Top 20 Cities for Americans

List your favorite places you have been

  • Total voters
    45
I love Paris. Great city and yes great people. I have never had a rude person experience in France. Lots of typical big city people in Paris, out in the provinces just great people. Awesome food, history, attitude towards life and natural beauty. I get to travel a lot an am happy about that. All of these cities I have been to multiple times and that gives me a great chance to see and do a lot. I will be happy to be visiting Prague next year, somewhere I have never been to before. I still have to get to Florence and Venice!!! I need another south Europe vacation opportunity. I go there a lot but never when I can also add some extra time to take off from work. Planning on a revisit to London in February. Great city too. I used to live just outside of it, so going there is sort of like going home.
 
I didn't see Salisbury, MD on the list, so I just voted for Prague. ;)
 
The only ones I've been to are the Canadian ones; Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal and Niagara Falls. My favorite of those is Vancouver by far.
 
I've been to 5 on the list - London, Paris, Toronto, Montreal, and Cancun. To be honest, none of them are my favorite. They're all too crowded and busy (although Toronto isn't as bad). That said, I'm typically biased against cities.

My favorite foreign travel spot I've been I believe is Cozumel. Beautiful, airport is still pretty sleepy (unlike Cancun), quiet, yet still plenty to do.
 
screw cities, when I am going on vacation I like to get as far away from big cities as possible

Last time I went out of the country, I flew down to the virgin islands, rented a sailboat and went island hopping for a week.

For the aviator this is like having a strong tailwind everywhere you go. The trade winds are nearly always blowing a nice 15-20 knots.

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I've been to all but 3. Prague is a favorite. I'd go back in a minute. Love Paris, too, for different reasons. Like Scott, i don't find Parisians rude. Dublin is fun, great beer. Florence - gateway to Tuscany.... had one of my best meals ever close-by. Venice is fun, but I like Florence better.

Been to Madrid twice, Barcelona once. Great experiences at both. Both would be great visits again.

London and Amsterdam are nice, but business cities for me. Lost count of visits.

China is on the "near future" list, and i do have an invite....

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Ted DuPuis said:
My favorite foreign travel spot I've been I believe is Cozumel. Beautiful, airport is still pretty sleepy (unlike Cancun), quiet, yet still plenty to do.
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You should have seen Cozumel 20 years ago. Best diving in the world, IMHO. And the coldest beer afterwards at Carlos & Charlies. Perfect.
 
Geico266 said:
You should have seen Cozumel 20 years ago. Best diving in the world, IMHO. And the coldest beer afterwards at Carlos & Charlies. Perfect.
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I would like to have. 20 years ago is when I went to Cancun, and really didn't like it much.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I would like to have. 20 years ago is when I went to Cancun, and really didn't like it much.
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Cozumel had the most honest people in the world living there then. I left a $400 of diving gear on the beach and went back to the hotel. After 3 hours I realized what I had done (long story) and took a cab back only to find it gone. :mad: A little Mexican guy whistled at me 300 yards away and waived for me to come. I walked over there and he said if this suba gear was mine! It was! He could have kept it and sold it, but he wanted me to come back next year and I did. I tried to tip him for watching my gear but he refused. This happened in Mexico!? :yesnod:

On second though he cost me a bunch! :rofl:
 
None except Vancouver. With little hope of ever having more than two weeks of vacation time in the next five years, probably never will.

Cozumel is nice. Been there twice. Once was October 2001 a month before the tech bubble burst and I was jobless for a year. Everyone post 9/11 by one month was talkative and outgoing. Most interesting vacation of my life. Wife bought it as a birthday surprise.

The next was a couple years later on a whopping four day cruise out of Tampa that my dad gave us as a present via his frequent flyer miles. That was fun. The place had changed a lot since 2001, with development of the new cruise ship docks on the northwest side and Playa del Carmen on the other end of the ferry ride was massively developed in just a few short years.

During the 2001 trip, Xel Ha over on the mainland south of Playa del Carmen was entertaining. A tourist trap but was fun snorkeling in the mixture of fresh and salt water.

On the later trip, a "party boat" ride from the cruise ship to Señor Frogs was um... entertaining in a whole different way.

