25 Destinations Worth Every Penny

If there were ever a place that could get by on its looks, it would be this Greek isle. Whitewashed cave houses framed by bougainvillaea and backed by blue-domed churches spill down the rim of an ancient volcanic crater; at sunset, the Sea of Crete is bathed in a rosy glow. Santorini’s appeal also lies in its wealth of diversions: extraordinary wines, black- sand beaches, and archaeological sites like the Akrotíri settlement, often referred to as the “Minoan Pompeii.”

Over the past decade, the Red City has become Morocco’s style capital, with ever-more-luxurious hotels and shopping. Combine a stay at the Royal Mansour—a palatial, over-the-top resort (and the personal project of the king of Morocco)—with a few nights at the intimate El Fenn, a riad whose courtyard is filled with deep sofas and kilims. For a contemporary design, the Guéliz district, with its wide boulevards, is a must-visit.

Ecuador’s the Galápagos Islands continue to lure travelers 600 miles out into the Pacific. Where else can you watch a marine iguana dive for seaweed, with a blue-footed booby circling overhead, or size up short-feathered penguins darting along the equator? Follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin, who famously explored the area in 1835: there’s prime animal viewing on the largest island, Isabela, which is home to 70 percent of the archipelago’s wildlife.

With its windswept beaches and dramatic Table Mountain backdrop, Cape Town has a wild beauty and elegance all its own. The unique setting on South Africa’s coast has also given rise to a diverse culinary culture: no city captures global food traditions quite like it. At colorful markets, haute gastronomic temples, and beachside shacks, you can revel in the multicultural cuisine.

This region of southeastern France is filled with lavender fields, sleepy fishing villages, Roman ruins, and so many scenic vistas it’s hard to know where to point your camera next. This is also the place for some of the country’s best antiques shopping, wine tasting, and dining—whether at a family-run mas (farmhouse) restaurant, a Michelin-starred temple to haute cuisine, or a DIY picnic of Provençal staples from a local farmers’ market.

A journey through Egypt’s ancient marvels begins 14 miles outside of Cairo, with a visit to the Pyramids of Giza, which date back 4,500 years.

Stay the night at the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza, a luxurious hideaway with three swimming pools, before hopping a 90-minute flight to Aswan, where you’ll board the steamship Sudan (five-day itineraries from $800 per person).

This is a nation on the cusp of great change, and there’s never been a better time to go than right now before it loses the look of old Asia.

Yangon, the country’s largest city and once a key port in the British Empire, is lined with colonial-era buildings. Here, you’ll see Shwedagon Pagoda, among the holiest sites in Myanmar. Its central stupa is covered in gold—not gold leaf, but thick plates of gold.

The life of the country truly unfolds along the rivers, so opt for a cruise between Yangon and Mandalay, the last royal capital of the former Burma. AmaWaterways’ new AmaPura offers 10-night sailings with excursions to Salay’s teak monasteries and the Mahamuni Buddha.

After the 2,300-year-old “lost city” in Jordan played a cameo role in 1989’s Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, tourism exploded from just a few thousand visitors per year to more than half a million today. It’s easy to follow Indy’s footsteps through the Siq, a slot canyon that leads to the Treasury building (its pediments and columns were hewn by hand out of a cliff).

Zambia is Africa’s great unsung safari destination and unquestionably its best value. Elephants, leopards, crocodiles, hippos, giraffes, antelopes, chirping tree frogs—you name it, Zambia has it, along with superb local guides. And the parks offer a range of experiences seldom combined elsewhere: canoeing, fishing, boat rides, night drives, and, not least, walking safaris, a concept pioneered in Zambia’s South Luangwa Valley by the late naturalist Norman Carr.

Experienced Africa hands will appreciate the diversity, but the country also makes a fine introduction for first-timers. Much of its authenticity derives from the lodgings.

When it comes to Asian megalopolises, Tokyo falls into a category of its own: few cities offer such a dizzying array of restaurants (more than 80,000), luxurious lodging, vibrant nightlife, and legendary shopping, all set against a rich cultural backdrop. Don’t wait until the 2020 Summer Olympics to go.

Celebrity residents like George Clooney and Richard Branson have only upped the profile of Como, Italy’s most glamorous lake since the days of the Grand Tour. Its 30-mile-long western shoreline runs from the miniature sailing port of Cernobbio through sleepy Laglio to Menaggio.

The most prestigious of the waterfront hotels, Villa d’Este, in Cernobbio, attracts the jet set with its 152 opulent rooms (silk brocade curtains, antiques) and dramatic floating pool.

Though it opened to outsiders in 1974, Bhutan, with its pristine landscapes and well-preserved Buddhist temples, didn’t start receiving luxury-seeking travelers until about a decade ago, when high-end hotels started opening in the bigger cities of Paro and Thimphu.

A more recent debut is the Gangtey Goenpa Lodge, overlooking the Gangtey Valley. Taking its cue from the 17th-century monastery a quick walk from its front door, the property slips discreetly into its remote hillside location. The floor-to-ceiling windows in the main lounge frame a spectacular vista; soft leathers bring warmth to the 9,000-foot elevation, as do individual fireplaces in the 12 guest rooms.

