Dear friends, if your travel plans take you to my favorite 3 islands: Puerto Rico, Mykonos, and Manhattan, please accept a few tidbits from my ‘little black book’ of travel trends.

What to do:

Fajardo: San Juan is busy, has restaurants, and has shopping. It also isn’t the Caribbean but the Atlantic, has traffic, and can seem congested. I recommend a drive all-around the island, staying at a local parador. At very least, get out to see the hotel where the Golden Door Spa is housed, the El Conquistador Resort: goldendoorspa.com. If you want to find out about great rates, the hotel puts amazing rates online at several travel websites, including tripadvisor.com and hotels.com. This is the Spa whose fitness programming I both opened and ran for almost ten years. Now that the hotel has become a different chain, rules have changed and getting you complementary guest passes—like many things—has become a thing of the past.

In Fajardo, you should also experience a bioluminescent bay tour, either by kayaking or by motorboat. This is an amazing experience after dark, best seen with no moon, when the water glows from microorganisms when agitated. You can even swim and watch your body glow in the water! Some contacts are: 787.720.7711, 787.616.9594, 787.762.3928, 787-860-1654, and 787-244-1545. For the day, I recommend a nearby lighthouse tour and seafood at “Estrella del norte,” all walking distance of the hotel’s property, and a catamaran tour to a nearby island for snorkeling with Barefoot, Salty Dog, East Wind, or Spread Eagle II companies.

Old San Juan: Amazing shopping in beautiful cobblestone streets awaits you in this town near the airport. There is a Polo Outlet, amazing Butterfly People store, and jewelry galore catering to the hundreds of cruiseline tourists. I recommend eating at Dragonfly, Agua Viva, Parrot Club, all by the port, or Amadeus Café, up by the Old Moro Fortress. I’ve been going to those for years.

Guides: Please find a Que Pasa guide located at most hotels and tourist places. It is your single best guidebook, in English, of what to do and see, including detailed island maps. Current copies are available in baggage claim when you await your luggage (at least at American, for sure).

Lighthouse Tours: Please contact 722.5882 for Las Cabezas de San Juan en Fajardo for information and times for English and Spanish-speaking guided tours of the lighthouse visible from the house. The view is quite incredible from over there (of the house, of course). The bioluminescent bay is one of the remaining wonders of the world! Reservations are a MUST. Wear comfortable shoes and clothes; you will be over 300 acres of mangrove and land. 1882 began the lighthouse’s first year of operation, and it continues today! Wed-Sundays are the tour dates with tours at 9:30, 10, 10:30 and 2. Each tour is 1 1/2 hrs hour in duration. The Wed, Thrs, Fri morning tours are reserved for groups, but Friday, Sat, and Sun are for the general public. $5.00 for adults. When calling for reservations during the DAYTIME hours, press 9, then 2, then 1.

Movies: The movie theaters in Fajardo are available at 787.863.2230, or caribbeancinemas.com and click on Fajardo. There is also a Blockbuster Video Rental

Kayaking: You MUST take the kayak tours of the phosphorescent bay in Fajardo at Las Croabas in the evening, from about 7-10. It’s so worth it for the natural wonder of the world and it costs between $35-70. You don’t have to kayak: some tours use a motorized boat. Ismael Kayaking Work 787.720.7711, Main 787.616.9594, Other 787.762.3928, 787-860-1654, and finally 787-244-1545.

Restaurants: Lawrence’s favorite, Estrella del norte, is at the bottom of the hill and they feature fresh barbecued lobster, a la parilla. You can be sure they have fresh lobsters that day by phoning 863.2046. They close on Mondays. Qui-qui is a waiter who used to wait on my when I barely could speak English, let alone Spanish! Rosa’s Sea Food is also an incredible restaurant, though difficult to find @ 863.0213. If you find your way into Old San Juan, eat at Amadeus for trendy, Puerto-Rican fancy cuisine at regular prices. Their guava-mango mousse is why I stop in just for two servings sometimes! 722.8635. Cafe Valencia @ 764.3790 offers authentic Spanish paella at normal prices.

Shopping: If you do shop in Puerto Rico, Plaza Carolina and Plaza Las Américas are the two large, well-crowded shopping malls. The former is on the way to the airport on your right and is quite easy to manage.

Vieques Island: has a new Wyndham hotel on it (6 months young) located right off of our coast. It has rooms right on the beach and a new spa as well. I know the General Manager really well so I can connect you. It’s 7 minutes from Fajardo ($35 round trip) or a few dollars on the 2 hour boat ride each way.

Culebra Island: between San Juan and Saint Thomas: great for camping, outdoor activities, and wonderful beach walking and snorkeling.

Old San Juan: eat in Dragonfly, Aqua, Tantra, and across the street at Parrot Club. They are fabulous. Also during the day in Old San Juan, the restaurant Amadeus offers EXCELLENT appetizers for lunch and order the guava/mango mousse that isn’t on the menu.

