What Are The Top Five Places You Want to Visit Next?

Since there isn’t a lot of breaking news in the travel world this week, we thought it would be fun to get all of you involved in sharing your Top Five upcoming trips.  To set the tone, we’ll lead off with our Top Five, along with a couple of interesting links about each potential stop on our journeys.

Isola Bella, Sicily.  Photo by Giuseppe Famiani on Unsplash

Islands in the Sun –  The Mediterranean sun, that is.  We’re trying to piece together a two week trip that would include Malta, a beautiful island with a storied history of being conquered by virtually every other country in the Mediterranean.  Malta has been an independent country since 1964, when it was granted independence from Great Britain.  After watching all three Godfather movies a couple of weeks ago, we are excited about including Sicily in our itinerary.  It would be really interesting to be there now, since Mount Etna has been erupting in spectacular fashion for the last couple of weeks.  The third stop we’re contemplating is Ischia, a more laid back and less expensive cousin to Capri.  From there, we can jump on a ferry or hydrofoil to explore the Amalfi Coast, Capri and Procida, Italy’s Capital of Culture for 2022.

Costa Rica.  Photo by Dan Hadfield on Unsplash

Costa Rica – Fellow TET’s Sam and Susan visited here a couple of years ago and raved about it.  Their trip may have been more of the R&R trip that we would emulate…as compared to Ms. Exceptional J, whose week in Costa Rica in 2019 was much more adventurous.   Five percent of the world’s wildlife live here, an amazing richness for such a small country.  Costa Rica is reasonably easy to get to; there’s a cloud forest; and it has lots of monkeys. . .what’s not to like?

Abbey of Saint-Germain d’Auxerre, Burgundy, France. andre quinou

Canal Barge Cruise through France – Ever since fellow TET Evan took his family on one of these cruises several years ago, we’ve wanted to experience the wonder of really slow travel through the French countryside.  Add in the fact that these canals traverse some of the finest wine regions in the world, with Paris a quick bullet train away, and this trip may be headed to the top of our list.

Seattle, Washington.  Photo by Ben Dutton on Unsplash

Mrs. E has never been to the Pacific Northwest, so I’d better do something about that.  We’re thinking a ten day trip should should start in Seattle, including a visit to their Museum of Pop Culture, move down to Portland, the City of Roses, and then on to Oregon’s Willamette Valley to sample their sumptuous Pinot Noirs.

South Africa.  Photo by Chiara Lo on Unsplash

Rounding out our Top Five would be a two-week jaunt to South Africa.  On a long trip like this, converting points into miles for business class seats would make it a much easier experience.  A safari tour would be the centerpiece of the trip, along with a proper exploration of Cape Town.  We could use some help on this one. . .I know there are a few members of the TET community that have had memorable trips to South Africa (that leopard is looking at you, Sue and Mark!).

Please tell us about your Top Five (more or less) in the Comments section below.  We’d also love to hear if you’ve been to any of our Top Five and have some recommendations.  Enjoy the weekend, and thanks for being part of The Exceptional Traveler community.