed soakers to its spring-fed hot pools since 1900. Spend the night in one of the quirky rooms in the historic main lodge, originally built as a boardinghouse for miners, or in a refurbished caboose from the Northern Pacific Railroad. If at all possible, plan to be at Chico on a Sunday morning, when it serves the best brunch in Montana.

When the Art family bought the struggling Chico Hot Springs Resort in 1972, some of the earliest improvements they made were to its dining room. The idea was to create one of the best restaurants in the state; if guests came for the food, maybe they’d spend the night. The family succeeded. Today the Chico Dining Room is so beloved it spawned a cookbook, A Montana Table: Recipes from Chico Hot Springs Resort. While ingredients are as fresh as can be—with produce from on-site greenhouses, meat from local ranchers, seafood flown in overnight from the coast—the menu includes some dishes that have been around for more than 40 years. The classic Chico meal is beef Wellington (service for two) and, for dessert, a Flaming Orange, which is exactly what it sounds like.

Local is the ethos at The Craft House. Commissioned by the government in 1982, the store offers a dizzying array of hand-crafted products, though the dolls, straw work, pottery, and leather goods are the best bets. No matter what you choose, you can rest assured that you’ve purchased an authentic souvenir—everything here is made on the island by artists who trained in the store’s educational program.

Kabana serves up Dubai’s best Afghani food—piping-hot bread, juicy meats, and deeply seasoned rice plates—in the Jumeirah neighborhood. Especially recommended are the muhammara (a spread made from roasted red peppers and ground walnuts, served topped with walnuts), and fried kibbeh (spiced ground lamb mixed with bulgur and onions). Kabana’s live music nights and shisha, or waterpipe, selections bring out an interesting cross-section of the city’s diverse culture.