I thought I'd start this thread on my birthday today- I didn't mean for it to be so longwinded!
1. Florence, Italy- because it is old and beautiful and, well, it's Florence!
2. Greve in Chianti, Italy (my avatar right now)- because even though it was hot and the kids played soccer in the square until midnight and the church bells rang half the night, it is all things Tuscan and everything you need is in that town square.
3. Salzburg, Austria- because we stayed in this former convent, now music school turned dorm-like hotel and it was incredibly simple, incredibly clean and very close to old town. And because we are music geeks and it is Mozart's town!
4. Prague, Czech Republic- because it is full of twisty old streets, castles, and an incredible hotel with the most hospitable Italian owners. There was nothing he wouldn't do before and after we arrived. And because we got to go to a concert in a our own little box at the theatre where Mozart debuted Don Giovanni (told you we were geeks!) And my daughter and I saw Brad Pitt! He looks even better in person by the way!
5. Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic- Because it is full of charm and a magical castle with one of the world's surviving old theatres (most burned down because of the use of fire and such during performances) And because we got in the middle of a classic Czech husband and wife argument while dickering for a nesting doll . And when wandering home after dinner, we encountered street musicians singing Johnny Cash (Folsum Prison) in Czech!
6. Hallstatt, Austria- because it is absolutely gorgeous and a classic little town by the lake in Austria.
7. Grand Lake, Colorado- because it is charming and our own cute little town by the lake in Colorado. And the site of many cabin adventures.
8. Tulum, Mexico- because of the beautiful white sandy beaches and the charm of the local town and the incredible Wisconsins who hosted us at their B and B.
9. Napili Bay, Maui- because of the great snorkeling and little protected cove of a beach and the Hawaiian people.
10. Victoria, Texas- because it is where I'm from and where my sister and niece and their husbands and my grandnieces live still.
11. My own backyard- because it is filled with love (and currently flowers!)

Happy Birthday, Bambi!!
And happy birthday to your daughter too - her's is tomorrow, isn't it?
Wow - you've been to some wonderful places. Your travels sounds so lovely. I think I'd like to see those places myself now :)
My top places are:
1. The Kalahari desert in South Africa, Namibia and Botswana, because it is so harsh, but beautiful and has so much incredible wildlife and the people you meet who live there are so amazing. I could go on and on about Africa!
2. Cape Town, South Africa because it is breath-takingly beautiful and from the top of Table Mountain you can so the most wonderful views of the city and the ocean. The city is so beautiful and vibrant – there is so much to do and see and the night-life is a lot of fun (if you’re careful!). The people are so interesting and fun-loving. I would live in Cape Town if I could.
3. The Namib Desert in Namibia because the sand dunes are awe-inspiring. We took a small plane ride over the Skeleton Coast and saw all the ship wrecks - it's an incredible spot!
4. Johannesburg, South Africa because it is a vibrant city - that was quite an adventure. You couldn't stop at stop signs or stop lights at night because you could get car-jacked! … I told you I could go on and on about Africa!
5. The Yucatan, Mexico - the Mayan ruins are amazing. We explored all kinds of ruins and snorkeled in the cenotes - the fish and rock formations are incredible. The people there are lovely too.
6. The Western US - my husband and I travel a lot to Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico. We love deserts! It is so picturesque there, the colours are so beautiful. Santa Fe is a beautiful city and the food is so great. And I love Las Vegas - what a blast! We have also taken road trips to Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, northern California and Washington. The landscape is so beautiful. I also really love San Francisco. I also didn't really think people talked like that - but I met real cowboys in Wyoming and Montana ... and they do talk like that! The Rocky Mountains made my jaw drop.
7. Florida - that's a great state! I love the Ocean. I love the pace of life there (away from the crazy tourist places - I go to Jacksonville to visit my mom). The history and architecture are so incredible! I particularly like the Kennedy Space Centre - we even saw a launch last year - that was so great. And people there really do talk like that!
8. Cuba - that is a very interesting country. Havana is amazing. It's so elegantly dilapidated. The landscape is beautiful, the ocean is wonderful, the history is so fascinating, and the mojitos are so yummy. I love going to places with a lot of history – that’s why one day I also have to get to Europe
9. London, England – I didn’t get to see very much of the city because I was there on business, but what I did see was awesome. The museum of natural history and Westminster Abbey – I have to go back to England. There is so much to see
10. Nova Scotia – I lived there for a little while and it is an incredibly beautiful province. The seafood is great, the landscape is gorgeous, the people are incredibly fun and friendly, there is music everywhere … and there are great pubs everywhere too :)
Hmmm … this really is a wonderful world, eh? (oops! Being a Canadian!)
I have also fallen in love with so many places in the US, but whenever I visit down there, people make fun of me for always saying “eh?”

