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Sitting pretty on the banks of the Kamogawa River, the Ritz-Carlton Kyoto is a luxurious alternative to the traditional ryokans that dominate the area. Guestrooms are minimalist yet plush, with giant windows, in-mirror TVs, soaking tubs, the requisite high-tech Toto toilets, and locally made bath products. Wellness facilities range from a spacious spa to a 20-meter pool, while dining options include a Japanese restaurant serving kaiseki dinners, an Italian spot with a cheese-and-charcuterie cellar, and a Pierre Hermé patisserie. Although cocooned in a quiet setting, the hotel is conveniently located with walking distance of the downtown area, making it a favorite of affluent tourists.

Dominating the intriguing Jewish quarter on the Pest side of the city, the Great Synagogue is a must-see for lovers of culture in general and Europe’s Jewish history in particular. This is Europe’s largest operating synagogue (the largest, in fact, outside New York City) on Dohány Street, which was once the boundary for the Budapest Jewish Ghetto. Inside are stunning Romantic and Moorish architectural elements like rose windows and a monumental organ. Other parts of the complex include a Jewish cemetery, a small prayer area called the Heroes’ Temple, and the Hungarian Jewish Museum and Archives, built on the site of the home in which Theodor Herzl, the originator of modern Zionism, was born.

Located on the Samaná Peninsula, 300 feet above Playa Cosón and the Atlantic Ocean, this 18th-century, plantation-style home impresses with Victorian trim and wraparound terraces perfect for sipping cocktails in the shade. Inside, antiques from Asia, Europe, and Turkey; rugs from Istanbul; and details like Brazilian hardwood floors and French doors add further charm. The six guestrooms, all housed on the second floor, feature four-poster beds, mahogany soaking tubs, and private terraces—rooms 5 and 6 have the best ocean views.

Breakfast and dinner are served on vintage china in the main house, while lunch takes place a seven-minute shuttle ride away at the Beach Club. This is where you’ll also find the inn’s pristine beach, a nearly 90-foot stretch of sand that’s mostly empty, great for swimming, and considered one of the country’s best places for kiteboarding. When you’re not lounging here, visit the town of Las Terrenas (just 10 minutes away) or try to spot the humpback whales that migrate from as far off as Greenland and Iceland to mate and calve in the warm waters surrounding the Samaná Peninsula (every January through March).

The perfect souvenir for the food-loving traveler? Slim bars of chocolate wrapped in paper patterned with groovy midcentury designs. Or a pale blue box tied with a satin ribbon, holding a treasure of pralines, caramels, and squares of dark chocolate. Vestri is a family-run establishment that has been turning out delicious chocolate creations for more than 30 years. The clan owns its own cocoa plantation in the Dominican Republic, which ensures the quality and ethical sourcing of its products. The shop also sells modern confections like white chocolate with salt and sesame, as well as sweets based on ancient Florentine recipes. Take decadence to the next level and indulge in a scoop of creamy gelato affogato, drowned in hot chocolate, while you shop.

Once upon a time, Europe (mostly Switzerland, France, Belgium, and the UK) dominated the chocolate market and through aggressive marketing and downright colonialist extraction methods, became erroneously known for being the world’s experts on cacao, yet cacao came from South and Central America and didn’t grow anywhere near Europe. Recent years have seen the best chocolate rightfully return to the source where it originated—Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, and Venezuela, where a boom of quality chocolate has replaced reimported European milk chocolate sold to those cacao producing countries for generations. But Switzerland is back in the game with this excellent new chocolate shop by local food expert Dieter Meier and his patented cold pressed extraction method that brings out the botanicals and nuances of these sourced cacaos in ways other chocolate manufactures cannot. The results are Cuban, Bolivian, and Guatemalan single bean bars ranging from white to 80% dark that are unlike anything else on the market. The tiny shop overlooking the Limmat River opened in December 2017 and is not cheap, but worth every rappen for its exquisite expression of flavors.

