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Manhattan can, famously, feel like endless rows of apartment blocks and office towers for most of its length. At least above 14th Street, a regular grid of streets and avenues, bisected only by Broadway, has transformed the city into a dream for real estate developers. The green spaces interrupting the pattern—Union Square, Gramercy Park, Madison Square Park—are few and far between, with one enormous exception: Central Park. Running from 59th Street to 110th Street, and between Central Park West (Eighth Avenue) and Fifth Avenue, it is one of the world’s largest urban parks, measuring some 843 acres. It is the masterpiece of the 19th-century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted working in collaboration with Calvert Vaux. Inside its borders are stately allées and naturalistic scenes, ice-skating rinks (in the winter), an enormous reservoir, and a faux castle. The park is hugely popular, and so to call it an escape from the bustle of the city is often not accurate, especially on mild summer days and the first warm ones in the spring when thousands of residents head to its playing fields, bike and run along the road that loops the park, and enjoy picnics on the Sheep Meadow or one of its other lawns.

Opened in 1865 as a restaurant, event space, and wine store, Café Royal quickly became a gathering spot for London’s intelligentsia and glitterati. Over the following 150 years, everyone from Winston Churchill and Oscar Wilde to Muhammed Ali and David Bowie was spotted here swapping stories and hosting celebrations. Re-launched in 2012 as a hotel, Café Royal continues to serve as a vibrant hub for guests, thanks to its central location between Mayfair and Soho, a short walk from theaters, shops, and tourist attractions.

Past a stunning lobby (which recently underwent a $6.6 million re-design), the 160 rooms and suites are warm and streamlined, crafted with materials like Carrera marble, English oak, and Portland stone, and outfitted with Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, sound proofing, rainfall showers, luxury linens, and free Wi-Fi. All rooms come with perks like complimentary John Lobb shoe shines, while the seven super-luxe Signature Suites feature things like Tudor fireplaces, deep-soaking tubs, private screening rooms, dining areas, and butler service. In keeping with the building’s gourmet history, dining and drinking options include the Laurent at Café Royal grill and sushi bar from celebrated chef Laurent Tourondel; the gilded Oscar Wilde Lounge for traditional afternoon tea service; the bright and modern Papillon for all-day dining with British-French flavors; and Green Bar for botanical-based cocktails and fine liquors. Launched in 2018 inside the Laurent restaurant, Ziggy’s bar serves expertly crafted drinks in a space that pays homage to the late David Bowie, who held a “retirement party” for his Ziggy Stardust alter-ego at the Café Royal in 1970. A spacious gym (with LifeFitness equipment, class studios, and a 60-foot lap pool) and the Akasha Spa (with sauna, hammam, and nine rooms for East-meets-West treatments) round out the facilities.

It hardly seems like Hawaii could be a part of the United States without its own brewing company. The most popular brewery is the Kona Brewing Company on the Big Island. With its year-round beers including Longboard Island Lager, Firerock Pale Ale, and Big Wave Golden Ale, the brewery sells mostly within the Islands, though its year-round beers can be found elsewhere. Kona Brewing Company also produces three seasonal “Aloha Series” beers that include Koko Brown Ale, Wailua Wheat, and Pipeline Porter. Along with their selection of five “Island Only” beers, connoisseurs will have plenty to taste and may need an extra visit or two to the Brewery! Tours of the brewery can be booked from 10:30am to 3pm daily.

Is this polished industrial space, in an odd corner of the Centro, the thinking man’s disco? Organizers prefer to speak in terms of a cultural center, and the installation’s multiple spaces are venues for everything from literary events and screenings to a dynamic agenda of live-music performances. But it’s the DJs and dancing that are bringing in crowds, crowds that are alternative and low-key, creative, sex-pref-neutral, and seemingly little impressed that their hangout has become so fabulous. Priced-to-move libations and overall edginess keep the crowd skewing young; the space’s various environments add variety to your night out—and sometimes there’s even a place where you can chat (or canoodle) without screaming.

It doesn’t happen often (does it?), so doing it right is key. You’re going to Vegas, you’ve got two nights and only so many hours to party, so...like I said...do it right. Get tables. Get bottle service. Live it up. Enjoy the dancers. Dance in the confetti. Stay out until breakfast. Heck, stay out past breakfast. It’s Vegas!

On the corner of a rather scrofulous downtown block and across the street from the Ace Hotel’s event space, Wildfang is a self-described “home for badass women.” Whether it’s street style with a feminist message—even in Portland, it’s not every day that one finds a “Slay the Patriarchy” baseball cap—or high-fashion clothing that works on all sorts of body types, Wildfang packs it all in. For hangers-on who aren’t as interested in shopping or fashion, the bar inside the store provides liquid relief, including beers designed in collaboration with 10 Barrel that were created by women brewmasters.

The centerpiece of Turks and Caicos is Grace Bay, on the island of Providenciales (known locally as Provo), where the miles-long sugar-sand shore routinely tops “best beach” lists for the Caribbean and the world. The inland area along this stretch of northern shoreline is where you’ll find most of Provo’s hotels, shopping, and restaurants. Grace Bay is part of the Princess Alexandra National Park. It has calm waters and a sandy seafloor with no rocks or corals to step on, making Grace Bay the perfect place for swimming, splashing along the shoreline, parasailing, and stand-up paddleboarding.