HappyBday Bambi! Lovely thread!
In no particular order, though might dwell on my favourite...
1.  Mouille Point, Cape Town. Lots of memories of wonderful times with my family. Lived in a flat facing the sea, long walks along the sea front with my ex and my dogs. Great people, vibrancy, beauty, wine, history. 
2.  Victoria Falls. Amazing experience. Have a photograph taken there and so happy i have. Wild nature om the Zambezi River; elephants, hippos there, and all the other animals of Africa that you can imagine in the game reserve nearby. 
3.  Copenhagen. Small well run city. Great art galleries, restaurants. Buses on time. Every thing on time. Open sandwiches with delicious toppings. Great caring social system. Library called the Black Diamond with wonderful architecture. 
4.  Paris. Who could ever stop talking about the gorgeous city that is the city of light. Been there many times and always long to go back. The buildings, the Louvre, the texture of the place, the open markets and the extremely high quality of the food. I love it. No other city to match. 
5. La Digue island in the Seychelles. Years since i was there but know it well. No traffic, only ox carts. Peaceful. 
6. Bird Island in the Seychelles. A privilage to have gone there. Small atoll, white beach all around, birds nesting, coral reefs, hardly any people and definitely nothing tall in the shape of a building. My idea of heaven on earth. 
7. Bath. A Georgian and Roman city. Spectacular scenery. Stayed on the Royal Crescent. Great cathedral. Lots to do. Was there for three weeks on holiday and was never bored. 
8. New Orleans. Wonderful experience for me. Went in 2006, stayed 2 weeks and enjoyed every minute. Definitely my favourite city in the US. Great bread pudding! Great fun! Resiliant people. 
9. London. 'The man who is tired of London is tired of life.' Say no more!!!
10.  Tangiers. Fascinating.  Unforgettable. Mysterious. 
11.  Sydney, and the trip across Australia to get there, by train. Great fun. 
12. Hong Kong. WOW! spent 17 years there. 
I could go on and on. Great to bring back memories.

