Favorite holiday places/experiences in the world.

seipeal1

So, my favorite place/experience was scuba diving in the barrier reef in Queensland, Australia. Beautiful coral, millions of multiple colored fish. Just fantastic.

Jesus Wept

Barbados.
It was about 17 years ago so perhaps the place is sh1t now.

candy-gal1

New York! Went there while i was 18 with school and it was the best ever, it really is the greatest city.

major bill

never been anywhere exotic but working in germany i was lucky to travel throughout the german countryside visiting differant cities/towns and met alot of differant characters on the way, very enjoyable.

Insect Overlord

Inis Oírr, Oileáin Árann.

That place is paradise during the summer.

IvySlayer

Florida. Best holiday ever.

Went to Disneyworld, Universial Studios, amazing places. Busch Gardens was brillliant too.

During the day, amazing sunshine, and then the epic thunderstorms. I've never seen lightning like that since.

Joe Schmo

A few years ago I was out clubbing until 5am. 9am rolls around to find me sleep deprived and hungover. I had arranged a rendezvous with a friend to go hiking at that time; I considered cancelling but was glad I didn't.

We travelled about an hour North-East of Beijing to a place called Xiang Shan. it consisted of 7 rolling hills arranged in a semi-circle overlooking the city, completely covered in Lavander. The scent wafted on the July breeze. Bushes of it brushed our bare legs and it's intoxicating aroma filled our nostrils, our heads and ultimately our entire beings. Needless to say my hangover was completely cured. A 2 hour hike to the highest vantage point gave us a panoramic view; thousands of acres of the purple and green herb.

There, at the top we did some yoga, chilled out and relaxed. Surrounded by curious Chinese people- it wasn't well known among foreigners- I enjoyed one of the most beautiful places on earth.

Still one of my best memories.

Raffo69

I would actually love to go back to Mosney. Great craic there as a kid

policarp

Venice, Italy.

A really mystical place...

CharlesHaughey

I really like Inishvickillane, good place to chill out and discuss ardent matters.

krudler

Florida, or the west coast of America, San Diego, San Francisco etc.

oh and Vegas only for a few days though

pow wow

Christmas or St. Patrick's Day in NYC. Maybe just NYC really.

Ghandee

Back to my home village (on the banks of lough neagh) during the summer months when I was about 11-13.
At that age, just being on the summer holidays, absolutely care free, no money worries etc. never experienced holiday times like it since, 2 months off school seemed like 2 years when I was a kid, growing up in your own home territory, friends you've grown up with. I can still see/smell the sights and sounds!

I don't think I've quite enjoyed holiday time as much as I did back then, but Christ does anyone?

Ghandee

Wonders how long it will take for a worst holiday places /experiences in the world thread to appear now........................

thelagg2000

Cambrils in Spain,lovely weather,beaches,good food,what more do you want?oh! and no irish/english tacky bars either just proper spanish tapas and cafes lovely??

weldoninhio

Robinson Crusoe Island in Fiji. It was just amazing. Tropical island, playing volleyball or taking a kayak out during the day, snorkelling in the reefs. No electricity or proper showers, but a huge sense of freedom. Then a huge campfire and a few beers at night.

Herb Powell

Colorado. Mountains, plains, rattlesnakes(:eek:), huge beetles, great Mexican food, prisons everywhere, crazy christians, and lots of really nice people.
seriously, it's great

Big Pussy Bonpensiero

I went to Rome in October a few years ago and it was brilliant. The place was buzzing, the people were friendly, the food was lovely and the women were unreal! My favourite city that I've been to by far.

Skiing was also great, the first time I went was with my school a few years back to the States and it was hilarious watching everyone learning how to ski, especially the uncoordinated lads that, after a week, still hadn't got the hang of it.

ziedth

8 nights in Vegas for my stag.

Madness doesn't even cover it. Thinking nothing of dropping $100 dollars playing blackjack and by the end of the week 3am was an early night. Great Food, Women were deadly and their expensive trendy places to drink is the same price as here.

I'd go back there every weekend if I could.

theboss80

Koh Phangan in Thailand

or Cairns in Australia

G_R

The Seychelles, amazing country. So small, capital "city" is smaller than naas co. kildare. While there I learned to scuba dive, which is just awesome - so beautiful. I think divinc on the ship wreck was best.

rugbug86

I've been lucky enough to have had some incredible holiday experiences:

- New Years Eve on Times Square in New York - it's a fantastic city at the best of times but that New Years was the best ever. There's something about the atmosphere of thousands of people there enjoying the build-up to the next chapter all together. It was immense - from the live acts (Leann Rhimes performed when I was there), to the countdown from 10 to one as the ball slowly falls, until it finally busrts open to reveal the new year, to singing Auld Langs Ine (or however its spelt) with all these strangers, to then the entire crowd bursting into a chorus of "New York New York"... an experience I'll never forget. And I don't generally like New Years.