At Pappa Zouk’s rum bar in Antigua the truest path to happiness is through a mix of rum, fresh fish, new friends, and zouk music. First you should know that Pappa Zouk’s is not a restaurant. It’s a rum bar with a dizzying array of rums, rhums, and rons from across the Caribbean and beyond. Yes, lucky rummies can supplement their rum intake with a full menu of authentically prepared fresh fish and other seafood delights, but first-and-foremost this quirky little space is dedicated to drinking and being merry. Secondly, you should know Pappa Zouk is not the mad German owner and bartender. No, that curmudgeon with a penchant for abruptly ending the night’s festivities with a hearty “Get the f**k out!” is Bert Kirchner. He named his place after a deaf, dumb, old man he met on Dominica who would transform from a shuffling ancient to a lithe dancer with pure joy radiating from his gap-toothed smile down to the tips of his barefoot toes any time zouk music was played. He couldn’t hear the music, but he certainly felt it. And his pure happiness in the face of his meager existence was something that always stuck with Bert. Now he spreads happiness his own way — with rum, fresh fish, and zouk playing in the background.

Besides Poás’s impressive volcano, this beautiful region is home to cozy down-home restaurants. One standout is Freddo Fresas, named for the strawberries (fresas) that constitute the region’s principal crop. Diners here enjoy tasting local specialties such as hand-thrown tortillas, chorreadas (a sweet-corn pancake iteration), tamales, bean empanadas, and other rustic yummies. Their strawberry-based desserts—fashioned from fruit just picked from the restaurant’s garden—are a must. Never too acidic or overly sweet, the perfect berries are like nothing you can get at your hometown supermarket. Try fresh strawberry juice or eat the fruit in the Costa Rican mode, i.e., with condensed milk or melted chocolate.

The Bardini Garden is one of Florence‘s best kept secrets. It was built in the 12th century as part of a large estate owned by the Mozzi family. During the 20th century it was closed for many years and only reopened in 2005 after significant restoration. The garden is small and easy to walk through in about an hour and its hillsides offer spectacular views of Florence. Wandering among the terraces and flowers is an excellent way to escape from the touristy historic center and instead feel part of what this old city once was. During the off-season and in the morning or late afternoon, you may be the only visitor! The Bardini Garden can be accessed in two ways. One is by going into Boboli Gardens and exiting on the left side—this can be hard to find, but is marked on the Boboli Gardens map you receive on admission. The second way is via street da Costa San Giorgio 2. The garden opening hours vary according to season. It is closed the first and last Monday of each month. Admission is included in the Boboli Gardens ticket, or can be purchased separately for around 10 euros (and includes admission to the villa). There is also a restaurant with beautiful terrace views.

From the porte-cochère entry at the Westin Puntacana Resort & Club, you’ll catch an inviting first glimpse of coconut palms, manicured grass, and a long swimming pool that seems to end at the sea. The view only gets better upstairs, where all 200 rooms—including 16 suites—offer swoon-worthy ocean vistas. On the hottest of days, the high-ceilinged, open-air lobby is a great place to hang with a cold one while catching the ocean breezes. When it’s cooler, have lunch by the pool or at the beachside La Palapa, and plan for dinner at the open-air Brassa. As a guest at the Westin, you also have access to Puntacana Resort & Club’s eight restaurants, two golf courses, tennis center, Six Senses Spa, aquatic center, and Grupo Puntacana Foundation activities.

A departure from the pastel villas that dominate the Amalfi Coast, Parco dei Principi is a modernist edifice enveloped in tropical gardens and set on the outskirts of Sorrento. The work of famed Italian architect and designer Gio Ponti, the boxy white structure bears his signature at every turn, from the furniture and fixtures down to the blue-and-white floor tiles (each of the 96 guest rooms features a different pattern). Beyond the eye-catching geometry, accommodations are minimalist in style, featuring midcentury chairs and crisp white beds. Even the saltwater pool looks like an art piece, its angularity punctuated by a diving board that sits swanlike above the water. Tunnels cut through the cliffside lead to a private beach, where an alfresco restaurant on the waterside deck serves up fresh-caught seafood in the summer. For a bird’s-eye view of the scene, opt instead for the panoramic vistas from the terrace of the hotel’s Gio Ponti restaurant.

