It’s Day 4 of Jungle Red Travel Week, so I thought I’d ask the Reds to come up with their FIVE MOST BEAUTIFUL PLACES ON EARTH.
They discovered, as I did, that it’s almost impossible to limit it to five, and it’s hard to compare natural beauty with manmade beauty.
But I’m going to kick off with my top five
Lake Dal in Kashmir
Sedona, AZ
Lake Como, the view from Bellagio, Italy,
Venice
The coastline between Nice and Monte Carlo, France.
Twilight in Provence
Sunset in Menemsha
When the wind is in from Africa, in Matala, Crete
Sailing in the British Virgin Islands, but especially Virgin Gorda
Rocking on a porch on Thousand Islands, (especially Round or Frontenac Island) New York
LUCY 
BURDETTE:
Sunset in Key West (of course!)
Budapest, Hungary, riding a bike along the river
The bridge over the Seine on the way to Notre Dame, Paris
The Outer Banks of North Carolina
The cobblestone streets of Rome
London, anywhere, but especially the view of St. Paul's from
Westminster Bridge at sunset.
Paris, along the Seine.
The English countryside in the southwest--Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset,
Shropshire, Oxfordshire, Glouscesteshire... (is this cheating?)
The Scottish Highlands
Tuscany
RHYS: I guess we can let you off with a blanket description of the Southwest of England, especially since I come from Bath and have to admit it is lovely country.
"Beautiful Beach" in Nevis
Glacier National Park in Montana
The view from the roof of Samaritaine in Paris
Siena,Italy on Palio day
The vistas of Chianti, with cypress trees poking up from the hills and the
towers of San Gimingnano
HALLIE EPHRON:
Zabriskie Point in Death Valley
Three Gorges on the Yangtze River
Paris, looking toward Notre Dame from the Petit Pont
The streets of Venice
Bryce Canyon
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING:
The Adirondacks
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe/Zambia
Almost any white-sand beach along the gulf of Mexico
The Scottish Highlands
And my two favorite cities, London and Vienna.
I'm chiming in from Tanzania - one of MY Most Beautiful places (also had a few horrible experiences here but mostly wonderful.)
Uhuru Peak, top of Kilimanjaro, TZ
Serengeti/Masai Mara, TZ/Kenya
Road to Everest Base Camp, Nepal
Confluence of Green and Colorado Rivers, Canyonlands National Park, Utah
Going to the Sun Road, Glacier National Park, Montana
So unfair to make us only choose five! Next time five fave cities!
RHYS: It’s interesting how many we had in common (except for Rosemary and her Everest Base Camp and the top of Kilimanjaro—with which we can’t compete!). I also had Bryce Canyon, the Highway to the Sun, Paris, Tuscany on my extended list. I think Italy wins as the country most often mentioned.
So now it’s your turn. Your five most beautiful places on Earth please.
I love thinking about travel to beautiful and interesting places. Thank you for this opportunity to indulge.
ReplyDeleteMy list has to start with the Atlantic coast starting on the North Shore of Massachusetts and north, on up the Canadian coast. I think it's in my blood.
Next would be Québec City. I often dream about it.
London is my favorite city. I wanted to run in the marathon there with Epilepsy Action, a charitable group I belong to. The training I'd started in 2000 hastened my disability. I'd still like to go and watch and cheer them on.
Epilepsy Action now also takes part in the Marathon de Paris, which brings me to my most beautiful place number four. It's a place where I feel very peaceful.
Oh no... just one more? Okay. Yosemite. I used to go backpacking there, up to the high lakes, to the tree line.
There are so many more.
I adore Yosemite - I think the view from Glacier Point Road is number six on my list.
ReplyDeleteWow.
ReplyDeleteFlying over the Sahara on a clear day.
The view of Mount Fuji in winter.
Almost anywhere on the Pacific coast of North America.
Sequoia National Park.
Rio de Janeiro.
