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The largest mosque in Dubai and the only one open to non-Muslims, the Jumeirah Mosque dominates the upscale beach area. The cream-colored sandstone structure with two slim minarets holds some 1,200 faithful. Though it looks historic, the mosque only dates as far back as the late 1970s. An hour-long guided tour takes visitors through the pale-yellow-and-azure interior. As you admire the magnificent ceiling decorations, you’ll also get a nice break from the city heat and noise.

The Camel Racing Festival is free and open to the public, and celebrates a sport that has deep cultural roots in the region. Much like the city itself, the current festival has a modern twist (as you can see): robot-jockey-mounted camels gallop toward the finish line during Dubai‘s Camel Racing Festival.

This unassuming trailer in a parking lot opposite a port in Kawaihae serves what may be the best shave ice on Hawaii Island, and possibly in the whole state. Why? First up, the syrups (divided into artificial, creamy, and fruit) really taste of what they are supposed to. This is one shave ice where you need to be careful which flavors you combine, because they don’t just bleed into each other. (Also note that the li hing mui comes with the powder, too, so get ready for that strange salty/sour/sweet hit.) More importantly, however, is the texture, which is smooth and creamy and more like compacted snow than ice. It was so different from anything we’d had before that we asked the staff whether they used a different machine than everyone else. Nope—they just make it using the technique their grandmother passed down to them.

Built in 1928 by Asia’s oldest hotel brand, the Peninsula Hong Kong is one of the most historic properties on the Kowloon Peninsula, just across Victoria Harbour from Hong Kong Island. Designed originally as an upscale accommodation for passengers riding the adjacent Kowloon-Canton railway, the Peninsula has been a fixture of Hong Kong society throughout the region’s history. It was a magnet for Hollywood stars and dignitaries, the site of Hong Kong’s surrender to Japanese forces at the start of World War II, and temporary housing for residents following the war.

In 1994, a 30-story tower was added to house 135 additional rooms and suites as well as shops, a spa, a fitness center, twin rooftop helipads, and Felix—the hotel’s 28th-floor fine-dining restaurant, designed by Philippe Starck. The entire property was renovated in 2013 to update rooms with creamy colors, polished wood, and stitched leather and introduce high-tech extras that include a bedside control panel allowing guests to adjust the room’s light, sound, and temperature without getting out from under the covers. Today, the hotel is sleek and modern, but historic relics evoke the glory days that established the Peninsula as the “Grande Dame of the Far East.”

In 2007, hedge fund investor Jim Manley bought a working cattle ranch on the site of a historic silver-mining claim to stake as his bigger-than-life family retreat. In 2010, he opened up the Ranch at Rock Creek, a toy-filled haven in southwest Montana’s Big Sky Country, with 13 houses with one to five bedrooms, luxurious canvas cabins for “glamping,” or a nine-room granite lodge. All are decorated by designer Jet Zarkadas and feature Oriental carpets, deep leather chairs, cow skin and woven Navajo rugs, custom duvet covers, and period Western photos and memorabilia. Despite the remote location and 5,200-foot elevation, all accommodations have landline, working Wi-Fi, and cell phone coverage; some have moose antlers, a private sauna, outdoor hot tub, and indoor copper bathtub.

Open year-round, the 10-square-mile property encompasses meadows, high country lakes, grassy ridges, and stunning vistas of the Pintler and Sapphire mountains. This self-contained adventureland offers horseback riding; heli-hiking; fly-fishing; river floating; high-tech mountain biking; rope courses; trap shooting; and archery on a 3D course using powerful hunting bows to shoot life-sized models of animals. Weekly rodeo and stagecoach rides underscore the Western theme; in winter, guests cross-country ski, ice skate, and snowshoe on-site. A kids’ club frees parents for spa time and other pursuits.

