Hidden Treasures

You’ll get much cheaper hammam services—which include traditional gommage, or scrub treatment, with Morocco’s famous savon noir—in the souks than you will at the Amanjena’s lovely spa. But there’s something to be said for the privacy afforded...

The city’s first concept store is the vision of Egyptian entrepreneur Yehia Abdelnour, a self-confessed interior design nut and global nomad who wanted to create a one-stop shop in which to showcase quality Moroccan-designed gifts, fashion,...

Argan oil is celebrated for its skin-nourishing properties. It’s also hugely expensive when bought outside Morocco, so this cosmetic wonder is pretty much a no-brainer for any Marrakesh shopping list. Inside the medina, argan products are not hard...

I sampled tagines from a half-dozen places in Marrakesh, including fancy restaurants, and the succulent chicken tagine at Bakshish, an unassuming and bohemian-flavored café in the souk, topped them all. It’s a nice spot to take a break from...

Cao Dao Temple in Vietnam

It's a trek that brings thousands of visitors to Indonesia every year. Wake up when it is still dark, ride in a jeep over unkept dirt roads, sleep-closed eyes barely taking in the throngs of vehicles, horses and animals that compete for space on...

Each Spring the Paro Festival or Tsechu takes place in Paro, Bhutan. The festival is a wonderful event to witness. Masked, barefoot dancers jump and twirl, while trying to subdue evil spirits and celebrate the teachings of Buddha. The event takes...

“What better way to understand yoga than to travel to its birthplace?” says Katie Christ. Two years ago, the food stylist put her life in San Francisco on hold to spend two months studying at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga...

Anamaya is located in Montezuma, Costa Rica. This image is taken from their extremely tranquil yoga deck, where guests practice twice a day. This hidden gem is affordable, has gorgeous cabanas, and serves the best vegetarian food I've ever had....

Curvaceous and eye appealing, the 'Marilyn Monroe' towers never ceases to amaze me with it's brilliant architecture design by Ma Yansong.

Chef Dan O’Brien spends his days taking the finest of locally sourced ingredients and transforming them into the most delectable of foods including pantry items like sauces, fruit butters, pickles, and condiments. He then stocks his pantry shelves...

Guanyin, the goddess of mercy and war had been blessing the immigrant Chinese population at Kolkata for the past century. Sea Ip Church is one of the six Chinese churches at Tiretta Bazaar. I was thrown away by trucks and water jars at first, but...

In 2007, the Connaught was incorporated into the Maybourne Hotel Group, which injected more than $100 million into the century-old building and brought the once-reclusive hotel in line with its more welcoming sister properties, Claridge’s...

Small to the point of accidental intimacy—just getting yourself seated could spark your next relationship—this is the kind of noirish bar that wants to fly under the radar. Which is, presumably, why they’ve never named it. To...

On weekend nights, The Palm Court at the Langham Hotel, London’s classic spot for afternoon tea, transforms into a speakeasy-style gin bar. Sipsmith’s Jared Brown (featured in the October 2012 issue) worked with the Langham’s mixologist, Alex...

This bar at the InterContinental Park Lane Hotel in the Mayfair neighborhood celebrates London’s gin-soaked history with 35 varieties of British-made gin. The Poor Man’s Punch, served in a teapot, pays tribute to posh Mayfair’s scrappier past;...

If you are on the hunt for a great local market, definitely head to Carmel's open-air market. Sample some of Israel's local delicacies and splurge on candies and other desserts. From my experience the vendors are friendly and don't pressure you to...

Whoever invented the living history museum deserves, well, a place in a living history museum. Instead of reading dry text, visitors get to meet an early 20th-century immigrant, hang out in her shoebox apartment, and join a family at its Sabbath...

Over the past two centuries, the covered market at Borough, not far from London Bridge, has become one of the country’s most famous foodie spots. From Wednesday to Saturday each week hundreds of traders gather to sell homemade breads,...

Cozy atmosphere and no electric lights, just candles in a cellar underground....

The Langham Place Hotel is a sleek, 42-floor tower filled with more than 1,500 pieces of modern Chinese art, including works by Wang Guangyi and Yue Minjun. Take the free iPod tour for insights, and don’t miss Alannala Lau’s chrysanthemum...

Once Amsterdam’s main public library, the Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht looks like a 1970s block on the outside. But inside, renowned Dutch designer Marcel Wanders has transformed the space into a whimsical and grown-up homage to Alice in...

Set in a historic Beaux-Arts building, The NoMad exudes European sophistication while maintaining a distinct New York edge. Located in the changing north of Madison Square Park neighborhood, this design-centric property opened its doors in 2012....

Julia Forte turned the Star At Night pub, an old fashioned boozer in the heart of Soho, in the London Gin Club in 2012, when she decided to start specialising in her favourite tipple: gin. Now, her bijou bar is home to 350 premium...

Paris wine shops routinely host free tastings, often led by the growers who make the wine. Paris by Mouth publishes a calendar of tastings, but two shops can be depended upon to have something interesting on the weekends: Les Caves Augé and La...

The Paris café scene has always been compelling, but the actual café (coffee) is often forgettable. That's all changing, thanks to places like Coutume, Kookaboora and Telescope, where obsessive (and often mustachioed) baristas are redefining the...

If you live in NYC and you like to drink, then you've probably come across our local tradition of drinking Picklebacks. Picklebacks are a shot of whiskey (usually Jameson) and a chaser of fresh pickle juice. While it sounds disgusting, the...

One of my favorite coffee places in Williamsburg, Brooklyn is Bakeri. Well, it is not a spelling mistake. This is the name of the an artisanal bakery in the neighborhood, with a French feel in it.

Make sure to sample some hot drinking chocolate in Barcelona. I chose a mug from Cacao Sampaka, a gourmet chocolate shop where you'll find all sorts of delightful dessert concoctions. The rich, velvety drink is nothing like American hot chocolate....

At the Arch Bar and Wellington Lounge in London's Park Lane Intercontinental Hotel, high tea is served without the tea. Order the Poor Man's Punch if you fancy gin and you may find you can never go back to drinking alcohol from a tumbler. Arriving...

Daunt Books really is special. Even if you are not a big reader, it is well worth a visit because the space is so beautiful and filled with exceptionally well-chosen books. Daunt is the ultimate antidote to the Amazon generation and connects you...