My top 3: 1.) Kamchatka, Russia (broadly speaking, Russia is fascinating, as the country is so diverse, both culturally and geographically); 2.) Istanbul and Cappadocia; 3.) Guatemala
If there can ever be peace and justice in this world (likely, only after you-know-who is gone), I would like to actually visit Russia, specifically the far-east, because the images I’ve seen of the volcanoes (Klyuchevsky group) are stunning. And, I hear there’s excellent salmon. Kind of like Alaska, actually.
"I’ve absolutely loved the nature focused destination" - you should definitely go to the Galapagos.
Look, on top of THE Nature you'll get:
– An IHG hotel you can book with points
– A new “airline” to review 🙂 (ESAV Airlines)
– Penguins swimming alongside you in warm equatorial water
Just please don’t take cruises (which is the mainstream way to explore the islands).
Our best trip(an actual top ten on our bucket list) was a round trip 12 day cruise on the Richard With with Hurtigruten cruises) from Bergen to Kirkenes and back. 34 stops from the south of Norway to the absolute top of Norway.
Now one has to ask …. who is paying me a huge compliment by posting using my login?
Ben, should be able to determine who the perpetrator is but is hardly likely to do anything about it …. sad state of affairs Ben, yes?
Croatia tops my list. I've never seen a city blend its history with 21st century life as well as Split has done. And driving around the country was very enjoyable.
Croatia, Venice, Bhutan, New Zealand, Iceland, Scotland, Argentina, Italy, France, Hurtigruten cruise on a mailboat up the coast of Norway ( in December!), Costa Rica.
I loved the Coastal Express in the summer. I moved to Malta so I don't have freeze my cojones!
The US national parks are not brought up enough on travel blogs. It's not a points destination, or much of luxury accommodations (although they can be found). But my time in Whitefish, MT and Glacier National Park was amazing!
I also find a lot of charm in European smaller cities and towns.
And it gets a lot of crap, but NYC, there really is nothing else like it.
I recently got back from Japan - wanted to go a long time, but honestly never been so underwhelmed. There was nothing wrong with the place, and I enjoyed the everyday stuff which I genuinely appreciated, but it's just not wow anymore and is clearly a country past its best. It was once the future, but that is definitely no longer the case...
I absolutely love Japan, it's among my favourite travel destinations, but I understand what you mean about the country no longer being "the future" - it's been said that Japan arrived in the year 2000 in 1985, and has stayed there ever since. I think that's pretty apt.
I completely agree with you. I too recently got back from Japan. It was very nice. As Ben said expectations. I heard so much about Japan, how great it was, then when I actually experienced it left me underwhelmed.
In Europe, Graz Austria, training from Vienna makes a perfect side trip. Love their Christmas markets and lights too
Seychelles especially Bird Island
Anywhere in Denmark!
Bangkok, a little of everything for everyone
Valencia Venezuela. The people and the waterfalls
You have a great meal at a particular restaurant. You go back and it's not the same. Happens all the time.
I fu@k/ng hate this question .
So where’s your favorite place ? Where the best place you’ve ever been ?
At least someone is revealing their average to below IQ to you.
Glad to know you hate this, as this piece was directed, specifically, to YOU, because everything everywhere is about YOU as well.
Good on you for glancing at the headline and then jumping in to vent your spleen. Never hold back on what you hate. It's your world, and we're just intruding on it.
D3SWi33, sounds like we need to get you to some better places! Where you been? Siberia?
Moscow. Mumbai. Malaysia. Beijing and Shanghai 4 times each.
Places I haven’t been Jozi , Riyadh , Schafhausen , Leipzig , and Côte d’Azur.
The South of France is gorgeous in summer. True. But living in Nice, I recommend all of you to visit off season if you can. If you aren't coming for the beach, it's absolutely fantastic around Christmas, especially with the snow on the mountains in the background. If you are coming for the beach, make yourself a favour and (if you can), come in September you'll enjoy it twice as much and will avoid the crowd and skyrocketing hotel prices.
Sydney, Rio, Mykonos, the northern slope of Alaska, and Phuket. Much of this when I was younger.
Aww, that's really nice, George! (And, perhaps, with retirement coming, time to revisit some of those favorites!)
