Situated at the tip of the Baja Peninsula, the gorgeous landscape of Los Cabos, home to some of the best beaches in Mexico, is comprised of two resort towns: party-oriented Cabo San Lucas and laid-back San Jose del Cabo. Both have no shortage of stunning five-star places to stay and eat, where visitors and locals can take advantage of all the amenities. One such spot is the restaurant El Farallon at Waldorf Astoria Los Cabos Pedregal (one of the best resorts in Mexico in our Readers’ Choice Awards), says David Hernandez, the director of bars and agave expert at the hotel: “It’s become such an iconic restaurant in Los Cabos and for many reasons too, like the cliffside tables, ocean views, live music, golden-hour lighting, and the food which is so fresh and changes daily.” But for travelers who explore inland, away from the ritzy beachfront bungalows and closer to where the locals live, the rewards of digging a little deeper await. To learn more about the excellent breakfast spots, places to shop, and venues for live music between the two Cabos, read on for recommendations from Hernandez himself.

Best places to eat and drink in Los Cabos

For an all-day eating itinerary, Hernandez suggests starting the day at Alquimia Cocina Imperfecta, a small, family-owned restaurant in Cabo San Lucas. “Everything is home-made and feels nostalgic,” he says. Their bread is baked in-house, dishes are made fresh daily, and the hospitality is warm. “It’s also tucked away in a non-hot spot of Cabo—a cozy setting that is exactly what locals crave more than another resort chain.”

After a bit of exploring the Cabo San Lucas, Hernandez recommends having lunch by the coast at Baja Brewing, on Playa el Medano (an ideal beach for shallow swimming), right by the Plaza Puerto Paraiso shopping mall. “It’s a great rooftop spot with awesome views of the beach and the famous Cabo Arch,” he says. “It’s super relaxed and has good music. You can hang out for a while and enjoy casual food and beer.” He suggests getting a pizza and some burgers to share, and plenty of the brewery’s craft beers made right in Los Cabos.

For something away from the tourist throngs, Hernandez names Jazamango in Todos Santos as an off-the-beaten-track option. “I promise it’s worth the one-hour drive!” he says, describing the atmosphere as rustic and very relaxed, thanks to the outdoor seating with wooden tables, aromas coming from the wood-fired oven, and chickens from the farm running around. “Their menu is way more farm-to-table than anything you can find in town,” Hernandez says, listing dishes like grilled octopus, fresh ceviche, garden salads, and homemade pizzas, “all using ingredients they literally just picked. It’s the kind of place where everything tastes like it has a purpose. It’s perfect spot for a long, lazy lunch with a cold glass of wine, good conversation, and zero rush.”

The Faroe Islands is one of our Best Places to Go in 2025. Find our full guide here.

When I picked up the keys to my rental car in the Faroe Islands, the agent slid me a contract unlike any I’d seen. No clauses about mileage, no small print on insurance. Instead, it was more of an oath—one that said I was ready to “follow the car’s mysterious path, refrain from rebelling against the GPS overlord, and enjoy the adventure—even if I don’t know where I’m going.”

That’s the idea behind the Faroe Islands’ new “self-navigating” car tours, where travelers relinquish control to a spontaneous itinerary of off-the-beaten-path locales, curated via Google Maps. There are dozens of different routes, which can be kicked off from wherever you choose to start your trip, and will take you to destinations across all seven islands that can be reached by bridges and undersea tunnels. Though the tourism board has set aside vehicles specifically for the tours—rentable through 62°N (a company at the airport)—anyone with a smart phone and wheels can access them.

The new initiative is designed to spread travelers more evenly across the remote archipelago, located in the North Atlantic between Iceland and Scotland. In recent years, the scenic volcanic islands have become increasingly popular among travelers—and their Instagram accounts. In 2023, more than 130,000 foreign tourists visited the Faroe Islands, outnumbering the roughly 54,000 locals. Wary of their home becoming another casualty of overtourism, the government has worked for years to prevent the islands from becoming overrun, including by closing the country each spring for “voluntourism” trail work and by implementing a nightly tourism tax, beginning October 2025.

The self-navigating itinerary included a stop in Fuglafjørður, a fishing community folded into a fjord along Eysturoy’s northeast coast.

Pavel Saprykin/Getty

The art of surprise is deeply embedded in this new program—if two people start a self-navigating route from the same place at the same time, they’ll be given different routes. I began my trip in the capital of Tórshavn, which was my home base for days of exploration. That first morning, after scanning a QR code on my car’s dashboard, the GPS sent me to Kirkjubøur, a tiny seaside settlement that was once the religious and cultural heart of Streymoy island. Today it’s known for its trio of medieval treasures, including the ruins of St. Magnus Cathedral, a 900-year-old wooden farmhouse still inhabited by the same family, and the white-washed Olav’s Church, which continues to host services overlooking the sea. For the 30 minutes I milled around, it was just me (though as I was leaving, a vanload of other tourists pulled up).