Best Place To Which You've Ever Traveled

[Timby]

Mr. Laser Beam wrote:

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My obsession with baseball aside - I really don't know why.

Your obsession with baseball which you have admitted just developed out of nowhere in the last few years.

I have to answer this question on a couple of different levels.

The best place for scenery I've ever been to: Chicago, though that's a bit of a cheat since I grew up and lived in the area from 1984 - 2002, and have only made two or three trips since 2006-ish. I'm a sucker for a waterfront, and you can't beat Lake Michigan. Plus, hot dogs. You know, good hot dogs.

Best place to drive -- Dubuque, Iowa. Within 80 minutes or so of Dubuque, you have the Great River Road up along the Mississippi (and Dubuque itself is on the Mississippi), Galena (in Illinois), which is very old but very beautiful, with amazing stores and restaurants, and the Illinois side of Highway 20 as you head towards Rockford features the most amazing vistas, and Platteville, Wisconsin, which is remarkable for some rather significant geographical stuff over time. In any season, there will be a magnificent view in any of those directions -- just put snow tires on your rental.

The best place for just a new experience -- Denver. I first went there in 2002, traveling across the country via Amtrak with my best friend, as a graduation gift. (My friend didn't find the sleeper car quarters as ... charming as I did.) Denver is such an odd duck of a city, even within a 16-block radius you can find distinctly different neighborhoods. It feels like a place where people from other areas go to finally do their thing -- there's a spot on Blake Street with Iowa-, Illinois- and Wisconsin-oriented bars, all next to or across the street from each other. But the best aspect is the people-watching on the 16th Street Mall. From musicians to chess players to peddlers, there's always something going on, and for a tourist, it is absolutely magical.

[Rhubarbodendron]

auntiehill wrote:

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London. [...] I wish I could go back, but I doubt that will ever happen again.

London is a very unusual city. People either hate it or love it. Nobody seems to be indifferent. I felt at home there immediately and go there every few years to meet with friends, buy tea and just enjoy the atmosphere.
Don't give up hope, Auntie! Maybe we can go there together one day It'd be fun! I imagine it a bit like Nanny Ogg and Granny Weatherwax visiting London


Favourite place visited yet: Cardiff. Not a pretty city, not a special city but the nicest people you can imagine, best fish 'n chips in GB, incredibly handsome and charming men and the city is radiating life. Sorry, I just can't put it any better. The contrast is especially big if you visit London first. Where London is serene and has a victorian livingroom feel, Cardiff feels almost like a living being. It vibrates. Somehow the Welsh managed to integrate their whole history from Celtic roots to Roman invaders to British Empire into a very modern city without losing any of the energy.
It's a good place to recharge your batteries when you feel all worn out.

Important word to learn beforehand: Diolch! (Thank you). You'll need that a lot. You say it to the bus driver when he drops you at your stop, you say it to the waitress who brings your lunch, to the guy at the counter in the supermarket, to the gentleman who holds the museum door open for you - the Welsh are a polite people and proud of their native language. You are not expected to speak Welsh, but if you know and use that one word, you'll immediately be adopted into their community.


Btw, have a look at the Cardiff Museum when you are in the vicinity - the prehistorical exhibition is by far the best I've ever seen! Absolutely awesome!

[Kaestra]

I spent a month in Israel in 2009. I find myself thinking of the trip often. Jerusalem is really like nothing else I've ever seen. I found the climate and the terrain in Israel very physically demanding (I was there in the middle of the summer, hiking in the Judean Desert) but the effort was well worth it. I'd recommend taking the cable cars to Masada though. Toughing it out on the snake path is not the way to go.

[Candlelight]

I loved Jasper, Canada when I was touring through BC and Alberta in 2007. Then again I loved most of Canada I saw.

Locally I'd pick Milford Sound, for the sheer ruggedness and beauty.

[kolibri]

Florida. I am not well traveled, though. I live right on the border with Canada, and I've been to Niagara Falls over there. It was still as cold and smelly as it is on our side. There, NYC(briefly), Florida, and the Chicago airport are the extent of my travels.

The wet, overbearing heat in Florida suits me perfectly. I don't think I've ever been so consistently comfortable outside as I was when I was there. It was like being in my natural habitat for the first time.

