12 Spectacular Places and Experiences Around The World

A treasury of 12 spectacular places and experiences.

- Andrew Nelson

1 Douro Valley, Portugal BESPOKE BARRELS AND BIKING

Touch down on the Iberian Peninsula for a week of what DuVine Cycling and Adventure Co. founder Andy Levine calls “couture bicycling.” Roll through the ancient city of Porto, the Douro Valley famed for its casks of port, and little-known backcountry regions like Trás-os-Montes (“Behind the Mountains”) on your private biking tour. Pick grapes with a local family in their vineyard. Taste 100-year-old tawny ports from the barrel and sample local cheeses. Stay at Six Senses Douro Valley, a 19th-century manor house transformed into a hotel (don’t miss the luxurious spa). Ask the staff for their unique tree-climbing adventure program that sees you perched in the branches to enjoy the vistas of the countryside. Saúde!

2 Lake Lucerne, Switzerland

SWISS SERENITY

Health and wellness are to 21st-century seekers what hope and glory were to Edwardians—a call to action. Switzerland, with its bracing Alpine air, is the place to start when you need to restore the body and refresh the soul. Stay at Park Hotel Vitznau, a castle-like Lake Lucerne property with an ice grotto spa, two Michelin-starred restaurants, and six cellars boasting 32,000 bottles of wine. Play on 6,995foot Mount Pilatus, where a special safari could lead to an encounter with the curved-horn mountain ibex, or catch the world’s steepest cogwheel train to Mount Rigi and get schvitz-y in heated mineral baths. Switzerland’s divine. And you’re soaking in it.

3 Tuscany, Italy

FEAST FOR THE SENSES