NY Times Annual "Places to Go" list

[anna7602]

Love reading this list every year! Our vacation plans are pretty set for this year and it looks like the only place on the list we'll likely hit is Nashville. But, we just went to Scotland last year and absolutely adored it. 

[flatlan]

That first pic of Table Mountain and Cape Town just made me swoon! It has been almost 4 years since I have last been there and it still takes my breath away every time!

[wise_rita]

Those moving pictures are freaking me out.

They aren't GIFs, they aren't videos (as far as I can tell).

What year is it? Get me my cane!

[GilliC]

Haha! I think this is the first year in a while that I won't be going to Indianapolis! I'm meeting my parents in LA, so I guess I can tick that one instead.

Otherwise the only place on the list I know I'm going is the Icehotel (listed under the Arctic Circle), but I'm not getting my hopes too high for the Northern Lights. Last year was also supposed to be a "peak" season for them, and by late in the season, the tour operators said they hadn't noticed a significant difference.

[wise_rita]

I will add that I plan to visit exactly zero of these places.

Team homebody in 2014!

[frlcb]

Right now we have Nashville, Yorkshire, Scotland, hopefully Iceland. And I live in Atlanta so obviously that.

[Deleted]

I've got Scotland, Yorkshire, Cartmel, Vienna, Arctic circle (I'm going to see those stupid Northern Lights! grrr) on the list for this year.

And I'm still trying to convince H of Dubai, but I'm starting to run out of vacation days, so that might be a 2015 trip.

[emilyinchile]

I don't think I'll go to any of those places this year, although I've been to a several (and am laughing at the idea that Sheffield, England is a top tourist destination!). A friend honeymooned in Fernando do Noronha, and it really looks incredible.

[Deleted]

I've got Nashville covered :-)

We did Arctic circle last month and Niagara this past summer. I actually have a few of the locations under my belt already.

However we were pinning the locations we've been as a family on the world map and we really need to hit the southern hemisphere.

[Wanderista]

I have no idea what exactly I'll be doing this year travel wise. Thanks for sharing this list though. I have been to some of them. It makes me a little sad to see Varazdin on the list because I really wanted to go there but never made it. I do know some things about it and i've been in the region around it. 

It looks a lot like a neater, cleaner Zagreb. It has a heavy Austrian influence and that region feels very "Alpine". Indeed, it's like the tail end of the Julian Alps. I went hiking in the mountains around there and saw really beautiful views. I love the way that the sky looks around there. Slovenia is similar. I would also like to try Serbian wine. It is something that I have not done. I would consider visiting Albania, but cautiously. Lake Ohrid which borders Macedonia and Albania is a place that I'd really like to see. I'm sure that the beaches in Albania are interesting but I don't know if I'm in any rush to see them. Croatia and Montenegro are so beautiful. If I spent more time in Montenegro, I might try to head farther south.

I forgot to add that if I went to Macedonia or Albania, I'd actually love to horseback ride there. Something about Albania makes me think of riding beautiful horses in the countryside.

As for the rest, yes, wow, beautiful to see. Also, I ate at that LA food market last year. These types of lists don't really factor into my travel decision-making but they are fun to read.

[emilyinchile]

@sfgal530 RockNVoll I would go to the Uruguayan Riviera or Ecuador with you guys. Slight alteration to the plan where you both come to Chile that results in us ticking a 2014 destination off the list

[Deleted]

Having a baby in 2014 is really cramping my style

We will be going to Florida, Paris & London this year; but nothing on the list.

We WERE supposed to go to China this summer but I'm not doing it with a newborn (too exhausting!!) so hopefully in the next few years.

[dbsk8dance]

Jan 13, 2014 9:47:02 GMT -5 @septimus said:

I've got Nashville covered :-)

We did Arctic circle last month and Niagara this past summer. I actually have a few of the locations under my belt already.

However we were pinning the locations we've been as a family on the world map and we really need to hit the southern hemisphere.

Your boys would adore the Galapagos. Animals everywhere. We're waiting to go back until the kids are 8/12.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2014 13:34:19 GMT -5 dbsk8dance said:

Jan 13, 2014 9:47:02 GMT -5 @septimus said:

I've got Nashville covered :-)

We did Arctic circle last month and Niagara this past summer. I actually have a few of the locations under my belt already.

However we were pinning the locations we've been as a family on the world map and we really need to hit the southern hemisphere.

Your boys would adore the Galapagos. Animals everywhere. We're waiting to go back until the kids are 8/12.

We all really want to go there, but it seems that it will basically be $25k for the family to go. 

