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

Love:

Gothenburg. Wanted to buy everything in all the shops, so many lovely little cafes and the people were so friendly. Wine was about £20 a glass though 😱

NYC. There's nowhere else like it. I could live there.

Berlin. Expected to hate it. Absolutely love it. Had such a great time, shopping, great bars, lovely people and such interesting architecture and history.

Lyon. So much more going for it than Paris. Lived there for a year and it was the best year of my life

Chamonix in the summer was stunning.

Also love Oman and desperate to go back.

Indonesia, several places but particularly N coast of Sulawesi and Lake Toba in Sumatra - both stunning, with lovely people.
Barbados, lovely west and east coasts, not so keen on S or Bridgetown, but love the Bajans.
Nafplion (in the Peloponnese) - beautiful little town, and the Peloponnese generally. Plus our gorgeous 'secret' beach an hour from Nafplion, and the lovely taverna there.
Lyme Regis. If I ever buy a holiday home, it'll be there.

Lyme Regis - if I ever buy a 2nd home, it'll be there.

@pangolina and @tobebythesea with a couple of exceptions that's pretty much my travel wish list! (Not that bothered by China and already done Thailand but would go back in a heartbeat).

Pangolina - did you go to Tulum in Mexico? How was it? It's very high on my list!

Seychelles, stunning islands and pretty quiet.
New Zealand, so so much to do and the difference in landscape going from the Coromandel to the fjords on the South Island.
Canadian rockies, breathtaking and seeing bear cubs was amazing
Hawaii, stunning, so much to do and so much to see, kiluea at sunset 😍
Reunion, very beautiful island but you need a good grasp of french to properly explore.
Mauritius, Black river gorges was great for walking, lovely people, only downside is too many stray animals 😔

Just about anywhere at all in the USA, but especially big cities like New York, Boston, Washington and LA ... for the buzz and sights, but mainly for the people. There must be unpleasant, unwelcoming Americans somewhere, but I've never met one

Rural France, especially the South and Charente Maritime - just beautiful

Beijing: Amazing sights, wonderful people, fantastic food and mindblowing shopping

Oh, and another Venice lover here ... just approaching it from the air and seeing it's ethereal position in all that water is a pleasure

But to get there and soak up all that other worldly atmosphere is just incredible, as is the silence (and yes, it really is possible to find it outside the tourist areas )

I'm not sure I find Americans friendly! It's all a bit forced and not genuine which annoys me. 'Have a nice day'. So over the top.

I haven't travelled outside of the UK much due to various reasons, however I really enjoyed Roscoff in Brittany earlier this year. I was only there very briefly but it is a beautiful place.

In the UK - Broadstairs, Sennen, Padstow, Charmouth, Dartmoor and York.

Gozo, although I’m not sure I can articulate why. I have been just out of season so it’s been quiet. It’s a rather ramshackle place with roads as bad as I’ve seen in parts of India but it has magnificent sandstone churches and dry stone walls and sleepy villages and some lovely, slightly hidden away beaches. It feels a bit far away and long ago and soothes my soul.

I'm not sure I find Americans friendly! It's all a bit forced and not genuine which annoys me. 'Have a nice day'. So over the top.

This is normal - British people often really struggle with the idea that Americans actually often genuinely are friendly and hoping you'll have a nice day. It's just so alien to them.

I found Americans and Canadians very friendly, on the whole.

"Have a nice day" is commonplace where I'm from (not the UK, not the US).

skowvegas. You're most likely right.
Though I swear their smiles don't quite reach their eyes.

Lots of places!

Croatia
Corfu- circa 1980. Exactly like a durrel book- we’d go in a souvenir shop and be taken out the back to sit in the sun with a cold drink.

Mexico- and yes Tulum and Xel Ha are incredible.

Philadelphia. Brilliant place. Not to city ish and locals very welcoming.

Canada. Big cities are fab but i also loved calgary and further north.

