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While Dallas has never lacked for luxury shopping options—throw a Jimmy Choo stiletto and you’ll hit a designer boutique or upscale department store here—4510’s concept-store format, featuring a well-curated selection of fashion and design pieces from big, emerging, and independent designers, made waves when it first opened in 2000. Since then, the brand has grown to include other outposts in Texas and California, as well as this 37,000-square-foot, four-story flagship in downtown. (The original McKinney Avenue location has been transformed into a home-focused store, and there’s another location in Highland Park Village, too.) Topped by a chic restaurant and filled throughout with artwork, the store continues to feature women’s and men’s fashions, home decor and furnishings, jewelry, and beauty products by labels known for creativity and craftsmanship. The lineup varies, but you can be sure the selection will be thoughtful and fun, and that many of the pieces will be one-of-a-kind or newly available to retail—ensuring that you’ll leave with something special.

Saline is the most beautiful and the most famous beach in St. Barths. From the shore, you cannot see any building: no fancy bar, no posh restaurant, nothing. Just the wild beach and you. Saline Beach never really gets crowded, as the island is too small to have actual crowds. But it is a true luxury, early morning, to come there for a nice swim. More than once, I’ve been able to be the only one there. This long, beautiful, renowned beach was just mine! It is okay to do nude sunbathing in Saline, but it’s better if you do it on the far sides of the beach. Indeed, the middle part is where the trail arrives from the parking lot and you do not want to make families feel uncomfortable. Even if nobody really cared. Again, early morning, it is just a couple of people here and nobody minds if you swim naked in this pure Caribbean blue water. Vive la liberté ! My tip: Bring a bottle of water if you are planning on staying for long, as there is no store on the beach. Nothing!

São Paulo has a thriving culture scene that can be seen in its museums, craft fairs, graffitti, and artsy shops. If you spend a Sunday there, be sure to head over to São Paulo’s main avenue, Avenida Paulista, for a three-part cultural experience. First, the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (São Paulo Museum of Art, or MASP) is well worth a visit. It houses Latin America’s finest collection of Western art, including pieces by Picasso, Rembrandt, Monet, and other European masters. The museum also houses excellent temporary exhibits. If you’re hungry, you can eat at the museum’s cafeteria or wait and get snacks at the nearby crafts market. As you leave, spend some time perusing the huge antiques market that takes place every Sunday under the museum. Then cross the street and wander the “feira,” or crafts market, for typical Brazilian crafts (some of which are quite expensive) and good street food. Finish up with a stroll in the adjacent Parque Trianon, where musicians often play on Sundays. MASP is open 10-6. Admission is about $8 and $3.50 for students. Parking is available in lots and garages on side streets, and the metro station is Trianon.

I walked into my hotel room and there on the bed was my personal invitation to rock. I picked up the turquoise blue and white Fender Telecaster (already plugged into a floor amp and head phones), strummed a few chords and in a flash I was Joan Jett: Live and In Concert! Hard Rock Hotels are all about comfort, excitement, relaxation, and most definitely about the music. Their latest experience offering is the AMPLIFIED package born from their deep connection and commitment to music especially rock and roll. The experience is available at all 23 Hard Rock Hotels worldwide. As part of the package, guests pre-reserve a guitar out of a collection of Fender telecasters, starcasters, stratocasters, and jazz bass guitars. The guitar is guaranteed to be in the room ready to play when guests arrive. To add to the music experience, AMPLIFIED guests are given a VIP behind-the-scenes tour of the extensive music memorabilia collection within the hotel which is part of the Hard Rock collection, the largest music memorabilia collection in the world. Each guest also receives a limited edition “I Got Plugged in @ Hard Rocks Hotels” hat and collectible pin. At the HRH Orlando, after rocking with their Fender guitar, guests are just a short 5-minute walk from Universal Studios/Island of Adventure where all HRH guests are entitled to early admission and an express fast pass on theme park rides. When it’s time to relax, the HRH Universal Orlando offers a palm-lined pool and oasis-like rooms perfect to recharge in for the next round of fun whether that is checking out the music scene at nearby CityWalk, dinner at The Palms located within the hotel, or a bit more rockin’ on the Fender.

A four-kilometer seaside promenade is the perfect place for a stroll at Scheveningen, a beach resort in Den Haag’s wealthy northernmost district. In addition to a sandy beach, colorful esplanade, pier and the Scheveningen lighthouse, there’s a Sea Life aquarium, Pathé cinema, the Steigenberger Kurhaus music theater, Scheveningen Museum and a casino. Trendy clubs, restaurants, surf schools and other water sports options line the wide Noorderstrand (North Beach) boulevard. After a three-year metamorphoses completed in 2013, the beach-side stretch offers the best of sun, sand and surf on Holland’s western coastline. Giant sculptures by the sea add a whimsical touch, while numerous bars and eating establishments provide spots to grab a drink or a meal while watching the action in the harbor.

