“What’s Your Favorite Place in the World?”
Almost every time I tell someone I’m a travel writer, I get asked what my favorite destination is. Now that I’ve traveled to 80 countries (Jamaica last week for spring break was number 80), I’ve started giving some thought to my favorite places around the world. There’s no way that I could limit it to one – there are simply too many destinations that I would love to travel back to tomorrow – but I’ve narrowed it down to eight. And I’ve been to six of them with my kids which makes them even more memorable.
Florence, Italy
I lived in Florence for a year in college and have traveled back almost every year since then. I love everything about the city – walking around at sunrise, having a cappuccino on the rooftop terrace of the Antica Torre di via Tornabuoni, climbing up the cupola the Duomo, getting lost in the twisting streets, visiting museums, eating gelato, watching the sunset from Piazzale Michelangelo, and overall just basking in the history. I’d go back every month if I could.
Dimitris Ammoudi Taverna, Oia, Santorini, Greece
Our favorite restaurant in the world. To get there you need to fly or sail into Santorini, travel across the island to Oia, walk through town and then walk down 300 steps to the bay. We’ve gone three times now the past six years and it’s always worth it. Even without the view the fish, fritters, tzatziki, wine and desserts would be amazing, but add in the view and you have a perfect place to spend an afternoon. Our kids don’t even get bored during three-hour lunches! And no, you don’t have to climb the stairs after your meal – Joy (the owner) can call a taxi to take you back up to town.
Frogner / Vigeland Park, Oslo, Norway
I first visited Frogner Park on New Years Eve in 1990, with several feet of snow on the ground. It was stunning. Every time I’ve been back since then it’s been in the middle of the summer and it’s even better – people barbecuing and picnicking, playing Frisbee, rollerblading, relaxing and enjoying the summer days that last well into the night. Norwegians definitely know how to make the most of their summers and this is a fun place to soak it all in.
Jaisalmer, India
I’ve traveled throughout Rajasthan twice and both times the city that leapt out at me was Jaisalmer. The Suryagarh is one of my favorite hotels in the world, literally a desert palace, but Jaisalmer is about far more than a nice hotel. I love it for the desert, its festivals, camels, cows (that’s everywhere in India actually), the Jaisalmer fort and the morning light and city scenes when no other tourists are around. If you see a camel silouette shot on my Instagram feed, chances are it’s from the Thar Desert just outside of the city.
Hong Kong, China
Hong Kong is still my favorite city in Asia – a city that changes slowly and retains much of its Chinese and British past. After staying within the city every trip for the better part of two decades, I’ve gotten out to Lantau Island with my kids a couple times recently and have really enjoyed hiking the Lantau Trail (a small portion of it anyway) and visiting the Big Buddha. It’s an easy city to navigate, it’s safe, and the Star Ferry from Kowloon to HK Island is the best value (for US$0.32) anywhere in the world. And I love spending time at Man Mo Temple, people-watching and breathing in the incense.
Giraffe Manor, Nairobi, Kenya
My newest happy place, and the only place on this list that I haven’t been to at least twice. I loved spending the night at the Giraffe Manor, feeding the giraffes in the evening and having breakfast with them. I think I liked the experience even better than my kids did! Whenever possible I’d love to route future travels through Nairobi in order to do this again.
On the Terrace of the Hotel al Ponte Antico, Venice, Italy
I’ve been going to Venice for 26 years and currently have two return trips planned – this summer with the kids and next February for Carnevale. As with Florence, I love the city for its history and I love walking around early in the morning before other tourists are awake. My favorite thing about Venice, though, is having breakfast and a cappuccino on the terrace of the Hotel al Ponte Antico. Most mornings there’s nowhere else in the world I would rather be.
By the Pool at the Peninsula Bangkok, Thailand
I’ve always preferred Hong Kong to Bangkok, but anytime I can do a one or two day layover in Bangkok, I do. The reason? The pool at the Peninsula Hotel. I rarely even swim, but I love sitting in a cabana, ordering Pad Thai and reading. Rain or shine, I spend hours there. It’s magical to eat breakfast on the river at the hotel while watching the iconic Peninsula boats go across and come back, but if I had to choose only one experience to repeat, it would be my pool lunches. And the hotel isn’t expensive – usually under $200/night. It has to be the best hotel bargain anywhere in the world.
