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

Copenhagen and the Grand Canyon.

The Grand Canyon was a bit of a bucket list thing when we were in Vegas, but when we saw it we were absolutely blown away by it!

Venice. It's just so beautiful and unique.

Nevada/Arizona deserts - in a country containing NYC, LA and Disney World how can such a descolate and isolated place exist? Beautiful.

Thailand, all of it apart from koh pangan. The people just breathe sunshine.

Vienna accidental visit but found it so beautiful and fascinating.

Boston old America vibe. Architectural beauty.

India. Loved it mad and serene all in one day.

Florence was amazing. If you love your history. So many churches and saints - with great stories. And I also stayed in a remote cottage in Sutherland, with no TV, no phones. It was beautiful. And standing in the valley of the king's in Egypt was one of the best moments of my travelling life

Gascony: lovely countryside, beautiful villages and small towns, great food and wine, friendly people and still feels very French. My favourite part of France - it's so peaceful.

Cornwall: somehow feels different from the rest of England. We almost feel like we should show our passports as we cross the Tamar bridge. Remarkably varied landscape - wild moors, pretty villages, lovely beaches (which are also very varied). Lots of good places to eat and nice galleries. We never go in peak season when it's busy though.

Yorkshire dales: the contrast between the wild hilltops and the lush green valleys is wonderful, and all dotted with stone barns that seem so much of the land it's almost as though they're not man-made. Never fails to lift my spirits and soothe my soul.

The Zugspitze and Garmisch - lived there for a while - including 6 months on the mountain - breath taking place

North York moors - stunning - great walks and it feels very wild

Snowdonia - as above

Brean beach - had some wonderful days there - picnics, crabbing, amazing

Oh and Liverpool - because it's home

Austria - loved Vienna and Saltzberg and I was a proper full on tourist soaking up all the info about where the sound of music was filmed. ☺️
In this country Devon (parts of) and Cornwall. I first went to Devon when I was about 20 and was shocked that somewhere so scenic and peaceful was in this country. Then I went to Cornwall and loved it even more. With the right weather the beaches and attractions are breathtaking.

Geneva, had a few hours to spare before going to the airport. Its such a pretty, clean city with stunning scenery nearby.

Birmingham, I'd imagined a 1970's grot but the city centre is vibrant, some great regeneration and the local population were really friendly.

Another fan of the Alps in the summer.

Tobago- amazingly beautiful and brilliant snorkeling we saw an octopus!

Mostar- stunningly higgedly piggedly and interesting. We watched the fearless divers from the top of the bridge

Peak District- fabulous scenery and walks, lovely villages, Chatsworth, loads of good restaurants, cafés, pubs- my favourite place in the world.

Another vote for Venice, though we went out of peak season.
Stayed on the Lido and caught vaporetto each day.
Who knew the bin men in Venice collect the rubbish by boat - though, logically, how else would they get round.
The police and ambulance were in boats too - fascinating.
I am a bit of a water fan though. There is something quite therapeutic about watching boats bob up and down and travelling around at a sedate pace.
Barcelona - though many people complain about how busy it is, for me, that's part of its charm.
I love people watching and can spend many a happy hour, sitting on a bench on the Ramblas watching the world go by.
Down by the port, take a loaf of bread and feed the fish in the bay - they are ginormous.
Just walking round (well, more of a shuffle really as it's so packed) La Bouqueria market and looking at the colourful displays of fruit and veg (yes, really!) and types of fish I'd never seen before in my life, was wonderful.
Great transport links too, so easy to get out of the city for a while if you felt the need to - I didn't.

IMHO so many things contribute to the whole travel experience and some you can anticipate, with a little research before booking, and some you can't, like flight delays, meaning you arrive exhausted before you start.
Weather can be influential too and no- one can predict exactly what the weather will be like, though, again, some research can give you an idea of the likelihood of getting snow or a heatwave.
Heavy rain can be a bit of a mood killer particularly if it's unrelenting and you aren't dressed for it.

Yosemite national parl in the us. So beautiful.

Seconded re Tobago! Loved it there. Argyll Falls, the rainforest (forgotten the name, sorry), Turtle Beach, Nylon Pool...all amazing.

Thailand was amazing too, Phi Phi was my favourite place but loved Krabi province/Rai Leh generally tbh.

So many inexplicable destinations on the other thread

So places I love:

London
New York
Bath
Oxford
Venice
Malham Cove
Jurassic Coast
Brecon Beacons

Sark – like going back in time
Lake Garda – stunning, great food, great weather, loads to see and do
Crete – as Lake Garda
Croatia – as Lake Garda
Cefalu, Sicily – as Lake Garda. Maybe less to see and do in the immediate vicinity, but a great place to relax. Stunning sunsets
Shropshire – not as traffic filled as the rest of England, beautiful, so many interesting places to visit and so much to do
Rome – just brilliant
Bruges, Lisbon, Vienna, Venice all brilliant for a short break. I expected to be underwhelmed by Venice from what everyone had said about the place, so I went with low expectations. It was beautiful. I love the shabbiness of it as it added character to the place.
California and New England – I love visiting the US. So much to see and do. Orlando was OK. Not really my kind of holiday, but it was a for DD’s post GCSEs/16th birthday.
The Ardeche gorge – just stunning. Loved that area of France
Lapland – Northern Lights and husky driving
Northumberland – It’s Northumberland folks, not Northumbria. The old kingdom of Northumbria consisted of parts of Southern Scotland including Edinburgh, Northumberland, Durham and Yorkshire as far as the the Humber. This is where the name came from as it was the Kingdom north of the Humber
Komodo – there be dragons
North Wales

Liverpool, I wasn’t expecting it but it had such good vibes and there was a warmness that the locals exuded.

I would love a short break to Liverpool.

I love York as well

Paris - Amazing. Architecture, ambience, the history of the place. People not forced to be the friendliest granted but I think I could easily live there.

Malta - Valletta, Gozo, the climate. Beautiful place although much more inclined to be a tourist trap in recent years. My friend visited last year and she said it’s very polluted now, the last time I wen was 20+ years ago.

The North York Moors - coming towards Whitby from Pickering passing glorious, purple Heather. Sheep dotted about with the abbey coming into view from the top of blue bank. Simply majestic.

St Lucia
Nepal (seems a popular one, it was such a refreshing change from manic India)
La Paz
Vancouver
Sydney
Verona
San Sebastian
Gozo
Holland
Dalaman
Anglesey
Whitby
York
Edinburgh

I am in dire need of a trip now

Fregate Island in the seychelles , enchanting

Maldives
New Zealand
The Bahamas
China
New York
Hawaii
Seville
Disney World, Florida

And the Galapagos- truly breathtaking if you love wildlife.

Patagonia - unbelievably beautiful.
Buenos Aires - bouncing.
Montevideo - the laid-back side of South America, mostly.
Rio de Janeiro - most beautiful city in the world.
Valparaiso - out there but awesome.
All of New Zealand - the only thing Peter Jackson got right with Lord of the Rings.
The Lake District - part of me will always long for there.

Costa Rica
Mexico (couple of hrs south of cancun and islands off the yucatan coast)
Mauritius
New York
Thailand
Sydney
Bequia in the Caribbean

Bali, the people aren’t a patch on the Thais for friendliness and sense of humour but the beaches are beautiful and it’s such a fun place to go when you’re young and hedonistic. I found the culture really interesting too.

Kuwait, not your usual touristy place but it will always have a place in my heart for how caring and friendly the local people were to us when we lived there. I loved how different it was to the UK. The food is amazing too and who needs alcohol 😉