In warm-weather months, the Penn’s Landing waterfront area along the Delaware River is always busy with activity. On the Great Plaza there are ongoing free festivals, summer concerts, a movie series, and Fourth of July fireworks. Other attractions here include the RiverLink Ferry to New Jersey, the Independence Seaport Museum, and kayaks and swan boats available for rental. In winter, Penn’s Landing is host to one of Philadelphia‘s most spectacular outdoor ice rinks, the Blue Cross RiverRink. Historic ships, including the Moshulu, a beautiful 1904 four-masted steel sailing vessel, are moored at the waterfront. The Moshulu now features a popular restaurant on its deck, and the tall ship is dramatically illuminated at night.

Nestled in the maze of back alleys near Beijing’s iconic Drum and Bell towers, the Orchid Gulou is a small boutique hotel that caters to adventurous travelers looking for the coziness of a boutique hotel in the middle of the capital. The hotel is a converted siheyuan (courtyard) that, although thoroughly modernized, retains much of the lived-in character of an ancient Chinese home. One of the location’s standout features is a top-level deck that allows you to peek through the tops of old-growth trees for views of the Drum tower and the surrounding hutongs. Room amenities include heated floors, complimentary fruit baskets, and air purifiers.

The Company’s Garden, in the heart of the city, dates back to the 17th century, when the Dutch used springwater running down from the mountain to establish a garden to grow fruit and vegetables for ships en route to the East. On Government Avenue, which runs through the garden for about a half mile, squirrels scamper around among the old oak trees. Along the way, you’ll pass the South African National Gallery, the Planetarium, the Holocaust Centre, the De Tuynhuis presidential offices, the South African National Library, St. George’s Cathedral (where Nobel laureate Bishop Desmond Tutu used to preach), and the Slave Lodge museum. Grab a bite at the recently opened Company’s Garden Restaurant, which has been getting great reviews for its breakfasts and lunches under the garden’s leafy trees.

The Spanish Meliá hotel chain took over management of this 40-acre, all-inclusive beach resort in Zanzibar from Kempinski in 2011. Airy, two-story blocks have rooms with huge baths and beach or garden views, and villas come with their own pools. Sheltered by a fringing reef on the northeastern coast of Unguja, Zanzibar’s main island, the resort’s calm white-sand beach has a long, shallow drop-off that makes swimming (as opposed to wading) impossible at low tide. However, the long jetty immediately in front of the hotel means swimming and snorkeling are always possible near the rooms: Golf carts departing every 20 minutes transport guests to the best all-day swimming area a kilometer from the hotel outbuildings. Here, the Gabi Beach Club offers Balinese-style loungers and a restaurant grill. Souvenir hawkers sometimes walk along the public-access tide line, but discreet security staff prevent unwanted solicitation.

Throughout Budapest are a whopping 123 therapeutic hot springs, but these, in the stately, slightly dusty Hotel Gellért (built in 1918) might be the most famous. The communal bath in the center of the hotel spa is for everyone, but the most interesting traditional spa experience is in the back thermal pools, which have been coed since 2013. Here, join Hungarian locals in pools of varied temperatures, steam baths, and saunas, and jumping into ice-cold baths in between. Everyone takes their time to not only bask in the baths but also gaze at the Art Nouveau tiling on the walls and vaulted ceilings.

One of my favorite places in the whole world—Vieques! I’m actually a little apprehensive to share, because I’d love to keep it the semi-secret it is. If you time it well, you can have this beach all to yourself.

The traditional life of the gaucho (cowboy) still thrives on estancias (cattle ranches) in modern Argentina. To see for yourself, pay a visit to Estancia Santa Susana, which sprawls over 1,200 hectares (3,000 acres) just outside Buenos Aires. The best part is getting to watch the gauchos show off their horsemanship in events such as the sortija, a high-speed ring-grab. You can also view dancers performing the tango, tour the manor house with its period furnishings and lunch on grilled steak. If you have time to spare, you can even go horseback riding yourself—or, if you prefer taking it easy, hop a ride in a horse-drawn carriage.

I was a glacier virgin. I had never seen one in person before, much less set foot on one. That all changed though as the helicopter lifted off and took off towards the incredible Franz Josef Glacier on New Zealand’s South Island. Almost as soon as the Glacier Helicopters flight lifted off, Mt. Cook popped into view, a looming presence throughout the area. We skirted over the lush rainforest and before I knew it, we were on top of the glacier. It’s amazing really; the glacier looks exactly like a glacier should look. It was a vast, frozen river leading from the tops of the mountains to the valley below. We landed at the top for a little exploration and impromptu snowball fights before taking off again to zoom past the massive crevices of the ice mountain. The ride back included even more impressive views of the glacier and the flat plains below leading to the Tasman Sea. It really is strange to see the glacier adjacent to the mild valley below. There’s something surreal about it all and that makes it one of the best adventure activities in New Zealand. For your own glacier adventure, visit the small mountain town of Franz Josef where you can find tour providers operating a variety of ice-based activities, including these extraordinary helicopter tours.