Favorite Vacation Spot (Non Beach)

ShesSoCold · October 2014

lolo883 said:

Yeah I'm a homer but Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's UP. It's the most gorgeous place in the world in September, and one of few places I'll return to multiple times (along with Traverse City). Otherwise I normally choose someplace I've never been before.

Other places I've loved and would return... for nature, Natural Bridge, KY; Cloudland Canyon, GA. For strolling around, Savannah, GA; Boston; Barcelona. I'd go back to Rio if I could go for Carnival. We had planned on going for the Olympics but it's just too corrupt to support in good conscience.

I liked Paris, London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, but feel like I can safely check them off my list. No burning desire to do a repeat visit.

I take offense at the remark that Detroit isn't a good tourist place! ;-)

LOL I'm sorry - I had a freaking blast in Detroit though. I was trying to get my sister to go back for the Bears game on Thanksgiving.

theartistformerlyknownas · October 2014

lyndausvi said:

novella1186 said:

lyndausvi you've been to Pompeii? We were looking at the Almalfi Coast for our honeymoon, so we'd be near Pompeii. I've been wondering if it's worth a trip over there?

Absolutely.

I'm drawn to engineering history. Standing on the Great Wall of China I'm looking around thinking "Why did they think they needed this wall?". Parts of the wall are built on steep terrain. Then I'm thinking "how did they get the supplies, where did the workers live, sleep?".

Pompeii is similar in that they were pretty advanced for the time and I look around wondering they did such amazing things back then when they stuff we build are blown up 20-40 years later.

Sure a lot of the old stuff was made by slave labor, it's still amazing to me they were able to organize such feats.

You should visit Ávila, Spain. While obviously on a much smaller scale, the walls and cathedral are pretty incredible.
"Its main monument is the imposing Walls of Ávila (11th-14th centuries), the medieval work was started in 1090. The fenced area is of 31 hectares with a perimeter of approximately 2,516 metres, 88 blocks or semicircular towers, 2,500 merlons, paintings by 3 m. thick, an average height of 12 m. and 9 gates. It is the largest fully illuminated monument in the world. It is possible to walk upon the walls themselves for roughly half their circumference."

SmileDamnit · October 2014

ShesSoCold said:

H and I have been to Glacier NP area Montana twice and had planned to get married out there. It's probably the best place ever and we're planning to move there in the spring.

Other than those two trips and an annual WI Dells trip as a kid, every single vacation I have ever taken has been centered around sports. Places like Detroit and Kansas City aren't exactly great tourist places.

AMEN...and I'm sooooooo jealous!! DH grew up in the Flathead Valley of MT and we'd move back there in a heartbeat if we could somehow make a living there. Hands down one of my most favorite places in the world.

Let's see, other faves...love, love, LOVE New York City. Asheville, NC and surrounding area is fantastic (best ziplining ever at Navitat!), and my most favorite mountain town in Colorado is Ouray - beyond beautiful!. I wish I liked more of the Colorado mountain towns, but the traffic/tourism is just so ridiculous from Denver that it's not even worth it.

OHHHH, ETA South Africa. Freakin' LOVED Cape Town & would go back again in a second!

theartistformerlyknownas · October 2014

ShesSoCold said:

lolo883 said:

Yeah I'm a homer but Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's UP. It's the most gorgeous place in the world in September, and one of few places I'll return to multiple times (along with Traverse City). Otherwise I normally choose someplace I've never been before.

Other places I've loved and would return... for nature, Natural Bridge, KY; Cloudland Canyon, GA. For strolling around, Savannah, GA; Boston; Barcelona. I'd go back to Rio if I could go for Carnival. We had planned on going for the Olympics but it's just too corrupt to support in good conscience.

I liked Paris, London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, but feel like I can safely check them off my list. No burning desire to do a repeat visit.

I take offense at the remark that Detroit isn't a good tourist place! ;-)

LOL I'm sorry - I had a freaking blast in Detroit though. I was trying to get my sister to go back for the Bears Lions game on Thanksgiving.

I forgive you.

novella1186 · October 2014

lyndausvi said:

novella1186 said:

lyndausvi you've been to Pompeii? We were looking at the Almalfi Coast for our honeymoon, so we'd be near Pompeii. I've been wondering if it's worth a trip over there?

