To ask what tourist sites you’ve visited that met or exceeded expectations?

Hampton Court blew my mind, the fact that Henry V111 had walked those corridors was hard to comprehend

Iceland is like a magical Nordic fairy land, isn't it?

The first thing you see on the drive into Reykjavik from the airport is that other-worldly lunar landscape. I even liked the vaguely sulfuric smell from the tap water - something earthy about it!

I was last in Iceland more than 10 years ago however, and I've heard it has become massively overtouristed since then, such that you'll barely hear Icelandic spoken and every other building in Reykjavik is an Air B&B. I'm glad I went when I did.

We went there on a school trip (it's about an hour away from where I live), the whole place creeped me out...but that might be because there was a kid's program on around that time set in Avebury...as I recall it was called "Children of the Stones" or some such...scared the bejaysus out of me.

Ta Prohm, Cambodia. truly breathtaking

Avebury stone circle and village, with Silbury Hill and West Kennet long barrow, Wilts.

Literally awesome, but only if you like that sort of thing.

Splendid tea rooms 🙂

Taj Mahal for me too. Just magical, beautiful, can't describe how awe inspiring it was.

Valley of the Kings in Luxor.

Alhambra and the mezquita in Cordoba.

Made me laugh that among all the beautiful sites posters have mentioned someone has said Disneyland Paris in all seriousness😅

Teotihuacan, the National Museum of Anthropology, Chichen Itza, Tulum, and the Palancar Reef in Mexico.

Nan Tien Temple at Wollongong NSW. I've never been anywhere so peaceful.

I do this in two categories
. Natural/Mother Nature - Blue Grotto, Malta. It's the most southern point in Malta. Went there last year. You must go on the boats that go around the grotto. It was €5.

. Man Made - Alhambra and St Peter's Basilica. I was going to mention Sistine Chapel but it was ruined by Japanese tourists taking photos and talking. Yet signs all round the entrance in picture form said no photos or talking.

Damp afternoon in April being completely alone in Pompeii.

The Larraine motel in Memmphis (where Martin Luther King was shot). Sun Studios (again Memphis), Nashville and Milan (the architecture of the cathedral blew me away, and I'm not even religious!)

Three places have forever stayed in my mind as they were so special and moved me to tears

Grand Canyon - the first glimpse is awe inspiring. Even more stunning, are the lush green forests and waterfalls at the base (along the river).

Lake Morraine in the Canadian Rockies - went with two friends and we just sat there in silence for an hour.

And finally...

Ayutthaya, ancient capital of Thailand. Went alone by train from Bangkok. It was virtually deserted and the most serene, stunning place I have ever been. It's my "happy place".

9/11 memorial and museum in New York
Smithsonian museum Washington
Smithsonian air and space museum

I was In Rome after dark and unexpectedly came across the Trevi Fountain all lit up. It was fabulous. Very crowded but gorgeous.

I think thats why you were impressed. The rest of Coventry is so awful it looked good by comparison.
I had to spend 4 days in Coventry last year and I don't wish to return

Coventry cathedral.

Before anyone says anything my expectations were not high but I was pleasantly surprised.

I agree with this. It’s a very special beautiful place

Throwing something different into the mix and not exotic, but I found Boston USA really interesting from the human and historical perspective. I walked the Freedom Trail which is depicted by a red line all along the route and connects 16 sites linked to the American Revolution .There are lots of information boards along the way and I found it fascinating.

San Gimignano in Tuscany. I had wanted to go for years and was blown away by it when we finally got there a couple of years ago. Luckily we were slightly out of season but imagine it can be pretty overrun at peak times

Venice....Sitting in Caffè Florian eating cake, gelato and drinking coffee....sheer bliss!

Krakow....In the main square, hearing the bugle call from the church tower warning of an imminent Tatar attack....magical!

Herculaneum....After a private tour of the site, being allowed to wander around alone, I stepped into a gloomy building and in the greenish light shot though by sun beams, I was suddenly walking on the bottom of the sea, surrounded by beautiful sea shells and realistic sea creatures. I was standing on a wonderful mosaic floor of a bath house....amazing!

Mycenae, in the Peloponnese. Some of the stones used to build it were so massive, even the ‘ancient’ 5thC BC Greeks, thought it must have been built by giants.

Later, seeing theb astonishing gold artefacts found in the graves, in the Athens museum.

It did make me wonder about what caused the evidently rapid decline of the Mycenaean culture. Very possibly it was linked to the huge catastrophic tsunami caused by whatever it was at Santorini (?) and I’ve wondered about the 7 years of famine, as mentioned in the Bible, perhaps being caused by years of ash and cloud cover from that catastrophe.

Agree with lots of these, particularly the Grand Canyon, where pictures don’t do justice to the scale.

But the most stunning natural beauty I’ve ever seen was Whitehaven Beach in the Whitsundays in Australia, the most intense colours, was quite overwhelming.

Oh my, yes: reproductions in books or posters or on a small screen can't begin to equal the effect of seeing the actual painting. So powerful.

Not so much a tourist destination but activity but I have great memories of a ski trip on a beautiful spring morning lapping an almost empty freshly groomed black Dou de Lanches run above Courchevel in France.

In line with main topic though, agree with
Gaudi buildings in Barcelona (though 20+ years ago)
Anne Frank Huis (DS13 especially taken by this)
Lake District when it's sunny
and I have a soft spot for the New Forest.