High above Vail Valley, atop Beaver Creek Mountain, is the oasis that is the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch. You can’t beat the hotel’s ski-in, ski-out access, but a major makeover at the end of 2013 means the hotel offers even more perks. The new look (think rustic lodgepole pine beams and huge stone fireplaces) was inspired by the great lodges found throughout America’s national parks. The work of Colorado artists can be found throughout the hotel. In addition to a new restaurant called Buffalos, there’s the new Bachelors Lounge that caters to wine and spirits lovers and cigar connoisseurs. Stylish guests with an expense account can outfit themselves in fancy new gear sold at the outpost of the alpine shop Gorsuch. My favorite perk is returning to the hotel at day’s end and being greeted with a hot cup of cocoa.

The magnificent avenue of oak trees that greets visitors at Boone Hall Plantation is, on its own, a Charleston must-see. After taking it in, guests can walk through the plantation mansion or take a driving tour of the grounds, which cover 738 acres. If the car feels too restrictive, opt instead for a garden tour, which highlights a collection of antique roses and a striking butterfly pavilion. Depending on the season, you can visit the U-Pick Fields to harvest your own strawberries or stock up on tomatoes and peaches at an adjacent farm stand. At Boone Hall’s Gullah Theater, historic reenactors recount the dark days of slavery and celebrate the African American culture that marked plantation life in centuries past. .

Washington Square Park is only a fraction of the size of Central Park, but it is as almost as much of an icon of New York as its much larger counterpart uptown. It’s likely because it sits in the heart of Greenwich Village, and has thus served as a backdrop for many events in the city’s history. In the late 19th century, it was one of New York’s most fashionable addresses (that period was captured by Henry James in his 1880 novella Washington Square, later the basis for The Heiress, a play that was also adapted into a movie). The arch along its northern side dates to 1892 and was designed by Stanford White to replace an earlier one, in wood and plaster, erected in 1889 to mark the centennial of George Washington’s inauguration. When Greenwich Village became the haunt of artists and writers, the park was a green space for the city’s counterculture; folk singers and street performers are still a common sight, and the park is also frequently used for political protests and rallies. On sunny days, especially during the academic year, the park is filled with NYU students, neighborhood residents, and tourists taking in the scene.

Discounted Lindt Swiss chocolates—really, what is not to love about this? You’ll find a wider-than-usual Lindt range here, which means flavors you don’t often see in the shops, from pistachio to sea salt and even Irish cream.

Opened in 1997, Jumeirah Beach Hotel is one of Dubai’s first modern resorts. The broad, wave-shaped tower sits next to a white-sand beach with a full flight of water sports, and it gets year-round traffic including many sun-seeking Russian package tourists and British families. Despite a capacity of more than 1,200 guests, the hotel has enough pools and restaurants to absorb the crowds. The guest rooms are still some of Dubai’s largest (that’s saying a lot), and the hotel is a convenient 20-minute taxi or free shuttle ride to the Gold Souk on Dubai Creek, or to the Mall of the Emirates, site of Dubai’s famous indoor ski slope. Kids will want to maximize their time at the Wild Wadi water park just up the beach, where Jumeirah Beach Hotel guests enjoy free entrance. Couples migrate to the 24th-floor Uptown Bar patio for cocktails and breezy views of the Persian Gulf and the lights of Dubai’s iconic skyscrapers, including the Burj al Arab and Burj Khalifa.

In operation for almost 160 years, this renowned Belle Époque resort on the shores of Lake Geneva in Lausanne is steeped in important history and culture. The treaty that broke up the Ottoman Empire was signed here in 1923, and guests have included everyone from Charlie Chaplin and Gary Cooper to Rod Stewart and Nelson Mandela. From 2012 to 2014, the hotel received a nearly $30 million makeover, helmed by famed interior designer Pierre-Yves Rochon, which complemented the timeless elegance of all 168 rooms and suites with such luxuries as Murano glass chandeliers, expansive mirrors to bring the views indoors, and entertainment screens discreetly embedded in bathroom mirrors. There are four restaurants on the property, most notably the exquisite Anne-Sophie Pic, which has two Michelin stars. In the summer months, the hotel also serves dinner on its own turn-of-the-century, steam-powered paddleboat as it plies the waters of the lake. The state-of-the-art spa, offering a wide selection of restorative treatments, opens up onto the resort’s 10-acre park and includes separate saunas and hammans for men and women, a Jacuzzi, two heated pools (one indoor, one out), and two tennis courts.