Absolutely.

I'm drawn to engineering history. Standing on the Great Wall of China I'm looking around thinking "Why did they think they needed this wall?". Parts of the wall are built on steep terrain. Then I'm thinking "how did they get the supplies, where did the workers live, sleep?".

Pompeii is similar in that they were pretty advanced for the time and I look around wondering they did such amazing things back then when they stuff we build are blown up 20-40 years later.

Sure a lot of the old stuff was made by slave labor, it's still amazing to me they were able to organize such feats.

How much time would you recommend spending there? Is like a day trip kind of thing?

Jells2dot0 · October 2014

This thread made me realize how much we travel to tropical places! I have very few non-tropical favs.

- London. We go every year (except this year. My bad.) We stay at the same place and do a lot of the same things.

- Switzerland. I loved Lucerne and Zurich the most. DH preferred Interlaken.

We've been to a lot of other European destinations and I'm sure DH's list would include more. He's a huge history buff.

Stateside, we love where we live, so we do a lot of staycations in the area. Scottsdale, Palm Springs. Now that we're moving, we'll most likely just travel to our vacation home instead of staying in a hotel.

Oddly enough, DH and I have ZERO desire to do a safari. We were just talking about it the other day because I was reading over the top 100 hotels/resorts. I mentioned a lot of them were safari camps.

ShesSoCold · October 2014

lolo883 said:

ShesSoCold said:

lolo883 said:

Yeah I'm a homer but Tahquamenon Falls in Michigan's UP. It's the most gorgeous place in the world in September, and one of few places I'll return to multiple times (along with Traverse City). Otherwise I normally choose someplace I've never been before.

Other places I've loved and would return... for nature, Natural Bridge, KY; Cloudland Canyon, GA. For strolling around, Savannah, GA; Boston; Barcelona. I'd go back to Rio if I could go for Carnival. We had planned on going for the Olympics but it's just too corrupt to support in good conscience.

I liked Paris, London, Madrid, Sao Paulo, Philadelphia and Las Vegas, but feel like I can safely check them off my list. No burning desire to do a repeat visit.

I take offense at the remark that Detroit isn't a good tourist place! ;-)

LOL I'm sorry - I had a freaking blast in Detroit though. I was trying to get my sister to go back for the Bears Lions game on Thanksgiving.

I forgive you.

I do not forgive you for that change. Although we decided not to go because we will surely lose and I hate to do that out of town. LOL

Sugargirl1019 · October 2014

I really liked Hot Springs, Arkansas.. It was different.

I'm definitely going to add Asheville, NC to my list to visit. Also that place in Montana. Oh boy. Do you need an RV or are there hotels?

DH and I were just talking about wanting to visit Ireland and Italy.

photokitty · October 2014

Grand Canyon - hands down!

Then Maine for all the lobsters I can eat until I pop.

lyndausvi · October 2014

Jells2dot0 said:

This thread made me realize how much we travel to tropical places! I have very few non-tropical favs.

- London. We go every year (except this year. My bad.) We stay at the same place and do a lot of the same things.
- Switzerland. I loved Lucerne and Zurich the most. DH preferred Interlaken.

We've been to a lot of other European destinations and I'm sure DH's list would include more. He's a huge history buff.

Stateside, we love where we live, so we do a lot of staycations in the area. Scottsdale, Palm Springs. Now that we're moving, we'll most likely just travel to our vacation home instead of staying in a hotel.

Oddly enough, DH and I have ZERO desire to do a safari. We were just talking about it the other day because I was reading over the top 100 hotels/resorts. I mentioned a lot of them were safari camps.

We stayed at www.ulusaba.com.

Amazing. We only did 5 days. You can do even smaller stays then hop over to the Seychelles or Cape Town. So amazing.

SmileDamnit · October 2014

Sugargirl1019 said:

I really liked Hot Springs, Arkansas.. It was different. I'm definitely going to add Asheville, NC to my list to visit. Also that place in Montana. Oh boy. Do you need an RV or are there hotels? DH and I were just talking about wanting to visit Ireland and Italy.

