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Tis the season to be jolly! If you’re feeling festive around the holidays or perhaps you want to keep Christmas going all year long, then a visit to the Coach House should be on your holiday wish list. When the holiday season approaches, Scottsdale locals make a trip to their favorite local watering hole to experience a festive spirit unlike anywhere else. Staffers shut down the joint for a few days in order to deck the bar from head to toe with wrapping paper, tinsel, ornaments and twinkle lights that overtake you with Christmas cheer. The bartenders and staff are laid back, friendly and really love what they do. Note: This place can get packed during the holiday season on a late Friday or Saturday night. And, the lights stay up all year!

A real Western experience is easy to come by at the Yellowstone Valley Lodge. The Lodge includes a number of beautiful cabins and a restaurant situated along the Yellowstone River in Montana‘s spectacular Paradise Valley. The lodge is known for the bespoke touches found throughout the property, from the food in the kitchen to the design of the cabins. This is one of the finest Yellowstone National Park bases you’ll ever find, and perhaps the only one you’ll ever return to after a night or two of falling asleep along the river.

A hub of preservation in the city, the Atlanta History Center is not your typical museum. The 33-acre experience features historic houses, enchanting gardens, and award-winning exhibitions, showcasing everything from Civil War artifacts to Olympic mementos. Be sure to tour the Swan House and have lunch in the Coach House. Also worth checking out is the Battle of Atlanta cyclorama painting, a large-scale work that the museum acquired in early 2017.

After the Grand Ole Opry left the Ryman Auditorium, country legend Roy Acuff said the redbrick building with its Gothic arches and stained glass windows might as well be torn down. The Ryman had been home to performances and broadcasts since the 1940s, but it was in poor condition and lacked air-conditioning and proper dressing rooms. Fortunately, its legacy as “The Mother Church of Country Music” prevailed and, after years of sitting practically empty, the auditorium was renovated and began hosting shows once again. Originally built as a church, the grand hall has spectacular acoustics and a lingering magic in its pews from all those years spent witnessing country music history. A trip here is practically obligatory when visiting the Music City.

Casa Vicente is an institution in this desert city—Tucson’s outpost for tapas a la española. Just south of the downtown core, a couple of blocks from the neo-Baroque façade of the Cathedral of San Agustín, this restaurant also features live music on weeknights: classical guitar, flamenco, and even tango lessons. This particular evening, we tried chipirones rellenos, a trio of baby calamari skewered and stuffed with green tomatoes and spices. In a town more known for its tacos and burros (a.k.a. ‘burritos’ elsewhere), it’s appropriate, if somewhat uncommon, to find Iberian fare. Tucson was founded in 1775 as an outpost of the Spanish empire, decades before it became Mexican, and then in the mid-19th century, it finally became part of a U.S. territory. (And, by the way, the sangría here rocks.)

The Victorian-era glass and wood structure, which looks like a sugar-coated castle atop a grassy slope, is Golden Gate Park’s oldest building. It’s also one of San Francisco’s most splendid historic sites. Wander through five different galleries housing 1,700 species of aquatic and tropical plants along with the world’s largest public collection of high-altitude orchids. The potted plant gallery features rare flowering plants and an assortment of decorative urns and containers from all over the world, including a leftover from San Francisco’s 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. Keep your eyes open for special exhibits, including the annual Butterflies and Blooms, which transforms the conservatory into a magical garden aflutter with hundreds of butterflies.

One of the best spots to relax in Miami is Bayfront Park, 32 acres of lush grounds that include the Klipsch Amphitheater and the Tina Hills Pavilion. The Fourth of July fireworks and the New Year’s Eve countdown are just two of the community events that occur here throughout the year. From the beach you can watch dolphins jump and play while luxury yachts pass through Biscayne Bay, and you’ll also have great views of the cruise ships and marina. Take the renovated baywalk, shaded by oak and palm trees, past the rock garden and waterfall and several benches. Fitness classes are offered in the park during the week.

Hike into Bear Canyon on the northeastern edge of Tucson, and you’ll be rewarded (most of the year) with a view of Seven Falls, gushing out of the Santa Catalina Mountains. Even though the hike in and out is around seven miles, it’s mostly flat. You’ll find that, as you’re zigzagging across the creek on large boulders, with cliffs above the cacti all around, traffic and strip malls are a world away. When you arrive at the falls, the rushing waters are a balm for the soul. Midwinter through the middle of spring is a good time to visit this oasis; the higher-elevation snowmelt guarantees flowing water and the daytime temperatures are comfortable. Midsummer monsoon rains can also fill this canyon, and flash floods can be a sudden danger.

I used to live in Maui, right at the start of the Hana Highway, and driving the famous road was a weekly ritual. I recently went back to visit and found it still as breathtaking as ever. To avoid the tourist traffic (Mustangs seem to be the tourist car of choice), leave early and take the time to actually get out of the car and explore. My favorite stops are always the Garden of Eden Arboretum and Botanical Garden where they filmed the opening sequence for Jurassic Park (ok, kind of touristy, but totally beautiful and worth a stop if you’re a nature geek); Black Sand Beach where the super adventurous can swim out to the bunny ear-shaped rocks and dive into the ocean; Hamoa Beach for body surfing and Oheo Gulch, where you can do the four-mile round trip hike through a bamboo forest to the 200-foot Makahiku waterfall.

