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52 Places to Go in 2016
- jacquesm 11y agoBy virtue of this kind of exposure those are now all places you should avoid in 2016.
- smcl 11y agoHa that's exactly what I thought. I live in one of those places (#27, Brno) and there are a number of bars listed by name which are already a little tricky to get seated in. Luckily there's still not many tourists, the really good bars are slightly out of the centre and aren't usually listed.
- bluetomcat 11y agoAnd it also means less loudly-speaking American tourists elsewhere :-)
- nathan_f77 11y agoI would be interested to see some statistics at the end of 2016, to see if the article had a measurable impact. Actually they did one in 2015 too, so it should be possible to check that now. But I would be leaning towards no, I don't think this article will cause any significant increase in tourism.
- brad0 11y agoFunny, I'm building an app with my partner that does just this but for weekend trips from the UK.
- solaris999 11y agoI'd be interested in seeing that when it's ready!
- geverett 11y agoIn the meantime check out Hitlistapp.com - though I'd like to see brad0's as well!
- mattmanser 11y agoStrange app, claims my UK mobile number is wrong.
- brad0 11y agoI'll send you a message once it's somewhat working.
- planetjones 11y agoHaving visited a number of cities in the US, I have to say I agree with Washington DC here - I found it to have the most touristy things to do, be a great place for exploring on foot and home to good bars and restaurants. Not a place many people from across the pond have as their first choice (usually NYC, Vegas, San Francisco or LA) but my favourite city of the lot. And seeing all the monuments lit up at night is just amazing.
- peckrob 11y agoI'm always surprised DC isn't higher on the list for tourists. The museums alone make it worth the trip. If you're already in NYC, it's a pretty short train ride (by American standards at least) to DC. I think it's about 3 hours by Amtrak, just a bit longer than the Eurostar from London to Paris.
- JAFTEM 11y agoHaving grown up in North Dakota, I am deeply confused why tourists would want to visit any part of it (#5). I'm shocked it shares a list with Barcelona and Carribean islands.
- danieltillett 11y agoGiven this is the nyt it is my cynical guess that the nd tourist board paid for their listing as a way to try and buffer the state from the fracking downturn.
- libria 11y agoI'm interpreting the list as "52 places you might not have considered" because in each of their categories (national park, metro, attractions, etc.) many obvious - and IMO better - choices are avoided, at least for the US.
- pc86 11y agoAgreed - it would likely be trivial to come up with a list of 52 tourist meccas that everyone's heard of. Washington, DC, London, Moscow, etc - I mean you could probably visit the 52 largest national capitals and have a great tourist experience. It's nice to see a list with places I never would have considered, even if it is odd to see ND and St. John on the same list.
- ohitsdom 11y ago
- nl 11y agoWas it 3 or 4 places worth visiting in the entire Southern Hemisphere?
- bottled_poe 11y agoWell, 6/52 would be around 12% which is approximately the percentage of humans living in the southern hemisphere.
- vvpan 11y agoHey, those airline tickets are expensive.
- kriro 11y agoIt always amuses me that that it's "Turin, Italy" but "Providence, Rhode Island". I guess they assume an American audience but it's still strange that they don't mention the country for places in the US of A.
- jpatokal 11y agoIt's also "Kansai, Japan", which is kind of like declaring that "East Coast, USA" is now hip. Kansai, if the name doesn't ring a bell, being the broad region that contains 7 Japanese prefectures (~states), the cities of Osaka, Kyoto and Kobe, and a total of around 22 million people.
- davegardner 11y agoI find it mildly amusing that you used the term "American audience" in the context of your comment.
- jerf 11y agoThe New York Times is still, despite its reach, a newspaper for New York, New York, US. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/nyregion/new-york-today-in-case-of-cabin-fever.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fnyregion http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/08/nyregion/new-york-today-in...
