Sheryl and I like to travel. We try to take two or three major vacations a year, and for the last couple of years, we have taken a ton of weekend getaways. We haven’t been on many trips since moving to Arizona, but have been to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico and to five countries in Europe. Consider those vacations! Living in Arizona will open the door to a lot of new weekend getaways. For instance, we are headed to Tucson in a few weeks. I will be covering, and Sheryl will be shooting, Life In Color, the world’s largest paint party. We also are looking at Vegas this winter, and maybe a trip to Seattle. Oh, and San Diego over Thanksgiving.
When we travel, we rely on TripAdvisor. The site provides us with reviews of popular tourist traps, and provides insight on things to do in the cities we visit. We also use Yelp (in the United States, anyway) as well as foursquare and other location-based services. Basically we research where we are going, and when we get there we research where we are going to next. Sites like that provide a great way to explore our planet. But TripAdvisor is worth more than that. The site also sends emails periodically with travel tips and random musings to keep travelers entertained. A recent list that I liked was the Top 10 Most Visited Cities in the World. I liked the list so much, I wanted to write a blog post about it!
Below are the top 10 most visited cities in the world. The ones that I have visited I will discuss in greater detail.
10. Nassau, Bahamas
Last year, I went to the Bahamas on a scuba diving trip. I wanted to visit the Bahamas, and the trip was a good price. We stayed on Paradise Island and I ended up going on several dive trips with the same dive shop. One of the dive trips was a shark feed. Yes… we actually fed sharks! They are reef sharks, and have never killed a human… but still, a pretty cool experience. A few days into the trip, I heard a knock at the door. I got up to answer it, and Sheryl was standing on the other side! She came for a long weekend to visit me. She either missed me or found it as a good excuse to visit the island. We had a blast, and I can’t wait to go back for some more shark dives!
9. Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
8. Barcelona, Spain
7. Montego Bay, Jamaica
6. Rome, Italy
We just got back from Rome. It was our last stop on our European vacation, and was my least favorite. We stayed in a decent hotel, and had easy access to the metro… but the city just didn’t impress me. At least the pizza was good. When we got there, we were SO tired. We had been walking for a week, and just wanted to rest. We ended up seeing the Colosseum, the Spanish Steps, and the Vatican… but nothing was worth writing home about. Plus, the people are rude and smell really bad. I mean, REALLY bad. Worse than people smell in France. (I saw that in the best way possible.) I am glad we went, but it will be the last time I visit Rome on purpose.
5. Toronto, Canada
4. Paris, France
We visited Paris on our recent trip over seas. I love Paris, and had spent time there when I was younger. My aunt actually used to live here when she worked for IBM. I wanted Sheryl to see why this city means so much to me. Our entire apartment is decorated in Paris with pictures of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame hanging all over the place. Paris is the city of love, and I wanted to drink wine with Sheryl while looking out over the city. We actually, while in Paris, found some new things to see like a bridge covered in locks. What a thrill to buy and sign a lock only to throw the key in the river! (I have to thank my good friend Amanda Conyers for that one!) I just love Paris, and can’t wait to go back.
3. San Juan, Puerto Rico
2. London, England
We started our recent trip in London. We flew from Phoenix to London direct. It was nice, actually. It was an 8-hour trip from here to there, but somehow it was 11 hours on the way back. Regardless, we had a great time in London. From Fleet Street to the red phone booths, London is filled with history. It is also filled with cider! I quickly became a cider guy while visiting. They drink cider over ice there… interesting. Anyway, London is a great city, and I wish I had more time there. I am sure we will be back since we can book a direct flight from Phoenix.
1. Cancun, Mexico
As you can see, we travel a lot. I recently started a bucket list, and a lot of the things on my list are travel related. From visiting every country in the world to scuba diving the Great Barrier Reef, I just need to see what else this world has to offer. Maybe I should start saving my air miles.
Have you visited any of these cities? What are your favorite cities to visit?
I don’t know where you got your data, but this list isn’t even close to being correct.
New York, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Istanbul all get FAR more vistors than Nassau, San Juan or Montego Bay.
There are more hotel rooms in Las Vegas than all of the Bahamas.
Thanks for the comment. I got the list from TripAdvisor, and then discussed the few cities that I have visited. I use TripAdvisor when I travel, and I trusted the list. I am not sure why they would release an incorrect list… but it was fun writing about these cities. What cities on the list have you visited?