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Tempt fate at the Monkey Paw’s Book-O-Matic machine, where for the price of a toonie you’ll be delivered an archaic tome in the vein of Elementary Arabic, Vol. 3. I’ll let you know how my studying gets on. The Monkey’s Paw is an eclectic vintage bookstore on Dundas with a collection of unique books, vintage maps, and bugs preserved in Lucite.

Often likened to Rio’s Sugar Loaf, and possibly named after it because of the resemblance, Pain de Sucre Beach is an idyllic stretch facing an emerald-and-blue cove along Les Saintes’ bay. It’s off the beaten track and away from the larger daytime crowds, which makes it even more special. You have to take a short, leafy hike off the main road, onto a series of rocky steps leading to the beach. Boats occasionally moor nearby because the snorkeling is great, as is the sunset.

For years, the easternmost section of the Marais, one of the city’s most beloved districts, was a sleepy, underdeveloped neighborhood. That all changed for L’Arsenal in July 2022 with the arrival of the design-driven SO / Paris, located at La Félicité, a massive urban revitalization site overhauled by British architect David Chipperfield. The hotel occupies one side of the 1960s-era complex (which includes the Terroirs d’Avenir green market and bakery and the Atlas art gallery). The design from Paris-based architects RDAI is retro-futuristic, with rounded couches and soaring ceilings, while decorative touches are nods to the neighborhood (the tiles of the hotel entrance mimic cobblestone streets).

Located an hour’s drive from Negril on the southwestern coast, Bluefields Bay is a popular beach. It’s crescent-shaped and rocky on the left hand side, but sandy on the right, and the water is an iridescent turquoise. You’ll find more local families than tourists here, as it’s a convenient pit stop on the road between the west and the south to cool off on a hot afternoon. The beach has a handful of food vendors but not much else, and that’s also what makes it special.

Since Giles and Julia Fisher bought the Freycinet Marine Farm in Coles Bay, they’ve managed to increase their production from 50,000 oysters annually to 4 million, and have opened an outdoor café that serves fresh seafood to happy diners (and one very fat Labrador, who waits patiently below the picnic tables).

Situated at the eastern end of Playa del Carmen’s quiet, charming Calle 38, Shangri-La Beach is named after a small hotel that used to sit right there but has since been renamed and renovated. This stretch of the city’s coastline has a more tranquil atmosphere thanks to its location several blocks away from jammed beach clubs downtown as well as from 5th Avenue’s hustle and bustle. At Shangri-La, going to the beach is less of a scene and more about guests from nearby hotels plus a few locals catching some rays on a lunch break. Best of all, you’ll find soft white sand, turquoise seas, and blissfully calm waves here.

With its own shuttle flight service from St. Lucia and Barbados and an unbeatable location on one of the Caribbean’s most picturesque stretches of sand, Bequia Beach Hotel is an island unto itself. The 10-acre property, easily Bequia’s most luxurious, also includes a spa, two swimming pools, two restaurants, and a canvas-tented bar on nearby Princess Margaret Beach, plus 56 individually appointed rooms and suites furnished in an eclectic, island-chic style (think red four-poster beds, wicker armchairs, and palm-accented throw pillows). Adventurous types can take advantage of the hotel’s free sports equipment (including kayaks, paddleboards, and bikes), while those who prefer more subdued activities can opt for complimentary yoga classes.

One of the best bakeries on the Côte d’Azur, Boulangerie Jean-Luc Pelé is the perfect place to pick up a picnic for the beach. The savory selection, including gourmet salads, sandwiches, wraps, and even a house-made bagel, can please just about any appetite. And there is no lack of temptations for dessert: A glass case holds macarons, cakes, fruit tarts, and items that look almost (but not quite) too pretty to eat. The shop’s chocolates make good souvenirs to bring home—if they don’t get devoured along the way.

Maui Beach is a rare white sand beach in Tahiti. It can get very crowded on weekends, but is peaceful during weekdays. It located right on the road but has shallow swimming, making it perfect for kids, as well as deeper spots for adults and some DIY snorkeling off the reef.

