Favorite holiday places/experiences in the world.

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.

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

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

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.

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!