[trekkiebaggio]

I'll always have fond memories of Disneyworld, but the answer to the question is Vegas baby! I did only spend a short time there, so I don't know if I could put up with it all the time.

But there is another place which has the complete opposite atmosphere of Vegas. I stayed in a small villa just outside a tiny village, which was itself outside a slightly larger town outside of Rome. It was so peaceful and beautiful and inspiring it was just amazing.

[SmoothieX]

I took a road trip around the southern part of Iceland last year. Shorter flight from Boston to there then to the West Coast of the US. But it felt like I was on another planet with the extreme and exotic scenery. The people were very friendly, the dollar is actually worth something over there, and the food....er, let's just say I didn't gain any weight on that vacation. Try the hakarl!

The best place for just a new experience -- Denver. I first went there in 2002, traveling across the country via Amtrak with my best friend, as a graduation gift. (My friend didn't find the sleeper car quarters as ... charming as I did.) Denver is such an odd duck of a city, even within a 16-block radius you can find distinctly different neighborhoods.

I've road tripped cross country and regionally a few times. I've always wanted to do the train thing though. The dynamic has to be so much different than driving on the Interstate. Denver is a quirky place, though about all I did there was take in a Rockies game. If you want odd duck, try Boulder. It's like a Rocky Mountain version of Burlington, except the mountains are higher, and so are the residents.

[Naira]

It depends on the kind of travel.

City life: Berlin is great! Lots of things to do, people are on the streets all the time when the weather permits it and it is very easy to move around and experience the city. Also, Hong Kong. I was amazed by that city. The tricky part is to visit when the weather is good.

Nature: I enjoyed Norway, mainly because we hired a car and drove around, visiting fjords. It's an expensive country though, driving around costs a lot.

Culture: I personally liked New Zealand, because the Maori culture is very different than my own and I enjoyed learning about them (I did not get a chance to see nature there...).

All-around experience: No place like home, I guess. Far from my hometown, but I enjoyed my stay at the Greek island of Santorini a lot! Just pick some non-high-season period, you don't want to have to deal with all the tourists chasing the sunset... The island may not have the best beaches on average (even though one of my all time favorites is hidden there) but the views are great, the non-touristy villages are very pretty and I found it has a nice calming effect on the soul. Again, avoid the high-season!

[Finn]

It was either my two month internship in Alaska or the two week bus journey through southern Mexico. Both forays were amazing. Sun not setting for most of my time in Alaska, the fjords and snow patches at sea level in July, and going through all those villages, deserts, mountains and rainforests of Mexico.

[lurok]

Like Naira, for me it depends on kind of travel (work, personal, solo or companion) and experience. But I'd nominate Japan as it's somewhere I'd return in a heartbeat. Probably like many here I've grown up with Japanese movies, anime, etc, so to experience it firsthand was like stepping into fantasy-made-flesh. What really surprised me though is how much it reminded me, geographically and culturally, of UK in a way few other places have, despite obvious differences. Plus being tall, travelling on JR locals and subway, felt like a colossus

[trekkiebaggio]

Naira wrote:

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It depends on the kind of travel.

City life: Berlin is great! Lots of things to do, people are on the streets all the time when the weather permits it and it is very easy to move around and experience the city.

I just went there a couple of weeks ago! I agree it's a really nice city and there's something for everyone.

[Tora Ziyal]

Urban: NYC. Culture, excitement, walkability, Central Park, family.

Nature: Colorado. Mountains!

Combination: Santa Fe. Art, Native American culture, mountains.

[NCC-1701-B]

Not been many places that I can remember too well, but I'll vote my favourite place aside from my homecity would be Mugla province, in Turkey. I've been twice with my family, once in 2003 and then again this summer, both to different cities in the province. It was a really lovely place, I guess I enjoyed doing more with my family than the place itself. It does though have some really nice places to just sit and enjoy life, which can be hard these days. It also had a pretty cool mix of places to go, like a clubby area, and a quieter area by the front in Fethiye to just sit and drink.

[Davros]

After all the great places I have seen like Berlin, Venice, Heidelberg, Dresden, Milan, Verona, Munchen, Yellowstone, Arches, Canyonlands, and so many others, it's traveling back home that I wind up enjoying the most in the end.

[Squiggy]

Minsk.