Aspen is a playground for the active traveler. No matter how many times I visit, I always set aside time to bike to Maroon Bells. Rent a bike from the Hub, a cycling store in town, and be sure to bring a water bottle and even some snacks for energy. The 11-mile ride from downtown will have your quads (and lungs) burning as you slowly make your way uphill. The steady climb makes about a 1,630-foot elevation gain. The views at the top are worth your efforts. The Maroon Bells and Maroon Lake are one of the most photographed areas in North America. On a sunny day the lake takes on magical turquoise and green hues. Relief comes on the ride back to town, which is all an easy coast downhill. Couch potatoes can opt to take a bus to the top.

Dubai’s perpetually glittering Gold Souk has been one of this Emirate’s major attractions for many years—you’ll find dozens and dozens of shops selling gold, silver, platinum, and diamonds, plus plenty of touts hawking “geniune fake” Rolex watches, iPhones, textiles, laptops, and more. The government exercises strict controls over the quality of gold and other precious metals, so you can rest assured that what you’re buying is the real deal—though the same cannot be said for the wristful of watches you’re likely to be talked into purchasing down a back alley. The Gold Souk is a fantastic place to watch Dubai whiz by; pack your camera and plenty of memory cards for a wander through the back alleys, where you’ll encounter friendly folk eager to pose with you for a photo or two.

Named after the Latin word for “harbor,” Hotel Hafnia sits in the center of Old Town Tórshavn, just steps from the wharf and Faroese Parliament buildings. Surrounded by shops and restaurants, the property offers a convenient location, as well as comfortable accommodations. All rooms feature satellite TV, mini bars, and free Wi-Fi, while some larger options include seating areas and complimentary access to the hotel sauna. Book a renovated Nordic Double room for a modern color scheme, stylish furniture, and puffin murals, or one of the hotel’s three self-catering cottages, which showcase old Faroese architecture, kitchenettes, and attics with additional beds.

In addition to a warm, welcoming lobby with couches draped in sheepskin, the hotel offers a top-floor conference facility with sweeping views of the city. There are also three dining options on site, from a namesake restaurant (popular for its breakfast buffet with locally sourced ingredients) to Kafe Kaspar (for bagels, salads, and home-baked items) and Katrina Christiansen (serving a tapas-inspired menu in a historic setting). Note that Hotel Hafnia does not have parking facilities and, while there are some public spaces outside the hotel, they’re limited to 30 minutes on weekdays.

Want to avoid the crowds? At an elevation of over 8,000 feet, the remote North Rim of the Grand Canyon gets just 10 percent of annual park visits, making it a quieter experience preferred by couples and serious hikers. The only place to stay is the rustic Grand Canyon Lodge, a historic limestone-and-native-timber landmark that has been in operation since 1936. Accommodations are spare yet clean, ranging from no-frills motel rooms to more modern cabins with two queen beds plus a full bath, mini-fridge, coffeemaker, and spacious porch—some of which back up to the rim. The main building houses a dining room with expansive views of the canyon and a saloon serving cocktails and beer, but many grab something to go from the lodge’s Deli in the Pines to enjoy while soaking in the copper-hued sunset on the veranda. Owing to early snows, the lodge is only open from mid-May through mid-October; head there in September, when the changing colors of the region’s maple, birch, and oak trees put on a show that rivals the best New England foliage tours.

Mere steps from the South Rim in Grand Canyon Village, Bright Angel has history in spades. Conceived by architect Mary J. Colter (who designed several other structures in the park), the rustic lodge looks from the outside as it did when it opened in 1935, though the 37 rooms have been updated and—if not exactly luxurious—are cozy and clean, with shared bathrooms and standard hotel carpeting and comforters. The 50 one-bedroom log cabins have more modern amenities, such as Keurig coffeemakers and satellite TV, and a handful of them sit right on the rim. Don’t miss the fabulous floor-to-ceiling fireplace in the main lounge, where the canyon wall’s geological layers are re-created, more or less to scale, using the same rock, from the 2-billion-year-old Zoroaster granite at the bottom of the canyon to the 250-million-year-old Kaibab Limestone at the top. Just be sure to find a spot early: The building is usually packed with visitors gawking at the jaw-dropping views or gathering for popular mule rides and guided hiking tours down the Bright Angel Trail.

