OT- The most beautiful place in the world

Submitted by Mabel Pines on

So my Mom is from the East Coast and has been to a lot of places.  The other day she told me she thought Arcadia Bluffs was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.  What do you think?  What is/ are the most beautiful places in the world?  Places we should visit.  (obvs, a full Big House after a nice win, but where else?)

buddhafrog

June 9th, 2016 at 12:57 PM ^

I've been to all 50 states and several dozens countries. Still...

Remote sandy sections of the east coast of Lake Michigan can never be topped by me. I know it is also influenced by good memories, but damn, what a place.

Also:

Pulau Weh, Indonesia

Vancover Island, CA

 

evenyoubrutus

June 9th, 2016 at 1:03 PM ^

Hard to beat Waimea Canyon and the neighboring coastline (basically where Jurassic Park was shot). But if I had a day to live I might spend it in the UP.

WindyCityBlue

June 9th, 2016 at 1:04 PM ^

I've travelled to over 30 countries (humlebrag!!) and the most beautiful place I've been to is Iceland.  Highly recommend going.  The food could be better, though.  But never been to place with so much untouched beauty.

jdon

June 9th, 2016 at 1:06 PM ^

The most beautiful place to me would be something like Machu Picchu because of the view and the history behind it....  I long to visit Peru...

 

The most beautiful place I've ever been/seen is Monte Alban in the south of Mexico

 

MaizeAndBlueWahoo

June 9th, 2016 at 1:24 PM ^

Machu Picchu is stunning.  The best part was this: On the way, you're crazy if you don't visit some other nearby places like Urubamba, the Sacred Valley, and Ollantaytambo, and the gorgeous mountain settings for all of them made me worry, if I might be spoiling my impression of Machu Picchu by seeing them first.  Then I got to Machu Picchu and the immediate answer is, no, not one bit.  Man, is there ever a reason it's a famous place.

ken725

June 9th, 2016 at 2:31 PM ^

I did some white water rafting on Rio Urubamba that was lots of fun.

Climbing the smaller peaks to get even a higher view of the entire ruin was amazing. While we were up there we got enveloped by clouds for few minutes which was amazing and even more amazing as we could see the rins as the cluds parted.

ak47

June 9th, 2016 at 2:33 PM ^

If you ever go you have to hike in.  Even if you don't have time to do a 4 day trek or don't like camping there are 2 day 1 night treks where you spend a night at the "base" town but stil get to hike in by getting off the train at km 104.  Having your first view of machu pichu be coming through the sun gate rather than in line after getting off a bus makes all the difference.

 

Plus the inca trail isn't exactly shabby itself in terms of stunning beauty.

Aiq21

June 9th, 2016 at 1:09 PM ^

Just a gorgeous city.  Saw a Champions league game at Parc des Princes last year and that experience was pretty incredible

Perkis-Size Me

June 9th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

There's a couple for me:

-Getting up to the top of a walkable section of the Great Wall was, for me, one of the most awe-inspiring moments of my life. 

-Yosemite Valley

-Visiting the Vatican. I'm not Catholic, and am more of a deist than anything nowadays, but wow, the basilica and the chapel were two of the most beautiful buildings I've ever been in. 

-Wasn't old enough at the time to truly appreciate it when I went, but the Grand Canyon was pretty spectacular. 

-Witnessing a Haleakala sunrise in Maui. I remember being so mad at my parents for making us wake up at 2am to get in a cramped van with 15 other people to drive up some mountain to watch a sunrise. It was really darn cold when we got up there, but once we saw the sunrise, wow. Was truly a thing of beauty. And biking down the mountain afterwards and seeing various local villages along the way was pretty great too. 

Wolvie3758

June 9th, 2016 at 1:11 PM ^

right now and travel extensively domestic and Intl and Id honestly say for me Hawaii and Alaska are my two favorite places ...Alaska would be my top choice with Hawaii right behind...

Cliffs of Mohrs Ireland #3

MikeCohodes

June 9th, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^

For skiers: atop Ridge Run at Heavenly in Lake Tahoe is majestic. One side of the ridge is the lake ringed by mountains reflecting on the water. Other side is the desert as far as the eye can see. Corfu in Greece & Amalfi in Italy were gorgeous. Yellowstone, Bryce Canyon, & Zion National Park are all amazing, especially the angel's landing in Zion shown earlier by Ron Utah in this thread The view from atop Diamondhead in Oahu is worth the hike up There's some really amazing places in the Philippines too but their names escape me right now.

uferfan

June 9th, 2016 at 1:16 PM ^

Hands down, the Maldives is just flat-out beautiful. There are hundreds of islands....just pick one.

