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This English-inspired hotel has been the place to stay in New Orleans for basically forever—well, since it opened in 1984, at least. It’s plush without being pompous, stately without being too serious, though it should be said that this is the kind of place where gents might wear a pocket square and watch fob and feel right at home. The $8 million art collection, which includes original works by Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Huysman, is museum-worthy (you can even take an audio tour), and the 4,500-square-foot spa, part of the 2012 $22 million renovation, is one of the city’s most luxurious. Other notable upgrades include the lobby cocktail bar—a more feminine alternative to the leather-clad Polo Club Lounge, and an outdoor pool.

When it opened in December 1999, the Burj al Arab—a sail-shaped, all-suite skyscraper hotel built on an artificial island—put Dubai on the map as an over-the-top travel destination and became a landmark. Even today, the Burj al Arab sets the standard for outsized luxury with Rolls-Royce airport pickups, a helipad, gold-plated iPads, and butler-serviced duplex suites equipped with beds with mirrored ceilings, double Jacuzzi bathtubs, and full-size Hermès toiletries. The cool architectural exterior conceals a vivid interior with acres of gold leaf, dancing fountains, and room decor so distractingly jazzy that it may make guests feel as though they’ve drunk the world’s largest cup of Arabic coffee. (This is not the place for admirers of subtlety or minimalism.) The Terrace, an ambitious project even by Dubai standards, added nearly 2.5 acres of cabana, beach, pool, and restaurant space to the resort in 2016. Come sunset, though, the place to be is the 27th-floor Skyview bar.

The Galleria Borghese, which is set in the large public Villa Borghese park, was born in the 16th century as the collection of Scipione Borghese, a powerful Cardinal and nephew to Pope Paul V. The Cardinal amassed an enormous number of ancient sculptures, many of which are displayed on the ground floor where several Bernini statues and Caravaggio canvases also appear. The upper story, on the other hand, is home to Renaissance and Baroque paintings. Seek out Titian’s Sacred and Profane Love, Raphael’s Deposition, and Cranach’s Venus and Cupid. Unlike other collections of the era, which were kept in private palaces, the Borghese collection was intended to be open to the public, much like the surrounding grounds known as the Villa Borghese. The family collection is now property of the Italian state. Due to its dimensions and popularity, visits are limited to a fixed number of visitors every two hours and for a maximum of two hours. Be sure to book tickets well in advance and don’t bothering going to the museum without a booking.

This restaurant’s name hints at one of its principal attributes: its view. “Mirador” means “scenic overlook,” and the vista here—of Lake Suchitlán-- earns the name. In fact, many of the guests stop by the restaurant on their way to or from a day trip to the lake itself. Cormorants and other large birds swoop gracefully across the sky as diners indulge in churrasco steaks and other Salvadoran specialties.

This former royal palace is one of the largest museums in the world, and its art collection is considered one of the most comprehensive. It contains around 400,000 works, although—mercifully, perhaps—not all are on display at any one time. There are some pieces that never get taken off the walls. The Mona Lisa and her smile attract millions of visitors each year. Other must-see masterpieces include the sculptures Winged Victory of Samothrace and Michelangelo’s Rebellious Slave, and the Eugène Delacroix painting The Death of Sardanapalus. There’s no real trick to avoiding crowds at the always-packed museum. The best you can do is try to go in the off-season, early or late in the day, and on a weekday. Your chances of being alone with the Mona Lisa will still be slim to none, but you might be able to actually see that enigmatic smile behind the Plexiglas.

Iconic chef Roy Yamaguchi helped popularize Hawaiian-fusion food a generation ago, but at Eating House 1849 he takes a delicious detour with dishes inspired by Portuguese, Spanish, and Filipino flavors. This “plantation cuisine” evokes the immigrant dishes served in the mid-1800s, when the state’s first restaurant—a Honolulu establishment called Eating House—opened (according to legend). Yamaguchi brings some serious chops to the table: He trained at the Culinary Institute of America before serving as executive chef in Los Angeles‘s La Serene and winning a James Beard Award. The menu shifts seasonally, according to what farmers, foragers, ranchers, and fishermen produce. Expect delicacies like a beef-and-wild-boar burger and pork lumpia with green papaya. Cap it all off with cinnamon-dusted malasadas (Portuguese doughnuts) with Koloa Rum sauce!

