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

DD and I found the Goldoni museum quite by accident wandering the back streets (it's in the vicinity of Santa Maria Maggiori) and found it a gem. Strange and curious.
But we also loved St Marco and went to the basilica twice, going into the museum on the second visit. Awestruck by the bronze horses 2k years old - though not sure why Turkey isn't demanding them back as they were looted. Not that I think Turkey should have them btw.

Baan Dam museum Thailand

Da Nang night market near dragon Bridge Vietnam

Marakesh market at night

Tulemben Liberty ship scuba diving Bali

Chaing Mai water festival Thailand

Drift scuba diving along enormous coral walls in warm seas

Northern lights

Scottish landscapes & weather

Glow worm caves New Zealand & Hells Gate geyser site

Tinguley museum

Egypt historic sites

Too many to mention !

Ellis Island, NYC.

Ankor Wat in Cambodia. Just the sheer scale and the fact that it was covered for so long and just a play space for local kids.

Quite. I visited Stonehenge in 1975 and was able to wander amongst the stones. There were only two other people there.

There's definitely Avenue of the Sphinx in Luxor it connects Luxor Temple with Karnak if I recall correctly. it's 20 years since I went so might 3my temples mixed up!

I came to say Picasso's Guernica. Very moving.

Durham, I think it will always be my favourite for sentimental reasons. Wells was probably actually more impressive.

Thanks I might just do that ☺️

The Chateau de Chenonceau in the Loire Valley, France. I've been many times and it never fails too impress me - so beautiful.

Chartres Cathedral - stunning stained glass windows.

The Peak in Hong Kong - just an amazing landscape.

Luton Airport. I went with extremely low expectations and was pleasantly surprised by the experience.

More seriously, Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain in Rio de Janeiro were far less tacky and touristy than I feared. The Forbidden City in Beijing was so vast and peaceful the contrast with the rest of Beijing was incredible. And for sheer awe, Victoria Falls never disappoints.

Florence - every turn in the city was met by a beautiful building. And Michelangelo's David statue in the L'academia gallery.

The Spinx is in Cairo?

Go on your own, honestly I promise it's worth it, book online to skip the biggest queue and there's a lovely old pub b&b within 20 minutes walk that's almost like staying at Beamish itself, you really need 2 days to see it all properly - and you get to use your ticket for a year afterwards for free entry too!

All the Gaudi buildings in Barcelona
The Alhambra on a beautiful spring day
Vatican and St Peters are jaw-dropping. Sistine Chapel was disappointing.
Krakow Salt Mines - have to be seen to be believed.
The Castello in Ischia (nun's graveyard notwithstanding) - gorgeous views
Greco-Roman theatre in Taormina, Sicily - would love to see a show there.
The bat caves in Austin, Texas.
Old town Havana - Unesco listed. Crumbling but beautiful - would like to go back. Also Club Tropicana.
The Cinque Terre villages (before they got overrun with cruise ship tours)
Herculaneum - amazing how so much is well preserved - I preferred it to Pompeii in this respect.
Fishermen's Bastion in Budapest.
Old Town Square in Prague - and the Charles Bridge. Most of Prague in fact - though it's mega busy these days.
Matera is on my bucket list.

I really want to go to Beamish but none of my family are bothered!

Another vote for the Taj Mahal, we arrived at 6 am.so it was peaceful and we were able to look around properly and take some stunning photos. By the time we left mid morning it was absolutely heaving and people queuing for photos on the famous bench etc.
I also loved Table Mountain and everything else in Cape Town, truly magical.

All of Rome! We went 'off season' so it was relatively quiet and easier to walk around than if it had been in the middle of the summer heat. Everyone was friendly, and we stayed about a 20 minute walk outside of the centre so food and accommodation was pretty cheap.
Also maybe not a super famous one, but Drachs Caves in Majorca were amazing. I don't really like caves or the dark and get a bit claustrophobic so I was a little apprehensive (lol) but actually it was amazing! Again, went off season so it was fairly quiet.

Sistine Chapel (didn't scream though), Palatine Hill, Machu Picchu (after climbing Huayna Picchu to look down on the ruins) just unreal, Ephesus (went as a moody teen and just loved it)

My recommendations feel a bit tame compared to some of these!

But I have visited Eden Camp and Beamish this year and found both amazing! Busy because it was summer time but it didn't really detract from the experiences because there's so much to see and do at both and I really enjoyed both.

Off to window shop on the internet at some of the amazing places mentioned here!

Cadiz Cathedral, been to lots of Cathedrals and Im not usually a huge fan but there was just something about it.
Also Picassos Guernica, I have seen it twice and was blown away each time

Also in the vein of places you can no longer go, Leptis Magna in Libya was absolutely incredible. Vast Roman sites and absolutely no one there

Petra and the Great Wall of china both absolutely blew my mind. The beauty and sheer scale of them is incredible

Ahhhhh I've always wanted to go to Sana'a! It looks like nowhere else 😭

Lascaux cave in France (I know it's the replica, but so perfectly done). Awe inspiring, like walking into a cathedral. Have been twice. Also some of the other sites in .france with prehistoric cave paintings.