In my experience, the best places are the ones that are completely off radar. For example, Isle of Man and Reunion are some of the most exciting places I ever visited but half of Europe doesn't even know they exist.
I feel like your overall experiences to make places your favorite largely depends upon "repeatable" or "replicable" circumstances. For example, if you go to a place that you'd been dreaming to go to and all of the sudden it storms/rains all week when it never really does so, that can then kind of taint what could have been one your favorite places to visit. Another example would be like if you did a larger group trip with friends to Japan. That could be an awesome or not so awesome (depends on what you prefer) experience, but may not be so "replicable" because you are not always going to be able to have those same group of friends go with you to japan on those exact dates.
My favorite places are ones that are completely off the beaten path. Antarctica, the high Arctic, and Africa. The father I can get away from people and a cellphone signal the better.
Freedom is at the core of what I enjoy the most. I want to see what I want when I am up for it. I resent having our National Parks being logged, drilled and exploited by greedy politicians and our choices of travel limited. So my vote is to keep our options open.
Well said, Maryland. Some of my favorite domestic US trips have been to our National Parks. I haven't been to Big Bend (in Texas) yet, but I'm shocked by the reports that I'm reading about what the administration is doing there, right now. They've got literal bulldozers ripping up the foot of the Santa Elena Canyon. Likewise, there are many National Monuments also under threat. Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante in Utah are being reduced, basically for the benefit of fossil fuels. Wish this was getting more attention, because it's truly outrageous. These are all of ours (the American public). Literally some of the best parts of our country. Many visitors from around the world specifically come to see them, too.
Agree with New Zealand and Hong Kong, both really special places. Although I struggle visiting HK now with the crackdown on freedoms from the PRC; it just feels different. In NZ, the far south was magical. Te Anu, Doubtful Sound and Milford Sound were simply amazing.
I really thought Vietnam was wonderful too. Visiting Hanoi for its history was great, and then Hoi An and Hue was really memorable. Incredible history and everyone was so kind.
If you have the ability, I would recommend hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro more than anything. One of the greatest experiences I've had. Then we went to Zanzibar to relax on the beach for a few days.
I find France, Italy (and Spain and the UK and...) are even more special outside of the big cities. Saint-Malo, Bologna/Parma/Montepulciano, San Sebastian, Liverpool, Galway all were so fun.
Not sure when you visited Tanzania but as a tour operator based between East Africa and Europe, I no longer recommend hiking Kilimanjaro (unless totally off season) and the same applies to Unguja (Zanzibar) as it is best to avoid it completely and head to the less visited islands nearby or the mainland coast. Tanzania is currently unbearably busy around the Serengeti and Ngorongoro, it's much nicer to get away from the toursit circuits and discover the real empty spaces (and traming wildlife) of Tanzania or East Africa 🙂
Lived in East Africa for over a decade a d would strongly agree. When I first went to Zanzibar in 2013, there was definitely more of a edge of the world place.
I live in Kenya now, so the premium to get onto the Island has been discouraging, but last time I was there three years ago it seemed to be sliding into more of "could be anywhere" tropical island destination. Lamu Island, while not a replacement for the old Zanzibar, is certainly one of my favorite places on earth.
Zambia is also probably my preferred safari destination. The parks there are excellent but still mostly off the beaten path.
Cape Town as has been noted, is sort of a unique top quality destination on the continent and its not even really close, although I think Nairobi deserves a few days if you have the time while visiting the country.
Totally agree about Lamu: it is (still) wonderful and untouched and I hope it stays like this as long as it can.
I'm based in Kigali and Nairobi is my favourite city in the region; the energy is addictive! I love spending 10 days in Nairobi before heading to the coast or head to the wilderness. Kenya has actually done things a bit better than Tanzania (for once...) in terms of wilderness and wildlife conservation.
Cape Town is an incredible destination in itself but quite a nightmare to get to from other parts of Africa. Johannesburg is much easier for a quick weekend away but not for everyone I guess (I do enjoy Jozi a lot though).