[dbsk8dance]

Jan 13, 2014 13:36:47 GMT -5 @septimus said:

Jan 13, 2014 13:34:19 GMT -5 dbsk8dance said:

Your boys would adore the Galapagos. Animals everywhere. We're waiting to go back until the kids are 8/12.

We all really want to go there, but it seems that it will basically be $25k for the family to go. 

Yeah. Probably. We spent 9K for two, six years ago. It's worth it, though! 

[emilyinchile]

RockNVoll, I am happy to show you around Santiago pretty much whenever as long as I'm here (so far for 2014 I'll be busy mid-March and gone all of May, other trips still flexible). Uruguay/Ecuador would require a bit more planning. But if you start getting serious about coming down here, let me know!

[neonpink]

My hometown made the list, it feels kind of strange to me that people want to visit here. (Atlanta.) It's kind of neat though.

I really want to go to Croatia. I've also heard amazing things about Perth.

[osumelissa]

I love lists like this - it always gives me good ideas. From this list, I am planning to go to Scotland, England (as a beer lover Yorkshire sounds up my alley), and Iceland (friends and I are planning to go back in September on our way to Oktoberfest). I would love to go to the Netherlands, but that trip has been scratched since DH and I have separated.

Atlanta is not a bad flight for me, so maybe I'll go for a weekend and hit up a baseball game.

[Deleted]

I live in one of the cities on the list (Calgary), but that'll be the extent of my covering of the list.

[sunshinedaydreams]

I'm amazed that Indy made the list. I live here and am dying to get out! There was just a big thing on the news yesterday about how the bike trail they bragged about in this article is all torn up right now and not even a good tourist draw. Fail.

[GilliC]

Jan 14, 2014 19:26:13 GMT -5 sunshinedaydreams said:

I'm amazed that Indy made the list. I live here and am dying to get out! There was just a big thing on the news yesterday about how the bike trail they bragged about in this article is all torn up right now and not even a good tourist draw. Fail.

I know exactly where you're coming from! Did you grow up around there?

However, as a bit of perspective...
Having been away for over ten years now, and having visited with my non-American XH and seen how he experienced places I take for granted, I can see things a bit differently now when I go back. It's still not the most exciting tourist destination by any means, but if I hadn't grown up there, I could come up with enough to see and do that it could definitely be a pleasant weekend city break.

[Brit]

The list seems really odd this year...

The ones I don't understand: Downtown LA, Dubai (too much hype!!!), Chennai (no, but maybe Mahabalipuram), Indianapolis (most boring city in the world), Atlanta

The ones I am likely to visit in 2014: Namibia, Frankfort (already went in 2014), Addis Ababa, Seychelles, Vienna (already went in 2014)

[neonpink]

Jan 15, 2014 5:12:14 GMT -5 Brit said:

The list seems really odd this year...

The ones I don't understand: Downtown LA, Dubai (too much hype!!!), Chennai (no, but maybe Mahabalipuram), Indianapolis (most boring city in the world), Atlanta

The ones I am likely to visit in 2014: Namibia, Frankfort (already went in 2014), Addis Ababa, Seychelles, Vienna (already went in 2014)

 I live in Atlanta and it sort of puzzles me. I love where I live but I've never really thought of it as a place to visit.

[Brit]

Jan 15, 2014 11:25:57 GMT -5 RockNVoll said:

Jan 15, 2014 5:12:14 GMT -5 Brit said:

The ones I am likely to visit in 2014: Namibia, Frankfort (already went in 2014), Addis Ababa, Seychelles, Vienna (already went in 2014)

Wow, that's quite a far-flung list.  Are these all for pleasure?

Yes, but keep in mind that I live in Dubai, so Ethiopia is a relatively inexpensive long weekend trip.

We were in Europe for Christmas through the beginning of the year, pretty random that we actually visited places on the list.

The only big-ish/more expensive ones are Seychelles (at the top of H's list) and Namibia.

[Moe]

I love this list. Always love this list!

[sunshinedaydreams]

Jan 15, 2014 3:29:31 GMT -5 GilliC said:

Jan 14, 2014 19:26:13 GMT -5 sunshinedaydreams said:

I'm amazed that Indy made the list. I live here and am dying to get out! There was just a big thing on the news yesterday about how the bike trail they bragged about in this article is all torn up right now and not even a good tourist draw. Fail.

I know exactly where you're coming from! Did you grow up around there?

However, as a bit of perspective...
Having been away for over ten years now, and having visited with my non-American XH and seen how he experienced places I take for granted, I can see things a bit differently now when I go back. It's still not the most exciting tourist destination by any means, but if I hadn't grown up there, I could come up with enough to see and do that it could definitely be a pleasant weekend city break.