Those are my top eight out of 80 countries. How about you? If you could wake up anywhere in the world tomorrow, where would you choose?
Jessica W. says
We are really interested in going to Ireland. I’ve seen its on your list for this year, but have you been before? When are you going this year? I’m anxious to read and see pics from that trip.
Eric Stoen says
Hi Jessica. We’ll be in Ireland in June – in Kinsale in County Cork. It’s where my daughter took her first steps 9.5 years ago and we haven’t been back since then. I’m not sure if we’ll do any day trips or if we’ll just relax in Kinsale. The problem is that there’s a fair amount of driving to go most places in Ireland, but the rental cars are small – not the best situation for a family of five.
Michela says
Florence is one of our favourite places in the world too! We’re taking our son, 7, there for the first time this summer. What do you recommend for making museums like the Uffizzi and the Pitti Palace fun for little ones? While we love them, we think all the Renaissance masterpieces will start to blend together after a while for him…
Eric Stoen says
Hi Michela. I have a couple of posts on making Florence kid-friendly:
https://travelbabbo.com/2015/09/florence-with-kids/
https://travelbabbo.com/2014/02/a-perfect-trip-to-florence-with-kids/
A private guide could craft kid-friendly museum tours to keep your son occupied. But you can do it yourself too by bringing along sketching materials and by using travel cards or postcards to turn museum visits into scavenger hunts. The key is to make the museums about the kids – not to try to get kids to enjoy long days in museums where the parents are trying to see as much as possible. Kids just don’t have that kind of attention span or, as you said, an appreciation for Renaissance art!
Dominique Richard says
Love your blog and Instagram feed and all your cool travel obersrvations. My son is now 23 so we no longer do kid travel but we hit the road a lot. My favorite places…the Punakha Valley in Bhutan, Inle Lake, Polonarruwa in Sri Lanka, South Africa – almost everything there and we went 4 times – the Magadigadi salt pans in Botswana and Paris !
Eric Stoen says
Inle Lake almost made my list, and we always love Paris. I need to travel around South Africa more – I’ve been to Cape Town and I explored for a couple days around there, but I haven’t seen the rest of the country. And I’m off to Sri Lanka this week for the first time, so it could be a new favorite. I’ll be in Kandy most of the time, though, and I don’t think I’ll get to Polonarruwa? Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’ll try!
Dominique Richard says
North of Kandy several hours is the ancient 2nd C town of Polannaruwa with these exquisite carved huge Buddhas. The caves of Dambulla are also dreamy. I adore the tea plantations and highly recommend staying at Ceylon Tea Trails in an original 1920s bungalow. We also saw the blue whales off the coast near Mirissa. Sri Lanka is one of my favorite countries. We are from NY but lucky to live in Paris now. Love your exotic Chinese places. Must go there now !
Eric Stoen says
All of that sounds great. In Sri Lanka I’m a guest of Cinnamon Hotels and basing out of their Kandy property. They’ll be taking me around the central part of the island, but I also have some free time. I’ll see how far I can get during that free time!
Briana says
Venice during Carnevale was my favorite place as a child! (My family lived in Italy for a few years).
Eric Stoen says
That’s great to know Briana! After this summer in Venice my kids aren’t sure that they want to go back in February. Maybe that will help to convince them!
Nia says
I stumbled onto your Instagram feed and I am loving your blog. I have two boys and am a avid traveler based out of California. Reading your blog is encouraging me to take my kids on more of my trips since travel is an education by itself.Your photos make me yearn to pack up and hit the road again.
Eric Stoen says
Thank you so much Nia! I love to inspire…even if I kind of take travel to the extreme sometimes.
Pamela says
I haven’t been to as many places as you do but some of my favourite is Hokkaido (been there twice, first time during my honeymoon, and then back again with the kids in Dec 2019 right before the pandemic), Hong Kong (been there many times, with & without kids), Tasmania (family trip with the kids & my parents), Prague & Budapest (10 year wedding anniversary trip, just the 2 of us). Upcoming plan: Kyoto, Osaka, Kobe (initially plan to go in April 2020 but was cancelled due to the pandemic), Bali and Soneva Kiri in Thailand if possible (thanks to you!).