Mont-Saint-Michel definitely was a special place. Already driving up to it and seeing it from a distance was surreal and then walking through this tightly packed place seemingly in the middle of the sea is unlike anything else.
So covids def changed the place, but I'm rooting for it... But I love Montreal, QC. I know Quebec gets hate for being rude to non French speakers but I've genuinely only had one bad experience and it was a McDonald's outside Montreal.... But the food is great, they have a lot to do both indoor and outdoor activities (see edit) and it helps coming from the states my money is worth a bit more. Man... It's been too long... I wanna go back.
edit - my favorite things to do is the tam tams, frites alors (hands down my favie resturant), there's a lot of beautiful cathedrals.... the aboritory is awesome. all the 'lil x towns' are legit too... man... i need to go back. i recommend going during the jazz fest if you can afford it.
I was in Montreal for the eclipse, I'm sure it was a very busy tourist weekend and they were ready for the influx of us English speakers coming to town, but I didn't have any issues anywhere.
It was probably my favorite city I've ever visited. Everything we ate was amazing, even when we just stopped into some random hole in the wall Chinese takeout place for a quick bite.
Public transit blew anything I've ever experienced in the states clean out of the water. I was also kind of in awe at how bikeable the city was.
There's not many cities I've visited that I'm itching to go back to, but I'm definitely planning to go back sometime.
Look people are going to come at me for this, but I'm not american and for me disney world was literally the most magical place I've ever been. I went there about 4 or 5 times during my life and everytime I was amazed. By the perfection of everything, the power to make you forget your problems, how every tiny detail is thought about.. also how everything is incredibly expensive.
Idk, maybe americans have access to a lot of theme parks but I don't and I love the rides and how sometimes we have to stop and look 2 or 3 times to understand how they did something.
American, love Disney for the reasons you said. We go every few years since we all enjoy it. They go to great lengths to ensure it feels magical every time.
Disney Land and theme parks in particular aren't for me but it would be very silly for me to claim I don't understand why other people enjoy them. Especially someone not from America.
I haven’t been to many places, but i really enjoyed Washington DC. I walked all over and saw many embassies, experienced most of the free museums, saw many monuments, and learned that it could get so humid in the summer that I would have to buy new clothes lol. historic buildings and decent public transportation. The restaurants in the area i was were amazing. many fond memories to look back on. i intend to visit again with my wife and kids eventually.
My wife and i went to Tortola in '99. Everything went wrong, and we still had a good time. If things had gone right, we might have never left.
That said, the off-trail areas of the state parks of north NY, NJ, PA, up to Canada and into Vermont) are where I feel most at peace. A quiet cabin on a lake ten miles from a small town would be a perfect place to retire to.
My grandparent's cottage on a lake in Maine. I arrive and instantly am 100% relaxed. The challenges of the interpersonal dynamics of a few dozen relatives are no match for the raw vibes.
Cardiff, Wales. One of the few places in the world that felt like a Real City while also having its own distinct culture and feel. Every other city I’ve been to feels like the same sort of dull corpo-district monoculture.
Old Montreal also has a bit of this, but only the central city areas, the outside periphery quickly devolves back into the “this could be anywhere in North America (version francaise)”
I loved quiet Eastern Thailand so I moved there. Of all of the places I have lived on the planet, this has been far & away the most ‘home’-like place I have been. Previously when I would travel & return to my domicile, I would be filled with a sense of something wrong if not dread, but here when I get back to my province or city, I generally get excited & happy every time.
From a tourist point of view, Istanbul. I could spend weeks there. The vibe, the history, the constant cleaning culture. Now Aisa, now Europe... the Bosporus. Must go back.
Lowe Mill in Huntsville, Alabama. It's like a giant collaborative art space in an old factory building. Pretty much the most anarchist space I've ever been to, although that's a very low bar for me.