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- henrik_w 11y agoNumber 3 on the list is Malta, and I just have to add that one of the best books I have ever read is "The Great Siege: Malta 1565" [1]. It's quite short, but absolutely fascinating. I wrote this in my Amazon review of it: The story of the siege of Malta in 1565 is absolutely riveting. The Knights of St John, with Grand Master de la Valette, and the Maltese population are attacked and besieged by the numerically superior Turks for the entire summer of 1565. Ernle Bradford does a remarkable job of describing the events in such a way that it almost feels like you are there. Along the way, you also learn a lot about life, war and politics in the 16th century [1] http://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Malta-1565/dp/1497637864/ http://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Malta-1565/dp/1497637864/
- arethuza 11y agoThere was also the Siege of Malta in WW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%28World_War_II%29 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malta_%28World_War_II... Edit: The entire population of Malta was awarded the George Cross (UK highest gallantry award for civilians) for their actions in WWW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_of_the_George_Cross_to_Malta https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Award_of_the_George_Cross_to_M...
- archagon 11y agoWhoa, Coral Bay looks so beautiful. Guadeloupe, too. Wonder what life is like in those places?
- rplnt 11y agoI wonder how those specific places (bars, restaurants) got there. I live in one of those place and I didn't know about one half (really expensive restaurants, so my fault I guess) of those and the other half (bars) wasn't particularly special. Not a bad selection.. just very arbitrary.
- adaml_623 11y ago"and the transformation of 700,000 square miles of former docklands into more than 5,000 new apartments and public waterside attractions" 700,000 square miles? Of Dockland? In Bordeaux? And each apartment gets 140 square miles of land? :-)
- akie 11y agoThis is a beautiful page, but my god, is it heavy. I'm counting 171 separate requests totaling 31 Mb - excluding the videos. I've not even loaded all videos, and my total is at over 400 Mb now.... Is this acceptable now?
- pcurve 11y agoI was really blown away by how much care went into making it perfect on mobile view for both orientations. Each photo is positioned differently to ensure best composition. But it does feel a but clunky and that size is rather shocking.
- akie 11y agoYeah, they've done an impressive job on mobile as well. The numbers I posted are on a desktop machine. I've checked, and it seems to weigh in at only 1.1 Mb on mobile. Pretty neat.
- ohitsdom 11y agoI hate the cruft on simple news articles, but I am completely fine in this case for a special feature like this. The images/videos were beautiful and all served a purpose, and it was mostly lazy-loaded. Yes some initial load time, but a very good user experience.
- amelius 11y ago> This is a beautiful page, but my god, is it heavy I'm already looking forward to the Oculus Rift version :)
- Sideshow_Boob 11y agostop trying to make Oculus Rift a thing
- paublyrne 11y agoUpvoted for the Mean Girls reference. Oculus Rift is going to be a real thing, though, whether we like it or not.
- arnvald 11y agoVery short reviews of the places on the list that I've already seen: * Brno, Czech Republic - I stayed there just a few days, but even though pretty, the city wasn't very exciting. It's quite cheap and less touristic than Prague, so if you're looking for something less crowded than the capital, it might be a good choice to experience Czech culture * Barcelona, Spain - one of the most touristic places in Europe, but it totally deserves it. It's not only beautiful and lively, but even if you want to avoid crowded areas, you can book a room a few stations from the center and enjoy the fantastic local culture. I stayed there for a month and as long as you stay away from La Rambla, it's very relaxing place * Vietnam - I haven't been to Dalat yet, but recently I've visited Ho Chi Minh City and Mui Ne and both are wonderful places. Vietnamese cuisine and coffee, as well as cheerful and very friendly people, make it a perfect place for a low-cost trip. * Malaga, Spain - way different from Barcelona, with the influence of African culture, it's a good place to spend a few days, but also perfect base for short trips around - from Malaga you can easily get to Gibraltar, Granada, Jerez and Seville * Phnom Penh, Cambodia - I think that other places in Cambodia like Battambang or Siem Reap are better to visit. Capital of the country is rather crowded and polluted. There's plenty of things to see, however, especially if you know a bit about history of Cambodia, you can constantly feel demons of the past being present in the city. * Sydney, Australia - I spent 1 week in Melbourne and then 1 week in Sydney, when I was in Australia. I must say I strongly prefer Melbourne as it is more a place to live, while Sydney seems more a business city. Having said that, I highly recommend to visit them both, they're expensive, but wonderful.
