Travel - Your Favorite Places - Where you've been and where you want to go...

[scottmitchell74]

Bealman's thread has got me feeling a touch of wanderlust, and thinking about places I've been and places I want to go.

I'll start the show and try to lay some simple ground-rules - Top-Three favorite places you've been, and your Top-three you want to go to.

Been to...(not to slight other great places, but somewhere has to win)

1) Edinburgh, Scotland (and surrounding areas)- Something about the antiquity of the buildings and the way Edinburgh Castle dominates the view just enchanted me. I loved walking the Royal Mile and I loved what we ate, what we heard (that Scottish brogue - I'm lucky my wife came home with me!) and how people acted. We used Edinburgh as a base to go on a nice drive on the Scottish coast (Fife Coastal Road) and then inland to Loch Lomond. To this day it stands as my favorite place.

2)Bruges, Belgium - Saw a picture of the canals in a book, and fell in love. Simply put - a postcard come alive. Incredible buildings, incredible chocolate, and we were incredibly lucky to be there during the Holy Blood Procession.

3) The Grand Canyon - I go domestic on this one. We arrived on a Sunny December morning with unlimited visibility and the majesty is unparalleled. Then, we woke the next morning to a Winter Wonderland. Big fat  flakes floating down and the Canyon covered in snow and shrouded in fog. It was like a dreamscape. We walked the rim in the snow and fog to our breakfast. It was the best morning of my life.

Want to go...

1) Norway - that's number one on my "next" list, even if it doesn't happen in reality. It just looks awesome in its beauty, and I love heavy metal and Norway is oozing with fantastic metal bands.

2) Santorini, Greece - Something about what I've seen just has me fascinated. It was supposed to be our 2013 trip, but unrest in Greece caused us to reconsider. It will be there waiting for us.

3) Japan - I've always been interested in Japan and Japanese culture, so this one is high on the bucket list.


**Honorable mention** On our UK trip that included Scotland, we took a day-trip from London that ended up at Stonehenge for a Sunset viewing. We were allowed to walk amongst the Stones, touch, and (as my wife teases me - "make love" ) to the Stones. I felt transported that evening. It was amazing.

Okay fellow travelers - I can't wait to hear about your favorites. Maybe my "want to" list will change based on your experiences.

[ozzie Bill.]

I have been very lucky as I worked as a safari truck driver for a couple of years, both in Asia and Africa.
1) Probably Serengeti, 2) Victoria or Niagara Falls 3) Petra in Jordan.
want to go 1) Antarctica 2) Tierra del Fuego and 3) Back to Gloucestershire, my home county and just love the Cotswolds.
Great idea for a thread, BTW, Scott, so thank you. Cheers, Bill.

[Newportnobby]

I'm not able to do 'long haul' flights because (a) my legs get all knotted up in baggage class and (b) I can't stand being cooped up in a metal tube with everyone else's wind emissions etc, so someone would have to sponsor me to travel upper class or I'd need to be able to 'beam' myself there and back (as per Star Trek), but if I could:-

Agree with you about Japan - somewhere I'd love to visit for the gardens, temples and culture. (Have the book and DVD of Shogun - who cares if I am gaijin?)

Antarctica - just to experience the climate and wildlife.

Best place I've been to in the past is probably Interlaken in Switzerland as I travelled on the cable cars to the revolving restaurant atop the Schilthorn aka Piz Gloria (used in the Bond film 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service')

I've also read Ted Simon's books of his motorcycle travels around the world and, having done 2 tours of Europe, I'd like to get another bike and travel more widely.

[port perran]

Glad you mentioned Bruges because we are off by Eurostar in April.

Top Three places we've been is a difficult choice but I'll go for :

Goa
Russia (Moscow and St Petersburg)
Barcelona

A few others are vying for that top three place though!

Places I'd like to go to :   New Zealand / Japan  / Norway.. Plus a thousand and one others !

[Alex]

Number one on my bucket list is Malta. Such a historic Island.

[port perran]

Malta is terrific and just missed out on my top 3. We were lucky we went before most of the old buses went out of service a couple of years ago.

[Kipper]

My best trip was to Malaysia in 1995 (spending some redundancy money!). Included trip up river to Taman Nagara, a national park in the jungle, then a few days in Penang. Would love to go back, but insurance cost too high since my cancer (even though now clear).
Girlfriend just back from business trip to Budapest, and wants to do a river cruise on the Danube. I think I have seen it all, in the adverts that seem to be part of every crime drama on telly!

[Tdm]

Between 1985 and year 2000 used to visit Malta all the time, staying not in place you will find in Holiday Brochures - but Birzebuggia in the South and loved it, and so did our kids.

Since then been more or less all round the World, including Hawaii twice when thousands of Humpback Whales gather there (February) and you can get within touching distance of these wonderful 40-50 ton monsters - amazing.