Yup.  Born and raised.  Just moved back here last year after being on the east coast for 12 years.  It had a lot more charm to me when I was away from here and it was "home."  Now that it's actually home, I'm remembering why I left. :-)

[bettyfinn]

Jan 13, 2014 10:43:37 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I have no idea what exactly I'll be doing this year travel wise. Thanks for sharing this list though. I have been to some of them. It makes me a little sad to see Varazdin on the list because I really wanted to go there but never made it. I do know some things about it and i've been in the region around it. 

It looks a lot like a neater, cleaner Zagreb. It has a heavy Austrian influence and that region feels very "Alpine". Indeed, it's like the tail end of the Julian Alps. I went hiking in the mountains around there and saw really beautiful views. I love the way that the sky looks around there. Slovenia is similar. I would also like to try Serbian wine. It is something that I have not done. I would consider visiting Albania, but cautiously. Lake Ohrid which borders Macedonia and Albania is a place that I'd really like to see. I'm sure that the beaches in Albania are interesting but I don't know if I'm in any rush to see them. Croatia and Montenegro are so beautiful. If I spent more time in Montenegro, I might try to head farther south.

I forgot to add that if I went to Macedonia or Albania, I'd actually love to horseback ride there. Something about Albania makes me think of riding beautiful horses in the countryside.

As for the rest, yes, wow, beautiful to see. Also, I ate at that LA food market last year. These types of lists don't really factor into my travel decision-making but they are fun to read.

I'm actually surprised Varazdin made the list.  It's a lovely city, but it is in a country full of lovely (and lovelier) cities and very close to a country where every square inch is amazing (Slovenia).  Don't be sad that you didn't make it.  I wouldn't go out of my way to go back there again.  

Serbian wine and their plum brandy were my favorite things about Serbia.  I agree about going further south in Montenegro - we didn't go past Kotor because we couldn't handle the insane driving on the coastal road.  The next time I head back to former Yugoslavia, I want to see more of Bosnia and then just sit in Slovenia and not move for a week.

[Wanderista]

Jan 16, 2014 0:20:45 GMT -5 bettyfinn said:

Jan 13, 2014 10:43:37 GMT -5 Wanderista said:

I have no idea what exactly I'll be doing this year travel wise. Thanks for sharing this list though. I have been to some of them. It makes me a little sad to see Varazdin on the list because I really wanted to go there but never made it. I do know some things about it and i've been in the region around it. 

It looks a lot like a neater, cleaner Zagreb. It has a heavy Austrian influence and that region feels very "Alpine". Indeed, it's like the tail end of the Julian Alps. I went hiking in the mountains around there and saw really beautiful views. I love the way that the sky looks around there. Slovenia is similar. I would also like to try Serbian wine. It is something that I have not done. I would consider visiting Albania, but cautiously. Lake Ohrid which borders Macedonia and Albania is a place that I'd really like to see. I'm sure that the beaches in Albania are interesting but I don't know if I'm in any rush to see them. Croatia and Montenegro are so beautiful. If I spent more time in Montenegro, I might try to head farther south.

I forgot to add that if I went to Macedonia or Albania, I'd actually love to horseback ride there. Something about Albania makes me think of riding beautiful horses in the countryside.

As for the rest, yes, wow, beautiful to see. Also, I ate at that LA food market last year. These types of lists don't really factor into my travel decision-making but they are fun to read.

I'm actually surprised Varazdin made the list.  It's a lovely city, but it is in a country full of lovely (and lovelier) cities and very close to a country where every square inch is amazing (Slovenia).  Don't be sad that you didn't make it.  I wouldn't go out of my way to go back there again.  

Serbian wine and their plum brandy were my favorite things about Serbia.  I agree about going further south in Montenegro - we didn't go past Kotor because we couldn't handle the insane driving on the coastal road.  The next time I head back to former Yugoslavia, I want to see more of Bosnia and then just sit in Slovenia and not move for a week.

I'd like to see Bosnia as well. Also, yes, rakija (plum brandy) is fantastic. I like a good sljivovica. I was first introduced to it in Bulgaria when I had a cold and sore throat. Indeed, it did make me feel a bit better. 

I did not run across Serbian wine as I did not go to Serbia. I did, however, develop a fondness for Serbian kajmak which is really good on grilled meats like pljeskavica. I've had a form of kajmak here at a Croatian restaurant but the real thing isn't pasteurized. The "best" Croatian restaurants would import kajmak from Serbia. There's apparently a specific town that is famous for it.

I'd love to spend more time in Slovenia, very, very beautiful. I'm also a huge fan of Fructal (local fruit juice). It's amazing and they actually have a juice bar for it in Ljubljana Airport. That was pretty much the best fruit juice that I've ever had in my life. 

Anyway, it's great to hear your feedback about the region.