Historic Santo Domingo offers a unique look at how the New World was settled in the years following Christopher Columbus’s arrival in the Caribbean on his first voyage in 1492, as well as subsequent expeditions. The Colonial Zone sits along the Ozama River, where the settlement’s original layout, walls, forts and other buildings remain much as they were 500 years ago. With its wealth of colonial architecture, the area has not surprisingly been recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Among the historic buildings is the first cathedral built in the Americas, the Basilica Cathedral of Santa María la Menor (also known as the Catedral Primada de América, recognizing its historic significance). The ornate church once housed the remains of Christopher Columbus until they were moved to the Columbus Lighthouse, in the eastern part of the city.

With its striking white facades and terra-cotta rooftops, you might mistake Cap Maison for a Mediterranean villa on the Costa Brava. However, this all-inclusive resort set on a former sugar plantation on St. Lucia’s north coast offers more than meets the eye. The pastel-hued interiors are matched by the sunny dispositions of the superb staff, who cater to every request, whether it’s finding a shady spot by the terraced pool area, booking a paddleboarding excursion off the private beach on Smuggler’s Cove, or arranging for the house yacht to take you to the neighboring island of Martinique for the day. Don’t miss the sunset views at the Cliff at Cap restaurant, where locally sourced dishes like reef conch ceviche and passion fruit soufflé are topped off with some of the resort’s house-made rum.

Gonçalo Alves and his wife, Marta Fonseca, spent eight years turning an abandoned chicken farm on Portugal’s wild Costa de Prata into their dream retreat. “We wanted a big house to share with people,” says Alves. Their hotel, located a 45-minute drive north of Lisbon, is a whimsical escape with a hippie vibe. Each night Alves and Fonseca invite guests to join them for wine and traditional folk music around a bonfire. The architecture is modern, but the interiors have a fashionable flea-market feel. Inside the 10 rooms and four villas you’ll find bedding, rugs, and light fixtures from Morocco and India, driftwood-frame beds, and fireplaces that hang from the ceiling. Doubles from $345. 351/2-6193- 6340. This appeared in the October 2013 issue.

Why we love it: A beachfront getaway with low-key vibes and high-design interiors

The Highlights:
- A cash-free policy that makes trips to the ATM virtually unnecessary
- The open-air La Popular restaurant and its chipotle-pineapple margaritas
- Regular talks and workshops led by local practitioners

The Review:
Tulum has gone from backpacker’s paradise to jetsetter’s getaway in just a few decades, but some of that gypsy spirit endures at Nômade. The beachfront property comprises 35 palapa-style casitas and tented suites, each featuring hippie macramé hangings, antique rugs, cozy beanbag chairs, and woven hammocks. Moroccan tray tables, lanterns, and poufs dominate the public spaces, which include a thatched yoga shala, a Bedouin-inspired meditation tent, and Macondo restaurant, where you can catch a live DJ set after sampling vegan fare and Yucatán specialties sourced from local fishermen (the chili stuffed with soft shell crab is a standout). Dinners are served at a communal table carved from a single tree trunk, offering equal amounts of physical and spiritual nourishment.

For many centuries, the Hohenzollerns were one of Germany’s most powerful families, their influence only diminishing with the end of the monarchy after World War I. During their dominance, they lived in this majestic neo-Gothic castle, visible from miles away thanks to its prime location on a conical hill. Inside, a series of opulent rooms remain resplendent with period furnishings and valuable oil paintings. The Treasury—which hosts personal items of Frederick the Great and Queen Louise, the Prussian Royal Crown, and a great deal of expensive porcelain and silverware—and the royal chambers can only be seen via a guided tour, but the grounds are free to explore. Also open to the public is the café-restaurant Burg Hohenzollern, with decent regional food and an outdoor beer garden in summer.