We have also learned that my wife, who rarely drinks here at home, likes drinking in Mexico! :rofl: I think watching her is most of the "entertainment". ;)
 
London is one of my favorites. I lived there for years, still like to visit. Last trip in March.
Stockholm. One of the most beautiful cities I've seen. They have coffee shops and candy shops on every corner. I guess that's how they make it through the winter, with a sugar and caffeine high. Salty licorice takes some getting used to, but now I like it.
Brussels. One of my favorite under-rated cities. Great food.
Berlin. Cool place to visit. Twenty years ago I got my own piece of the Berlin Wall. I chipped it out with a flashlight. What is left of the Wall is now protected.
Tokyo. Just interesting.
Prague and Budapest. I first went there twenty years ago when they were dirt cheap, no one spoke English, only a few people spoke German. I went back a few years ago, they seemed very different. Everyone seemed to speak English, they discovered tourism and now they are as expensive as any European city. The police there are crooked; as soon as they see a foreign license plate, they stop you and make up a fine on the spot for something they claim you did. The police also tried to nab me on my dog, but I always carry her passport with me (German dogs come with passports). The times we were there, European cars frequently got stolen and ended up in Russia, so we had to pay to keep our car in a locked garage with armed guards.

I lived in Europe for a decade. I can find something redeeming about almost any place.
Almost forgot Malta. I loved my trip to Malta. It has a walled city, Valletta, that was the home of the Knights Templar.

Vancouver I loved too. Any my husband lived in Toronto, so I should add that to the list.
Beijing is on the future list, and Shanghai. I want to see the Mag Lev.

Here's the Atomium in Brussels. I love a city that has a giant representation of Iron in their skyline.
 

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Cancun was about my least favorite spot in Mexico. Niagra-on-the-Lake was wonderful, and I will be returning to Montreal. Haven't spent much time on the European Continent.
 
I really enjoy London. Great place. Given the choice between London and Paris, I'd take London every time. Rome is interesting - the Italians are so slack-ass they always make me laugh, but they sure know how to enjoy life. Gotta hand it to them on that score! Still, it's London for me.
 
i'm not an international traveler. this american prefers visiting american cities. america, f**k yea
 
I checked off the places I've been, but none of them constitute my favorite places to be. Certain other Southeast Asian and Australian destinations are missing from the list.

That said I don't consider any major city a "destination", just as a waypoint to get to were I want to be.
 
I've been to all of them save Dublin and Prague - and both are on my wish list. Favorites? Hard to say - they all have their points, although I'd be in no hurry to return to Cancun. I'd be happy to go back to any of the others, though.

Dave
 
I'm surprised Toronto is on the list, frankly. The couple of stays I had there while prepping and writing my Canadian pilot exams a couple years ago I found it to be a very unfriendly city, especially towards Americans; well, ok ME as I was traveling alone. There was only 1 restaurant that actually provided me service as any other customer. 3 different places I went to lunch downtown and 2 near my hotel near the airport for dinner asked where I was from when I was handed the menu. After that I was ignored. I could chalk it up to crappy service (which seems to be the norm) except people being seated after me were getting their food before I had even gotten someone to come back to take my order. After that I ate take-out and pizza.

I have no desire to go back there ever - even for the Hockey Hall of Fame, which I never got to see while there, but that is a whole 'nother story.

Newfoundland, on the other hand, is by far the best part of Canada and St. John's is the most welcoming city I have ever had the pleasure to visit.
 
I would rather give my money to American businesses than patronize countries that hate us. I've been to none of those places, and never plan to set foot in any of them.
 
EdFred said:
I would rather give my money to American businesses than patronize countries that hate us. I've been to none of those places, and never plan to set foot in any of them.
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None of those places hate us.

At certain times they may not be happy with our policies, but hate. No, they do not. I have only had a couple of anti-American experiences and those are in real hell holes in the middle east.
 
Laurie said:
I'm surprised Toronto is on the list, frankly.
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I am too. I didn't find it particularly unfriendly but there didn't seem to be too much to do that was interesting. I used to go more often when I was assigned to another airplane but very rarely now. I have never been to far eastern Canada except for Havre St. Pierre but I like far western Canada. Vancouver Island is beautiful.

I would love to travel to other countries but then I have seen quite a bit of the US already.
 
I've been to most on that list, some multiple times. For those who would prefer to spend their money in the US, fine. Some of us often travel to those places because our employers think there is a reason for us to be there. And, keep in mind that travel gives you perspectives you might not otherwise gain. For example, if all you "know" about Venice is that the canals stink, you would be missing a great deal (and, they didn't stink when we took our kids there in 1992).

