Places you have visited which have left you with great memories

[PistachioTiramisu]

Inspired by the opposite thread, which places you have visited have stayed in your mind and you would recommend to others?

My favourite was the drive from Miami down to Key West - an absolutely fascinating, lovely trip. The sheer scale of some of the bridge building and lovely little stops at some of the Keys on the way was all so memorable. The scenery was all beautiful too, and Key West itself was gorgeous. Thoroughly recommended.

City wise, it has to be Havana, the most beautiful city I’ve ever visited. You walk down the most beautiful street you’ve ever seen, turn a corner and there’s an even more beautiful street. This keeps on happening.

Closer to home, there’s the New Forest. Those gorgeous tame ponies everywhere, it’s like being in Narnia.

Tromso, Norway in November.

Keem Bay, Achill Island, Ireland.

Delphi.

Byron Bay in Australia and the Scottish Highlands

Venice - the first time I laid eyes on it as we approached it by water.
Even more beautiful than I had imagined.
Caherdaniel Co. Kerry - the views out to sea - oh my just gorgeous !
Castle Howard - beautiful architecture
Blenheim Castle- again beautiful architecture.
St Patrick’s Cathedral New York on St Patrick’s Day - thinking of all the poor Irish immigrants who had tough lives, many forced to emigrate, whose pennies contributed to its building.
London
New York
Bruges

There are many but some highlights are as follows;
Cycling the Shimanami Kaido in Japan
Nightime walk around Fushimi inari in Kyoto
Ice-climbing in Franz Josef , New Zealand
Early morning game drives in Kruger, South Africa.
Cable car to the top of Innsbruck.
Nightime walk with my teenage son on Charles bridge in Prague,
Best gluten free pizza ever in Mama frites on Borgo S. Angelo in Vatican City.
My 15month old son taking some of his 1st steps on the Great Wall of China.
Cycling with my 8 year old up Chapmans Peak near Cape Town.

So many, but the most memorable day that springs to mind is Strasbourg on our last Interrail trip. We arrived and went for a swim at the beautiful Bains Municipales. We were staying in a bit of a dump, but it was very very central, and the medieval architecture was beautiful.

The next day, I left the DC snoozing and went out to get pastries. We were right behind the Cathedral Square and the bells on the Cathedral were pealing- turns out it was the feast of the Assumption. The noise filled the whole square- it was amazing. I then got an email telling us that our TGV to Paris at lunchtime was cancelled 😬. We packed up and went to the station, and after a long long confabulation the ladies at the TGV travel centre managed to rebook us on a train for that evening- in first class!!

We then went and had a picnic next to the water in Petit France- gorgeous medieval architecture lining rivers and canals. Watched a heron fishing by our feet a couple of feet away. Met a lovely busker playing medieval music who stopped and chatted to us for ages. Went to find a tram and were accosted by a PURPLE EMPEROR BUTTERFLY that sat on me for ages! Visited an extremely good voodoo museum housed in an old railway water tower. Stopped for tea at a cheap fast food place near the station where the guy gave us 2 pizzas for the price of one! All this in 35 degree heat.

Proof, I suppose, that the most memorable visits are a combination of what a place has to offer, weather- and sheer chance.

Saklikent Gorge, Turkey.

Cappadocia - the fruit trees were all in bloom, covered in bees, and the valleys were all frothed in pale pink and white.

Northumberland in general is fabulous. Castles, beaches, amazing sunsets. We went in February and the emptiness, peace and light will stay with me forever.

We've always loved Kefalonia as it's unspoilt.
A year ago we had the most stunning villa with pool in the Fiskardo area.
We had a car, would travel up in to the mountains, discovered tucked away tavernas.
The food was amazing, there was so much to explore around the Island. Beautiful beaches and scenery...

The west coast of Ireland. I've been to alot of places with awe-inspiring scenery, but this part of Ireland is jaw-dropping.

My ex boyfriends bedroom 😊

I have to agree with this. Milford Sound is stunning, along with most of NZ.

Swimming in blue rivers in Slovenia. Long hot days drinking cheap wine and swimming and driving through spectacula scenary. I went with my then DH and three of my kids, and the marriage ended shortly afterwards, but the fact that I still have great memories of that holiday will tell you how great the scenery was.

And driving the Great Ocean Road. Every turn in the road presents the most glorious scenery. Plus kangaroos!

Negril Jamaica
Thailand - Koh Lanta, Chang Mai and Koh Toa
New Zealand - south island
Canada - Vancover Island

When DH and I first got together at 20 years old he asked me where in the world I wanted to go to most. I had never been anywhere having grown up pretty poor.
I said that the only place I really wanted to see was Scotland as I loved mountains, castles and beautiful scenery.

The next day he told me he was taking me to Scotland for the weekend.
We left before 5am to make the long journey up to Inverary where he’d booked a hotel overlooking Loch Fyne.

The views were stunning driving in to the town and I gasped when I saw the castle. But the best moment and my favourite memory was as we parked up. I got out of the car to hear bagpipes playing. I cried at how perfect it all was.

It’s our 25th anniversary next year and we’re planning to go back.

Not one place exactly but my train journey to Italy back in the 1970's when I was 17. I stayed up all night to watch as the twinkling lights of a thousand chalets perched high in the Alps slipped by. Then as dawn broke we went past Lake Lugano where a veil of mist sat on top the lake and mountains tumbled all around. It looked like a mystical world and I felt like Alice in Wonderland.

Your first paragraph about Venice has choked me up. This is the same memory for me and you’ve brought it vividly back. I will never forget those wanderings

Always safari. Nothing beats it

It sounds like heaven

There are so many but I’m going domestic and say the first view I had of Hampton Court Palace. I came out of Hampton station, breasted the bridge - and there it was. It took my breath away

Awwwww....
I've always wanted to see the Iron Gates of the Danube, ever since reading about them in A Time of Gifts, even though I know they're nothing like they were in Patrick Leigh Fermor's day, because they've built a whacking great dam and associated reservoir.

On the night train from Bucharest to Budapest this summer, I woke up and saw the moon shining on a body of water in the distance. With the power of Google Maps I was able to discover that it was, in fact, the Danube at the Iron Gates. I hadn't known we were going anywhere near it, but night trains often go weird, mysterious routes.

It took me back to my first early days of travel and discovery.

Approaching Venice on a vaporetto. Floating though pale morning mist with the Campanile rising up in the distance.
It was like a scene from the Visconti film Death in Venice with Mahler playing in my head. I'll never forget it.

That sounds wonderful. There's something special about train travel, especially being on a night train.

Also seeing the atherton tablelands withe the jacarandas in full flower from the kurunda railway was breathtaking.

Uluru at sunset really gives you a sense of how insignificant and small you are compared to the size of the planet. The stars afterwards are incredible too.