Guidebooks often lack the practical pieces of advice that could save travelers some rather unpleasant moments, in the Greek Islands one such nugget of wisdom I missed in my reading was that after a late night fueled by Ouzo it is not ideal to ride in a high speed ferry. Thankfully the ferry ride from Mykonos to Naxos is a short one at under an hour. I was greeted at the terminal by part of the family that runs Hotel Grotto, a small retreat perched on the edge of the Aegean sea that would be my home while in Naxos. After weeks competing for beach chairs and being corralled down tight marble alleys in some of the more frequented islands, Hora (also known as Naxos Town) proved the perfect place to relax and experience Greece at a slower pace. Upon arriving to the hotel, the bags were taken out of my hand and replaced with a glass of wine made by “Pappa” along with local olives as I was led out to the pictured patio. The view from patio of the hotel is of the Portara, believed to be the beginning of the Temple of Apollo dated back to 530 BC and is an ideal spot to pack a picnic from the local grocery, and watch the sunset before heading into town for the night. On the walk back to the hotel rising above the town is The Venetian Castle Kastro. During the day it serves as a museum offering tours, on Sunday nights after sunset it hosts traditional music and dance made easier by the accompaniment of Kitron,a liqueur indigineous to the area.

The Atlantis Hotel is the focal point of Dubai‘s giant cluster of man-made isthmuses that jut out into the Persian Gulf. Even if you can’t afford to stay at this spectacular hotel, you can still go see what the decadent expat lifestyle feels like for the day by swimming with dolphins in Dolphin Bay or splashing about in the rivers, slides, and pools of Dubai‘s largest water park: Aquaventure. If that doesn’t float your boat (sorry), there’s Atlantis’s dive center, in which you can go diving in a nearly 3 million–gallon tank. You’ll literally be swimming with the sharks (and stingrays) this time. In Atlantis, don’t be surprised to find yourself feeding the rays next to a celebrity—this is one of the places they stay in Dubai.

Hauz Khas Social can be considered a social space or a social experiment. Either way, this is perhaps one of the best drinking spots in Delhi. Social is a unique concept that unites a cafe, office space, and nightclub. The identity depends on the time of day, though the crowds pounce in the evening hours. Enjoy the lake views while sipping on “Two Lost Souls Swimming in a Fish Bowl” or “Trip on the Drip.”

This small cove, also known as Sham Wan, is nestled in greenery at the foot of a bluff, and off the radar for most. Because it’s crowd-free, it’s a great place to get away from it all for a few hours. There are no food or drink stalls, so bring your own. The beach is the last known nesting place for Hong Kong’s endangered green turtles, so it’s closed between June and October to protect the creatures. To get there, take a junk boat from the Aberdeen Waterfront or the MTR train to Sai Wan Ho, then Bus 14. Get off just after the Tai Tam Reservoir and follow the steep steps that lead down the secluded beach.

If walls could talk, you’d be stuck in conversation with the Fillmore for hours. The building was a dance hall when it opened in 1912 and a roller rink during the 1940s, and led its first concerts in 1952 with artists like James Brown and Ike & Tina Turner. But in the mid-1960s, the venue really had its moment. Concert promoter Bill Graham made the ballroom a hub for psychedelic music and brought would-be legends like the Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Jefferson Airplane, and Santana to the stage. Needless to say, there’s history here. Learn it best by attending a show. The standing-room-only ballroom still brings in big-name artists—think Lorde and the 1975—at budget-friendly prices, along with a constant stream of smaller acts. There’s a full-service restaurant and a bar, and the vibrant collections of old photos, artwork, newspaper clippings, posters, and billings will school you on the club’s colorful past.

Celebrity chefs Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala serve brightly spiced dishes at their flagship restaurant—often hailed as one of the world’s finest for Indian food. Their wine-marinated lamb popsicles are legendary, but their menu has other stars, too, like jackfruit in cumin-black-cardamom curry, boneless chicken wings on ricotta-sweet-potato cookies, and Punjabi-style goat meat with spiced vegetables. Thankfully, the lines have calmed since Vij’s 2015 move to bigger digs on Cambie Street, where guests can also enjoy a great rooftop patio.