21. *Florence - view over city
22. Tokyo/ Narita temples - Shinjuku area (NOT Kyoto - town is too ugly - see
another person's well-written reactions to Kyoto.) I don't understand why Conde Nast Travel + Leisure readers rank Kyoto so highly as a city.
The temples are great, but the city is ugly, as even the mayor of Kyoto has acknowledged.
23. Cuzco, Peru/ Machu Picchu
24. *Amsterdam - Anne Frank house
25. Jerusalem (o) - temple mount
26. Playa del Carmen, Mexico - Mayan ruins (like Tulum) and undersea life (as at Xel-ha)
27. **Cairo (o) - pyramids
28. St. Petersburg (o) - Hermitage art museum
29. **Shangri-La (Zhongdian, China) (o) - see nearby Himalaya peaks
30. Rothenburg on the Tauber, Germany - city walls walk
* means that this city or country was once the leading civilization in the world. See List of leading civilizations )
** means that this city or country was TWICE the leading civilization in the world. See List of leading civilizations )The countries that were once leading civilizations that do not appear on the above top 30 list: Iraq (Middle ages and Ancient), Iran, Lebanon.
(o) means that Van Sloan has not traveled to this area - has plans to do so in 2010-11
24 countries are represented in the above WOW top 30 list. Each country has just one site, except for USA (4 sites), Italy (3 cities), China (2 sites)
Other unique cities in the United States: Santa Fe, Newport, New Orleans, Charleston
USA places best in season- Spring: Monterey Peninsula (for flowers), Yosemite (waterfalls) Fall: Vermont
Many of the above WOW sights are in Europe. Eight make ideal stops on a popular loop trip: London, Amsterdam, Rothenburg, (add Saltzburg),
Venice, Florence, Rome, Monaco, (add Geneva), Paris.
For those who like travel but think that many of the above places are too exotic: If your primary language is English, you should enjoy these ten countries, listed in an order of increasing challenge:
United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom (Britain), Ireland, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland
(But as an Australian said to Sloan in Phuket, Thailand: "Why spend all that money to travel to the USA, which isn't that different from Australia?" Neither he nor I had then been to each other's country. We both agreed that Thailand was definitely different from home.
Research World Heritage links
When planning to visit another country, check out http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
to learn about the UN World Heritage sites there. Often they are worthwhile, interesting places to see. Click on the individual site links to read more about them.
Good Food adds to the WOW of a place. Go to:
World's Top 10 Most Tasty Cuisines - with photos.
French, Italian, Chinese, Indian, Thai, Mexican, Japanese, Spanish, Greek, Lebanese. It is interesting that all but Thailand and Mexico were once the world's leading civilizations. (But a top cuisine is not a feature of the most recent top countries: United States and Britain.)
Operas can give insights into leading or near-leading civilizations. Even if these operas do not reflect exact history, their music and lyrics have become symbols with that culture:
Ancent Egypt - Aida by Verdi;
China - traditional Beijing opera;
Italy - Tosca by Puccini;
Spain - Carmen by Bizet;
France - La boheme by Puccini;
Germany - Die Meistersinger by Wagner;
Japan - Madame Butterfly by Puccini;
Russia - Boris Godunov by Mussorgsky;
Austrian Empire - The Marriage of Figaro by Mozart (or the movie Amadeus);
Britain - HMS Pinafore by Gilbert and Sullivan;
United States - South Pacific by Rogers and Hammerstein.
Best places in the world - balanced lifestyle, good climate, sense of history, quality services, fun/ relaxation. Good examples for other countries in their area. (These are Sloan's thoughts)
1. Italy
2. Australia
3. Turkey
4. Mexico
5. Botswana
For another person's opinion on best places in the world, see http://hillmanwonders.com
- with his links to descriptions/ recommendations on each world wonder. Hillman's list focuses on specific sites like the Taj Mahal. My recommendations differ because I focus on the quality of the area - including culture, accomodations, and additional places of interest nearby.
Some of Sloan's WOW places below do not receive gold from Hillman (his top 100):
Monaco, Salzburg, Tokyo/ Narita, Playa del Carmen (except for near Chichen Itza), Nairobi, Amsterdam, Rothenburg
Or see:
(Sloan's top 30 list seems a blend of Hillman's sites and Geographic's 50 cities. Smaller cities with spectacular sights nearby (like Cuzco) are not on National Geographic's list. Sloan has been to all but 16 of these top 50 cities.)
Go to:
Van's favorite spots in world - for each season
Go to:
Van Sloan's resume page (to see what else gets his interest)