Fancy yourself a brave one, do ye? Aye, aye, then the Cliffs of Moher are right up your alley. Ireland‘s most popular tourist destination does not disappoint, though visiting during the middle of the day means you’re going to have to share the walking paths with plenty of other folk - most of them American visitors in their finest Notre Dame Fighting Irish t-shirts. Come early in the morning or late in the afternoon and you’ll have the cliffs, beautiful light, and ancient rock monsters all to yourself. That’s right; rock monsters. That’s one giving tourists the finger right there in the ocean.

This might be the most photographed store in Florence—the charming but cluttered scene includes strings of dried garlic and chilies, baskets of fresh fruit, colorful ceramics, wooden serving utensils, wild-boar salami, Tuscan olive oil, and handmade copper pots—with displays inside the shop and spilling out onto the sidewalk. This historic establishment, on the ground floor of the old tower of Borgo Santi Apostoli, is so friendly that the owner will pour you wine and offer a few bites of pecorino cheese while you decide how much room is left in your suitcase.

There are nearly as many snorkeling options in Los Cabos as there are fish in the Sea of Cortés, and that’s saying a lot. If you’re somebody who prefers going it alone, pick up a snorkeling mask and fins and head to Chileno Bay for some undisturbed fish-seeing. But if you need a little more hands-on guidance, the outfit to dial is Pez Gato. Their twice-daily, four-hour tour includes everything you’ll need—snorkeling gear, drinks, fresh fruit, and sandwiches—plus a friendly and knowledgeable crew who will keep you entertained with facts about the region as you navigate the waters to Santa Maria, a horseshoe-shaped bay that’s home to a marine sanctuary and some of the clearest waters around.

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.

You’ve likely seen the main attraction of Tulum in a travel ad, a postcard, or a friend’s Instagram feed, but there’s still nothing like witnessing first hand the only Maya site that overlooks the Caribbean Sea. Standing before the 13th-century structures will leave you feeling awed by the Maya’s archaeological achievement and its resilience—still standing after being hundreds of years of being buffeted by salty water and wind. True, it’s the main attraction here, but it’s not the only one. With a quirky backstory and a lot of international press, more and more foodies are making their way to Hartwood, a restaurant that lacks electricity. The chef prepares all dishes—made with local ingredients—on an open fire.

The 18-hole bayside golf course at this upscale hotel features all sorts of challenges for both novice and expert golfers, with the first hole—bounded by sand traps—offering a taste of the tough tees to come. If you start to feel tense, just take a breather and enjoy the scenery; the course is surrounded by 4,000 palm trees and plenty of water.

Cajones are the small shallow canyons on the Chame River, favored by nature lovers and thrill-seekers alike. The canyon’s walls are eroded in places in delineated strata that reveal the Isthmus of Panama’s geologic history. You can hike or rappel along the canyon, or swim, float, or tube down the river, through eight pristine pools that invite general splashing about. To get there, drive the Pan-American Highway west from the capital, then merge onto the Bejuco-Sorá road. Los Cajones is twenty minutes away by 4x4 (you can park at the entrance and, for a small fee, take a shuttle service). There are no facilities inside the park at all, so come prepared with food and water.

The Shanghai Museum of Glass, housed in a former glassmaking factory, features ancient artifacts such as blown-glass hairpins from the Song Dynasty as well as modern glass sculptures by Chinese and international artists, many of them American. Take a glassblowing workshop and make a vase to bring home. 685 Changjiang Xi Lu, 86/(0) 21-6618-1970.

Hop aboard the ferry at Pier 41 in San Francisco, or from the town of Tiburon, and spend a day on the largest and most beautiful island in the bay—Angel Island State Park. You can bring your own bike, or rent one when you arrive, and ride the paved perimeter trail around the 760-acre island. There are open-air tram tours, too, with guides recalling the island’s rich history, as well as guided hikes. Of course, you are free to roam the trails on your own, one of the best of which is the hike up to the top of 788-foot Mount Livermore, where 360-degree views take in the San Francisco skyline and the Golden Gate Bridge. Whatever your plan, know you’ll be immersing yourself in local history in a place that has been a fishing and hunting site for Coast Miwok Indians, a haven for Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala, and a U.S. Army post starting with the Civil War. From 1910 to 1940, hundreds of thousands of immigrants were processed here, and during World War II, Japanese and German POWs were held on the island. Several buildings and other relics remain as a reminder of the island’s varied history, including the United States Immigration Station museum (open March–October).