Places you've loved and why?

[Foobarjar]

Inspired by the earlier thread on places you've been underwhelmed by, I want to travel more and hoping to see the nordics and more of Asia soon, so inspire me with places you've loved please!

I'll go - Sicily, Taormina - stayed in a beautiful but modernised 18th century hotel with an infinity pool over looking the bay, the streets were full of bussle, beautiful architecture, food was ok, but most enjoyed just out drinking on the stepped bar in the middle of the town with free nibbles, in the beautiful warm summers evenings. Never bothered with the stoney beach. Local wine was amazing. Just loved it all.

Rejkiavic - loved the blue lagoon!

LA Santa Monica, love the sun shine, chilled vibe, beautiful beaches (homelessness was upsetting). amazing restaurants and food on abbey kinney (Venice).

Bali, loved the people, food, scenery, amazing and cheap as chips villa rental for pure luxury, hated the long flight.

Inspire me!

Loved

Rome for all that history and yet it’s so alive!

Stockholm is my favourite place in the world. Clean, friendly, calm, the islands all have their own personality so there is a lot to do (Södermalm is my favourite). If DH and I were younger/DD was not yet at school I’d seriously consider a move to there.

Thailand
Cape Town and surrounding areas
West Coast of Ireland

North Norfolk - so beautiful, and amazing pubs to eat in

Santa Monica - sunny and fun

Amsterdam - handsome men and great food and beautiful city

Valencia - lovely city

Zurich - ditto

OP - we honeymooned in Taormina. Absolutely beautiful though a bit busier than we expected. Food was incredible and Inwiyld definitely go back to Sicily.

Ischia, Bay of Naples - our first Italian holiday. I dream of this beautiful island.

Florence - amazing history, great food, beautiful buildings and it’s well worth getting up into the mountains.

Leiden, in the Netherlands - the pace of life seemed perfect. Lots of canals, bikes, things to do and places to eat.

Stockholm - loads to do, lots to see in the Old Town, the islands, cheap opera!

Shanghai - just an awe-inspiring modern city. I’m no country bumpkin but I’d never seen anything like the scale of the buildings and the number of people. Plenty of history and things to see there too.

Singapore - I’m in 2 minds here. There is loads to do and I loved the beaches and rainforest but it’s UK prices and I wouldn’t go in the sea, as pretty as it is, because of the film of oil from the hundreds of tankers and cargo ships just off the shore.

Sri Lanka, but not the capital Colombo.
New York
Cornwall/Devon
Oslo

New York with my husband. Last big holiday before the kids and it was a blizzard. It was brilliant and had amazing food and drink. Great memories.

Playa Del Carmen - went here on honeymoon and the hotel was amazing and we went to some fantastic places. I was agog at the random animals as well like hummingbirds and stuff.

Bangkok- my family lived out here and I went through a real love hate relationship with it but looking back I had some fab adventures out there.

London - My best friends live here, there's always something happening and I've got amazing memories of my Mum and I going to Harrods.

Cyprus - Again, my family lived out here (before I was born) but it's a place that I when I've been made my mum really Happy, filled with brilliant food and lots of friends. It's where my mum's ashes are going to be scattered as well

New Forest- just feels so calm. Love going out for walks and running around with the children.

Hawaii- I have been lucky enough to go twice and love it so much. Would love to live on the North Shore of Oahu. It’s a great mixture of city and paradise.

Minehead Butlins!! We had never considered Butlins but we went last year when my eldest had just turned 3 and she had the best holiday. There was so much to keep her occupied and we enjoyed the beach and going on the rides.

Niagara Falls. Breathtaking!

North Scotland. Like as North as you can get. People are so friendly, food is gorgeous, especially the seafood and on occasion you can see the northern lights. I've never seen as many rainbows in my life either. The best place to go for quiet relaxing !

Costa Rica - animals including cuddling sloth, raccoons eating with us at dinner / adventure - ziplining, water slides through jungle / rainforest
Brazil - Rio and Parity / rainforest, escorted trips only in Rio due to safety
Cape Town and big 5 / penguins on beach / Table Mountain
Finland - seeing brown bears in wild and Lapland at Christmas time, reindeer and husky rides

As for city breaks favourite is Venice, quite unique and beautiful, stay on Venice Lido and take vaperetto in. Down south of Italy Pompei etc lovely. Rome was great too. We loved Taormina but not other parts of Sicily but it's like most places good and bad bits.

Has anyone actually been to Positano? I see if mentioned (a lot) and have no idea how to book/ go and see/ whether it's too busy....

There are so many things I would like to see but I can't fly at the moment (health) we have done a U.K. bucket list As it's my 40th this year. Any suggestions happily received :)

I'm not 100% but I think I went t Positano with First Choice, the area around there is very beautiful and Pompeii etc well worth visiting - would recommend. It is a bit far to drive to from here though.

