Top Ten Scenic Destinations?

[shagnut]

Banff to Jasper via the Columbian Icefields!!! OMG
Sedona
The Canyonlands of Utah
St Martin (via the Tradewinds Cruise Club)
Lake Tahoe
Lake Placid
The waterfall area near Brevard, NC

I just asked Kelli and she said our Canadian Trip

 

[smk1]

I fell in love with Sedona, Arizona. I never heard of it until I was paging through the RCI book a few years ago....same with Whistler, B.C. and now I've been to both. Both highly recommended based on scenery.

the first time i ever saw blue lagoon and dunns river fall in Jamaica was spectacular, the view over the cliffs of the oregon coast at Worldmarks Depoe Bay is also breathtaking. Crater Lake in Oregon ( when we were staying at the Running Y ranch (worldmark), Sunset over the Ocean in Nuevo Vallarta. Mt. st. Helens steam erruption from my back yard. Multnomah Falls out in the colubia gorge just east of Portland oregon, Lake SHasta in Northern California and Klamath Lake in Southern Oregon, Paradise in Mt. Raineer in Washington state, Whistler B.C was just enchanting! Sunriver village near Mt Bachelor in Oregon in the winter time with snow.

 

[John Cummings]

I am sure I will leave something off but the following places we have been to come to mind in no particular order.

1. Banff, Jasper, and Kooteney National Parks in Alberta and British Columbia Canada.
2. Yosemite National park. I especially like the drive from the eastern gate across the Tioga pass.
3. Sedona Arizona
4. Carmel and Big Sur on the California coast. There are many beautiful scenic areas along the California Coast in Central and Northern California.
5. The Windermere Valley in British Columbia Canada
6. The Santa Ynez Valley in California.
7. Lake Tahoe
8. The Sierras in California both east and west.
9. The Las Vegas strip. This is not your classical scenery but is definitely pretty spectacular.
10. Utah
11. Lake Shasta California

There are many more beautiful areas we have seen but these should suffice for now.

 

[susieq]

some very useful ideas .......

This is a wonderful post ~ with lots of ideas for future trips!! Following are some of our favorites, again in no particular order:

The Niagra Falls area is spectacular ~ particulary the Canadian side.
The Island of Maui.
The red rocks of Sedona and The Grand Canyon.
St. Augustine in Florida ~ the oldest city in the US.
The Newport,RI and Jamestown areas.
San Francisco and Fisherman's Wharf
Amish country and Gettysburg in PA.
Pagosa Springs, CO. and the Four Corners area
The Mountains of central Virginia


and our much anticipated future trips:

Wells, ME
Lead, SD ~ and Mt Rushmore
Canmore, Can and the Canadian Rockies

 

[Werner]

The view of the Grand Canyon at sunrise from Bright Angel Point on the North Rim is overpowering. You walk out along a narrow ridge line and stand at the point (with guard rails) and the canyon is all around you, almost 360 deg. around and a mile down.

Also, the view of the Grand Canyon from the back of a mule.

Sedona, Az red rocks, especially the rock art at the Palatki Ruins

Acadia National Park (Bar Harbor), Me.

Denali National Park - Seeing the "Big 5" on one trip. Wolf, Grizzly Bear, Moose, Mountain Sheep, and Caribou. Alaskan moose make New England moose look like wimps.

Brooks Camp at Katmai National Park; Bears, bears and more bears feeding at the salmon stream. Getting stuck in "bear jam" when the dinner bell rings and having to wait for a hour or two until the bears decide to let you go.

I also forgot; the village of Telluride, CO., truly stunning in its setting tucked into a box canyon in the San Juan Mountains. Drive Rt. 550 from Ouray to Silverton, possibly the most beautiful paved road in the US. Then rent a jeep (or take a tour) and drive some of the old mining roads.

 

[Dollie]

Werner forgot to mention Yellowstone National Park, both in the summer and the winter. Taking the snowcoach into the lodge in the winter to stay right near Old Faithful. This time it was a "buffalo jam". You move off the trail quickly as you see these rather large animals come lumbering down the trail you are on.

 

[jillk]

I would second (or third?) the Colorado Rockies, especially the Telluride area, Steamboat, most of the Roaring Fork Valley (Aspen), Summit County (Keystone, Breckenridge, etc.), and the Wolf Creek Pass/Pagosa Springs area. It's just beautiful, almost any time of year!

 

[purple]

I agree with many of the places listed and would like to mention a few of my favorites:
The Cinque Terre in Italy
The Lakes District in England
Sunset in Santorini Greece
Sara

 

[akbmusic]

My unanimous opinion

Of all of the places we have been so far, those we have thought were the most beautiful were:

1. St. John, USVI
2. Sedona, Arizona (especially at sunset)
3. Cades Cove in Smoky Mountain National Park, Gatlinbug, TN (make sure you get up early and go on one of the days they let only walkers/bicycle riders in)
4. Mackinac Island in Michigan, especially if you ride your bike out of town a ways
5. Exumas in the Bahamas (I would give anything to build a house on one of those small islands!)

