Most powerful/unusual place you’ve visited

[Auntiepatricia]

I’m looking for a really special place/experience for a 5 day trip. DH and I love to travel and haven’t been able to do much with our many small children but my nanny is insisting on having them Mon-Fri for us some week next Summer so we can have a break! I don’t want to waste it on the lively but same old places. I’ve never seen New York weirdly so I’m tempted as I think we could fit in a lot of wonderful food and experiences in 5 days there. DH wants Istanbul, I’m pretty keen but just wondering if we’re missing somewhere unexpected and spectacular.

Where has been the most memorable and unusual trip for you?

A faith healing retreat in Brazil with my aunt who had MS.
Very bizarre indeed.

Sounds amazing! We’d love to try a meditation and we’ll being retreat somewhere sometime! Just for the rest and the experience. Brazil is s but far though!

Both NY and Istanbul could be fab, especially if you get a bit off the beaten track away from the crowds - say the Ceramic Mosque and Asian side of Istanbul, or Inwood and Brooklyn in NY.
Germany doesn't have that many tourists - Leipzig or Cologne could be great for 5 days.

Granada, Spain was fab, lots of interesting things to do and great food, lots of interesting places nearish to it aswell.
I also loved Copenhagen. I’d move there if I could.

Norway. Utterly breathtaking and beautiful. I felt at home there.

Jerusalem

The floating islands on lake titicaca in Peru were quite odd. The Galapagos islands were the most beautiful place I've ever been. I've also done a rainforest lodge in Ecuador run by a local tribe which was really excellent.

Closer to home I would say Rila Monestary in Bulgaria was a spectacular experience (particularly if you get their via the local bus route).

Iceland. It's like being on another planet. Spectacularly other-worldly, and only a short flight.

Yes Iceland for me also

Unusual was staying in Portmeirion in North Wales this year.

New York was amazing and I would definitely recommend if you wanted to go there!
But the mist powerful/unusual for me was Jordan. We went down to the river Jordan bordered with Israel (allegedly the site where John the Baptist did the baptism) and it might just be where I was raised Catholic, but I could FEEL the history/faith there. I have never experienced anything like it.

Beirut is great. Byblos was amazing.

i love the Orkney islands but if you want city buzz its not for you.

Iceland.

Don’t care about city buzz! But some great suggestions here.

Iceland lovers, was it summer or winter?

Out of Istanbul or NY I'd choose Istanbul without a shadow of a doubt. It's top of my list of places I've not been to that I want to visit. It's such an important historical city.

Venice is wonderful and there's loads to explore if you're there for a week. I'd second the vote for Granada, the Alhambra is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. If I went back there I'd want to do a bit of a tour of Andalucia and visit Cordoba and Seville (and Jerez)!

Orkney is not too bad either, if you go there try and visit Hoy and/or Westray as well as spending time at the World Heritage Sites. And go when the Ness of Brodgar dig is happening (only a few weeks in the summer) so you can have the tour there.

I was going to say New York actually. It's the combination of being almost familar ( seen in Tv /films, English speaking) and then being unfamilaril American and foreign once there.
Nepal. Third world but touristy all at once.Needs at least seven days.
Rome. Literally everything there has history. All the roads, buildings everything are ancient. Much prefer it to Venice which is a tourist theme park essentially.

Iceland sounds very suitable for a short visit.

Most powerful: Auschwitz

Most unusual: Mongolia x2 The hostel owner was astonished to get a return guest a couple of years later Reminded me a bit of Iceland, similar kind of raw wildness that is becoming increasingly rare in the world.

Tibet. An amazing country despite the obvious levels of military occupation and opression. I got to watch the sunrise over Mt Everest from Tibetan Base camp. Utterly breathtaking and not just because it was chuffing cold We were so lucky to get permits when we did, right on the end of the summer season and when it was politically stable enough. A week or two earlier and no permits were being issued.

BlueVelvet. Nepal was incredible too. So vibrant, particularly after the repressed culture of China/ Tibet (although Tibetan Buddhism is allowed to practice and monestaries are open albeit with a lot of surveilence.)

Getting to the curry zone was heavenly after 6 weeks of plain Chinese food

I was going to say Jordan as well. Everyone is so welcoming, Petra is amazing and so is the desert at Wadi Rum. You can hire a car and drive around easily. It will be hot in the summer though!

Jordan - make sure you also go to Little Petra, go right to the end, there’s a narrow pathway that takes you to an amazing plateau with great views (and if you’re lucky you’ll be “rescued “ by a gorgeous Jordanian soldier).

Istanbul is fabulous, don’t miss the Cistern, catch the public boat up the Bosporus to Rumeli Castle. Easily 5 days of exploring, you could even take a day trip by bus to Edirne.

Granada, also beautiful loads to see, make sure you stay in the old city and see a flamenco show, a bit touristy, but still fantastic. The high speed trains also mean that you can easily do a day trip to Córdoba.

Beirut - fabulous, just don’t think of driving.

Chicago was brilliant, we went in May this year, the tourism office in Macy’s is lovely, I don’t think they get many visitors (everyone does their research online) they were super helpful. We did an amazing river tour run by the Architectural Society. The Art Institute is unbelievable. The old Public Library is now a free exhibition centre, it has a Tiffany glass dome and amazing Tiffany mosaics everywhere, like being in a jewel box.

Canterbury is great, but I’m biased as I went to University there.

If you can handle long haul, Bangkok is my favourite city, just so much to do, but the jet lag may be a bit much for 5 days.

We both lived in Asia for a decade and miss it terribly so are very familiar with most places there. Thanks for all the ideas everyone. Some I hadn’t thought of!

Indonesia is so lovely. Went to both Java and Bali. Can recommend.
Japan is incredible too.
Corfu, Greece too

Iceland - I've been in both summer and winter and it's like a different country. I'm hard pushed to say which I preferred as it was so different - so much so that we didn't recognise places we'd been in the summer when we went in winter.

Glencoe, Scotland.