Enjoyed a Caribbean Cruise in 2009, and would definately go back there, and in 2012 flew to Sydney, Australia and from there caught a Cruise Liner that sailed to New Zealand (lovely place) and then on to numerous Polynesian Islands, one of which in particular would love to go back to, but especially to see much more of New Zealand.

In my youth as a single young man I drove a Ford Corsair and an Austin A40 to the Costa Brava, and a Sunbeam Rapier to France, Belgium, and Holland. In Maui hired a a big white Chevy Camaro convertible to tour the Island in, and in Malta our hire car was usually a very old British model, such as a Mk1 Mini or Ford Escort.

Love exploring new destinations and would like to visit Machu Pichu, and ride the Canadian Pacific Railway, as well as the Swiss Glazier Express. Would also like to drive a 60's Classic American convertible the length of the Florida Keys.

[scotsoft]

I've also read Ted Simon's books of his motorcycle travels around the world and, having done 2 tours of Europe, I'd like to get another bike and travel more widely.

If you want a companion for the trips, give me a shout.

We would have to get some company to sponsor us, take a film crew and a very large Winnebago - just in case 

[Oldman]

Favorites
Swiss alps in winter - Wengen when the mens downhill was on- also  skied the course slowly
Iceland  Was very interesting -especially the flight across the island in a small plane.- is a lovely place in the summer.  especially as it was all expenses paid including 4 star hotels.
Crossing the Rockies by train back in the 70's

Wishes/Dreams
Visit Mount Fuji
Go Storm Chasing in Tornado Alley -Yes I know i'm mad
Also Sad but not yet done any yet Visit all the Narrow Gauge Railways in North Wales

[Calnefoxile]

Quite simple for me, India. Went there in 2012 to celebrate our silver wedding anniversary and I fell in love withthe place.

We did the Toy train from Kalka to Shimla, nothing like waking in the morning and throwing open the bedroom curtains to a view of the Himalayas. My photos of our India trip, including the Indian National Railway museum can be found here https://www.flickr.com/photos/nm-mansell/sets/

I want to go back and next time experience the Darjeeling railway, and also travel down the length of India on the train, not quite sure Mrs C does though 

Other than that, the Rocky Mountaineer is on my bucket list.

Regards

Neal.

[gc4946]

I loved Sydney when my mum and I went there at the time of the 2000 Olympics, went over the harbour bridge four times then!
San Francisco was another great place but only spent two nights there unfortunately.
Also enjoyed going to the Tyrol in summer, went on both the Zillertalbahn and Achensee railways as well as the chairlift above Hopfgarten where our coach party stayed.

Would like to do or visit:
By rail from the UK, via the former "Orient Express" route (not the upmarket VSOE train) to Istanbul and then via the Marmaray tunnel linking Europe and Asia which has now just opened, all the way to Ankara;
A trip across Canada by rail;
Another visit to Australia, but starting in Perth and travelling on the Indian-Pacific eastwards and stopping off in New Zealand as well.

[Claude Dreyfus]

I have been very lucky to have visited some fascinating places. My top three are...

Number 1 is getting married in Central Park in New York last year. NYC is a great city, full of excitement and interest.

Number 2 is Japan. All those who have said they want to go there, do...you won't  be disappointed. Lots of highlights, but the best was travelling on a 700 series bullet between Tokyo and Kyoto...passing Fuji on the way.

Number 3 is sitting on the banks of the river Nile at Luxor, watching the sun set and listening the evening call to payer echoing through the valley.

To do? Well we want to visit at least 100 countries in our lifetime...so that's another 73 left!
On the list includes Peru (Guinea Pigs!), Australia, Burma and Israel.

[ParkeNd]

Favourite places already been to :-

1. Finland - Helsinki and the Karalia region on the Russian border. Very low population density and very beautiful. Have only met one other person who has been to Finland so must be exclusive.

2. Valletta in Malta. Superb history and very photographic - the complete opposite of places where everything was painted yesterday and metal chains on posts stop you going too close. Been lots of times.

3.  Madrid - the old city. Sat on a balcony at 7am on a work trip drinking coffee with the most beautiful raven haired woman I have ever met watching the smoke from chimneys curl over the rooftops. Remember thinking "Man this is really living"

Places I would like to visit - not so easy because I travelled a lot with my job :-

1.  Melbourne. Talked to people every day in our Melbourne office. Would like to meet them.

2.  Iceland. To take photographs.

3.  Canada. To travel on one of the long distance trains.

[javlinfaw7]

favourite places -Prague in late  90's before it became commercialised
                         Malta in 70's great architecture , warm weather and people and astounding transport
                         Krakow from Da Vinci to salt mines to oncentration camps a sobering but uplifting         
                         experience.
Where would I Like to go-Back to Bergen for longer
                                     St.Kilda just for the experience
                                     Anywhere warm and dry away from this :censored:weather