JT, as a tour operator, have you started adjusting for the forecasted El Niño rains across East Africa this upcoming season? With this cycle tracking to be exceptionally strong, it’s expected to be even wetter than usual for October-March. Likewise, southern Africa may see more drought than usual. Going to be an interesting 12-15 months ahead, it seems. I'm just a frequent traveler to both regions and trying to plan ahead as best I can. (Of course, if you're selling tours, you probably won't want to worry potential clients, but... if you're actually on-the-ground in-the-bush, then you kinda have to care about the conditions.)
The weather is so tricky to forecast these days. Our rainy seasons are dry and our dry seasons are wet...
We will see by year end what happens and plan accordingly. I'm based in Kigali so no bush drama for me personally but we have to make sure guests get to their destinations safely. That might become tricky... bit TIA (This is Africa) and everything always works out at the end.
JT, that's a fine approach. Flexibility. Besides, when the elephants fight, the grass gets trampled. Also, have been several times, and I love Kigali/Rwanda in-general. By 'bush drama,' don't sell yourself short... Akagera is close enough, and it has Big 5! In fact, for a country the size of the state of New Jersey, Rwanda has it all... gorillas (of course) at Volcanoes National Park, chimpanzees in Nyungwe, and some of the best coffee/tea I've ever had. You're in a fantastic spot!
Totally agree on Kigali and Rwanda as a fantastic destination. I lived in Kimihurura for three years as well. At some point I did run out of things to do in the country, but not unsurprising for its size. I'm back once or twice a year for work, and renting a motorcycle and just doing an overnight trip to the Lake or Musanze (or even Rusizi) still has a charm to it that hasn't gotten old yet. Going from the open hills to riding through Nyungwe always puts a smile on my face.
For the El Nino thing, we drove my partner's family to Amboseli in Feb/March this year and that was bad enough in terms of planning and routes. We had to cancel a trip to Shompole/Lake Magadi given it got washed out. I'm sort of dreading making any bush focused plans this year b/c of it....
Salta, Argentina
Russia; anywhere in Oblast. Moscow.
Kiefersfelden, Bavaria
Cotuit, Massachusetts
Maldives
Appletreewick, England
Lake Geneva, Switzerland
Belgrade, Serbia
My favorite place in the world is the USA.
There is so much diversity in the US that I honestly think it is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. You can base an entire trip around a single interstate between Denver and Los Angeles and have at least five completely different experiences (city, mountains, desert, gambling, and beach) over the course of 2–3 weeks, while still enjoying the same underlying infrastructure of abundance, comfort, and convenience.
I’ve traveled quite a bit around the world, and with the exception of KL and Jakarta, I don’t think I’ve been anywhere I genuinely didn’t like. So when I’m asked about my “favorite” places, I judge them by where I actually want to return again and again.
Yes, I absolutely loved Rome. But I don’t need to go back every two years — or even five. Maybe I’ll return in 10 years.
The only exception is London. This city shines (not literally, of course ) in every season. I never get tired of it.
And as a non-American, I’m genuinely amazed by the number of Americans I meet who have traveled all over the world but then say, “Yeah, I’ve never been to Utah!”
Seriously?!
I agree that the US offers an incredibly diverse experience, particularly when it comes to natural landscapes, but having lived in China, I’d put China very close behind it for second place. China is exceptionally diverse, the US is clearly somewhat lacking when it comes to historic cities and cultural heritage.
That said, I’d argue that France has even more diversity overall. It spans 12 time zones and offers everything from the beaches of Bora Bora and the Caribbean to Corsica, the mangroves of French Guiana, and the active volcanoes of La reunion in the Indian Ocean. You also have world-class cities, museums, architecture, charming villages from Alsace to the Dordogne, and, in my opinion, the best skiing in the world.
And if that matters to you, you can even gamble in charming casinos. 🙂 Personally, I’d take Deauville over Las Vegas any day.
Agree with all you say, but for many, many people, they can't get past the cost of the Visa, or the extreme time it takes. Not to mention that many citizens of many foreign countries are not even allowed to enter the U.S, All because one person. As a U.S. citizen, living abroad, I have no desire to return, even for a visit.
Seems to me, you meet criteria for easy access. Glad for you, Remember how many foreigners were denied access to World Cup: players, refs, officials, and foreign citizens.
I agree with you. But your idea does not involve a business or first class booking. I think this factor was very instrumental in the picks disclosed.