Tourist destinations that are more than just a nice view?
My vacation destinations are already set for the next year, but last night I saw a video about Hoffbrauhaus in Bavaria. It ended up captivating me because it sounds like something really mundane until you look further into it. Learning about the history, the cultural importance, and the general experience of going there really made me want to go.
I live in the Southwestern United States, so travel to me is usually stuff that's in the US or Mexico. One of the trips we're thinking of doing will lead us to Canada for a while. But this part of the world is still relatively "new" and the cultural stuff is just a bit too familliar, and so most of it ends up just looking at pretty views. And I'm getting really tired of nice views.
With that in mind, I'm looking for places to go to add to my bucket list of places that have a lot of cultural value (while hopefully still being accessible to a clueless American) or perhaps has more sensual elements like interesting regional cuisine or visiting a famous historical bathhouse. I know there's tons of places that fit that description, but surely some of you have some favorites you'd like to recommend.
I would definitely recommend Japan to anyone that's looking for more than nice views. I'll write up a week long itinerary (making the assumption you're American so it's a week, sorry if that's not true). The food is great, the people are lovely, the culture is fantastic, and it's a relatively cheap holiday if you're using USD.
General Tips
Buy a Japan Rail pass. The most important thing for enjoying Japan in a short period of time is being able to get around, whenever you like! You can get these from many sites, and you redeem it when you arrive in country at some of the major stations. The easiest are probably Shinjuku Station, Shibuya Station, or Tokyo Station, as there's lots of signage. Don't hesitate to ask JR staff for help locating the JR EAST Travel Service Centre in those stations to claim your pass, as the stations can be very confusing. This pass guarantees you unlimited travel on all JR (nationally owned) railways, simply by holding up your pass at the gate. You can also book seats on any non-first class shinkansen car, which means you don't have to book flights/trains in advance. Given that each shinkansen seat is approx 50USD, and Tokyo trains are around 15USD a day, you'll make your money back very quickly.
Travel by shinkansen (bullet train): I'd recommend booking a seat the afternoon before you intend to go. You can just rock up and hope there's a seat, but sometimes (rarely) you'll miss out, so if you've got limited time I'd suggest that.
Don't sleep on convenience stores (konbini): Kinda like New York bodegas, with waaay more stuff. 7/11, Family Mart and Lawson have delicious meals ready to eat, snacks for the day, coffee in a can (although there are 4 million vending machines in Japan, so you should be good). They're not like American convenience stores. Lots of the Japanese populace go to konbini for a healthy, tasty lunch or dinner if they're tired from work - the quality is great. Definitely stock up before a train trip. Also, konbini are some of the few places in Japan that have trash cans. There aren't public trash cans in the streets, because people are expected to be responsible and carry their trash with them, so it can make it annoying if you are walking around. Konbini are your saviour.
Language: Nobody's gonna expect foreigners to have good Japanese, but they'll be absolutely delighted if you try. Especially with greetings and saying thank you, they'll think you are the best people ever. Use arigatou for regular interactions with servers and customer service people (they bring you a different size/bring you food/after you've ordered), arigatou gozaimasu for the end of an interaction (paying etc, saying goodbye), and arigatou gozaimashita if you want to really convey your sincere thanks (if someone gives you directions, if you've had an excellent meal). Chuck in a little bow if you're feeling confident, and they'll faint. If food is really good, it's kinda good manners to say 'oishi!' (o-ee-shee) within the hearing of the staff and chefs so they know they've done a good job. This can be done with your mouth full - in fact, it's more polite, cause it means the food is so delicious you can't even wait to finish your first bite. Usefeul for restaurants where you're sitting opposite the chef.
The Japanese for English is 'eigo' (eh-go). Most Japanese people can read and write English very well, but are extremely shy/bad at conversation. Writing things in Notes and using Google Translate will help a lot.
(Skip past the Tokyo section to get to bullet points for each location - Tokyo's only so big because it's the biggest city in the world.)
Suggested Itinerary
Start: Tokyo
Time: The rest of your lives. But if you've got limited time, 2-3 days when you're fully awake.
