I enjoy good natured ribbing!

Only one major metropolitan city I would live in: Rome Italy. I studied there my sophomore year (76) and have been going back pretty regularly since. Cannot get enough of the place. It is like an onion with layer after layer of discovery and enjoyment.

Visit wise I just love Italy, great people, somewhat inexpensive, ancient well worn cities. Torino is beautiful, Lucca, Orvieto, are all gems. Forget Cinque Terre. Lake Como is beautiful, especially staying at some smaller towns up north. Get the best hotel on the water. Wonderful and not outrageous price wise.

Enjoy driving in France except the south along the coast. For the most part I look for smaller hotels or guest houses as I (we) go. My wife and I enjoy a certain spontaneity. In Belgium Brugge is a real gem, stay in the historic section. Do not care for Brussels. There are also a lot of great towns or small cities in Holland. Den Haag (Hague) is nice as is Utrecht.

For Germany, we have stayed for many years in Mainz, a stone's throw from Frankfurt. Everything is close by via train or car. Mainz is a real sleeper of a small city. Bavaria is its own destination. Black Forest (Freiburg) has a beautiful driving road with enchanting small towns leading up to Munchen. From there head to Praha and Berlin.

Dubrovnik, Mostar and the Dalmation coast are beautiful. Barcelona is also enjoyable. Prefer it over Madrid just a bit.

In Asia my favorite is Bangkok with so many other destinations close by. People are terrific. You just feel happy there. Singapore is nice but I would not stay for too long. Malaysia is wonderful to explore. Some great places on the ocean that look like world class resorts for a lot less money.

Have not been to Vietnam yet but many of my colleagues just love it there.

For Driving I have come to prefer Hertz. May not be the rock bottom price but the cars, service, speed and quality of the overall experience beats all the rest. You can find deals on insurance and or with certain credit cards. Be sure they note no damage on the return. Be careful about road rash on the rims in Germany.

Forget Russia except St Petersburg. Forget Africa. Forget the Middle East except Jerusalem. Do not care for Istanbul after a short visit or two. Athens is nice but it really is a low grade Rome and the economy is terrible. Driving around the countryside and sailing to some of the islands is a different story. South America can be fun but dangerous.

Bombay and New Delhi I find enjoyable. You really feel you are in a completely foreign place there. Abject poverty exists but the people can be wonderful and the food is out of this world. Lots to do and see. You need to have an open mind there.

Australia rounds it out. Perth is like San Diego. We love Tasmania; spent a week driving around the eastern side. Melbourne is a hoot and the Hunter Valley wine area is terrific.

Edit: I mentioned Mainz, a small town on the river outside of Frankfurt and a 12 minute S Bahn ride to Wiesbaden. Last December my wife, kids and significant others spent 2 weeks there hitting Christmas markets. I have a good friend, a colleague, who is German American. He gave me some great pointers on the best markets for the buck. You can take the trains to a number of great Christmas markets and destinations, all within an easy day of Mainz. We went to Köhn (Cologne) Bonn, Rüdesheim am Rhein, Weisbaden, Frankfurt, Darmstadt, Mannheim, Heidelberg and St Goar for a river trip (Boatloads of castles) ending in Rüdesheim. We hit several market a number of times. Mainz of course, has a very quaint market itself.

The sweet deal with the trains is NOT to use a Eurailpass. Each of those cities listed above lies in what is the equivalent of a county but is called a Federal State. (Frankfurt and Darmstadt lie in Hesse) You can purchase a very reasonable regional day pass ( 9am to 2am next day) for up to 5 people anywhere in the county including metro and light rail. No worries about having Gluehwein and then try to drive. You just show up at the BahnHof in the morning and use the ticket machine. (Credit cards are fine, make sure they have a chip) We had no use for a car in this vacation and indeed, it would have been a pain with the parking and driving hassle for such short trips. Download the DB app for instant updates and schedules. Trains are very efficient and usually spot on time.

Just wanted to mention that as a relatively inexpensive, fun, romantic vacation in itself. Just find your way to Frankfurt and take the train to Mainz. The biggest expense will likely be the hotel. Food is pretty reasonable and my adult kids were shocked how inexpensive the wine bars (Weinstube) can be. At one local place in Mainz, the 6 of us had 3 rounds and the total tab was 55 Euros. It would have been 3 times that back home.

Totally forgot to mention a very enjoyable 2 week trip to Iceland in the summer. Wife and I rented a little camper (looks like a small delivery van) and drove around the country camping out for the most part. My wife made our dehydrated food and we brought it along. Such a diverse country with hardly any population. We went 5 years ago.

 

Nice travelogue!

 

Edit above for the German Christmas fairs and Iceland.

 

Holy crap Cos, shame you don't get out more! Awesome to have explored so much of this small planet.

 

Thanks, Cos. Our niece and nephew both enjoy US/German dual citizenship and return there every couple of years, so our next trip overseas will probably be to Germany. I will locate your post before any such visit as it sounds like it could be very useful.

So, nothing in North America? I liked Montreal but haven't been there in many years.

 

Cosmo, thanks for your travelogue. I don't see Spain mentioned at all. I think if I were to move to a foreign country, that would be at the top of the list. Plus the south it looks like Calif!
We traveled to Turkey in 2001 and loved it there. I know Istanbul can be crowded, but the middle and south parts of the country are very historical and interesting.
I have not been to India and would not go if the entire trip were free of charge. I don't know a single person that went there that did not get sick, and that's only one reason.
This is not to argue with you, everyone has different experiences and opinions. And the more people travel the more accepting they become of other people and cultures.

 

I left North America out as we are all, for the most part here!

Montreal, yes a wonderful place. The Oratory of St Joseph is the second largest basilica outside of St Peter. Winnipeg is a sleeper; great natural history museum. Vancouver, Banff park are both terrific. Have not been to eat eastern provinces.

Alaska is such a special place. Have been to the Aleutians with the Navy, Kodiak with the Coast Guard, and of course Anchorage, Seward, Valdez and pretty much all over the sounds in small planes.

Coronado is the best place in San Diego. I love Hwy 1 up the coast. Don't care for LA or SFO/Bay Area. Oregon coast is wonderful. Portland is nice but there are a lot of homeless and panhandlers. Boise is a sleeper, Boulder, New Orleans, Pensacola, Tampa St Pete, Key West, man, there are so many fun places to go. Not too crazy about New York but Lake George and Schroon Lake with upstate NY beautiful.

I guess in NA we lean towards the geographic features (National Parks and such) than large metro areas unless a special exhibit or people we know are there.

I do feel blessed for the opportunity to see a lot of the world. Lived in Japan as a kid (Navy Dad) and just never stopped. When I consider how people traveled just a century ago, it blows my mind. If I went back in time and informed people of how I travel they would think I was a lunatic.