THE best place to go / thing to see on each continent

Julie,
Welcome to Travelblog. Awesome question!
I can only speak to North America, since that's the only place I've traveled. It's so big and varied that there really is no 'best' itinerary; it depends entirely on interests. As a Canadian, I'm sure you have some favorites already : )

My personal two best are very different.
First is the Northeast Corridor: Washington DC, New York, and either Boston or Philadelphia. All four have enough architecture and history to last for months, plus great food, museums, and culture sites. DC and Philadelphia have large urban parks too. Delaware has underrated beaches, or go for classic seaside towns in New Jersey (don't laugh...) Lodging can be expensive, but transport is relatively cheap.

Second is the coast of California: San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterrey, Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara. This one combines history and architecture with awe-inspiring natural beauty, great beaches, and redwood trees. You'll need to rent a vehicle for this one (paying extra for a convertible highly recommended) Camping spots are readily available.

Blogs:
Washington DC: Art, History, and the legacy of Wealth; Art attack; A Visit to Valhalla
New York City: The Heart of the Art World

San Francisco: San Francisco Modern; The World’s Craziest Streets; Enclaves
Santa Cruz: California Beach Culture
Monterrey: Historic California
Big Sur: California Coast and Open Road; Grand Landscape and Gaudy Taste

Looking forward to the blogs : ) Reply to this

In response to: Msg #193841 Hi Roosta, thanks for your suggestions; I'll read your blogs with interest. For 2016 I'll skip USA North East as I've seen some of it and it's easy to go there about any time and I want to use the flight pass to get to places I might not go to again but still nice to get your suggestions for later. Reply to this

I can't pick 1 but the two best places I have visited in North America is Disneyland (Anaheim) and Washington DC.
In North America I have been to Hawaii, LA, Anaheim, San Fran, New York and DC.

No matter what age your are, gender or type of personality, you will enjoy Disneyland. It sounds cliche but it could quite possibly be the happiest place on earth. The rides, food, buildings and atmosphere is incredible. You will feel like a happy child in heaven.

Washington DC is a beautiful city. The architecture is amazing. I visited it after being in New York and a thing that struck me was how clean DC was and how safe it felt. It makes wandering around the streets so much more enjoyable when it is crystal clean and not dangerous. Another great thing about DC is all the historic and significant sites. Such as the White House, Capital Hill and where President Lincoln was shot.

Hope that helps you. In response to: Msg #193818 Reply to this

I accept your challenge, although this is going to be difficult as 9 days to most continents from eastern Canada will involve at least two travel days. Having only one week for each continent means one country and once city with perhaps surrounding areas. I also am a history/architecture buff so at least we have that in common. So here goes:

Asia: Beijing, China:
Ming Tombs and the Great Wall and Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace

or alternatively, a 24 hour layover in Tokyo on the way to Bangkok, Thailand with its nearby ancient cities and beaches:
24 hour layover in Tokyo, Back Home In Bangkok, Pak Isan - the Khorat Plateau, Chiang Mai and Doi Inthanon, Relaxing in Hua Hin,

Europe: Rome and Tuscany, with a stop over in London and environs on the way back:
Rome Marathon, Exploring Vatican City, Leaving Rome for Tuscany, Touring Tuscany, From Italy to England,
Touring the Southeast England Countryside, and Touring the Cotswolds

or alternatively Andalusia, Spain during Passion Week:
Passion Week in Andalusia

South America: Peru, including Lima, Cuzco, the Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu, and Lake Titicaca:
Colonial Peru , Cusco and Sexy Woman, The Sacred Valley, Machu Picchu - the Secret City, and Lake Titicaca and environs

Africa: Kenya on safari:
Kenya Safari

Australia/New Zealand: Layover in Sydney on the way to New Zealand: Sunny Sydney with Dave, Denise and Rachel, Treking the Bush with David and Denise, and New Zealand in Two Weeks - Here's How!