Accomodation: Recommend Nestay Inn 101, 202 or 303 in a suburb called Otsuka. AirBnB is illegal now in most of Tokyo, and I've had a few major strikeouts last time I was there. They are really cracking down. Nestay started up as a way to fill the gap in the market for short stay accomodation. The apartments are the size of Tokyo apartments, have all the furnishings and fun shower/toilet room you'd get from an authentic Tokyo apartment, with the benefit that you don't have to pretend to be someone's brother and sister in law if asked by nosy neighbours who will definitely report you to the cops.
Otsuka is a great place to stay because it's right at the top of the city's main rail line, the Yamanote line. Very convenient and super chill, with great food and drink around. Plus the station complex has a great drug store, and a Uniqlo for the inevitable things you need/forgot, plus delicious Japanese pastries for breakfast/a pick me up. Be very careful though - sometimes what looks like cream cheese or custard is actually mayo. If in doubt, get something with sugar on it! There's good Japanese siphon coffee at Cafe Colorado, and the best yakitori (grilled chicken) I've ever had is at an izakaya called Yakitori Kuroutadori. The owner/chef is a lovely man. It's one of the few izakayas to have craft beers in Tokyo, and as long as you show him 'no organs/offal/heart/livers' on Google translate, he'll look after you.
Tokyo doesn't have a central city - it's a collection of five major cities. Of those, the coolest/most fun is Shibuya.
From Shibuya Station: Shibuya station is the home of the famous scramble crossing (you can get a really good photo of it from the world's busiest Starbucks), the 109 building, which is home to some of Japan's most popular brands, and it's also got some really cool boutiques. The Hachiko Statue is a really great meeting point, and getting a photo with him brings good luck.
Fashion: If you like feminine presenting clothes, you'll probably find it pretty hard to find anything to fit you, but there are some great women's shops in the three blocks all around Shibuya Station. My wife had some luck at some of the boutiques where things were one off pieces and a little longer. It's fun to window shop and try things on, even if they're hilariously short. If you like masculine presenting clothes, I'd recommend BEAMS if you want to get some cool Japanese streetwear. Just be mindful that you'll be cooler than any man in America, so use responsibily.
Drink/Eat: Shibuya has a lot of izakayas (traditional Japanese pubs that serve food), but they're not that great. Recommend getting a drink at one of the hotels/cafes overlooking the Scramble crossing, and then going on to Izumizushi. I have eaten sushi almost everywhere in Japan, and this is, by far, the best place - far better than the Michelin starred places you have to book months in advance. When you go, ask for 'omokase', which means 'I leave it up to you [the chef]'. You'll get a selection of the day's best. This is worth splashing out for.
From Harajuku Station: Harajuku is gateway to some really cool cultural experiences, and is genuinely the coolest places in Tokyo. It's also a funnel into the city's largest tourist trap. The most important advice I can convey is do not walk down Takeshita Street, opposite the station. This is the only place in the entire country where you risk getting scammed. It's not that it's that dangerous, it's just a gross, packed, tacky street in an otherwise beautiful part of the city.
Make sure you start off by walking down Omotesando. Omotesando is the name of the main street, but it's grown to become it's own suburb/culture. It's like... where actual Japanese people shop for luxury goods/go to have a nice time (as opposed to Roppongi, which is where Westerners/white expats go and pay twice as much).
Omotesando has beautiful little streets, branching off of it, like the famous Cat Street. The main street has every big luxury brand store you can imagine, so at the very least it's fun to have a look around. There's a very chic shopping complex called Tokyo Plaza Harajuku - some cool shops, nice cafe, a lot of people just go there to hang out after a long day's shopping. My favourite coffee shop in Omotesando is Lattest, which serves the best coffee I've ever had (the signature Lattest), and is just really nice and chill. If you wander around Omotesando Hills, you'll see where the really rich and famous live in Tokyo. The houses are small by our standards, but by Japanese standards they're mansions. It's always fun to see how people manage to squeeze supercars into tiny parking spaces.
Meiji Jingu Shrine is really special, and just over the road to the west of Harajuku station. It's a good way to end a day around the area, especially close to closing time of the shrine when the crowds have dissipated. It's dedicated to the Emperor Meiji, who modernised Japan, and it's the biggest/most impressive and peaceful large shrine in Tokyo. It's also really close to my favourite ballpark, Meiji Jingu Stadium, so check the schedule and see if the Tokyo Swallows are playing.