- dualogy 11y agoFunny, the Phnom Penh photo shows the royal palace but is captioned as "The Independence Monument", which is a radically different-looking structure. Doesn't matter though, I guess. Phnom Penh used to have a lovely sleepy backwater-town feel just a few years ago, but it has kept "developing" and crowding up like crazy, to join the ranks of other South-East Asian capital cities in terms of smog, perma traffic jams, corporate skyscrapers, generic investor/developer-style condominiums etc. Still an awesome city in the region though.
- fasteo 11y agoSomehow strange feeling to see Jerez [1] - my hometown - mentioned here in HN [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerez_de_la_Frontera https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerez_de_la_Frontera
- lugus35 11y agoThe most polluting human activity is tourism.
- truebosko 11y agoFalse. Sustainable tourism is achievable and can bring good to the places you go.
- titzer 11y agoCan bring good, yes. But mostly that just means money, which may drive clean up, may make some locals wealthy and others poor and/or displaced. It also brings, unfortunately, cultural imperialism and well, Starbucks.
- jacquesm 11y agoIt can, but more often than not it destroys the thing it is all about. See: turtles in Greece, quiet beaches and so on. Nothing like a thundering herd of humans with power gadgets coming in by plane to package holidays centered around hastily constructed hotels and other infrastructure (airports, for instance).
- huiwenzhng 11y ago+1
- geoka9 11y agoWhat's the best way to cross the ocean sustainably, as a tourist?
- knodi123 11y agoon turtleback
- brent_noorda 11y agoFalse. There is no "sustainable tourism" if it requires you to fly a long distance to get there.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- pinkunicorn 11y agoIf there's anyone coming to TN, India - ping me up! I can offer suggestions.
- parimm 11y agoCould you please list the suggestions here or PM me? Thanks
- Symbiote 11y agoIt's interesting to see St Helena on the list. I hadn't realised the airport was actually being built, and is scheduled to open later this year. I used to work with someone from St Helena. She was just 20 years old, and — understandably — didn't see much future for herself on the island. Perhaps the airport will change that, or at least mean she no longer needs to take two weeks holiday to visit her family by ship.
- dschiptsov 11y ago53. Nepal.
- benten10 11y agoHaha, they missed us this year? Nepal seems to have a permanent stranglehold on lists like these. It's not surprising, with the earthquake and the ('not a') blockade, they might have wanted to skip this year.
- beilabs 11y agoLove Nepal. Running my startup out of Kathmandu....although we face 14 hours of power shortages, a crazy political blockade, shortages in every item imaginable including medicine, silly government taxes and restrictions...the Nepalese people are some of the best I have ever met. To sum up, come and visit, you won't regret it...
- acqq 11y agoThat's the spirit! Please write a little more about that.
- bryanwb 11y agoI also ran a startup in Kathmandu (OLE Nepal). It was super fun, exhilarating, and ultimately not as successful as I hoped. May you have better luck! Sadly, Nepal has made zero political progress since I arrived there in 2006 :(
- benten10 11y agoGreat job! I had had the good fortune to talk to Ravi dai (of OLE Nepal) and pick his brains a couple of times. And then we had a few things planned with OLE (and later OLPC) guys, but they sort of petered out. And since then, everyone has been in haste to get out of there, so I don't have many contacts in Nepal anymore. If you know someone still interested in rural-tech stuff, let me know: I know a few people (myself included) willing to put in a little bit of money each as business investments. : )
- aubergene 11y agoThe image for Phnom Penh has some terrible compression artifacts, the other images and videos are beautiful and worth the bandwidth http://graphics8.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2015/11/10/places-to-go-2016/assets/images/phnompenh-landscape-1800_x2.jpg http://graphics8.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2015/11/10/places-...
- zippoxer 11y agoI was certain this was gonna be a list of 52 Go resources.