- Scuba diving - diving pretty much anywhere is an amazing feeling - you litrelly have the world above you, looking up is incredible, surrounded by the fishies, seeing the boat you jumped off... but as the OP says - nothing compares to diving in the Great Barrier Reef. I was lucky to do it at the top of the Reef (Cairns) and the bottom (Whitsunday Islands) and it was truely magical.

- Climbing Sydney Harbour Bridge - okay its not as tough as it sounds :P It's an organised walk-type-thing - they strap you in and off you go to a guided tour of Sydney from one of its most famous landmarks. I went up in the day time and saw the sunset over the city and walked back as darkness fell and the lights started to come on. Amazing.

- The sights, sounds, smells and tastes of "off the beaten track" North Africa - going to the Souks in many of the major cities in Morocco and Tunisia, not being able to speak the language, communicating by pointing, learning not to bat an eyelid as the carcas of a cow is wheeled down the street from the leather factory as the locals push bunches of mint leave in your face to mask the smell... just incredible. I tasted some of the nicest food I've EVER eaten in those markets.

- Sounds cheesy, but going on holidays to your hometown - in my case, Dublin - we booked into a hotel in the city and did all of the Dublin touristy things from wandering around Grafton street, into Trinity college, back up to Stephens Green, back down to the river, walk down the Docklands to the Wheel of Dublin, the Luas back up to Abbey Street, the bus to the Zoo, back to the hotel, get changed, out for dinner, drinks... not having to worry about a taxi home. Brilliant.

- Sunset over Uluru - the colours were absolutely breathtaking and then falling asleep in the swag, counting the shooting stars as you fall asleep... Wow.

- Vegas - 'nuff said What a place. Where else in the world can you look at the Empire State building from the top of the Eiffel Tower?!

Overall - my best experience travelling - 6 weeks backpacking in Australia. My favourite country to visit - Spain - where can you go wrong with Tapas and Siesta?! I spent two summers working in Spain and travelled at every oppertunity and it's an incredible country.

My next major adventure will hopefully be Route 66 (or at least what's left of it...!) when I'm finished my Ph.D. I think it'd be pretty cool, and a decent way to help me reach my goal of visiting all 50 states of America. 14 down, 36 to go. Still undecided about Alaska and Hawaii though

EDIT: Oh and wandering around Paris - head to a Boulangerie, baguette, bottle of water, head to the Trocadero on a fine day, sit looking at the Eiffel Tower, feet in the fountain, book in hand, people watching - can't beat it!

Turtyturd

IvySlayer wrote: »

Florida. Best holiday ever.

Went to Disneyworld, Universial Studios, amazing places. Busch Gardens was brillliant too.

During the day, amazing sunshine, and then the epic thunderstorms. I've never seen lightning like that since.

Agree with this...has everything. Great weather, great food, shopping and some thing different to do every day.

Last year was the first time I aint gone in years and cannot wait for the baby to be old enough so he* can experience it.


*may also be that I wanna go back

Canis Lupus

Taking a 1 hour jeep ride then 2 hours on a canoe to get into the Amazon in Ecuador. Waking up in the morning (if you managed to get to sleep from all the damn noise) to see wolf spiders in your shoes and tarantulas pottering about the ceiling, to monkeys jumping around outside. Getting on a canoe to go see fresh water dolphins and a spot of piranha fishing :P etc etc etc

More travelling this year as well now

Donkeygonads

Annapourna Mountains outside Pokara, Nepal .... stunning scenery ....staying in basic lodges in the mountains ....... and not a mobile phone or a motorbike to disturb the peace and tranquility !

Vinta81

Durban, South Africa.

Spent nearly a month there last year, incredible.

TheTwiz

Am I the only one who found Orlando very very tacky. I went two years ago and standing in line behind some 20 stone redneck from Alabama with the sweat bucketing down him to go on some ****e Spiderman ride isn't my idea of a holiday. The places to eat are also just full of Burger Kings and franchises. In my opinion a ****hole. In regards to the best place, Spain or the south of France by a country mile, im talking about the non tacky Irish/British scum spots. Beautiful scenery, great locals, great weather, great culture and fantastic food.

Canis Lupus

TheTwiz wrote: »

In regards to the best place, Spain or the south of France by a country mile, im talking about the non tacky Irish/British scum spots. Beautiful scenery, great locals, great weather, great culture and fantastic food.