Glacier is a (huge) national park and there are resorts/hotels/cabins/camping options within the park and all over the surrounding area. (CLICKY). Surrounding towns include Kalispell, Whitefish, Big Fork, Columbia Falls, Polson. Then there's Flathead Lake (where we got married!) that's about an hour-ish south of Glacier (CLICKY).

Montana rocks

ShesSoCold · October 2014

Sugargirl1019 said:

I really liked Hot Springs, Arkansas.. It was different. I'm definitely going to add Asheville, NC to my list to visit. Also that place in Montana. Oh boy. Do you need an RV or are there hotels? DH and I were just talking about wanting to visit Ireland and Italy.

There are two, I think, hotels right in the park but they're older a a little more "rustic" and there's also a few VERY rustic places that you can only get to by hiking. There's a lot of hotels in the surrounding towns, ranging from Bedbug Motels to beautiful resort/spas. Totally worth going to. I love Glacier SO much. I could talk about it for freaking days.

SmileDamnit · October 2014

@Shessocold - you'll appreciate this pic. DH took it when we visited the park last year and it was choosen to be part of a rotating Montana Tourism photo project, where they blew up the prints huge like and put them in airports/train stations around the country promoting the state. Look close and see if you can spy the baby goat

ShesSoCold · October 2014

OMG I LOVE IT!! Little baby goat head!! When we went last year we saw a mom and baby goat from like 100 miles away and even with good binoculars theywere just tiny blobs.

The rangers said they like to hang out at the Logan Pass parking lot in the evening but H wouldn't let us sit there and wait for them LOL.

SmileDamnit · October 2014

Okay - one more from July, then I'll be done. They were blocking the hiking path (down a bit from Logan Pass) and mama was quite protective so we turned around and went back, but holy cute!

mrsb53 · October 2014

New Orleans is pretty cool. I also really like the mountains in North Carolina.

ShesSoCold · October 2014

SmileDamnit said:

Okay - one more from July, then I'll be done. They were blocking the hiking path (down a bit from Logan Pass) and mama was quite protective so we turned around and went back, but holy cute!

I need this in my life.

The coolest wildlife I see in Chicago is a black squirrel.

A squirrel.

southernbelle0915 · October 2014

Favorite domestic: Colorado all year around - and pretty much anywhere in the rocky mountains; Northern Cali; Santa Fe and Taos; and DC because history/museums

Favorite international: Prague, anywhere in Italy, Barcelona, Ecuador, anywhere on the east coast of Australia.

I really want to do a safari, Iceland in the winter to see the northern lights, a tour of Asia (exact locations TBD), Istanbul, India, and Egypt (once shit calms down there).

amelisha · October 2014

Can I do a little photo AW ing for all of you who love South Africa/Namibia? And for anyone who wants to go...I was literally that close to the elephants at the watering hole in a park called Etosha, and I can't recommend it enough. It was outstanding.

kat1114 · October 2014

amelisha said:

Can I do a little photo AW ing for all of you who love South Africa/Namibia? And for anyone who wants to go...I was literally that close to the elephants at the watering hole in a park called Etosha, and I can't recommend it enough. It was outstanding.

Thank you for sharing! In December, FI and I are heading to South Africa for our honeymoon. 7 nights in Cape Town, then 2 nights at Kruger (I wish we had more time but for various reasons that's all we could squeeze in). Seeing your pictures just makes me more excited!!!

amelisha · October 2014

kat1114 said:

amelisha said:

Can I do a little photo AW ing for all of you who love South Africa/Namibia? And for anyone who wants to go...I was literally that close to the elephants at the watering hole in a park called Etosha, and I can't recommend it enough. It was outstanding.

Thank you for sharing! In December, FI and I are heading to South Africa for our honeymoon. 7 nights in Cape Town, then 2 nights at Kruger (I wish we had more time but for various reasons that's all we could squeeze in). Seeing your pictures just makes me more excited!!!

I loved Cape Town, it's my favourite South African city by far and the only one I'd want to return to. I hope you're planning to spend lots of time in Stellenbosch drinking wine! South African wine is criminally underrated in North America, I think it's fantastic, particularly for the price. Eat lots too - all the game you can find and anything Cape Malay.

cafarrie · October 2014

Prague is beautiful!!!! (I loved the food there, just different tastes I guess!)

London is probably my all-time favorite place in world.

