Travel Advice - Choosing  destinations

When planning travel, categorize places on your list to visit as “must see” or “worth a visit”.

• If guidebooks and other travel references do not mention a place as a highlight, you should consider removing it from your list.
• “Must see” locations are primary tourism destinations. 
• “Places worth a visit” are those you see while on your way to the destinations classified as “must see”.

I suspect that you may feel that we are pointing out the obvious in this article but we do so for a reason. Many travelers operate as explorers and want to see any location that they have heard about or that is mentioned in a guidebook. In the past, we explored places that were losers, as we had not yet learned to be selective and conscious of our vacation time. In addition, we were convinced that our tastes were unique and that we would find something that others had missed.

We now realize that selecting places to visit during travel is a lot like selecting a great wine. There are many types of wine grown in a specific location and cultivated in a particular manner by a vintner to offer a unique taste. The truly great wines are acknowledged as superior by a large body of people. The same is true with great places.

• See the best places first (the “must see” locations).
•  If you have time, see the second tier.
  • For example, if you are planning vacation travel to Italy and you have time to visit Rome, Venice, and Florence or Turin, Milan, and Naples. What should you do?
  • We think you would be better served seeing Rome, Venice, and Florence as they are abound with world class, treasures.
  • Turin, Milan, and Naples are pleasant but not the “best of the best”. See them the next time.

Be sure to review the "Best Places to Visit " recommendations that we provide in the Destination Travel Guide Section of ThereArePlaces.  We provide a list of the top ranked tourist destinations in each of the countries that we cover.

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