See the world while only unpacking once. Whether you dream of the historic and enchanting waterways of Europe, the white sands of shell and coral in the Turks & Caicos Islands, or the far-flung landscapes of Antarctica, our expert travel advisors will make sure every detail of your luxury cruise is seamless and memorable.

On a quest for Australia’s top beaches, follow the boarders to Bondi, Bells, and Surfers Paradise. Then extend your radius outward to experience some of the country’s most extraordinary stretches of sand, just a short hop from the mainland. More than 8,000 islands dot the coastline, providing a setting for every type of beach lover. 

Planter’s punch, the Painkiller, a poolside daiquiri – rum is omnipresent in the Caribbean. And the region’s go-to spirit contains multitudes: Though it’s always made with fresh-pressed sugarcane juice, molasses, or a combination of the two, each brand has its own production and aging processes, rendering the finished product anywhere from light and citrusy to caramelly and spicy. “Rum has a huge cultural significance in the Caribbean,” says Darnell Holguin, an NYC-based mixologist and rum cocktail expert. “It’s part of the region’s soul.”

I came for the bougatsa. The flaky breakfast pastry – traditionally made with phyllo dough that’s rolled, tossed, and turned until it’s thin enough to see through, then filled with custard cream and baked – is one of the most sought-after treats in Thessaloníki, and Bougatsa Bantis, a tiny shop up the hill from the waterfront, is the best place to try it. I ordered all of the four flavors on offer, savoring every strata of crunch.

The direct train to Lucerne leaves Zürich station twice an hour. This is an ordinary, unremarkable Swiss train in that it’s fanatically punctual, tidy, and plain. I board with no time for coffee and watch through drizzled windows as the train zips through Switzerland’s financial epicenter, skirts the shores of Lake Zürich, and carves around the crown of Lake Zug to Rooterberg, the country’s smallest mountain (elevation 2,760 feet), before scooting into Lucerne station less than an hour later.

Rum bars and seafood shacks, music and megayachts and boutique resorts galore. This time of year, we’re ready to drop it all for a splash of sun – and the Caribbean’s top of mind. But in a sea of tempting sands, how to choose between Saint Lucia and Anguilla, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic (while steering clear of tourist traps)? We asked nine high-profile locals what their Caribbean islands mean to them, where they take friends, and how travelers can make the most of their next beach break.

Growing up in Central and West Africa with parents who loved to entertain over big, convivial dinners, Eugénie Béziat always understood the power of a great meal. But the chef at the Ritz Paris’ Espadon remembers one particular moment that inspired her culinary career: a dinner in her youth at chef Hélène Darroze's restaurant Marsan in Paris, where she tasted briny oysters topped with tart and acidic Granny Smith apples. “It was a culinary shock,” Béziat says.

Book in hand, mai tai tableside, and a bowl of fresh poisson cru delivered by outrigger canoe. Horizontal on the deck of an Eden-esque overwater bungalow – in a plumpy chaise lounge at the Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora, in this case – lazing the day away in the South Pacific sunshine. A stingray here, a blacktip reef shark there, plus an unimpeded view of Mount Otemanu, an extinct volcano dipped in a tinge of green rising 2,385 feet above a translucent-blue lagoon.

It takes about 24 hours – three flights, a drive, and a ferry ride – to get from my home on the West Coast of the U.S. to La Maddalena, the tiny island off Sardinia’s northeast coast where my husband’s family lives. It’s a journey I’d never want to endure in one go, let alone with our daughter in tow – a beautiful, moody 3-year-old on her first big international trip.

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“Norwegians consider this hike medium tough,” our guide announces as our bus arrives at the trailhead for Pulpit Rock, the iconic cliff that rises nearly 2,000 feet above Lysefjorden just outside the oil-rich city of Stavanger. As someone who isn’t a descendant of Vikings, I can’t say I understand what that means, but I tighten my laces and optimistically take my first step of what is supposed to be a five- to six-hour adventure.