Other Tokyo Activities/Sights:
If you get off at Tokyo Station, you'll see i) a very beautiful, restored station that was once the biggest in Japan, ii) and ii) you'll be right next to the Imperial Palace. Naturally, most of the palace is closed off to the public, but a tour of the gardens is really nice, and they'll show you what buildings they can. Touristy, but pretty neat, especially because the current emperor is a really nice man.
Tokyo National Museum has more beautiful prints, ink art, armor, swords, ancient bronze buddhas, and neolithic stone carvings than you can possibly take in in one day. It makes the Met's Japan section look hilarious, cause the Met is like 'oooh this print is from 1895!', produced for Western diplomats, whereas the National Museum in Tokyo holds the country's Designated National Treasures, going back thousands of years. If you have any apetite for art, sculpture, design or the artistry of Japanese weapons or armor, it's well worth a visit. Plus, it's in a big, nice park called Ueno (kiiinda like Tokyo's Central Park, but less pretty), which is a nice place to walk around.
I hate gardens, plants are boring, etc, but Rikugien, a centuries old feudal warlord Japanese garden, is such a special place to go. It's not the world's oldest Japanese garden, but it's extraordinarily beautiful, and peaceful. The founder of Mitsubishi bought the gardens from an old samurai family, restored them, and donated them to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Sitting by the lake drinking tea is really, really nice - as is the fact that it's not just a tourist attraction, people go there to have a walk with friends, take their kids out, etc. It's a magic place.
Senso-Ji, in Asakusa, is the largest/most impressive shrine outside of Kyoto and Nara. I like it better because outside of festival periods, there are way less other tourists. Most of Asakusa has little shrines and temples around it, so it's as close as you can get in Tokyo to seeing some Shinto and Buddhist stuff (apart from small local shrines, which are really special).
Shinjuku is as close as Tokyo gets to 'the city'. It's the centre of some major businesses and the hub of national government. Although it has a boring name, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building offers the only free really high-rise view looking out to Mt Fuji. I really liked it the first time I went, but I had a very clear day and it was sunset - your mileage may vary.
Osaka:
It's the Chicago of Japan. It's dirtier and grittier than Tokyo, but it is on the main Shinkansen line going across the country, so it's an easy stop off. I kinda don't like Osaka as a town, but there are two reasons I stop off there most times. The castle is the only Japanese castle that's actually cool to visit (unless you wanna go waaay off track), and people go nuts over the street food.
Osaka Castle was the biggest, baddest, craziest castle at the end of Japan's warring states period (around 1600). It got bombed during the WWII, but because of that, they rebuilt a painstakingly accurate replica that's more beautiful than most of the preserved castles around. The best thing about it is, because the insides are rebuilt, they turned it into a museum and actually explain what happened at the castle, how it was used, and make it less boring. The preserved ones are just empty wooden beams, so I way prefer visiting here. Plus, I just think it's the prettiest, but Himeji is also on your way, so you might like that better. Osaka Castle was where people ruled from, and Himeji was just a backwater hick castle, so depends what you're into.
Dotonbori is where Osaka's famous street food mostly is. It gets pretty rowdy at night with the drunk after work crowds and sex workers, but the drunk guys are not aggressive, and the prostitutes won't bother you. If you go during the day, you can skip that part, you'll just miss the 80's neon lights. Osaka's most famous for takoyaki (balls of batter filled with little bits of octopus) and okonomiyaki (literally, 'whatever you like', a savoury pancake with... whatever you like on it). Plus there's all sorts of delicious food on a stick in Dotonbori, so if you're into food, it might be worth a stop.
Nara!: Nara's the ancient capital of Japan, and I think it's way more beautiful than Kyoto to base yourself in. Kyoto is only 50 minutes away by train, so by staying in Nara, you can cycle around, see all of the beautiful old shrines, palaces, and temples, feed the deer, and escape having to pay Kyoto prices for accomodation/food.
Rent a bike: Best way to see the city. It's small enough that you can cycle anywhere, and it's a great way to see beautiful ancient buildings without having to get the bus.
Feed the deer!: Nara's deer park is world famous, but you'll probably see deer curled up around the temples and shrines as you're biking around. You can buy little packs of deer cookies from street vendors for 300yen (about two bucks), and the deer are friendly guys.