- TranquilMarmot 11y agoSame here, especially with the capitalized "G"
- zippoxer 11y agoEven when I'm reading non-programming related stuff, the capital "G" always gets me.
- liotier 11y agoBut why would golang developers concentrate in such touristy locations ?
- J_Darnley 11y agoOMG. Turn off the page style if you want to see any of the content. (Not that you would want to see it.)
- maxs 11y agoIf you go to St. Louis, make sure to visit the City Museum (http://www.citymuseum.org/ http://www.citymuseum.org/). It is an incredible, unique playground to explore for children and adults alike. It is hard to explain what it is and explanations don't do it justice. To this day it is our fondest memory from the trip to St. Louis.
- shogun21 11y agoBring knee pads!
- peferron 11y agoAnd take off any fancy shoes before going down a slide! (Or even better, don't wear fancy shoes.) My wife's shoes got ruined by friction in the heel area. Still glad we went, it's an awesome place. :) You can even pair it with a visit to the Strangeloop tech conference (http://www.thestrangeloop.com http://www.thestrangeloop.com).
- username223 11y agoMexico City as #1? Really? Having been there recently, my main objective was to get the hell out of the teeming city and its pool of horrible smog without being killed by the crazy drivers. The rest of Mexico is quite nice, but stay out of the cities.
- infecto 11y agoI had the opposite experience. Such a beautiful city with rich history and culture. Driving was pretty sane. There is indeed air pollution but its been getting lower as the years go along. It is not a perfect city but one of my favorite cities to go visit.
- te_chris 11y agoSame here, I love D.F and can't wait to go back.
- WildUtah 11y agoI'm surprised by parent and gp. Mexico City is beautiful and interesting and full of things to do, but driving a car there is a nightmare. My first fifteen minutes behind the wheel there changed my view of traffic and laws forever. I suggest visiting without a car. If you need one to get to places outside the city, rent only when you're leaving and ask for exact advice about the easiest way out of town.
- infecto 11y agoIf we want to be specific about driving, I would not unless its unavoidable. It never even popped in my mind that the complaint about drivers was in reflection of having driven there. If thats the case, agreed. It is so easy and cheap to take a radio taxi I would never even think of taking a taxi. Plus for $100 you can usually get a private car for the day with a driver.
- username223 11y agoI was there to hike up the nearby volcanos, so taxis weren't practical. I gather there are some amazing museums and churches, but the city's main outdoor features seemed to be smog, litter, and protruding rebar.
- owenversteeg 11y agoA lot of people here are saying "This list seems extremely arbitrary", and I was of that mindset as well until I got five places into the list and found Teddy Roosevelt NP. The national parks of North Dakota are amazing, and it's hard to describe exactly why you should go. I could say "grand views, few people, and towns that make me laugh" but that doesn't summarize it well at all. Some of these places should be more and less generalized, however. "Skane, Sweden" ought to be changed to "a less populated region of the Norwegian or Swedish coast, somewhere with a historic lighthouse". I've spent some time on the coast of Norway, and I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. Additionally, naming "Kansai, Japan" is ridiculous, it encompasses 22 million people and three major cities (Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe); this is especially ridiculous given that there's also a place on the list with a population of 113.
- cwbrandsma 11y agoGrand Rapids, MI? Really? (I lived there for 5 years...not.going.back.) I mean...Meyer Garden is cool and all, but NOTHING compared to Butchart Garden on Vancouver Island.
- jtymes 11y agoIt's great to Grand Rapids, Michigan make this list! I live there and find it to be a nice area. The craft beer really is delicious, and there is plenty of it to go around[1]. It's not too far from a beautiful lakeshore (with exceptional beaches), and is a couple hours drive to Chicago or Detroit. What I'll be interested to see is what the impact of a major data center will be on tech investment in the area from both the local community and from outside investors[2]. [1] http://www.experiencegr.com/things-to-do/beer-city/ http://www.experiencegr.com/things-to-do/beer-city/ [2] https://www.supernap.com/news/switch-confirms-plans-for-massive-michigan-data-center.html https://www.supernap.com/news/switch-confirms-plans-for-mass...