Nicest close place I know in Europe is Bruges - horse and carriage ride, boat trips, chocolates and nice if unhealthy food. Can get there via car or Eurostar, long weekend. I would recommend Venice out of summer stay but far to drive.

We've been lucky to have been to some amazing parts of the world and they all have their own unique qualities.

However, northern Norway particularly the lofoten Islands are just off the scale in terms of beauty, atmosphere and all round brilliance. We've explored Norway extensively and have discussed moving there.

I just absolutely love the place.

Others in our top 10 are

Alaska
Zinuataneo
Huatulco
Brazil
Vietnam
New York
Borneo

We are fairly near Brugge and have been over on the Eurostar. It's lovely :) particularly love the all year round Christmas shop!

Thanks for your tips x

I’ll second Skopje, the most bizarre city I have ever visited, but totally worth going to see all the statues. Then take a side trip to Lake Ohrid.

Nepal (Himalayas)- nothing can describe the majestic beauty of not just the mountains but of the people as well. If I had to chose this would probably be my number one destination and I’d go back in a flash.

Northern (mainland) Greece- beautiful beaches, mountains, history and small islands to take day trips to. Thessaloniki is a lovely small city as well.

Slovenia- the hidden gem of Europe, I think you’d struggle to find a more beautiful country within easy reach of the UK.

Stockholm- clean, pristine, beautiful, but v expensive which would be the drawback for me.

Bosnia- again gorgeous people and a beautiful place. Sarajevo is a fascinating city.

Oman- again absolutely stunning, a totally authentic and pristine version of Dubai and much preferable. The wadis to swim in are incredible.

I can’t vote for Bali sadly because living in Australia it is equivalent/similar audience to the UK’s Benidorm

Oh and Romania I love too.

We've travelled quite a bit in Asia but the one that sticks out was the trip on the trans Siberian to Hong Kong. We went there from Manchester by rail. The whole journey took three weeks with stops in Cologne, Moscow, Mongolia and Beijing.

The highlights were travelling through the Gobi Desert, staying with Mongolian Nomads in their yurt, trying some interesting looking food in Belarus and being the tallest person in China (judging by the looks I got). I'd recommend it to anyone. Sharing a cabin with strangers and staying up playing cards and drinking vodka with people from all over the world.

I'm looking forward to the kids being a bit older so we can do more trips like that, except perhaps without the vodka!

Rhodes - Loved the butterfly valley and the Old Town.

Mallorca - Caves of Drach (Can't remember much else as I was young).

Jamaica - lush greenery, swimming with dolphins. Jumping from Cafe Rick into the ocean (and losing my bikini top in the process)!

One thing I would never do again if you paid me - Serpentine Road in Mallorca! I was only about 8 and I thought I was going to die. We were in a coach and when it went around the bends you couldn't even see the road ahead, the front of the coach just skimming between life and death. Many people were crying and sick on that 'excursion'. I think it's single handedly responsible for my fear of heights and years later my grandmother admitted that she thought we were are all going to die that day...
Maybe some people will love it, but it's not for me! I did enjoy seeing some mountain goats though.

New York- vibrant

Just come back from Nile cruise and Cairo. Such an interesting country modern and ancient, good food and friendly. Telling everyone I know to go while it’s quiet...

Loved japan, it’s so weird....safe, and fascinating.

Yay! The happy travel thread!

I loved - Iceland (geysirs, stunning waterfalls, snowmobiling, we did see the Northern Lights albeit they were pretty weak, the glacier lagoon was also stunning although we didn't get long enough there because of the weather)

Valletta a higgeldy piggedly streets, very pretty and romantic, great food and cheap!

Saxony - the Bastei Brucke near Kurort Rathen is stunning and well worth the hike up there. Kurort Rathen itself is little but cute. The finger like mountains are stunning - it's where Grand Hotel Budapest is set.

Swiss Alps and lakes - Interlaken itself isn't that amazing but Lake Thun, Lake Brienz and the Alps were great. Getting the little train up to Schynigge Platte where you get amazing views of the Eiger and the Matterhorn is amazing (albeit expensive)

Prague is delightful - loved the architecture and got some cheap but great culture in there too while we were there (string quintet one time, ballet another...)

Loved Cambodia too and Angkor Wat really does live up to the hype, I went a long time ago though so the country has changed a lot since. I will probably get a shock when I go back one day!

Burma - we visited Mandalay, Bagan, Inle Lake and Yangon two years ago. It was amazing!

@wannabestressfree - interrailing!! We've been twice, saw some great things, some of which I've listed above. You see much more travelling by rail than by plane - the only reason we went to Saxony was because it was on route from Berlin to Prague, but so glad we did!

Havana, absolutely fabulous place & the people were so friendly.
Marrakech, fascinating place especially as I love to people watch.
The Maldives was just stunning & the it's easily the best place I've dived.
Finally Kenya, went on safari & it will be forever in my memory-really want to take the DC when they are older.