Have to agree with SPain. Such a nice way of life once you're away from the Little Britain spots.

Mint Sauce

10,000 foot above sea level, French Alps, with Mt Blanc in the back ground was preety cool, trying to snowboard down a very steep and bumpy black run was preety scary though.

Scuba diving in the med. Although seen very little in terms of sea life, and was only about 5 metres below the surface. Once you get used to the idea of breathing underwater, its a preety amazing experience. One thing I must do again.

Disney World Florida. Not sure I can add to what has already been said. Place is just wow!

coffeelover

Haven't been to many places.....yet
Have to say Marbella was brilliant last year

Turtyturd

TheTwiz wrote: »

Am I the only one who found Orlando very very tacky. I went two years ago and standing in line behind some 20 stone redneck from Alabama with the sweat bucketing down him to go on some ****e Spiderman ride isn't my idea of a holiday. The places to eat are also just full of Burger Kings and franchises. In my opinion a ****hole. In regards to the best place, Spain or the south of France by a country mile, im talking about the non tacky Irish/British scum spots. Beautiful scenery, great locals, great weather, great culture and fantastic food.

I think it is very tacky, colourful and in your face and I think that is part of the appeal to it...I also really like New York which I consider to be it's total opposite.

As for the Spider-man ride being sh*te...shame on you

Ive done a lot of usual holiday things. Nice hotels restaurants etc.

But the most laid back slowed down time I ever had was hanging with a Rastafarian family in ST Lucia. Ive been there loads of things and know some of the locals really well. One day a good friend took us into the countryside where his aunt and uncle had built their own house.

The house was made from Earth. They built it themselves. Hard compacted earth.
There were no doors and windows per se, just stragically placed openings for breeze flow. This family lived totally off the grid. No running indoor water, they had a spring instead, no electricity, they bartered for candle wax, they also bartered fish and Lobster for any cash they might ever need, but they told me they didnt need cash, as Jah provided everything. The had pinnaples mango fig trees coconut trees, they grew their own herbs, vegetables, grew their own weed, their own tobacco.They had their own oil from the palms, they even made their own soap.
They relied on 'De Man' for nothing. Their life was so peaceful and beautiful. They lived this beautiful sustainable lifestyle on less than an acre of land. But a more bountiful place, I have never come across. It was like going back in time. They were so friendly and sharing with us, giving us large amounts of fruit and veg and herbs to take away. Just beautiful peaceful people. Ill never forget them.

starlit

New York was one of my favourite city holidays. I've been to other parts of the US and Spain. Paris is nice but wouldn't think its a family holiday more a romantic place to go. New York is great for the sight seeing and shopping. Loads to do there. I'm not one for adventure holidays. Either it be sight seeing or sun holidays I be more into. I like a relaxing and joyful one places I've never seen before or only just heard of or seen in photos or on TV its nice to see the place for real with your own eyes...its like wow!:cool: I'd love to go to Australia sometime though!

scoll

Skiing in Switzerland. Having the snow taller than you. The view of the alps. It's breathtaking.

Ardennes1944

i havent been to many being only 19, but Berlin was it for me so far. the people, the buildings and the history. as a ww2 lover i couldnt get enough of Berlin, i remember the first time i woke past an old building and saw what i thought was a weird design, but what actually turned out to be hundreds of bullet holes from ww2, amazing.
my trip to the ardennes will probably top that though i feel:D

Rowley Birkin QC

Can't decide between wandering around Rome in sheer amazement or hurtling down a mountain on a pair of skis north of Milan.

Skiing I think, incredible buzz.

MsDarcy

La Mole , a tiny little village in the south of France
Koh Phi Phi/ Koh tao Thailand

iPlop

New York is my favorite ,I never get bored with that city.It also feels very safe so long as you don't go past the halfway point in central park or so I was told by a cop over there

chicken fingers

Jake1 wrote: »

Ive done a lot of usual holiday things. Nice hotels restaurants etc.

But the most laid back slowed down time I ever had was hanging with a Rastafarian family in ST Lucia. Ive been there loads of things and know some of the locals really well. One day a good friend took us into the countryside where his aunt and uncle had built their own house.