Why we love it: Tanzania’s first Design Hotel delivers eco-chic 20 miles off the coast

Highlights:
- A very haute take on African village architecture with 56 thatched bungalows, suites and villas
- The sight of dhows (traditional wooden sailboats) silhouetted at sunset
- Lush tropical landscaping with a spice garden flourishing over a quarter of the 32-acre grounds

The review: Set on the equator, Zanzibar glows with color from the pearl-hued beach to lush vegetation and the turquoise Indian Ocean. “Zuri” means “beautiful in Kiswahili, the island’s language, and the hotel delivers on this promise at every turn. Of especial note: the carved doorframes, contemporary African art and locally made furniture, often crafted from old dhows. Enjoy nice upcycled touches too like the rainbow of hanging lamps in the open-air Peponi bar, made from old bottles.

Tucked on a west-facing slope, most of the accommodations face the sapphire Indian Ocean, and all have large terraces with bold-colored hammocks and wicker furniture. They also boast outdoor showers, where concrete floors contrast with curtains of paper beads, handmade by artisans at the female-led social enterprise Chaka. Inside, the warm tones of Tanzanian teak and eucalyptus compliment the nyasi (grass) thatch from the mainland. Make sure to veil your bed with the mosquito net, which contains an energy-efficient cooling system!

Bungalows can sleep up to two adults and some have hot tubs. Suites step things up with larger terraces, living rooms and private outdoor Jacuzzis. Or really splash out with an exclusive oceanfront villa that can host up to six adults, complete with an infinity pool and private swathe of sand.

Guests can dine on the shore, at the pool or in one of the beachfront restaurants. Expect a fusion of African, Indian and Arabian cuisine, though European and Middle Eastern elements come into play as well. Zuri Zanzibar is especially strong on shisha (hookah) offerings and sugar-cane cocktails, along with dishes like beef samosas, coconut-milk ceviche, octopus-tentacle salad and pilau rice with kachumbari (a tomato-onion salad popular in the African Great Lakes region).

Lebanese food is ubiquitous in Abu Dhabi, but Almayass restaurant at the Sheraton on the Corniche combines Lebanese classics on the menu with an array of Armenian dishes that pair perfectly. If you try one dish on their impressive list of hot mezes, be sure to make it the ras asfour bi kara, marinated veal cubes topped with a sweet-and-sour cherry sauce. Armenian cuisine is famous for its sausages, and Almayass serves a delicious sujuk maa bayd ferri, Armenian sausage fried up with quail eggs. Almayass also answers the perennial Abu Dhabi question: “Where can we go to smoke a shisha outside?” Tucked into a private lagoon, Almayass’s outdoor seating area provides an intimate environment for some after-dinner shisha and cocktails.

If the viewing platform from the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa doesn’t induce vertigo, why not jump out of a perfectly good airplane at Skydive Dubai? The view of the Palm Jumeirah from 13,000 feet up will literally take your breath away—falling from that high above the ground tends to do that. If that sounds a little too extreme, give one of the biggest vertical wind tunnel in the world a go at Inflight Dubai. The tunnel, 16.5 feet in diameter, produces wind not by the inescapable force of gravity but by four 2,000-hp electric motors that let you experience skydiving without ever jumping out of an airplane. Tthe folks at Inflight Dubai opened an even bigger wind tunnel at Palm Jumeirah.

This reconstructed village is a glimpse into old oasis living. Heritage Village is a great place to see how the Emerati lived before skyscrapers. Scenes depict desert life in great detail and highlight their historic, nomadic lifestyle. Make sure you catch a performances that shows how different work was completed generations past. The Village is centrally located near Marina Mall in Abu Dhabi City.

This is the oldest and grandest art institute in a city that’s long captivated artists. The Neoclassical building sits amid the greenery of massive City Park (conveniently at the end of the Canal Streetcar Line). It’s an especially good destination for admirers of Edgar Degas, who spent an extended vacation in New Orleans visiting relatives in 1872; a number of his works are displayed here. Just outside the museum is the beautifully landscaped and well-curated five-acre Sydney and Walda Besthoff Sculpture Garden, which perfectly melds the old and new. Some 60 sculptures are arrayed amid reflecting lagoons and 200-year-old live oaks.

Just South of Ubud in the village of Singakerta are some of the most talented wood carvers on the island of Bali. In this village in the myriad of carving workshops you can buy everything from tiny detailed dancers to full sized Komodo dragons. The skill of carving is generally passed down the male side of the family, but women are also involved in the smoothing and polishing of the carvings and you’ll probably meet them sitting outside chatting while they work. Many of the shops sell basic souvenir style carvings, which are generally a bit cheesy, but there are also more original pieces lurking in the background as well. Many of the carvers will give half day lessons if you ask, so don’t be shy to learn a little while you’re there as well.