I recommend flying into and out of Athens from most other countries. Delta and Olympic airlines offer the only nonstops from New York. If you want a one-world carrier, I suggest either BA or AA to London and then BA to Athens. Once in Greece, I recommend only using www.aegeanairlines.com to travel by air, or check www.openseas.gr (click on English flag to get website in English) and navigate instantly among all boat companies offering affordable and fun ways to get from island to island (for example, from Athens to Mykonos, or from Mykonos to Santorini). Bear in mind that you will be tired if you arrive directly from the USA, so waiting for a 2-4 hour boat ride may just make you wish you purchased a direct 15 –minute flight to one of the islands. It’s best to use boats when traveling between islands.

Before departing:

Make sure you see the movies “Shirley Valentine.” If you have additional time, see “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” and “Summer Lovers.”

Download your maps from www.skymap.gr

What to do: Athens:

The following neighborhoods are all within walking of each other:

Acropolis and coffee after at Dionysius Restaurant/Café
Kolonaki Square for outdoor cafes and chic shopping
Tea at the Grand Bretagne Hotel and tourist walks around nearby Plaka area

Taxi: Mihalis Poulis is a friend and runs an English-speaking taxi service; tell him “Lawrence King of Mykonos” sent you: 6977662131. Alternatively, know that since the Olympics all subways are new, immaculate, and bilingually-signed. From the airport it’s easy to get a ticket to the center of Athens, called “Syntagma Square,” leaving you right at Grand Bretagne Hotel (see above)

Dining: best fish throughout Greece is Tsipura and Sargos; ask for these at restaurants.

What to do: Mykonos:

Here’s how to blend like a local: 9am is wake-up and breakfast, check the wind and choose a beach, lunch on the beach never before 2pm, snacks back in town upon arriving from the beach like crepes or Olive-fried French fries with fresh oregano, shower, catch the sunset around 8pm (depending on the season), dine around 10pm, and walk and shop before and after dinner.

Meals: The best meals are the lunches. Here’s where to eat at each beach. Your beach choice will be made for you based on the WIND.

When there is NORTH WIND:

Paraga Beach: eat at Nikola’s (the world’s best fried calamari), or Tasso’s
Psarou Beach: the VERY chic Nammos (reserve a corner table for 3pm: 22890.22440)
SuperParadise Beach: Coco Club or the casual Self-Service (great beans)

When there is SOUTH WIND:

Fokos Beach: eat at Taverna Fokos (tell owner and chef Canadian Kate that Lawrence sent you; watch for tar on the beach!)
Agios Sostis Beach: Taverna Agios Sostis (the most spectacularly-romantic barbecue spot for lunch under a very old tree on the planet)
Kalafatis Beach: go around sundown to Bandana for thin wood-fired pizza, creative pastas like lobster with ginger sauce, and the famous 1. Fragolino wine and 2. chocolate pizza for dessert.

Dining in the town of Mykonos (Chora):

Before dining, catch the sunset (a major happening throughout all Greek islands) at Kastro Bar (my favorite—you will meet Yannis and Nikos) or any other bar along the “Little Venice” Kastro area.

Many restaurants are tourist traps. It’s difficult to get a bad meal, but locals and residents go to Taverna Nikos in the center of the action where the pelicans are, Interni (featuring sushi), Kazarma or Madupas Café on the waterfront (almost next to each other), and the Nobu restaurant inside of the fabulous (and white) Belvedere hotel. Just outside of town (but probably NOT within walking distance for you) is the Starbucks of Mykonos and, on the way to/from the airport, an amazing pizza place called La Rosticceria/Massimo’s.

Lodging: Stay at an amazing part of the island where I first stayed upon arriving Mykonos and stayed every year for 12 years until my home was finished: Mr. Nikos Apartments. Just outside of the noise of town (5 minutes walk), you’ll have a kitchen, beds, daily maid service, and the most spectacular view of the island. Call to reserve your apartment and guarantee a room: be sure to specify you are calling on the request of Lawrence, King of Mykonos…Mr. Nikos Kousthana: +306944433173 (from the USA substitute 011 for the “+”).

• Musicals: the new TKTS time square booth for last minute discount tickets; check playbill.com for student rushes if you have a student id

For restaurants below I recommend the easy-to-use OPENTABLE.com:

• Great inexpensive lunch at Tea Box inside 5th Avenue’s Takashimaya or their afternoon Asian tea is also reasonably priced
• BG restaurant amazing afternoon tea or lunch or pre-theater as well; tell Robin Lawrence sent you and get the passion fruit soufflé
• New tea shop with free wifi is Radiance tea at 158 w 55th Street
• Balthazar in Soho: brandade de moreau on the lunch menu and their dessert profiteroles; check out the amazing museum store across the street and the Balthazar Bakery To Go next door lunchtime kagomori at Inagiku (tell manager M. Shimura that Lawrence sent you)
• Gordon Ramsay and Per Se (if you can get in—you usually have to pay with a credit card weeks in advance of dining there!)
• Le Cirque reopened in a new location
• The first-ever iPod-operated bar at the wine bar inside the Time Warner building upstairs one or 2 floors above Bouchon Bakery and Wholefoods
• The brand new Max Brenner chocolate store and café at Union Square- get the chocolate syringe for a great dose of chocolate ganache to go