- wiremine 11y agoI live in Holland, which is 40 minutes from G.R. I second the comments: Grand Rapids is a great city. I recommend visiting in the late Spring or Early Summer: it's heaven. If you do happen to visit in Winter, and you're near Holland or Grand Haven (also on the lakeshore) you should check out the downtown areas: both have snowmelt systems that keep the downtown area roads and sidewalks dry: http://www.downtownholland.com/green/snow-melt/ http://www.downtownholland.com/green/snow-melt/
- iuguy 11y agoI'm surprised to see so many places not on the list, and so many places making it that caused me to question the rationale (to the point where I read the follow-up article on how they chose places). Then I realised as an NY Times piece, this is for Americans. Lots of the places are Anglo-Spanish-friendly (St Helena, really?), mostly within less than insane flight times (explains the lack of New Zealand on the list) and the inevitable references to Kanye and other celebrities (because you know it'd be insulting to suggest that these places actually have things going for themselves without the affirmation of a celebrity). While I disagree with almost the majority of the choices (choose Melbourne over Sydney any day of the week as a tourist, avoid anything with Democratic Republic of the Congo on it unless you're already familiar with the safety requirements for the region) it's an interesting and thought provoking list, nonetheless.
- knz 11y ago> mostly within less than insane flight times (explains the lack of New Zealand on the list) New Zealand isn't that far away. LAX to AKL is about 11 hours travel time. The west coast to many Asian cities is at least 14 hours, if not 20 by the time you add in layovers.
- munificent 11y ago> LAX to AKL is about 11 hours travel time. Plus another 6-7 hours to get to LAX from New York. This is a New York Times article.
- te_chris 11y agoPretty sure they named Waiheke Island a thing a while ago (an Island in the Hauraki Gulf in Auckland). I kinda don't blame them. I'm from NZ but live in London, it's a total ballache to get back home.
- donretag 11y ago19. Virunga National Park - Democratic Republic of Congo The Eastern part of the DRC is still a dangerous place to go with still ongoing guerrilla activity. "Getting there requires a flight to Kigali, Rwanda, and a three-hour taxi ride." "While a park spokeswoman said there have been no reports of unfriendly encounters between rebels and tourists, the eastern D.R.C. remains an unpredictable area that calls for sensible precautions." If you want to see the mountain gorilla, just go to Rwanda. Very safe country, the Switzerland/Singapore of Africa. Or Uganda for even cheaper. I am not saying to only go to safe places, but avoiding active combat zones is easy to do. Sad to see almost nothing in (non Northern) Africa. Great place to avoid the mobs. EDIT: a few more points 36 - Tyrol, Austria The Tyrol extends into Italian as south Tyrol, so if you are touring Italy, visit this region. 45 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia I found it boring, and so did most visiting non-expats that I met. Most tourists simply visit the Killing Fields and prison, which is not mentioned.
- switch007 11y agoDid they really recommend the part of the Congo to which the UK foreign office advises against all travel (i.e. your travel insurance will be invalid)? Wow. The rest of the country is "advise against all but essential travel" https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/democratic-republic-of-congo https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/democratic-republic...
- donretag 11y agoI was surprised to see it on the list, especially when neighboring countries have many of the same touristic aspects. Keep in mind that the Congo and the DRC are two different countries.
- heynk 11y agoI think part of the point of the film "Virunga" and it being on this list to raise its exposure. If just a few travelers visit every year, it can make a difference on the park's viability.
