Countries one doesn’t consider but should

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Uzbekistan is pretty high on my list. Samarkand looks stunning.
Senegal(Have any of you been? I am drawn there for some reason and hear positive things from expats but never hear about travelers’ experiences.)
Oman
Baltics
Caucasus, especially Georgia
Island nations in the Indian Ocean, but many of these places are well-touristed by non-North Americans given flight times

NP, yes! Dakar and went surfing. Had a blast! It’s a definite must visit.

Lived in Senegal for three years and loved it, but it took a little while for me to come to appreciate the charms and I don’t think it’s an easy tourist destination unless you have connections there or are very low maintenance/used to traveling in developing countries. Most of our friends/family that visited (many of whom admittedly weren’t the most worldly of travelers) were clearly not fans at all. Curious to hear more about your experience and what drew you to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Portugal! Great spot for expats as well!

Don't forget Iceland.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rwanda

Nigeria to visit the apartment of that guy with the aunt who left him millions.

Goa, Varanasi India

Goa and Varanasi are off the tourist track?

OP didn’t ask that in her post.

Most Americans will never visit India ever!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Vietnam

+1. We went there on our honeymoon ~12 years ago and no one could understand why. A lot of variety and beautiful landscapes, amazing food.

Do you live somewhere people don’t leave the US?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Laos

New Caledonia

Wales

Montenegro

Albania

Macau

Not all of these meet the definition of country.

Yes, Comrade Kommisar

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Lovely, friendly, historic. Easy to do in one trip too.

Is Lithuania a better vacation than Ireland? Wife's heritage is Lithuanian, mine is Irish. She wants to go to Lithuania, I'd rather go to Ireland. Both pretty well travelled in other parts of Europe, neither of us have been to either place.

You’re likely to find Ireland to be more compelling — history, natural beauty of Northern Ireland, loads of interesting things to do. Lithuania is charming, slower paced, and beautiful, but it doesn’t quite have the pull that Ireland has when it comes to a typical tourist vacation.

[Anonymous]

Belfast

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai

Hell no

Why? I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was AWESOME. I was so pleasantly surprised. So safe that a solo female can walk alone in the streets at 2am and no one will bother you. Can you say the same for the DMV? Hell no!

Also the food was amazing, the beaches were pretty (women in tiny bikinis on the beaches despite it being a Muslim country). The “old town” was very historic and interesting to visit. The weather in March is fantastic. I highly, highly recommend Dubai!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai

Hell no

Why? I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was AWESOME. I was so pleasantly surprised. So safe that a solo female can walk alone in the streets at 2am and no one will bother you. Can you say the same for the DMV? Hell no!

Also the food was amazing, the beaches were pretty (women in tiny bikinis on the beaches despite it being a Muslim country). The “old town” was very historic and interesting to visit. The weather in March is fantastic. I highly, highly recommend Dubai!

It was built by modern slaves.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the tourism reputations places have are generally merited. Places that are great but not on the beaten path include Iran, Iraq, and Slovenia (in that order). Romania, Bulgaria and Albania are nicer than you might think, though a bit of a clean-up would make them nicer. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also have much to recommend them, though like Colombia the crime is not negligible.

Iran? Iraq?

PP forgot to mention North Korea and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is incredible beautiful. The people and the mountains were lovely. I’ve also been to North Korea, I went with young pioneer tours. They won’t take Americans anymore, but I’m canadian.

Open your mind, pp.

How's the view up on your high horse?

People not going to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan are not doing so out of closemindedness. wtf.

I have done hard core travel in many places in the world. I lived in Afghanistan for several years. There's a difference between open-mindedness and dumb.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Lovely, friendly, historic. Easy to do in one trip too.

Lot of sex workers and poverty though

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dubai

Hell no

Why? I was there a couple of weeks ago and it was AWESOME. I was so pleasantly surprised. So safe that a solo female can walk alone in the streets at 2am and no one will bother you. Can you say the same for the DMV? Hell no!

Also the food was amazing, the beaches were pretty (women in tiny bikinis on the beaches despite it being a Muslim country). The “old town” was very historic and interesting to visit. The weather in March is fantastic. I highly, highly recommend Dubai!

It was built by modern slaves.

BS. It was built by south Asians who needed jobs to improve their situations. It’s amazing that so many of these south Asians still continue to live in Dubai despite it being such a horrible place! One of our drivers was an Indian man (of Christian faith) who has lived in Dubai for almost 40 years and he loves it. He told us he makes more money than he would ever dream of making back in his hometown. These folks are grateful for the jobs that Dubai offers them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the tourism reputations places have are generally merited. Places that are great but not on the beaten path include Iran, Iraq, and Slovenia (in that order). Romania, Bulgaria and Albania are nicer than you might think, though a bit of a clean-up would make them nicer. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also have much to recommend them, though like Colombia the crime is not negligible.

Iran? Iraq?

I’ve been to Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Love seeing a fellow traveller (vs a tourist) on here!

Oh barf with this trope. Alex Garland wrote “the Beach” about you lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think that the tourism reputations places have are generally merited. Places that are great but not on the beaten path include Iran, Iraq, and Slovenia (in that order). Romania, Bulgaria and Albania are nicer than you might think, though a bit of a clean-up would make them nicer. El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras also have much to recommend them, though like Colombia the crime is not negligible.

Iran? Iraq?

PP forgot to mention North Korea and Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is incredible beautiful. The people and the mountains were lovely. I’ve also been to North Korea, I went with young pioneer tours. They won’t take Americans anymore, but I’m canadian.

Open your mind, pp.

Tell us about NK

I want to go there

I think the problem with places like NK is you only are allowed to see very tightly controlled/stage managed things.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I took my first trip to Tbilisi Georgia and was amazed. Beautiful culture, that cheese bread thing - wow- their wine was nice and I really enjoyed interacting with the people. Of course they are no Italy or Spain but what a wonderful city. I went with a culturalExchange group and Georgia had the least people signing up. I would have never gone nor considered it. Now I’m wondering if I should broaden my horizons. Can you recommend other places where you were pleasantly surprised?

It’s called Khachapuri. Did you really go to Georgia and not learn that?!

Well, I knew exactly what PP was talking about when they said "cheese bread thing." I would not have know what they were talking about if they said Khachapuri. So I appreciated it.

Why the hostility?

No hostility, just incredulity that one could travel to Georgia and instead of reciting the proper name of one of the country’s most prevalent foods, instead refer to it as “that cheese bread thing.” Honestly, some people should just stay home.

Who peed in your cheese bread thing?