Ontario has another wine destination, Prince Edward County, affectionately named “The County.” This cluster of towns, about 2.5 hours east of Toronto, is home to some of Ontario’s best wineries. But never was there a great place to stay until summer 2015 when Jeff Stober, the hotelier behind Toronto’s stylish Drake Hotel, opened a rural clone, the Drake Devonshire. It’s the ideal retreat for travelers wanting their Drake by Lake Ontario. Once a 19^th-century foundry, the building is now a contemporary farmhouse-cottage, decked out with 11 individually-designed hotel rooms and two suites in the quaint town of Wellington. The property offers coziness all year round in the communal living room and out back over a lakeside fire pit and s’mores. Guests can hang in the barnlike Pavilion for musical performances, sommelier seminars, seasonal events, or just to gawk at the floor-to-ceiling mural by Brooklyn artist FAILE. It doesn’t hurt that Sandbanks Provincial Park—known for its 60-foot sand dunes—is practically the backyard of the Drake Dev.

Occupying a modern tower next to Hong Kong Park and attached to the Pacific Place shopping center, Island Shangri-La is an earthly paradise on the edge of Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district. Floor-to-ceiling glass walls in the lobby face a 140-year-old banyan tree; the outdoor swimming pool is set amid grass and trees as well as skyscrapers; and the Roof Garden on the 56th floor is enveloped in the misty greenery of Victoria Peak.

The hotel’s interiors are equally inspiring, with more than 900 works of art on display, including a 16-story silk landscape painting called Great Motherland of China cascading down the atrium. Accommodations combine Asian silks, floral wall paintings, and Chinese tea sets with European antiques and crystal chandeliers. In 2009, the Horizon Club Lounge became the highest executive lounge on Hong Kong Island, offering sweeping views of Victoria Harbour. Dark wood, black marble, jewel-tone leather, Austrian chandeliers, and qi pao-inspired staff uniforms create an elegant setting for complimentary breakfast, evening cocktails and canapés, or an afternoon work session.

Located next to Torres del Paine National Park and Lake Sarmiento, Awasi Patagonia is the perfect setting to take in some of the most striking views in the Chilean Patagonia region. Awasi Patagonia comprises 12 private villas and a main lodge with a restaurant and comfortable lounges to admire the scenery. All buildings are made of local procured wood, which allows the structures to easily blend with the surrounding natural landscape.

Awasi promotes a tailor-made experience at its two properties, Awasi Atacama and Awasi Patagonia, and the team pays close attention to ensure each guest’s visit is personalized to their needs and tastes. Ahead of a stay, guests complete a questionnaire outlining special interests, physical conditions, and meal requirements, and their preferences are seamlessly blended in to their stay. A stay at Awasi is also all-inclusive, and comes with excursions led by Awasi guides who are educated on the region’s history, wildlife, and first aid, and can lead you through the park’s stunning trails on foot, horseback, or 4x4 vehicle on full- or half-day outings. Guests can also follow trails from the property to explore the area at their own pace.

And while the breathtaking landscape is not to be missed, there is much to do at Awasi Patagonia itself. Awasi Patagonia is a member of Relais & Châteaux, and is home to a restaurant showcasing Patagonian cuisine and led by Executive Chef Federico Ziegler. Villas are also equipped with fireplaces in the living rooms and outdoor hot tubs, perfect for relaxing and enjoying the remarkable destination.

Be sure to hit this charming fusion restaurant after walking block after leafy block through the French Concession. Ginger is owned by Singaporean expat Betty Ng, who studied at the Tokyo branch of Le Cordon Bleu. Her kitchen is adept at blending Eastern flavors with Western techniques—take, for example, the Thai-influenced spicy Asian herb beef with crispy rice—lemongrass-seasoned ground beef paired with rice and lettuce cups—and the Japanese creamy nigari tofu, made in-house and served with sesame, ginger, and chives. There’s even Middle Eastern and North African dishes like hearty shakshouka dusted with dukkah, a heavenly blend of aromatic spices.

The colorful Po Lin Monastery was built more than a century ago in the secluded mountains of Lantau Island. In 1993, the 112-foot-high bronze Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha, was erected to face the monastery and north toward the Chinese people of the mainland. Since then, Po Lin has been on the tourism map. Seated on a lotus flower and with a raised hand delivering a blessing to visitors, the Buddha welcomes visitors to climb the 268-step base to share some expansive mountain and sea views. Have a walk through the grounds of the monastery, which include the new Grand Hall of Ten Thousand Buddhas and a popular vegetarian restaurant. Though you can take a bus, train, or taxi, the 3.5-mile Ngong Ping cable car is a thrilling way to get there.