Improbably created from islands in a swampy lagoon, Venice was never ideally suited to be a port of call. When its fishing villages grew into a fierce mercantile power 12 centuries ago, the influential society that would become the Republic of Venice was born. Today, La Serenissima is perched at the intersection of romantic and impractical, despite its cache of some of the world’s great architecture and art. But as crowds filled the city’s piazzas and canals, the impacts of overtourism became clear, and in 2021, Venice banned cruise ships weighing over 25,000 tons from sailing the Giudecca Canal or docking at the Marittima cruise terminal. Enter the “new” neighboring ports that have taken over as launch pads for cruises in the northern Adriatic – each of them worth exploring in their own right.

The world’s second-largest country can hardly be contained, even with its relatively few 40 million inhabitants. “Canada has a huge diversity of landscapes, ecosystems, and humans with their own histories and stories,” says Vancouver-based Virtuoso travel advisor Anjuli Bhatia. “Rather than a melting pot, it’s a multicultural mosaic.”

Our trek to the official Arctic Circle marker on Iceland’s tiny Grímsey Island began uneventfully. But then, midway through, I looked up from the trail to find myself surrounded by grazing sheep, hundreds of flying Atlantic puffins, dramatic cliffs, and the sparkling ocean – all in one frame-worthy moment. A few minutes later, three Icelandic horses appeared in the distance, their emo bangs flopping in the chilly wind. Iceland, I quickly realized, is always putting on a show.

The first thing I ate after landing in Mexico City wasn’t a taco. It wasn’t a churro or a tamale or guisado or a hunk of poultry cloaked in velvety mole or any of the other immediately recognizable treasures from the country’s vibrant and bottomless culinary canon. The first thing I ate after landing in Mexico City was … salad. Not just a salad, but the salad. The salad to end all salads.

On a bluebird day, from the top of Lone Peak you can see clear to Yellowstone and the Tetons to the south, Idaho to the west, and across who knows how many hundreds of square miles of Montana wilderness and ranchlands in other directions. But it’s not the horizon that draws my gaze: I can’t stop looking down; nearly 2,000 vertical feet of pillowy, wind-loaded snow spread out below me – and that’s before you hit the tree line. Wide-open Liberty Bowl beckons to the right, as do the more steeply pitched Lenin and Marx runs to the left, in a sort of geopolitical battle for some of the country’s preeminent high-alpine resort skiing.

Italy’s post-WWII renaissance revolved around la dolce vita: business, art, cinema, and culture flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. Of course, a proper cocktail was part of that sweet life, and the best ones were often found in the country’s five-star hotels, which catered to an international clientele used to drinking in swanky bars in NYC, Paris, London, and beyond.

With views of Hyde Park and Buckingham Palace as its most famous neighbor, The Peninsula London debuted as one of the capital’s most notable new openings, in a year of notable openings. Three decades in the making, the completed hotel has the sheen of a brand-new Louis Vuitton bag – subtly tasteful, while still making a statement. Guests arrive through a discreet internal courtyard designed by landscape architect Enzo Enea, who has crafted serene settings at the likes of The Peninsula Istanbul, Miami Beach’s Setai, and The Dolder Grand in Zürich. At its center, two 120-year-old Japanese maples, brought in from Paris, set a calming tone.

Tuscany’s summer tourism crush gives way to uncrowded olive oil pressing across the region in fall, making this the ideal time to visit one of Italy’s most popular regions. The pasta- and pizza-making classes, winetastings, and bike rides through cypress-tree-lined back roads remain in full swing, as does searching for truffles with curly-haired Lagotto Romagnolo dogs in the oak-studded hills.

It’s hard to say if it’s the single-origin Mexican coffee that appears on suite terraces each morning, the octopus and lobster ceviches for lunch, or the chili-salt-rimmed mezcalitas at the shady palapa beach bar, but something about the hacienda lifestyle of Belmond’sMaroma resort is instantly addictive. Set on 200 acres of tropical jungle 25 miles south of Cancún, the 72-room property recently reopened after a two-year closure for renovations that highlight Mayan culture, handmade art and design, and flavors from the Yucatán and across Mexico.