Mine would have to be as follows:
1. LOS ANGELES. Ok, so it's just a few hundred miles from me (I live near San Francisco), and I lived there for 5 years. Not exactly exotic by any means, but it's a city that has a special place in my heart. I moved to Los Angeles when I was 17, and left when I was 22. So I kind of feel like I spent my formative years there and it shaped my adult life and view of the world quite a bit (for better or for worse can be debated :)). I've been all over the world, and one of the closest places geographically remains one of the most special in my heart of hearts :) There's something about the urban jungle and abundant wackiness here that I find comforting ... almost like "hey you're a depressed tattooed insomniac freak, but that's ok, because everyone else here is too!" hahahaha. Most people would consider its neighbor San Diego a nicer place, but for me I like the rough, raw edge that Los Angeles has (I lived on the Westside which locals will tell you takes the crown for wackiness).
2. AMSTERDAM. I'll just make this one honest and simple: I'm a pot smoker, and I visited here while I was working in Europe years ago, before marijuana essentially all but became legal in California It's actually kind of a shame that I loved Amsterdam so much, to be honest. Having spent most of my life in America, I was excited to work in Europe for a bit, and looked forward to seeing various countries. And while I did make it to many countries during my time there, there were many weekends where I just bought myself a $100 roundtrip ticket (I was based in Oslo) to Amsterdam to party for a few days. In retrospect, maybe I should have spent more time traveling across Europe and saved the pot smoking for when I got home. But hey, that's life Pot aside, it was always a great experience, I always met great people here, be they native Dutch or other stoner travelers! Oh yeah, and the tulips are pretty nice when they're in season too LOL.
3. NICE. First, a confession: I dislike most French food. I know I'm in the minority here, but I ate at all kinds of restaurants when I was in Paris and other parts of northern France, and never really cared for any of it (except for the pastries which were beyond compare). But I nearly ate myself to death in Nice and the other parts of the French Riviera. There's something about the blend of Italian and French influence with Mediterranean ingredients that's just yummy. And ok, it helps that it usually got washed down with some wine and cigar while hanging out by the beach :) Beautiful, beautiful place. My only regret is that I didn't take my wife here. I would love to come back with her, rent a convertible, and drive it down the coast to Italy.
4. WROCLAW. Came here on a business trip when I was working in Europe. I had no idea what to expect to find in Poland. In fact, I kind of didn't want to go originally ... the backstory here is that my friend went to medical school in Warsaw years before my visit here, and he was murdered by some skinheads there at the age of 22. Really sad story, and one that left a real bad taste in my mouth plus some fear of racial tension in Poland (I'm Chinese). I don't mean to offend anyone by this backstory ... but it's the truth, and it's why I thought Poland would be a terrible place to visit. Well, I was dead wrong. Some parts of Poland (for example Katowice) were indeed very industrial, but Wroclaw was stunningly beautiful. The clients I was visiting here actually went out of their way to show us around town after hours, and I was amazed. The food was excellent, the alcohol was cheap and abundant, and the natural beauty of the city was just brilliant. And the people I met were all VERY nice. This destination was the biggest surprise on this list. (And on a less sad note, one other funny backstory: myself and a few coworkers entered Poland by driving from Berlin. Our crew consisted of a French lady, a German guy, myself, plus a South African guy with both a South African and British passport. We got some interesting looks and questions from the Polish border guards when our little entourage showed up and requested entry :))
5. WHISTLER. My favorite spot for snowboarding. My wife and I used to come here every year to snowboard. To be perfectly honest, I'd have to say that Utah actually has the best snow (most dry and fluffy) in North America. But as an overall experience, Whistler is hands down #1 in my book. It has the biggest mountain and the most varied terrain, from ungroomed double blacks to crazy terrain parks. I loved coming here for the food in Vancouver, for the HUGE ski resort, and the great beers. Nothing like hanging out on the deck by a fire in the cold fresh mountain air sipping on a beer with some meat on the BBQ after a long day of snowboarding Whistler and Blackcomb.
6. BORACAY. Here's another confession: I don't care for most of Asia. I was born in Taiwan, moved to the US at a young age, and have since visited a few places in Asia on a couple of occasions. In general, I find Asia to be unpleasant -- the cities feel cramped, I don't like the smell of pollution when driving through the streets, and honestly I just feel like people are rude (although this makes sense given that people are always in close proximity to one another in Asia). Anyway, again, this isn't meant to be offensive, but I want to be honest about my biases. But I liked Boracay. Yes, it's still pretty crowded, and yes, you can't walk more than a few steps without running into a tourist trap here. But it's just a beautiful stretch of beach, the people are friendly (and in the absolute worst case non-threatening), and I had a great time here just hanging out ... all I really recall was eating a lot of seafood, smoking hookahs on the beach at night, and just laying in the sand ... basically doing nothing. After all, that's what vacations are for, right?