Edith, the Pacific coast of the US is #1 with me. Spectacularly beautiful, and every American should have the opportunity to drive it at least once.
ReplyDeletePortland, Oregon, on a clear day when you can see Mt. Hood.
Machu Picchu, from the Sun Gate.
Yellowstone National Park, especially anywhere you can see the river gorge.
Mackinaw Island.
There are so many heartbreakingly beautiful places in the US alone. Who can limit themselves to only five?
I'd also add Waimea Canyon, on the island of Kuaia in Hawaii. Spectacular.
Good heavens, so few places in the US! Not that I can disagree with any of the selections. May I add, Les Baux in Provence (Mary Stewart made me go!), empty beaches on the Yucatan, the view of the Sydney Opera House from a small cafe (watching some Maori musicians playing their didgereedoos or however you spell that), and almost anyplace in the Irish countryside (including the stone circle at Drombeg, Co. Cork).
ReplyDeleteThe great Smoky Mountains, especially right around Cherokee, NC.
ReplyDeleteOxford, UK.
Sequoiah National Park.
Chaco Canyon.
Mustang Island, though I've not been back since the hurricane & don't know how badly it was damaged.
And I'll posit the Flint Hills of Kansas, a very subtle kind of beauty that most people would find boring, I suspect. Tallgrass prairie, which just looks like a bunch of grass to most but is so much more.
And just five isn't fair, of course. There are so many beautiful places out there.
Sheila, as one who was an adopted Aussie for much of my life, Maori musicians do not play digeredoos--Australian Aborigines play those. Maoris come from NZ and sing wonderful harmonies, also dance Haka war chants.
ReplyDeleteAnd speaking of Australia, the Blue Mountains are near the top of my list, and of course Yosemite--but it's so familiar and close to home for me that I overlooked it. And Pebble Beach, Monterey, and San Francisco for that matter. All stunning--I just take them for granted too much.
ReplyDeleteI live in an area that I think is one of the prettiest places in the world--the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia with our gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains.
ReplyDeleteNext would be the Cliffs of Mohr on the West Coast of Ireland.
On opposite end of the spectrum would be St. John.
The Rockies also top my list.
When I first thought of beautiful places, the first thing I thought about was the place where my husband and I were married, on the lawn of an old red-brick church in Raccoon Township, Pa. It looks out over a pristine reservoir surrounded by evergreens. It's a small thing really, compared to everybody else's list. I'm sure nobody else has heard of it. But I believe it ranks. ;-)
@Mollie - I almost listed "My back yard" as one of my choices. ;^)
ReplyDelete5 most beautiful places -
ReplyDeleteScotland
North Wales
Alaska
Mt Shasta
High country in the Sierra Nevada
Awww my favorite places that I have been too are:
ReplyDelete1. All of Ireland Atlantic Drive in particular, Gaints Causeway
2. Vermont during the fall leaf season Stow area.
3. Cape Cod beaches
4. The whole west coast from northern CA to Oregon and Washington State
5. Siesta Yey beach in Sarasota FL
You are all so wonderfully well-traveled!
ReplyDeleteToday's five (tomorrow's could be different!):
1. Anywhere in Glacier Park in NW Montana, but particularly the views from the Going to the Sun Road and Kintla Lake.
2. Doe Bay, Orcas Island, Washington State
3. the Pacific at La Manzanilla, Jalisco, Mexico
4. Paris, along the Seine
5. overlooking the Mediterranean and Fira harbor, on the Greek island of Santorini
Sigh. You're all so well traveled and cosmopolitan! My five favorites would be pedestrian, though I do agree with Deborah and Julia on the Scottish Highlands. But maybe the Indian Dunes at the tip of Lake Michigan, the drive to Chimayo from Santa Fe, Couchiching Lake in Ontario, and good old Chicago.
ReplyDeleteOohh..love this!