Thailand is great. If you know a local guide you see an entirely different side to the “tourist” experience.

Corsica. Fab mix of italian and french cultures.

Austria. Every trip to germany i’ve ever taken has been great too.

Also liked death valley/yosemite/vegas/la. Great trip.

Lots and lots of places. Some that immediately spring to mind are:

Durmitor National park in Montenegro. Absolutely stunning mountain scenery

Lake Ohrid in Macedonia- again, absolutely stunning with fabulous Roman ruins

West Coast National Park in South Africa. All of South Africa is pretty special but this was so surprisingly beautiful with great wildlife

Seilebost Beach on Isle of Harris. Often mentioned as the most beautiful beach on earth and we had it all to ourselves

And Edinburgh. I hated it on my first visit but eventually lived there for 7 years. My heart aches with longing whenever I see pictures and I'd love to live there again. Wonderful place.

Japan-Kyoto & Hokkaido especially
New York
Almalfi Coast
Madrid
London
Devon & Cornwall
Thailand

Didn't like:-
Rome
Ireland

Absolutely loved Lisbon, went in October last year with Dp and our 3 dds and we had a fabulous time, loads to do with kids, we ran out of time in the end.
London - I live here (zone 6 on the tube) so much to do and it's home and I love it.
New York - loved the buzz and going to see all the sights.
India (Mumbai) not been for over 20 years granted, but it has such special memories (had family there), again loved the vibrancy and culture, such an experience.

So glad someone said Japan, it was getting a rough deal on the other thread and I've always wanted to go. I wonder if those that say Japan mean just Tokyo. With Europe and The USA people seem to be area/city but other places seem to just be the whole country

New York
West coast of Ireland
Northumberland
North Yorkshire
Pembrokeshire

Mexico, for me has EVERYTHING that I enjoy about traveling. Ancient cultures/monuments. Awesome people, fascinating history. Mexico city museum is first rate. I cried when we arrived and I read the dedication to the pre-modern tribal cultures. Xoximilco and the island of dolls, the Temple of the sun and moon: it's bloody enormous, not just a couple of pyramids. Superb beaches and the many many cenotes of the Yucatan.
The best bit however is Laguna San Ignacio, accessed via salt flats, (no descernable roads) to stay in lake side sheds, no electricity or proper toilets where baby Grey Whales frolic like puppies and offer themselves to be petted and stroked. Fucking crazy good.
I've been to plenty of other really great places, none compare to Mexico.

thank you for setting up the thread OP :)

Venice - went for a weekend in January and really only did the “giro d’ombra” www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/crawling-through-venices-cicchetti-pubs - just ate and drank prosecco at less than €3 a glass!

Uzbekistan - I visited on a serious shoestring in 2009. Which was lucky as the currency was on an exchange rate which meant any sum of money over around £20 had to be carried around in shopping bags. It was just beautiful. And we made it out to the countryside which made me choke up a bit.

St Ives - in the right company. We don’t dare take the DC as we don’t think they’ll love it like we do

Cadgwith Cove, Cornwall - a bloke called Nigel will take you out in the morning on his boat to go pull up lobster pots!

Villefranche Sur Mer, near Nice. Beautiful bay, pretty buildings, nice fish restaurants, easy access by train to whole of Côte d’Azur.

Botswana, but especially the chobe national park, on a river cruise, seen over 600 wild elephants in just under 2 hours

Victoria falls absolutely breath taking, shame it's in a shithole of a country that is Zimbabwe

Mount Sinai, St Catherine's Monestary, red sea.

Gozo is wonderful, not just because we spent our honeymoon there. All of Malta is brilliant, a cheerfully barking country.

Reykjavik and the Golden Circle. Air and water like crystal, lovely people, the Hallgrimskirkja.

Northumberland.

@hungrymum no, we had heard it was incredibly busy and crowded so went inland to Ek Balam instead. Absolutely staggering. You must go if you possibly can.