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Beloved by artists and curators attending the annual Art Dubai fair, XVA Art Hotel wraps around the three courtyards of the restored 19th-century home of the Seddiqi family, prominent traders who became the emirate’s Rolex dealers. Longtime resident Mona Hauser, founder and owner of the XVA Gallery of contemporary art, decorated each second-floor room of the traditional wind tower house in collaboration with a regional designer or artisan such as Nada Debs, a Lebanese designer known for her custom mother of pearl inlaid furniture. The on-site alfresco vegetarian lounge café—praised by chef Gordon Ramsay as his favorite place to eat in Dubai—is a hangout for independent travelers and resident creatives who linger over mint lemonade, salads, soups, and cheesecake. There is a running trail along Dubai Creek and the hotel can recommend nearby beaches, as well as spa services and fitness centers at all price points.

A brief description of Skansen—a 75-acre open-air museum with historic buildings and a zoo—doesn’t convey just how much fun it is. You can easily spend a happy half-day here, looking at wolves, reindeer, moose, seals, and other Nordic creatures, then popping into old buildings that have been brought here from all over Scandinavia and reassembled. In some you can talk to people in costume who are playing the roles of the original inhabitants. Elsewhere you can watch glassblowers at work and visit old-fashioned stores. Open since 1891, it remains one of Sweden’s top tourist draws.

Balinese people have taken ritual baths in the waters of Tirta Empul since it was founded in 962. The waters are believed to have healing powers, both physically and spiritually, so people come from all over the island to purify themselves under spouts of cool water in the long stone pools. Worshipers place offerings or say a prayer at each of the spouts from west to east. Nonworshipers can bathe, too, and the experience can be very moving (be aware that the last of the spouts in the first pool are reserved for purification after funerary rites). As at any Balinese temple, you must be respectful of Hindu rules and traditions. Menstruating women should not go inside any temple, and all visitors must wear a sarong and sash while on temple grounds, even while bathing. Men can go shirtless in the pools. There are changing rooms, so don’t forget to bring an extra set of clothes. Tirta Empul, 25 minutes outside of Ubud, is very close to Gunung Kawi, another religious site worth a visit.

In recent years the construction of Roppongi Hills Mori Tower and Tokyo Midtown has made Roppongi a high end shopping destination. Tokyo Midtown and Mori Tower combine art and fashion. Tokyo Midtown tauts stores like Pleats Please Issey Miyake, Boss Orange and museums including 21_21 Design Sight and The Suntory Museum of Art. While Mori Tower has The Mori Art Museum, and designer shops including Alexander McQueen, Diane Von Furstenberg, and Kate Spade. Both complexes have a rich assortment of traditional Japanese restaurants and global cuisine. Sukiyabashi Jiro Sushi is the Roppongi Hills sushi restaurant run by the son of Takashi Jiro, Tokyo‘s famous sushi chef featured in Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

Located just off Main Street, the Washington School House Hotel eschews Park City’s typical rustic style for a pared-down, flea-market–chic aesthetic. Before being reimagined as a design-oriented inn in 2011, the 1889 building served as a schoolhouse for miners’ children and a dancehall for the local outpost of Veterans of Foreign Wars. Today, the interior is anything but traditional, from the whitewashed living room with 16-foot ceilings to the antique mirror and the white, lacquered antler chandelier. Outside, a heated pool sits on the hillside surrounded by aspens and boulders. There’s also a fire pit, fashioned from a steel Olympic torch from the 2002 Winter Games.

Each of the guestrooms and suites is unique, though all feature reclaimed wood floors, crystal chandeliers, and tall windows. An artful collection of European antiques and vintage paintings adds a bohemian vibe, while white marble bathrooms offer heated floors, walk-in showers, clawfoot tubs, and period fixtures. Guests can also look forward to plush hooded robes and top-notch toiletries from Molton Brown.