- chisness 11y agoI was in Virunga this summer and it was quite special and I would absolutely recommend it over Rwanda if you're willing to accept a bit of a more difficult process and journey. I went on four gorilla treks and on average was with only one other tourist. In Rwanda, you'll usually be in a group of eight. This is significant as great viewing angles can be in short supply. Other reasons to go: -You get a behind the scenes view of the park - I got to see a demo of their ivory/poacher sniffing dogs, got to see the gorilla rehab center (and to meet Andre Baume, who was featured in the movie!), and lots of interaction with the rangers -The gorilla permit fee is $400 instead of $750 in Rwanda ($600 in Uganda, admittedly this value is diminished if you stay in the expensive park lodging, whereas in Rwanda cheap places are possible) -Trekking Mount Nyiragongo (active volcano) is really, really cool -As soon as you cross the border, you are constantly in the hands of Virunga vehicles/lodging/guards (a Virunga car picks you up at the border post and an armed guard is inside)
- peferron 11y agoWas shocked to see Bordeaux #2! My wife and I are there right now. It's a beautiful city—probably my favorite in France so far. It's also very walkable and bikeable. Coming from the Silicon Valley (San Mateo area) it's a huge difference in lifestyle, but I love both: SV is more about work and outdoors while Bordeaux is more about fine living.
- eCa 11y agoWhy write Viñales, San Sebastián and Île de Ré, but not Skåne, Malmö and Korčula? Sloppy editing.
- mastax 11y agoI've noticed in America its much more common to put accents on Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc. than for anything else. Can't comment on why.
- mladenkovacevic 11y agoAs a Toronto resident for over 18 years, I just have to say don't visit Toronto in the dead of winter. It's drab, cold and uninteresting. There are lots of festivals and things do in the summer, but I can't honestly agree with the #7 spot. Many of the places on the list are more exciting. Another tip: wherever you go, try to time your trip with a local holiday. This is when most public events will take place and locals will have the day off allowing you to interact with them as opposed to other tourists.
- jedrek 11y agoResident thinks their city is less exciting than exotic locale? Well that's unexpected! Seriously though, I live in a city where locals keep discouraging tourists from coming, and tourists keep talking about how great it is. Part of it is due to how stuff that makes a city fun is different for the two groups, but also because locals don't treat their cities as special. When we travel somewhere, we take advantage of everything, at home we mostly just want to get home.
- mladenkovacevic 11y agoYou're right there is an element of that, but I think I'm fairly objective about Toronto because I wasn't born here and I tend to visit a lot of other cities as well. At the end of the day, you simply can't get around the weather. If you're really in the mood for snow, NYC is definitely more exciting around Christmas-time, and even Ottawa, Montreal or Quebec City have more going on in terms of public events. Toronto's a wind-tunnel during most of the cold-season and the snow is not the fluffy fun kind, but quickly freezes or turns to dirty slush. For 6 months of the year Torontonians are just trying to get between their preferred indoor heated spaces as quickly as possible, and public gathering spaces are very limited.
- ericzawo 11y agoFellow Torontonian here, you sound incredibly boring. Maybe stop and look at how many people are walking around downtown tonight and around City Hall skating and at the Distillery District and going to the clubs and
- neogodless 11y agoGod @#$& developers redirect to mobile site if you use the shortened share link on a smartphone... and they drop your deep link.
- peter303 11y agoJust another millionaire pissing contest. Like college rankings and best cities to live. Makes you anxious if you missed something and changes every year.
- Yhippa 11y agoMethodology: whatever we felt like Things to do in each location: crowdsource to Facebook
- burkaman 11y agoWhat possible other methodology could there be? Survey returning tourists or something?
- freehunter 11y agoMethodology: Submarine article for Hilton and other travel organizations.
- vegabook 11y agoWhat beautiful presentation. I realise that there is subtle enhancement going on in all of these, if it's not the pleasant animations, it's the saturation, or the slight diffusion giving an impression of dreaminess, to some of the HDR. But it's very easy to browse, you've chosen some truly stunning photos that give the best of each location, and it really gives a sense of wanting to get on a plane. From this jaded, desk-bound coder, you've given me a few minutes of dreamin'. Well done.
- molotv 11y agoSt. John is on the list, but I'd recommend Caneel Bay Resort vs. their recc to this audience if you want to unplug while on vacation - no TVs nor phones in the rooms, and it's amazingly tranquil.
- iamcurious 11y agoFeel free to send me an email if you come to Uruguay.