ReplyDeleteLike Leslie, my list might change day to day. But today it's:
The view of the Golden Gate Bridge and San Francisco from The Bunkers (Marin Headlands)
Beaches on the northeast coast of Brazil
Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia
Tuscany wine country
Paris, Seine, yes, me too!
If we counted things up, would Paris get the most votes???
ReplyDeleteOffshore Santa Barbara, California on a windless morning, the ocean clear and still, two porpoise swimming beside our tiny sailboat.
ReplyDeleteTie: Landing on Bora Bora in a small plane and seeing Venice's Grand Canal.
The patio of Puerto Vallarta's Vista Grill, the city and Banderas Bay spread out below.
Looking across the valley and time at Font's Point in Southern California's Anza-Borrego Desert.
I think we need five in the States and five elsewhere in the world.
ReplyDeleteBut that's just me, thinking of Paris. And Australia. And the Galapagos.
Wow, some of you have been to some amazing places
ReplyDeleteHaving never been, but always dreamed of going to is my #1 spot.
ever since reading my first Agatha Christie around age 7, I've felt like I should be living in a small village in England - somehow the stork dropped me in "New England" instead of "England" his navigation must have been off and I landed on the wrong side of the Atlantic :o)
2-4 are places I have spent a lot of time around growing up and miss dearly.
#5 - have been twice, last time in 1989, dh's uncle lives in Calgary and we have been out there twice, once in summer, once in winter, both have amazing beauty.
#1 English countryside
#2 Adirondaks
#3 uncrowded beaches - New England (which is mostly off season
#4 VT,NH,Maine, preferably small towns
#5 Canadian Rockies
Mar
Acadia National Park, Somes Sound, Maine
ReplyDeleteCabo San Lucas, Mexico
Caesarea, Israel
Grand Canyon, Arizona
coastal Alexandria, Egypt
Carla
Only 5? Impossible. I love all your many responses.
ReplyDeleteMay I say first, Paris is a given?
Here is a list of my top 5 (+) of this moment -
Hawaii, Oahu, Manoa Valley (in a garden cottage) and Kauai, mist and rainbows every day
Northern California, the mysterious and ancient redwoods of Muir Woods, go hug a tree
Washington, Olympic Peninsula, primal rainforest and majestic snowcapped mountains
California-Arizona-heck, the whole SW, desert / mountains especially at blaze of dawn
Switzerland, Grindlewald, charming mountain village in the towering Alps, 1st seen from the train
Lisa, my husband's #1 is going south on the Waldo Grade, rounding the bend and seeing the view of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. Larry sez, "takes my breath away every time."
Edith, I wanted to include the view out our window of the changing moods of Mount Tamalpais. Foreground, 2 crows in the tall redwoods across the courtyard.
I knew I should have put Oxford on there... okay, swapping for London.
ReplyDeleteLinda, have you read THE GRASS DANCER by Susan Power?
Moliie,
ReplyDeleteI love the Blue Ridge Mountains in VIrginia and had one of my best vacations ever there. It is SPECTACULAR and at least in New ENgland, relatively unexperienced.
No, Reine, I've not read THE GRASS DANCER. I'll look for it. Thanks for the recommendation.
ReplyDeleteOur back yard! Of course...
ReplyDeleteOh-my first captcha is lostio! Makes sense..
Appalachian Mountains
ReplyDeleteCanyonlands National Park
Assisi
Swiss Alps
Labrador!
Hank... lostio... too fun. With all those ducks in your yard must be wonderful. Do you get the spring peepers out your way? Something to look forward to, as well. Drive through Concord is a special kind of beauty in spring with those peepers a peeping. xox
ReplyDelete1) Victoria Falls
ReplyDelete2) Chobe National Park - Botswana
3) Machu Picchu
4) Tikal - Guatemala
5) Ohio in the Fall
My favorite places at least of today:
ReplyDeleteNags Head
San Francisco
Savannah
England
Smoky Mountains
Puerto Vallarta
Vermont in the fall
I loved traveling but unfortunately not able to any more