Please feel free to scan my other blogs as there are dozens of other shorter trips I've taken to many places around the world. Reply to this

Australasia - If you like hiking, New Zealand has some great and reasonably easy tracks. Best ones are in the central North Island or around the Southern Alps. It also some great beaches in the upper half of the North Island if you go in the summer.
Asia - If you like to relax by the beach Langkawi is a great resort spot but quite expensive.
Europe - Salzburg is a beautiful and historic city! In the old part of the city they don't allow cars in so you can just wonder around the place feel like you are back in the 17th century.
North America - Disneyland LA and Washington DC still my top picks.
I can't comment on the other continents. Reply to this

Picking only one thing in each continent, or even only one thing in each country, in the world is an interesting challenge. I will in my list avoid the obvious places, you will find out about them anyway, but instead try to come up with places I liked that others would probably not put on their lists and in some cases might not even have heard of.

Europe: I have several possible places I could list here but my pick is Baarle-Hertog/Baarle-Nassau.

Asia: To see the ship breaking outside Chittagong was very interesting. The photos don't even come near to capture the feelings I had. When I first walked out on the beach and saw all the ships lined up I was speechless.

South America: Nazca is my pick for this continent. The Nazca Lines are well known and a big attraction not to be missed. But I find the aqueducts to be quite spectacular as well. The problem is, 99%!i(MISSING)s under ground and you can't see it. You have to imagine the several hundred kilometres of canals.

Central America: Monarch Butterfly Reserve. The winter home of every Monarch Butterfly in the world. There are millions of them in a few small forests in Mexico.

North America: One of my possible picks for Europe was a ghost town. Since I choose another place I throw in an abandoned town here instead Bodie Ghost Town.

Australia: I visited Australia before I joined TB so I have no blog entry from there. My pick is Gosses Bluff

Africa: We liked Rwanda very much and can recommend it. My pick from there is Akagera National Park. On a safaris you can often not leave your vehicle for safety reasons. In Akagera you can in some places and that was quite an experience.

Middle East: Right now you can't go there for safety reasons but I still have to mention Shibam

Antarctica: I have never been there. I'd say my pick would be the Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station for three reasons
1 The IceCube Neutrino Observatory
2 One of the tents used by the Terra Nova Expedition (Robert Scott's South Pole Expedition) is stuck in the ice there.
3 It's the South Pole Reply to this

I recommend you Bahrain. The Middle East country, Bahrain is a beautiful place with high rising towers, captivating mosques and historical sites. Exploring it is certainly fun, if you visit the best tourist places there. Some of these include Al-Areen Wildlife Park, Bab Al-Bahrain, Bahrain National Museum, Al-Fateh Grand Mosque, etc. Reply to this

Thanks again,

I read your suggestions and blog entries with great interest. I also did some research on my own and talked to friends and my 2016 schedule is taking form.

Still waiting for my boyfriend answer as to where he wants to go for our trip together. He hesitates between Sweden and Norway in July (one of his cousin lives in Sweden, close to Norway) or Italy in September.

Here is the preliminary plan (number of days listed exclude traveling time, it's time on site):

- January : work
- FEBRUARY : THAILAND (9 days) - Bangkok - Chiang Mai - Khao Lak, 3 days each
- MARCH : AUSTRALIA (15 days)
- April : work
- MAY : PERU including Jungle Trail to Machu Pichu
- June : work
- JULY : Sweden and Norway with DBF (approx 17 days) - or- just a quick (4-5 days) visit to a friend in Marseille and another 3-4 days in Washington DC
- August : work
- SEPTEMBER : Italy with DBF (approx 17 days) - or - Krakow and Budapest (10 days)
- October : work
- NOVEMBER : EGYPT (8-9 days). I' ll probably play it safe here and just go on a guided tour including a 3-night Nile cruise.
- December : work

What do you think of my choices? Reply to this

In response to: Msg #194301

Sounds fabulous Julie. Let us know if you include Tasmania/Hobart in your Australian trip 😊 Reply to this

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