 

[christsh]

Best scenery

The highway between Durango and Telluride Colorado...wow..

Quepos, Costa Rica...wow

 

[KevinRS]

My choices

N. America

#1. Banff - Jasper
Glacier Park
Yosemite
Havasupai Falls and Indian Rsvn, bottom of Grand Canyon
Smokey Mountains - Gatlinburg
Seattle
Vancouver

International

#1. Phi phi Islands, near Phuket Thailand (INCREDIBLE)
Whitsunday Islands, Great Barrier Reef
Sydney
Guilin, China
Three Rivers Gorges - China
Towns along Romantic Road - Germany

I could go on and on.....

 

[Laurie]

My #1 would be Bernese Oberland Alps & Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland.

My #2 for spectacular would be the erupting volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii, the one time we saw Pu'u O'o shoot fire and molten rock miles straight up into the sky. The slowly flowing lava other times was pretty great as well.

Other faves that can only be described as spectacular:
Banff/Jasper/Yoho/Kootenay
Glacier NP
Grand Canyon esp North Rim
Several areas of Utah: Bryce, the road between Bryce & Capitol Reef, Moab, Arches, Castle Valley

Then there are some generally gorgeous areas, whether or not "spectacular" is always fitting, I tried but there's no way to limit my list to 10:
Vancouver Island
Tuscany
Italian Riviera & Cinque Terre
Croatian coast
Perigord region of France: Dordogne, Lot Rivers
Hawaii, anywhere there is black lava or sand + green vegetation + blue sea (Big Island & Maui)
Austrian lakes, Salzkammergut region
Parts of north Tenerife & Lanzarote, Canary Islands (it's that black lava and sand again along with vegetation, rock formations etc.)

 

[xzhan02]

Another vote for Bernese Oberland Alps & Lauterbrunnen Valley, Switzerland, especially Murren.

 

[talkamotta]

Being a Utah girl:

1. Utah - so much natural diversity within one state

2. Driving up I15 from Salt Lake thru Yellowstone, Glacier Park, Banff and Jasper and everything in between.

3. Was breathless when we went on the Alaskian cruise.

4. Love relaxing on the beach at Longboat Bay

5. The wonderful people of Mazatlan and the sunsets

In the next year it will be Cancun????, Australla and New Zealand, and Hawaii so Im sure the list will continue.

Not to bring religion into it, but when I see some of the beautiful natural sights of the world I get a lump in my throat and tears come to my eyes and I think of what an amazing God we have. I feel closer to Him than in a church. We are so very lucky.

 

[wauhob3]

1)Trassachs-Scotland
2)Kauai
3)Cotswolds-England
4)St. John USVI

 

[CMF]

So many places - so little time

Where to begin? I have young children, so I think the national parks in the continetal US is a logical place.

Charles

 

[JoAnn]

There are so many beautiful places....
I remember our first drive to Key West in '77 and seeing that incredible water!
The Florida Everglades
All of the National Parks we've been to.
Mt. McKinley..and we've been twice, but the first time we had gorgeous weather and got to see the whole mountain from top to bottom...the second time it was completely in the clouds.
Denali and the bus ride into the park
Heading East near LaCross WI and seeing the Mississippi below
Crater Lake,
Whistler
the ride on the Durango/Silverton RR
Flying into Las Vegas at night and coming in over Hoover Dam
Lake Tahoe area

Patagonia in Chile and Argentina...think Andes mountains w/snow on them
Buenos Aires
The Chilean wine country (think Napa Valley)

Copper Canyon in Mexico

Nova Scotia
Prince Edward Island

Monteverde Cloud Forrest in Costa Rica
Arenal Volcano at night & sitting in the hot springs at Tabacon
Orosi Valley CR.
Quepos area &
Manuel Antonio park in CR
any place else we visited in CR...especially it's people.

and sitting in our lanai looking out at our little lake and watching the Egrets, Herons, Osprey and an occasional Eagle come in. And our little Moorhens and their babies in the Spring.

 

[northwoodsgal]

The places that I would consider the most spectacular - the ones that immediately come to mind - are:

The cliffs on the west coast of Ireland
Niagara Falls
Tioman Island, Malaysia
The Badlands, South Dakota
The Swiss/Austrian Alps in the fall
The beaches of southern Portugal

 

[yangtonghua]

Most beautiful mountain and lake

After traveling for almost forty years, the most beautiful mountain and lake that I have seen are in China where I visited last year and this year.

Mountain – Huangshan

Lake – Jiuzhaigou

Here are the links:

http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/huangshan/photo_huangshan_1.htm

http://www.yoyochina.net/Destination/CityIntro.aspx?DestinationID=24

http://www.yoyochina.net/PhotoGallery/PhotoList.aspx?CityId=24

Simply Beautiful, Spectacular, Awesome, Breathtaking.

However, do not expect 5-star hotel accommodation and gourmet food. Just think you are at Yellowstone Park.

Real nature lovers will be thrilled at the sceneries.

tonghua

 

[nkosi278]

Colorado Rockies - year round
Italian Dolomites - year round
English Lake district - year round
and
The Cornish coast line - year round
nkosi