This luxurious restaurant next to the venerated Cafe Gerbeaud has been around for a decade but its combination of tradition and innovation remains as on point as ever. Chef Ádám Mészáros has earned a Michelin star with his intriguing takes on meats and seafoods, often served in six- and eight-course tasting menus with well-chosen wine pairings. The Hungarian degustation menu, for example, offers modern takes on local specialities, like beef stew. The dark-hued, comfortable interior, complete with gilt chairs, marble statues, chandeliers, and brocade wallpaper, as well as the impeccable service (not a given in this part of the world) invites guests to linger, and we highly recommend you do.

Its massive size, centrality to daily life in the capital, and easy accessibility (a Metro station opens up right onto the plaza) makes the Zócalo an ideal place for large-scale temporary exhibits. The government hosts occasional exhibits and makes entry free for residents and visitors alike. Past exhibits have included Gregory Colbert’s “Ashes and Snow,” a show of large-format photos of animals and people, and Willy Souza’s “Mexico en tus sentidos” (“Mexico in your senses”), lush, vivid photos of people and places around Mexico. To see if a show is planned during the time you’ll be visiting, check the website of the Secretary of Tourism.

This region of China is known for textiles and embroidery, so it isn’t a surprise that Chongqing has a huge selection of tailors. They can make clothing in 2–3 days, for very low prices. Some tips for tailoring clothing in Chongqing: —You usually get what you pay for. Most tailors close to Liberation Square are a little pricey, but the quality is good, they usually speak some English, and they’ll even deliver to your hotel. The tailors down in Ciqikou will be cheaper but more of an adventure. —Chinese tailors seem to make suits and qipaos (a traditional form of dress) the most. That doesn’t mean they won’t make anything you want, but you’ll probably have the most luck with a copy of something you own—a photo might work, but it’s hit-and-miss. —A tailor will ask you to choose a fabric, then take your measurements. At the end, they’ll give you a price; most people don’t haggle over this. A simple shirt can cost around 80–120RMB, to give a you an idea of cost. You must pay part of it as a deposit, then the rest on pick-up. —Specify as many details as possible, especially with formalwear. I usually buy my own buttons, zippers, and even thread in advance, because the materials the tailors use are often cheap and not good quality.

OK, we didn’t exactly go far for dinner. We were staying in the Ace Hotel, just two doors down, but we were jet-lagged and hungry. We had seen many people hunched over enormous sandwiches through the window of this traditional-style deli at lunchtime, and we were surprised to see they were still open at 7:30pm. So we went in. We liked the simple, homely decor. We liked the smells emanating from the kitchen. We liked the fact that when we decided not to have sodas, the matronly server said, “Nah, you don’t need them honey, I’ll just keep the water coming.” We looked at the menu. We ordered two hot dogs, and a side order of pastrami fries. The waitress looked at our innocent little faces and told us we’d only need a half portion, as a whole portion of pastrami fries was “pretty big.” Our hot dogs arrived. They were delicious, and stacked with homemade relish. Our fries arrived. The “half portion” was so large we laughed out loud, then stuffed ourselves with the delicious cheese-pastrami-potato concoction until we should by rights have passed out. We got the check. It came to $14. We blessed Kenny & Zuke’s, and all who sail in her.

Set on 18 literally green acres, this amenity-rich hotel feels like a secluded retreat among the towering pines, sprawling oaks, and manicured grounds—despite its proximity to the bustling Loop 610 and the Galleria. It affords so much peace and quiet, along with accessibility, that President George H. W. and Barbara Bush used the Houstonian as their home address while he was in office, and stayed on property during visits back to Houston.

The lobby has a warm, luxury lodge feel with soaring ceilings, wood details, and a massive stone fireplace. Guest rooms feel more elegant and traditional, with lavish textures and verdant floor-to-ceiling views. Every room has a 42-inch HDTV, complimentary Wi-Fi, a Keurig coffeemaker, and terrycloth bathrobes. (There are 67 concierge-level rooms that include daily continental breakfast, after-dinner sweets and cordials, plus additional services.) For the nature-minded, there’s a mile-long walking trail around the serene property.