7. LAS VEGAS. Alright, by now you can probably all figure out that I like to party (used to anyway). And Vegas invented the party When I lived in Los Angeles, I used to drive here all the time on weekends, oftentimes without even staying in a hotel LOL. Straight up "broke college student" style! Now it's a 1-hour flight away from me, and I still take the occasional weekend trip there with my wife. Usually during March Madness or the NBA playoffs so I can bet on my teams What a totally ridiculous, outlandish, and awesomely fun place.
8. PORT DOUGLAS. I like nearly every place I've ever visited in Australia, but Port Douglas is what stuck out for me. It has a secluded, small town charm that's hard to find. Feels like a place where time kind of freezes -- you just enjoy the moment and the outside world at large ceases to exist as long as you're here. It has enough niceties to keep city slickers like myself comfortable, but doesn't really feel like a city at all. It's just the right blend of city and country for me.
9. MAUI. I've been to most of the Hawaiian Islands (some of them several times) since they're so close to California, but Maui is my favorite, and the only one I would visit again in the future. It's sort of like Port Douglas: modernized, yet not completely urbanized. It has been developed quite a bit more over the years, and purists will say that said development has ruined Maui, but I disagree. IMO Maui boasts something for everyone, even more so after the new influx of condos, hotels, tourism, etc. If you want something secluded, you can still do that. If you want a big resort feel, you can find that easily too. Being from the US, it's like being in a foreign place while still being at home.
10. I'm going to list my other "honorable mentions" here, in no particular order:
SYDNEY, because it seems very similar to Los Angeles, but with nicer people (apologies to my So Cal friends ).
LONDON, see comments for SYDNEY above :) Although I'd say this feels more like San Francisco than Los Angeles, just with better weather during summer hahahaha.
GRAND CANYON, because the mule ride to the bottom is great fun -- I'm glad I did this before I had any ass issues though!
BEIJING, just because the Great Wall is something I've always wanted to see since it's such a famous part of my people's history.
SHANGHAI, because while it's still cramped like most other Asian cities, the sheer size and sprawl of it is just amazing, plus I'm a night owl (more like insomniac) and love the fact that there's something going on at all times of day and night here. I just love going out at 3 AM to see what's going on. Can't do that where I am now because it'll just be me and the bums while everyone else is indoors sleeping
BERLIN, because I'm a car nut and loved driving the Autobahn. You can drive as fast as you want in most stretches, and people actually move out of the left lane to let faster traffic by. What a concept! I rented a Ferrari here and it was great fun!
STOCKHOLM, because I love the architecture and archipelago here. As someone who is from America, I got a real sense of being in the "old world" here.
PARIS, because the tourist area is really nice and romantic. I was shown around the non-tourist areas of Paris by some local friends, and honestly didn't really care for those -- seemed like any other big city anywhere else in the world, to be honest. But inside the central tourist area, I love going with my wife and just taking a stroll or a little cruise on the Seine.
PUERTO VALLARTA, because of all the tequilas here -- nuff said! There are also some fun little islands nearby to visit, and out of all the popular Mexican tourist destinations I've been to, this one feels the "most Mexican" to me. Oh yeah, and the Le Kliff restaurant just outside of town has probably the best scenery out of any restaurant I've ever been to. It's a shame that the actual food is subpar at best and just plan bad at worst, but I would go again for the view alone. It's right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the ocean and the photo I took here is still amongst my favorite vacation photos. Did I mention all the tequilas they have here?
I'll go ahead and shut up now, as what I thought would be a short brief post is now a novel that has me reminiscing about times gone by. Life has changed so much over the last few years, and I haven't taken a real vacation for about 4 years now. But I've been thinking back about times when things were simpler, and I feel like I had a pretty good run while it lasted. Really helps put things in perspective.
Great topic Bambi!

Oh, how I love this thread! Such wonderful adventures folks. Keep it up, and indeed, great topic you began, Bambi!!

This is great reading! (and giving me lots of good ideas)

Giving this thread a bump. Sidra, I know you're out there and have something to add here!!!

Oh, I hope Sidra adds to this. She is such a world traveler!!

Love Las Vegas & Florida yey
Love Greece, Spain, Italy....Oh the I.T.'s
Didn't love Texas..........Scary place I found? Or Paris as it is dirty, unfriendly and expensive!!

I’m from Mexico and I’ve visited several places there – so beautiful – but this was prior to 2008 and am not going back :*(.. I’ve been to Monterrey, Nuevo Laredo, Piedras Negras, Torreon, San Luis, Bustamante, San Pedro de las Colonias, Nueva Rosita, Palau, and several other little towns..
Here in Texas: San Antonio, Lockhart, Austin, Laredo, Corpus Christi, Pleasanton, Floresville, Hondo, Uvalde, Eagle Pass, Del Rio, Poth, Poteet, New Braunfels, Seguin, Devine, and other little towns as well..