As far as a drive, taking Decker Canyon Road from Thousand Oaks to Malibu, CA was pretty breathtaking as well.

Croatian_Blue

June 9th, 2016 at 1:17 PM ^

I'm a little biased, but just do a Google image search for "Plitvice Lakes."

Also, the first time my parents took us to Europe, we stayed in this little Swiss mountain town called Murren.  Still can't believe the views I saw and I'm planning on going back at some point.

youn2948

June 9th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

Between the two islands it has everything.

Glacier, check.
Mountains, check.
Beaches, check.
Windy bluff roads, check.
 

Yes it is a bit boring and in the middle of nowhere geographically but you asked for beauty, not where to live.  

Vietnam may be a close second for me.  Mountains and beaches were beautiful.  Have some beautiful pictures from a partly cloudy day where you can see the rays of sun coming through the clouds down into the valley.

Hawaii is very beautiful as well, as is the carribbean(Jamaica).

Rural China is neat seeing the villages and rolling terraces as far as the eye can see.

Just about any place with vegetation that is away from people is beautiful TBH.

For archetecture I like Spain the gothic in Barceloa and very old small villa towns.  The type with a large fountain in the center where everything is closed during midday.\

Ireland is absolutely beautiful as well, talking the country side.  Unless you want snow capped peaks.

Hong Kong or similar cities have amazing skylines, I still think I prefer Hong Kong when looking over the city scape.

Obviously this is subjective because beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder and everyone values certain geographic or archetectual things differently.

 

*edit*

Forgot to mention the views from the mountains in Ecuador, forget the name of the national park but that was definitely beautiful but that can be said for most mountain ranges that are unspoiled by humanity.

The Mad Hatter

June 9th, 2016 at 1:45 PM ^

They were spared most of the destruction other cities suffered in WWI and WWII.

Prague is better if you're a single man.  Anything you want is available there for a reasonable price, and Czech girls are stunning.  Krakow is better for a family vacation.  Many people speak at least some English there now.

EDIT:  If you have two weeks you can do both.  Beautiful train ride through the mountains.

Njia

June 9th, 2016 at 1:45 PM ^

Is stunning. The beauty of the city is breathtaking, and largely unspoiled (unlike Paris and Rome, which are trash heaps). It's also far cheaper to travel to Krakow and there are many fewer people in the museums, cafes, and shops. I loved that trip, and I can't wait to go back.

Wolfman

June 9th, 2016 at 1:21 PM ^

all the places they warn you against, there are so many places in Mexico you fall in love with the first time you see them. The state of Oxacca, for example, south of Jalisco, where Puerto Vallarta is located, has some of the most beautiful beaches in the world and offer areas where one can walk two, three miles without seeing another human. 

They also havs smaller cities like Ajijic that offers a San Diego like climate due, I guess, to having Mexico's largest lake on one end of town and a mountain range on the other. Maybe one night during the winter does one need a hoody. Most of the time the temps are between 72 and 78 with no humidity. Drive 7 miles in either direction and you feel like you're in the desert.  

Then there are cities like Guanojato and San Miguel Allende, both located in Jalisco and both share a reesemblance to a small "Italian city," where you come out of a lighted tunnel and are amazed at the city laid out in front of you. Houses dotting the hillsides and both cities extremely clean and offering a multiude of things to do. Already though, they are no longer consdired secrets and the prices and number of those of Euro descent are taking away from their natural charm. It is a country that has a lot to offer and the "developing country" or "third world" labels just aren't factual, especially when compared to the pot-holed streets that dot the roads on the w. side of Michigan. \

As to the contiguous 48, the w. coast, hell all along the PCH, but S. CA being my favorite has a lot to offer. Than the mountainous NW is also extremely beautiful. I loved Jackson Hole, about 1 hr south of Yellowstone. It has a small sized college town atmosphere to it where partying is on the menu 24 hrs. Short jaunts to the Snake River and other area of interest all around. Lake Tahoe and surrounding areas are very nice as well. Just so damn many places of beauty and interest to give that title to just one. 

pake61

June 9th, 2016 at 1:23 PM ^

I'm partial to Zion National Park in Utah or Acadia National Park in Maine personally.  Admittely, I have not traveled internationally.