Best Place To Which You've Ever Traveled

[T'Bonz]

The title says it all. I love to go to neat places and I'm sure many here do too.

Not counting your own hometown or your current residence, where is the best place you've ever visited and why do you find it so?

This is a tough call for me, personally. But surprisingly, even though other places might beat it out for other reasons, I choose Amsterdam.

I felt at home there for some reason, even though I don't speak a word of Dutch. I loved the architecture and well, I just really liked the place. I'd love to have a flat in one of those narrow houses in the heart of the city. Although I'd probably get killed by a bicyclist; I had a few close calls while walking in the roadways.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

New York City, of course.

 

[T'Bonz]

You didn't say WHY! Jeez, first post in.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

My obsession with baseball aside - I really don't know why. I just feel more at home in New York than any other large city, and I have always admired New Yorkers for their toughness. Also I have relatives who live near there (in NJ) who I can stay with, so it is easy for me to visit NYC.

 

[Gul Re'jal]

Dublin, Ireland. I loved the atmosphere, the people and everything. I am going to visit again, that's for sure.

And when I lived somewhere else and not here, Hong Kong. This place is so fantastic that I moved in here. After I leave and return to Europe, I'll still return as a tourist. Hong Kong is addictive (but, like a real addiction, a bit destructive if you overdose ).

 

[Squiggy]

Paris.

Because PARIS

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

My grandparents' house up in Beckley for two weeks every summer, until I was in high school.

 

[sojourner]

Turku, Finland during winter. I was there 2 months for work. It was my first european country and the town itself was a working city, not known for tourism. The people were great, the town was charming and lively. You felt safe even walking the streets after midnight. Hot chocolate was appropriate at any time of day.

 

[JiNX-01]

Arizona: It was just beautiful.

Lowell Observatory
Grand Canyon
Meteor Crater
Painted Desert

I regretted having to leave.

 

[Amaris]

I don't get to travel much, so when I do, I am usually amazed by just about anywhere. Still, the greatest place I've ever visited was Chicago. Aside from brief forays in Cincinnati on the way to the interstate, I have never actually traveled to a major city.

I have so many wonderful memories attached to Chicago, due mostly to the Star Trek convention I was attending there. Meeting celebrities, making new friends, trying out the local cuisine (Giordanos FTW!), dancing, drinking, and just being in one of the greatest places in the U.S.

Finally, being in my hotel room, standing in front of the wide plate glass window at dusk, and staring at the Chicago skyline. For a boy who comes from a town of 8,000 people, it was sublime. It was freedom. I'll never forget it.

 

[sojourner]

^When I traveled a lot I used to love getting a high floor hotel room for city night views.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

I don't get to travel much, so when I do, I am usually amazed by just about anywhere.

I've been to and lived in a fair few places but I'm still like that. Insatiably curious. I still stare out the window of the train journey I've taken hundreds of times. I like going places with people who are similar, who love to look UP at the top of buildings at the gargoyles and old signage and who see an obscure alleyway and must go down it just because they haven't before.

 

[auntiehill]

London. I was young and adventurous and had a BALL walking around town, checking out all the sights--all by myself. I just left my dorm room in Warwick (having a semester abroad), hopped on a train, and found myself in London with my map and my backpack. I wish I could go back, but I doubt that will ever happen again.

 

[Kestra]

I don't get to travel much, so when I do, I am usually amazed by just about anywhere. Still, the greatest place I've ever visited was Chicago. Aside from brief forays in Cincinnati on the way to the interstate, I have never actually traveled to a major city.

I have so many wonderful memories attached to Chicago, due mostly to the Star Trek convention I was attending there. Meeting celebrities, making new friends, trying out the local cuisine (Giordanos FTW!), dancing, drinking, and just being in one of the greatest places in the U.S.

Finally, being in my hotel room, standing in front of the wide plate glass window at dusk, and staring at the Chicago skyline. For a boy who comes from a town of 8,000 people, it was sublime. It was freedom. I'll never forget it.

I'm still in love with Chicago. I might go back sometime in the future.

It's really difficult for me to choose, but I'd say India in general, and Rajasthan specifically. There was something interesting and beautiful everywhere I looked, but mixed in with poverty like aloof India. The history and culture is breathtaking. India in general has always been amazing for me, just because of the mixture and contrasts if nothing else.

Oh, and many people are so nice and happy, even when they have what we would consider to be nothing.

 

[Hunter X]

I've been all the way across Canada by car, and there are many places that would almost make the list. But tops for me would be the town of Kailua on Oahu. It's where my wife and I went for our honeymoon. It's out of the touristy area (as much as you can be on Oahu, anyways) and we were almost right on the beach. I love the climate there, the sand, the ocean, wandering Honolulu, driving the coast...

Hope we get to go back for an anniversary one day.

 

[Timby]

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]

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.