The Bonsecours Market is hard to miss, whether you are walking around Montréal’s historic center or looking at the skyline from the harbor. A silver dome caps the long building, which dates from 1844 and was modeled on Dublin’s Customs House. It looks more like a stately civic building than a market, and in fact it was Montréal’s city hall for a while, as well as the seat of Canada‘s parliament for one session. After serving as the central market of the city for nearly a century, it closed in 1963 and was largely abandoned until 1992, when it reopened as the home of a visitors’ center for Montréal’s 350th anniversary. Today it houses a dozen or so boutiques featuring works by local designers, as well as a few restaurants that make for good pit stops on a day of sightseeing.

The Ottoman Bank Museum is in the basement of SALT Galata, an arts center located in the former Ottoman Bank. It’s a destination that will appeal mostly to those interested in the history of the Ottoman Empire in its decline at the end of the 19th century. But doesn’t everyone find the late Ottoman period fascinating? The struggles that characterized the era, with a country torn between its Ottoman past and a desire to both modernize and Westernize, played out at the bank. The institution that would become the state bank of the Ottoman Empire was founded in 1856 as a joint venture of British and French banks and the Ottoman government and was managed by a committee of British and French financiers until it was effectively dissolved during World War I. The museum includes many surprisingly engaging displays and documents tracing the bank’s history—its commercial ventures, demographic information on investors and employees, charts detailing the economic turmoil of the period. Architectural plans of the headquarters illustrate its unusual design that featured a neo-classical entrance facing the European quarter and an Ottoman-inspired rear elevation, facing Istanbul’s Old City across the Golden Horn. Deposit slips, photos of employees, and old bank notes in the original vault are on display in almost exhausting, encyclopedic comprehensiveness. If your interest wanes, you don’t need to feel any pressure to linger—entrance is free.

From its new location on the Singel, Supperclub maintains the old traditions of one of Amsterdam’s most innovative nightclubs. In few other upscale restaurants can you take off your shoes, get in an oversize bed with friends, and savor an unconventional five-course meal over the course of an evening. But supperclub is not for everyone. Part culinary journey, burlesque/vaudeville club, cocktail bar and experimental free state, it’s a unique if somewhat pricey venue for a fun, quirky evening with friends or business colleagues. When not wintering in India, flamboyant Howie may greet you, ushering your posse to La Salon Neige, where you’ll scoop courses from hospital bowls, ash trays and sensual models dressed in slices of Carpaccio, brandishing salad dressing in syringes and deep-fried cricket tidbits—crunchy croutons! Opt for the upper level lounge and you can watch from above as dykes, belly dancers and aerial artists perform. Don’t worry about crumbs in bed; get into the act while the drag queens vamp and the dancers swirl. Between courses, enjoy a Lavender Love or Leap of Faith cocktail in the Chapter 21 bar. Or venture to the downstairs smoking room that doubles as a gay toilet. While puffing on a joint, don’t be surprised if spontaneous music erupts or locals engage you in conversation. There are supperclubs in Istanbul, London, Los Angeles and San Francisco, but this is the original. And there’s nothing conventional about it!

No matter where you are staying in the UAE, you can’t leave without visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. The mosque, the third-largest in the world, is the final resting place of Sheikh Zayed, the nation’s founder. Even on the hottest summer day, the white marble floors—inlaid with mosaic flowers and vines—remain cool underfoot, and the scale of the space will impress even the most casual observer: The main hall can hold about 7,000 people. Take a tour and learn about the iconography of the intricate tiles and mosaics. Marvel at the huge rug that covers the floor in the main worship space; it’s the largest handmade rug in the world. If you happen to be visiting during Ramadan, you could consider joining one of the community iftar dinners, which sometimes serve as many as a thousand people in an evening.