The house was made from Earth. They built it themselves. Hard compacted earth.
There were no doors and windows per se, just stragically placed openings for breeze flow. This family lived totally off the grid. No running indoor water, they had a spring instead, no electricity, they bartered for candle wax, they also bartered fish and Lobster for any cash they might ever need, but they told me they didnt need cash, as Jah provided everything. The had pinnaples mango fig trees coconut trees, they grew their own herbs, vegetables, grew their own weed, their own tobacco.They had their own oil from the palms, they even made their own soap.
They relied on 'De Man' for nothing. Their life was so peaceful and beautiful. They lived this beautiful sustainable lifestyle on less than an acre of land. But a more bountiful place, I have never come across. It was like going back in time. They were so friendly and sharing with us, giving us large amounts of fruit and veg and herbs to take away. Just beautiful peaceful people. Ill never forget them.

I know a couple of families like this. It sounds great, and it is for a short while.
But what if, like you, one of their kids decides he wants to visit another country? What money has he got? What if he decides he wants to go on holidays and see the world? etc. Basically they live happily but what life opportunities or options do their kids have?

acfan

West Glacier, Montana! Fantastic scenery and THE nicest people I have ever met :-) Fantastic place! Would walk back if I could!

LizT

Monument Valley.

Slept out under the stars, guided tour with Native Americans and up at 5am for the most spectacular sunrise ever. The grand Canyon paled in comparison.

Also got to go to the road when Forrest Gump stopped running near monument valley:D
http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5aUehwcQ6uAVuK3XhHHjh8JvJAGOllAw2hqiEUp77yDhm1eKNFQ

AntiMatter

One of the most amazing things I've seen were the Ellora Caves in India, which had Buddhist, Hindu and Jainist temples all carved out of the side of a mountain, 30 odd temples or so.

The largest took something like 30 generations, just tapping away with their hammers and chisels, to make the stone-cut temples.



In this video, imagine that this was solid rock, and they chipped from the top of the mountain down to create it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7UMq28QrS8

catbear

Rome, fantastic history.

Berlin, great buzz and history and cheap compared to other European Capitals.

But the top destination for a return to is New Zealand. I'm planning a return trip for at least three months of tramping! Hopefully in the next few years.

The_B_Man

MsDarcy wrote: »

La Mole , a tiny little village in the south of France
Koh Phi Phi/ Koh tao Thailand

Ye Phi Phi is nice, but I preferred the West side of Koh Pha-Ngan. The south is all tacky for the full moon party, but i stayed in these huts called "Cookies Bungalows". No TVs or anything, just pure chilled out relaxing music. Bliss! And you're a matter of feet away from the beach.

I also loved the Whitsundays/Airlie Beach. Been there twice and its by far my favourite place in Oz, if only for the craic you can have in the hostels, although mainly for Whitehaven Beach and the general area with all the islands, clear water, dolphins and other marine life.

Simon Adebisi

Yosemite Vally, California, standing under El Capitan looking up and feeling damn insignificant.

Cavehill Red

Such a big world - so many amazing places.

If I'd say one thing to any young person, especially in the current economic climate, it would be go and see it while you can, while oil still exists and cheap air travel is affordable for the masses.

Get off the beaten track where you can. The best experiences are those that are unscripted, spur-of-the-moment, not listed in any guidebook. Meet the locals, try to speak a few words of their language and hang out with them. Enjoy the many wonderful differences of culture that exists on this planet.

For me, among many highlights have been seeing the Northern Lights in Iceland, getting hammered on a skyscraper rooftop with Cuban emigres in San Francisco, visiting a queen in her palace in India, staying overnight with tribespeople in the northern Thai hills, and walking with lions in Zimbabwe.

But I've had just as much fun closer to home too - drinking whiskey in Scotland, having a coffee by Notre Dame in Paris, clambering over the Giant's Causeway in a rainstorm.

Almost everywhere I've been becomes a new favourite, and it becomes harder and harder to find the time and money to return to places I've loved because new places beckon.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

McChubbin

Barcelona- It's always sunny and the prostitutes are so pretty!:D

hondasam

skiing in Chamonix mont blanc, you would not need to ski here it is so beautiful with so much more to do than skiing.

Vegas. I just had the most fun, I pretty much just laughed all week, never went to bed before dawn, won loadsa money playing blackjack and craps. One of the best weeks of my life tbh.


Paris will always be my favourite city in the world though. *sigh* it's just so pretty.

HalloweenJack

Madrid. I love that place. I lived there for a while and, hopefully, will go back when I finish college. Best place I've ever been.

Toronto is really cool too, a distant second though.

iPlop

Deleted User wrote: »

Vegas. I just had the most fun, I pretty much just laughed all week, never went to bed before dawn, won loadsa money playing blackjack and craps. One of the best weeks of my life tbh.


Paris will always be my favourite city in the world though. *sigh* it's just so pretty.

Paris is pretty but the french are horrible to deal with ,so bloody awkward.That's why I haven't gone back