Alexandra Caritg

I'll be honest: I had always been skeptical about cruises. The idea of being on a big ship with thousands of people never appealed to me. The Viking Rhine River cruise changed that completely. This is nothing like what you imagine when you think of a cruise: the boat is intimate, the pace is relaxed, and waking up every morning to a different stretch of European river outside your window is something I didn't expect to love as much as I did. I went with my family in late July and came back completely converted.

I went to Taormina and left convinced it is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The combination of the sea, the volcanic landscape of Mount Etna in the background, the Greek theater, the boutique-lined streets, and the food made it feel almost unreal. I went with family, but I kept thinking the whole time that this is the perfect destination for couples and honeymooners: everything about it is romantic, from the beach to the candlelit terraces to the way the light hits the city in the late afternoon. Taormina is one of those places that changes your idea of what beautiful means.

Rome is one of those cities that never gets old, no matter how many times you go or how many people are there when you arrive. I visited in May with my family, three generations spanning from a toddler to a grandparent, and the city absorbed all of us completely. The food alone is worth the trip, but Rome gives you so much more than that: history around every corner, neighborhoods that reward getting lost in them, and an energy that is completely its own. There is no city in the world quite like it.

I spent seven days in Florence in May with my family and left feeling like we’d barely scratched the surface. That’s the thing about Florence: it’s a city that gives you more the slower you go. The weather was spectacular, the food was extraordinary at every single meal, and we did something we’d never done on any trip before that turned into one of our favorite memories. Seven days felt both long and not nearly enough.

I’ve been going to London for almost 20 years, since I was a child, and I still find reasons to go back every time. My stepfather is English, so London has always felt like a second home rather than a tourist destination, and I think that’s exactly what shaped the way I experience it. This guide isn’t about the usual highlights: it’s about the London I actually return to, the neighborhoods, restaurants, and experiences that make the city feel like yours rather than everyone else's.

South Korea was one of those trips that completely exceeded every expectation I had going in. Between Seoul's beauty scene, a first dive in Jeju Island, sleeping in a hanok in Gyeongju, and spending a night at a Buddhist temple in the mountains, I came back feeling like I'd experienced four completely different countries in one trip. Korea rewards curiosity in a way very few destinations do.

The Baltics were a destination I didn't know much about before I went, and they completely surprised me. Three capitals, three completely different personalities, and none of them felt like anywhere else I'd traveled before. I went in May with my family, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect. I came back with Riga as one of my favorite cities in the world, a serious craving for cinnamon rolls, and a long list of reasons to go back.

Lima is one of the most exciting food cities in the world, and it's not by accident. It has markets that supply world-class restaurants, a one-of-a-kind cultural fusion of Peruvian, Japanese, and Italian influences, and a bar and café scene that keeps growing every year. I live here, and it still surprises me. This guide isn't a list of the most famous places—it's a map of the ones I actually go to, from neighborhood cevicherías to the speakeasy hidden behind the city's best Nikkei restaurant. If you love to eat well and want to go beyond the tourist circuit, Lima is your city.