Deep in the Montana wilderness, on 37,000 timbered acres overlooking the Blackfoot River Valley, the Resort at Paws Up is outfitted for lovers of the outdoors. With 28 luxuriously rustic vacation houses and 30 tricked-out tents for “glamping,” the compound supplies plenty of adventure, including snowmobiling, fly-fishing, clay shooting, and horseback riding.

Bali is but one of the 17,500 islands in the Indonesian archipelago and, even among its colorful neighbors, it stands out for its lushness, vibrant culture, and spectacular resorts. The original pioneer is Amandari, set along the Ayung River gorge outside Ubud and laid out like a traditional Balinese village.

The thatched-roof villas are each set inside a stone-walled compound. Pebbled pathways thread past lotus ponds and flower gardens; rice paddies cascade down the hillside to the river below. As secluded as it is, the resort welcomes locals to pass by on a public footpath, baskets perched on heads, as they make their way to the riverbank.

Known for its vineyards and outdoor adventures, New Zealand also offers more urbane pleasures. This trip combines the best of city and country on the North and South Islands.

A magical land of palaces and temples, India’s largest state holds the keys to the country’s most glamorous past. Jaipur, the region’s storied capital, is a strong shot of color and history: it has the 16th-century Amber Fort, the lacy Palace of the Winds, and shops full of precious stones, including Royal Gems & Arts.

West of Jaipur, Jodhpur is a 15th-century city famous for its massive sandstone Mehrangarh Fort and for its weddings in which revelers and elephants take over the streets (most are between September and January). The whitewashed city of Udaipur is built around four man-made lakes; a busy market encircles its Jagdish Temple. Check in to the Taj Lake Palace, where everything, from the private butlers to the foot massages, is over-the-top luxurious.

Though popular with the yachting crowd, the Grenadines have yet to be touched by mass tourism. Here, you’ll find one of the Caribbean’s most iconic resorts, a place that encourages disconnecting: Petit St. Vincent, a 115-acre isle with 22 stone-walled cottages that have no TVs, Wi-Fi, or phones. Driftwood palapas line the main beach, and there’s a hillside spa, where treatments like hot-stone massage are done in an open-air pavilion.

The waterside restaurant and bar serves simple seafood—order a three-pound spiny lobster, fresh off the grill, and pair it with a bottle of rosé. Leave paradise one morning for a sail by sloop to the Crayola-bright reefs of Tobago Cays Marine Park with Captain Jeff Stevens.

It’s hard not to be drawn to the picturesque hills of Napa Valley, California’s prime wine region, an hour north of San Francisco. Most visitors head straight for the vineyards, but don’t miss the town of Napa’s thriving restaurant and bar scene.

Oenotri serves hearty southern Italian fare, while the Thomas turns out delicious flatbreads from its wood-fired grill. Base yourself at either the 250-acre Meadowood—which has a 12-room lodge, 20 cottages, and a Michelin three-starred restaurant, on the outskirts of St. Helena—or the region’s standard-bearer, Auberge du Soleil.

Dramatic limestone cliffs, deep green valleys, impossibly fresh seafood: the beauty of southern Italy’s Amalfi Coast is legendary. In Positano, pick from classic hotels like Le Sirenuse, with its decadent champagne-and-oyster bar, and Hotel Palazzo Murat, the summer residence of a 19th-century king of Naples.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a place more isolated than Easter Island, 2,237 miles from the nearest point in mainland Chile. It’s the setting of one of the world’s most mysterious marvels: moai, colossal statues that were each carved from a single stone sometime between1200 and the mid 17th century. Weighing up to 20 tons and reaching heights of up to 30 feet, the monoliths are fiercely guarded treasures among the Rapa Nui, a tribe that makes up more than half of the island’s population.

This culturally vibrant city on the Bosporus has been reinvented, thanks to a new breed of design-centric hotels and restaurants attracting a younger generation of visitors. But beneath the cosmopolitan gloss, an old-world food culture continues to thrive, with Ottoman-guild chefs specializing in kebabs, balik (fish), and böreks (flaky stuffed pastries). Then there are the meyhanes (rollicking drinking dens) like Karaköy Lokantasi, in the gentrifying Galata Bridge docks area.

The far reaches of Ireland’s western and southern coasts have a raw, unmanicured grandeur that even the Irish concede demands a hardy soul. See it on this 10-day trip, ending in Dublin.

Patagonia has always been the land of the wanderer, the exile, the outlaw—souls drawn to a place where one can disappear into the sheer enormousness of physical space. The name alone conjures images of cloud-veiled peaks, electric-blue lakes, and endless steppes unpopulated for hundreds of miles. The best Patagonia experience combines the Argentinean and Chilean sides, including a stay at Estancia Nibepo Aike, a sheep and cattle ranch near El Calafate, Argentina.

The experience of hacienda living includes hikes on the massive Perito Moreno Glacier. Across the border and through the Andes, Explora Patagonia is set within Chile’s Torres del Paine National Park and has a standout horseback-riding program (it’s the only hotel in the area with its own stables).