Above & Beyond....
orange sky GIFGiphyCarrick-a-Rede It's a little coastal trail and rope bridge on the coast of Northern Ireland. It's often overlooked by tourists that go to the amazing Giant's Causeway. In my opinion, Carrick-a-Rede is just as much of a must see. Such beautiful scenery.
A Quiet Kingdom
Lesotho.
It's a small independent kingdom, bordered entirely by South Africa.
It's a gorgeous country. Mountainous, green. People travel on horseback, there are always shepherds in the valleys, their songs echoing across the mountains.
After the big crowds in Johannesburg and/or the big national parks, Lesotho is extremely tranquil. A great country.
When in Spain
Zaragoza in Spain, plenty to do and see without the crowds of bigger tourist cities.
Fun fact about Zaragoza: when the space shuttle was launching it had scrub landing sites scattered around the world. This required the runways could handle the weight and length along with telemetry. Zaragoza was the one set up for use for the last series of launches. When the shuttle would climb to too high an altitude they would announce "negative Zaragoza" meaning they could not scrub to there.
But if they had... 6 people would've crossed from Florida to Spain in about 20 minutes and for only a billion dollars.
The Hills
scotland dancing GIF by Hey DuggeeGiphyThe Scottish Highlands and the Flint Hills in Kansas They are both seriously, breath taking and beautiful.
As a KCMO guy I have to say I hate Kansas, but I think the Konza three loop trail outside Manhattan saved my life while going to K-State. A beautiful hilly place in a terribly flat world.
Off the Coast....
A little Island off the coast of Cambodia called Koh Rong. I would worry about people ruining it, but, last time I was there the Chinese were going to build a small airstrip, so it probably already is.
Sticking with the Cambodia theme, Battambang is a beautiful little city that I don't think most westerners consider visiting when seeing Phnom Penh and Angkor Wat. Awesome sights and art. And obviously amazing food.
To the Tapirs....
Tapir Valley Nature Preserve, Bijagua, Costa Rica.
While Costa Rica has many areas that are "mainstream tourist destinations," this isn't one of them. Created to leave it as natural as possible, they have limited numbers of persons per day. It's easy to see elusive tapirs here, as previous visitors can testify. For birders, three are several hundred species living here, mostly due to the variety of habitats. It is adjacent to Tenorio National Park.
Looks like Hawaii.....
Lamu, Kenya: 14th century island city, Islamic stone architecture (no cars on the island because the streets are too narrow), bioluminescent algae, amazing beaches.
Diani beach, Kenya: looks like Hawaii.
Sipi Falls, Uganda: views of the plains, beautiful waterfalls.
Edit to add: white sand beaches of Malawi.
Cheap Russian
Dance Russia GIF by Jason ClarkeGiphyVladivostok is the last trans-siberian railway city in Russia and the borders are North Korea, China and Japan. If you want to rest in the beach in an european-style city in Asia and eat delicious asian and Russian food for a cheap price then come here.
Seeing Monkeys....
I went to the Osa Peninsula and stayed at Lapa Rios in 2017 and it was one of the most beautiful and magical places I've ever been!! Seeing monkeys and parrots in the SAME tree blew my mind and pretty much fulfilled all expectations of tropical paradises I imagined when I was younger. I mean, I saw a scarlet macaw fly by my bathroom window while I was on the toilet. Probably the most memorable poop I'll ever take.
Go Gothic
serious fred armisen GIF by IFCGiphyA city in the north of Poland called Gdansk. It's an old Hansa port full of Gothic churches, stone cobbled streets, beer gardens on the banks of canals and quirky artists. I don't know why it isn't more popular.
I'm here right now and it is absolutely jammed with Polish tourists. But from what I hear, it's only like this in summer. I know what you mean though. I went from never hearing about it to thinking it is one of the most beautiful European cities period.
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