Are the Dutch so tall because they consume so much dairy? Hard to say, but the important thing is that delectable cheese made from the milk of cows and sheep grazing on lush pastures in Holland is sold throughout Amsterdam. Netherlanders have been making cheese since 400 C.E. and the product is as synonymous with Holland as tulips, clogs, and windmills. The country is the world’s largest cheese exporter, with a dairy industry that generates around €7 billion annually. There are touristy cheese markets in Alkmaar, Hoorn, and Edam where old weighhouses form the backdrop for the traditional cheese trade. For Amsterdam visitors, shops like Henri Willig Cheese & More proffer everything from mild Gouda and mellow Edam to Boerenkaas (literally, farmers’ cheese), an artisanal raw-milk product. The mini chain of cheese manufacturer Henri Willig was founded in 1974 and now has six shops in the center city and six others elsewhere in Holland. Over 1 million customers visit Henri Willig annually for organic, goat, and smoked cheese, as well as Dutch specialties like Frisian clove cheese (made with low-fat milk, cumin, and cloves) and Leidse kaas, the piquant, cumin-scented variety from Leiden. Henri Willig shops also sell cheese graters, slicers, fondue sets, and other accessories, as well as sweets like Dutch drop (licorice), chocolate, and stroopwafels. An export division ships products to 25 countries. Stop in for a snack, as samples are always set out for hungry customers.

American entrepreneur Jim Thompson, who began his Thai silk business here in the 1940s, built himself a residence in 1959 by assembling six traditional teak houses brought from other parts of Thailand. Today, Thompson’s former abode is a museum that displays his extensive collection of rare Asian art and antiques. The gift shop sells high-end silk clothing (including darling children’s wear) as well as bags, scarves and home goods such as cushion covers, plus postcards and books.

Once a separate municipality, San Ángel—in the city’s south, nestled into its western foothills—is a leafy, genteel enclave whose relative isolation adds a soigné feel (for better or worse) you won’t find in neighboring Coyoacán. Ground zero for promenading is quaint Plaza San Jacinto, whose cute parish church (and beautiful cloister garden) is a sort of spiritual last stand amid the surrounding area’s high-toned consumerism. That said, the plaza’s true spirit comes alive Saturdays, at the so-called Bazar Sábado, an artisanal market that fills the area with stall after stall of handmade jewelry, textiles, crafts, and accessories, plus a great deal of art—some finer, some less so—in styles that go from hippie to haute. Strolling musicians and performers add to the carnival atmosphere.

This glitzy shopping district in the city center is home to department stores and shopping malls like Ginza Six and Tokyu Ginza Plaza. There are many Michelin-starred restaurants for sushi, tempura, and kaiseki, as well as classic bars such as Star Bar and Bar High Five. Casual restaurants serving tonkatsu, Western-style yoshoku, and old-school kissaten cafés also pepper the area, offering something for everyone regardless of budget. The area is rich with so-called antenna shops (regional food shops), and fans of the lifestyle store Muji will not want to miss the flagship store. Ito-ya and Kyukyodo are must-shops for stationery, traditional washi paper, and pens.

Open since 1932, this pit stop on the road to Lahaina is most famous for its Hawaiian hot dogs. They’re just standard red franks, grilled and stuffed in a bun, but Maui’s pro surfers and their fans—who usually stop here on their way to Olowalu Beach—have elevated the snack to almost cult status. If you’re not one for hot dogs, the general store also sells boiled peanuts, shave ice, and Spam musubi, along with an abbreviated Mexican menu when the kitchen’s cranking. In between bites, take time to browse the shop’s collection of locally made souvenirs and appreciate its unique decor. A late employee had a soft spot for starving artists and would often trade food for artworks, asking only that the pieces incorporated his favorite vehicle—a Volkswagen Beetle.