And, lest you think I've given the US short shrift in my travels, I have set foot in all 50 states over my life. Now, I'll grant you that Kentucky is on the list only because the Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky and we were changing planes there, but I was on the ground. :D
 
Ghery said:
I've been to most on that list, some multiple times. For those who would prefer to spend their money in the US, fine. Some of us often travel to those places because our employers think there is a reason for us to be there. And, keep in mind that travel gives you perspectives you might not otherwise gain. For example, if all you "know" about Venice is that the canals stink, you would be missing a great deal (and, they didn't stink when we took our kids there in 1992).

And, lest you think I've given the US short shrift in my travels, I have set foot in all 50 states over my life. Now, I'll grant you that Kentucky is on the list only because the Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky and we were changing planes there, but I was on the ground. :D
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I agree fully. There are lots of things to see here in this country, and there's nothing wrong with staying domestic. However, international travel is a wonderful thing. There is so much in this world worth seeing.

My mother placed a large emphasis on international travel, so growing up I got to see a lot of the world. That gave me a lot of good perspective that I would not have gotten staying in this country. For the past 10 years, I've spent a lot more time traveling around this country. That has given me a lot of good perspective that I otherwise did not have.
 
Ghery said:
I've been to most on that list, some multiple times. For those who would prefer to spend their money in the US, fine. Some of us often travel to those places because our employers think there is a reason for us to be there. And, keep in mind that travel gives you perspectives you might not otherwise gain. For example, if all you "know" about Venice is that the canals stink, you would be missing a great deal (and, they didn't stink when we took our kids there in 1992).

And, lest you think I've given the US short shrift in my travels, I have set foot in all 50 states over my life. Now, I'll grant you that Kentucky is on the list only because the Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky and we were changing planes there, but I was on the ground. :D
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Exactly right and I was not trying to make it sound in my response to Ed that he was somewhat less a person for not wanting to travel internationally.

I have also been fortunate enough to live overseas. I lived in England for several years and I spent an extended stay, 6 months, in the People's Republic of China. You really get a different experience living somewhere even when you travel there a lot. Mostly because you get a lot of down time to get to know the community. I am lucky that I do get to frequently travel domestically and internationally. While I have not been to all 50 states (only 43) it is a goal. Hopefully I will add North and South Dakota next month. Then all I need is to get to New England.

The one thing I do hate is airline travel. I hope, once I retire for good, to never get on an airline ever again. That may be unavoidable as I will still want to go to Europe. But maybe, I might just do the ship thing instead.
 
Ghery said:
Now, I'll grant you that Kentucky is on the list only because the Cincinnati airport is in Kentucky and we were changing planes there, but I was on the ground. :D
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Ha, that's funny. Same here. Oh, wait... I drove through southbound once getting down to Tenessee from Chicago... well, that's twice.

Cincinnati is frakkin' COLD in winter. We at least get sunshine when it's cold here. Holy cow. On the river, wind blowing... you can keep that silliness. Chicago too.
 
EdFred said:
I would rather give my money to American businesses than patronize countries that hate us. I've been to none of those places, and never plan to set foot in any of them.
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Europeans may dislike US foreign policy, but not Americans. I've never felt disliked or hated or badly treated. They do appreciate visitors making an effort to speak their language, but some places, like Sweden or the Netherlands, I tried some words and was immediately spoken to in English. People are generally very welcoming. Because of my parents, I've been traveling internationally since childhood; you truly gain new perspectives on the world around you by seeing things from other points of view.
 
ScottM said:
Exactly right and I was not trying to make it sound in my response to Ed that he was somewhat less a person for not wanting to travel internationally.

I have also been fortunate enough to live overseas. I lived in England for several years and I spent an extended stay, 6 months, in the People's Republic of China. You really get a different experience living somewhere even when you travel there a lot. Mostly because you get a lot of down time to get to know the community. I am lucky that I do get to frequently travel domestically and internationally. While I have not been to all 50 states (only 43) it is a goal. Hopefully I will add North and South Dakota next month. Then all I need is to get to New England.

The one thing I do hate is airline travel. I hope, once I retire for good, to never get on an airline ever again. That may be unavoidable as I will still want to go to Europe. But maybe, I might just do the ship thing instead.
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I concur with both you and Ghery.

I've got all 50 states, and a lot of countries. Love to travel, hate the airline experience (made infinitely worse by the TSA). I remember how exciting it was to travel by air as a kid, back in the DC-6/Connie/Electra days. I get treated fairly well because I fly the same airlines a lot, but it's no George Clooney glamour movie.

There's a reason I own a plane....

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