- jeremyis 11y agoReally loved how all the info was on a single page and was easily scrollable for a click glance. Pagination can cause such a slow experience. The interspersed moving GIFs were a nice touch as well. I'll add places I've been to that I haven't seen mentioned: * Hangzhou, China - I spent about three days hanging around West Lake/Xi Hu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake), a large, BEAUTIFUL lake adjacent to the city. Sprawling mountains in the background, an endless amount of Chinese gardens and beautiful greenery surrounding it. Cheap boat rides that you can drive yourself, and an extreme dearth of Western tourists - even by China standards. Though, I went during the summer and the place was swarming with Chinese tourists. Maybe my favorite meal in China was in a modern restaurant in a random mall there. I'd honestly consider Xi Hu one of the most beautiful places I've been. * Malmo, Sweden - I didn't go to the countryside like the article recommends though did a day trip to the nearby University town of Lund, which is nice but nothing cooler than most small European cities. The city itself has nothing in particular worth seeing - it's still fairly expensive, though probably cheap by Scandanvian standards. I did stumble upon some good restaurants. I enjoyed Stockholm a lot more, and wouldn't return to Malmo if it weren't for a friend I have there. Gothenburg seems a lot cooler but sadly I never made it out there. Definitely avoid in the late fall / winter due to cold weather. * Kansai, Japan - I spent a little over a weekin Osaka and various small towns in the area (Nara, Ouji). I got the sense that besides Tokyo and its surrounding area, Kansai contained a good chunk of the interesting tourist things in Japan. Himeji castle is an hour or two bullet train ride away (and many of the towns nearby have similar castles), Mt Fuji is in the area, there are great onsen / hostsprings, Kyoto and the closeby area appears to contain the strongest density of old shrines and temples, and Nara is famous for the thousands of wild deer intermixed with old shrines and temples. Hiroshima is a few hour train ride away and has a lot to see: the A-Bomb museum, memorial, infamous bombed dome remains, and Miyajima - a beautiful island also with wild deer and shrines that I unfortunately missed due to rain. If you have enough time and railpass duration, take a (~3-6 hour) train to Fukouka and then the (~$100/each way) fast ferry to Busan, Korea. I LOVED Busan. Also: be sure to buy the Japan rail pass BEFORE you get to Japan. You can't get it in Japan. * Malaga, Spain - this one has been mentioned, but I'll add it did seem much more touristy and built up than other parts of Andalusia. The pros of this are there are some nice restaurants and bars and still some good historical stuff - like a nice Moorish fort and Roman ampitheater in the center. I was there in the winter (still ~60 degrees F) but there are beaches. I'd recommend checking out nearby Granada for Alhambra and Sevilla was also cool. Cordoba is overrated and this is coming from a huge history nerd. * Phnom, Penh - this one was also mentioned. I found this place incredibly depressing. Nearly everywhere you go there are often disfigured or limb-missing locals begging (I am guessing this the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge). They're not actually begging for money, but rather to give you a tuk-tuk ride, which was unusual to begging in other places I've been where people usually just ask for money. It's very dirty - like usually you rent a tuk tuk (think 1970s era chariot - motorcycle with wagon on the back), and I remember getting really dusty just from driving around. The Cambodians are incredibly nice and speak remarkably good English especially compared to the even more heavily tourist-exposed neighboring Thais. You can shoot an AK-47 for $50 at an army range and even a bazooka if you're willing to pay ~$300 (though I found out later in my trip it's a lot cheaper to shoot an AK and Russian weapons in the Baltics - mainly Estonia and Latvia). Angkor Wat in nearby Siem Reap is a MUST see.
- sanguedemonstro 11y agoWhy not visit Brazil? Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmPAOwpkL8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmPAOwpkL8
- prashantganti 11y agoGlad to see my home state Tamil Nadu in the list. India and each state in India is extremely diverse and there is a lot to see and explore. Much of India's rich heritage is unbeknownst to people outside India. What India lacks is excellent marketing and lacks in visitor experience. As in software, the code or a functional product does not guarantee success. It is the entire user experience - usability, help documentation, security coupled with marketing and some luck. India has a great product - novel and differentiated - but, lot of work needs to be done on marketing and visitor experience.