Germany (Primarily Munich and south into Bavaria) is fantastic (didn't love the food in Germany)

kat1114 · October 2014

amelisha said:

kat1114 said:

amelisha said:

Can I do a little photo AW ing for all of you who love South Africa/Namibia? And for anyone who wants to go...I was literally that close to the elephants at the watering hole in a park called Etosha, and I can't recommend it enough. It was outstanding.

Thank you for sharing! In December, FI and I are heading to South Africa for our honeymoon. 7 nights in Cape Town, then 2 nights at Kruger (I wish we had more time but for various reasons that's all we could squeeze in). Seeing your pictures just makes me more excited!!!

I loved Cape Town, it's my favourite South African city by far and the only one I'd want to return to. I hope you're planning to spend lots of time in Stellenbosch drinking wine! South African wine is criminally underrated in North America, I think it's fantastic, particularly for the price. Eat lots too - all the game you can find and anything Cape Malay.

Thanks for the recommendations! We are planning a private day tour in Stellenbosch, but if we have some extra money, I would like to maybe stay the night.

esstee33 · October 2014

Doolin, Ireland is probably my favorite place on earth. It's a coastal town, so there's a beach, but whatev. I'm counting it.

themuffinman16 · October 2014

@novella1186 If I return to Italy, I definitely plan on visiting Pompeii. It is so steeped in history, it is absolutely amazing. There are pillars that only go so high, not because of theft, but because of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius killed so many people in the town that the construction was never finished

Inkdancer · October 2014

Munich and Dublin.

RebeccaB88 · October 2014

Ditto Asheville, NC. So beautiful.
New Orleans
Santa Fe & Taos, NM
just about anywhere in the Colorado Rockies - esp Evergreen, Idaho Springs, Crested Butte (not in winter, though)
Austin, TX (just not in the summer)
Hilton Head Island
Boston, MA
most of the central Maine coast - esp Bar Harbor, Cadillac Mountain, Acadia National Park
Charlotte, NC (mainly because my niece and nephew are there)

London, UK - will always love this city
southern coast of GB
Scotland, particularly the Highlands

thisismynickname2 · October 2014

lacqueredlover I may need to pick your brain on Peru. DH and I have never been to South America and we're dithering between flying to Peru or Ecuador.

Being born and raised in the Midwest, I must say that any of my loved vacation spots are those that are completely, utterly different from the Midwest or Chicago. I adore interesting architecture and probably have gotten the biggest kick out of Paris. I just love Paris. I also love going anywhere in mountains. We hit the Swiss Alps on our honeymoon and that was incredible.

Yet, from a sentimental standpoint, my longstanding favorite place is Door County, Wisconsin. It's beautiful up there, and my family camped there every year for 20-odd years.

For the record, I'm not impressed with NYC. I felt quite claustrophobic there both times I went and didn't think there were any "benefits" (restaurants, theatre, museums) that I couldn't get home in Chicago.

martha1818 · October 2014

@novella1186 - Oh no! That sucks that so many bad things happened in Costa Rica! I can't believe about the hijacking, wtf?! I went to Costa Roca (Arenal and Tamarindo) last year and nothing bad happened at all; but we we did planned activities and stayed in a resort area so maybe that's why?

In terms of my favourite non-beach cities, I love NYC, been there a bunch of times and I never get tired of it. If you're into skiing, definitely Whistler, Banff and Lake Louise. I loved Lucerne, Switzerland and really want to go back to visit another city there. Also London!

I also recently went to Bali and I had the BEST time! There is so much to do and you can experience the beach and more cultural things too.

I think my next vacation may include Iceland and Germany, I'm so excited.

This thread is giving me so many travel ideas though!

theartistformerlyknownas · October 2014

Ooh! Alaska. So, so gorgeous and the best seafood EVER. Plus PUFFINS and so many bald eagles! I went with my family when I was 15 (camped in Anchorage, Homer, Denali, Fairbanks, North Pole (the city, not the actual pole), Valdez, Seward), and would love to go back as an adult to do more adventurous things. We did some whale watching day cruises and mini glacier hikes but I would love to take a helicopter to Barrow, do more hiking, go kayaking, cruise the inside passage.

Favorite Vacation Spot (Non Beach)

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