1. Chicago, IL 2. Asheville, NC 3. Duluth, MN 4. Portland, Maine 5. Scranton, PA
Places you'd think are overrated/overhyped but actually aren't: 1. Aspen, Vail 2. Pretty much everywhere in Mexico and Spain 3. Charlotte 4. Las Vegas 5. London
Overrated:
1. Flagstaff 2. Cologne 3. Prague 4. Miami 5. San Francisco
If you love the outdoors, Duluth is the spot in the MW
Outside US: La Paz, Bolivia-Way more modern than it looks. The relief is beautiful. There are grand geological formations in the city, so much to see Mexico City, Mexico-So much going on all day every day, great street food is cheap, I loved the shamans and street performers, and the architecture is insanely different (you might have a modern building next to an Inca building next to a colonial building) Merida Mexico-I did my study abroad there, it had some extremely nice parks and xocolo Reykjavik, Iceland-Kind of a college town, a quirky character, beautiful houses, alternative culture, food is really expensive though, Dublin, Ireland-Great public transportation, walkable, lots of foreigners/tourists to intermingle with, lots to see, friendliest people on the planet Delft, Ireland-Very cozy Haifa, Israel-My mom's hometown Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Jerusalem, Israel-Tons to see, but it's very much a vibrant active city
Inside US: Minneapolis, Savannah and New Orleans are three places I've spent extended periods of time in and I'm fond of them all.
La Paz is such a cool place. I was there five years or so ago. Also went to Sucre, Potosi (fantastic), and Uyuni.
Somewhere along the way I got talking to someone who knew more about the flights there. When we left, we were on the same AA 757 that had landed coming from Miami. The plane did not refuel. It then took off and flew to Santa Cruz, I think, where it landed and we all had to disembark so the plane could fuel up. When I asked, they said the plane couldn't take off from El Alto if it was fully fueled, too heavy to lift off for the altitude.
My Bolivian visa is good for another five years. Gotta go back. AA dropped that route and retired the 757s though, so I guess it's some other airline next time.
I generally don’t have favourites, but I’ve enjoyed a lot of cities, for a lot of different reasons. Cities that come to mind immediately include:
Vancouver, Canada
Lima
London
Rome
Paris
Madrid
Lisbon
Barcelona
Budapest
Prague
Tokyo
Seoul
Krakow
Hong Kong
Ho Chi Minh City
You are NOT a world traveller. You've never visited Africa.
That should be your next assignment.
I'd suggest a few cities:
1. Cairo
2. Capetown
3. Marrakesh
4. Nairobi
5. Agadir
6. Johannesburg
8. Mombasa (or Lamu)
9. Dar es Salaam
10. Abuja (or Lagos).
Well, I have been to Marrakech, during a two week tour of Morocco. We stayed in the medinas of several different cities and I liked Fez, Essaouira and Chefchaouen far better. Less touristy and more variable charms.
I would, however, love to visit more of Africa and plan to in the coming years.
But if I’m looking at a broader scope, I have to pick Milan. I used to drive across the state line to visit a dispensary called “Nature’s Treatment of Illinois” in Milan, Illinois.
I've been a lot of places (somewhere near 40 countries) but strangely I couldn't really come up with even 5 cities. I tend not to spend a lot of time in cities. When I go somewhere for tourism it's usually in nature (so I'd recommend Rangiroa in Tahiti but there are only about 100 people there so that's not a city, or Whistler BC, which is a town). Punta Cana was nice but I never left the resort so that doesn't count.
As far as cities go, Budapest is #1 on my list, but I lived in Hungary for 2 years so I got to know it well. Prague was the nicest city I've ever seen in a quick-hit tourist sense, just gorgeous architecture. Tashkent is the place where I had the most unique experience but I can't go into detail. Valletta wasn't that nice (but not bad) but it felt like the set of a James Bond movie so it had a level of exotic to it. Edinburgh wasn't my bag because I'm not so much into British culture but it's scenic and I spent the millennium New Years there so had quite a party. Venice is dirty but also romantic (too bad I was there with a dude) but worth at least an overnight visit because it's so unique.
The best places are off the beaten path; I was heading to Vienna from southern Hungary once but we got a late start and ended up going through some small Hungarian town with a weird large hill in it. There was a castle at the top of the hill. We decided, fck it, lets skip Vienna and just go up to see the castle. They had a crazy medieval show up there and it cost about 50 cents, we had a nice day and then just went back home, a unique experience I'll never forget.
In the US I'd say Seattle (but grew up there so I'm biased), Park City (lived there too), Bend in the early 90s, Kailua HI (lived there too), Sandpoint, ID (family from there but it really is beautiful). I don't have much east coast experience but I lived in DC three different times and it is really pretty beautiful there if you can avoid the traffic.
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