Kyoto: Cards on the table, I am not a huge fan of Kyoto. It's the only place in Japan that is genuinely overcrowded, hectic, full of tourists everywhere you go, and annoying to get around. Every year the city struggles to deal with more and more tourists, and hasn't come up with an answer. The transport network is mostly buses rather than having a good subway or train system, which is a pain in the ass. Staying there means extremely jacked up prices, for worse quality accomodation and food than you'll find in Nara (or any other city in Japan).
Fushimi Inari and Kinkakuji are the only things on this list of top attractions that (I think) are better than other ones you'd see in other parts of Japan, and both are unique and beautiful enough to put up with the hoardes. With Fushimi Inari, I usually take people really close to closing time, so that they can get their iconic picture without other tourists in the way. It's also quite beautiful and peaceful doing the walk through the torii gates without people around.
Gion is the famous Kyoto old town, where the imperial court and shoguns would be entertained by geishas. This still happens, but it's the Prime Minsiter and CEOs, and it costs them hundreds of thousands of dollars. So, that's out of your price range, but you can try fugu (pufferfish), and Yasaka-Jinja is a beautiful shrine at night time. If you see any women in geisha make up, they are young, trainee geisha. It's considered extremely rude to take photos, distract them, etc. Every tourist bus/tour gets told this, and most of them ignore it. Other tourists will be following them around, so you'll probably see them from a mile away. Use your peripheral vision if you encounter a travelling pair. It's not like they bite or anything, they'll just be exhausted from having phones shoved in their faces all day and having to be polite.
Activities: If you want to try traditional Japanese art forms like ikebana (flower arranging), cha-no-yu (tea ceremony), pottery, or archery (kyudo), Kyoto is the most accessible way to do it. You can book a class through TripAdvisor if any of that stuff interests you. I've done a few with friends and they've been pretty cool, but not like, life changing spiritual experiences. Just good fun.
Hiroshima: Recommend staying a night here to a) break the train trip down to Kyushu up and b) see the memorial/peace park.
The Peace Park and atomic bomb dome are really beautiful, tasteful and important. I'm glad I did, although I don't think I'll be going back. Similar to Auschwitz, it's extremely moving and sobering.
Hiroshima Castle is a beautiful one, if you don't feel like stopping in Osaka. The city's pretty walkable and the food is great.
If you have a night there, check and see if the Carp are playing if the season is still going (if not, try and catch a game in Tokyo, at Meiji Jingu, not the Tokyo Dome). NPB (Nippon Professional Baseball) games are the most fun, atmospheric, unique sporting events I've ever been to. If you like baseball, I think you'll really get a kick out of seeing the differences between MLB sluggers and NPB technical guys, and the fans are the best. Plus they have people with kegs strapped to their back to come and refill your beer!
Kurokowa Onsen: This is a beautiful, secluded, hot springs town right in the centre of Japan's most rural and lush green island, Kyushu. I really think it's worth going out of your way for. I wasn't a huge fan of ryokans (Japanese traditional inns) until I was persuaded to go to Kurokowa Onsen. I stayed at a cheaper one, but if you can afford it, now would be the time to splash out. It really feels like stepping back in time and it is so relaxing and nice. Plus, there's a Japanese phrase that translates to 'the best friends are made in the onsen', and I have met so many nice, kind people in hot springs.
If you've got any tattoos, it's not a big deal if you're not Japanese. If you see a Japanese person with big, colourful tattoos, you've accidentally stumbled into a yakuza onsen. This is super unlikely but did happen to me once. Extremely low likelihood, so don't worry!
Nobody cares about your junk. People are way more naked in Japan than in America. Baths are gender segregated, and you have to wash and soap yourself with the shower head and the bucket, on a little stool, before you get into the onsen. If you get into the hot spring bath without washing yourself and completely rinsing out all soap suds and shampoo/conditioner, people will think you are a disgusting barbarian, and the owners will have to pump out all the water and start again. So make sure you get all those suds!
If you liked train train travel, great! Hop on the shinkansen and head back to Tokyo. You can do the train trip in one day, but it's a long ass day, so I like to spend the night in Kobe, which is home of Kobe beef and is a super pretty port town with amazing lights around the harbour. If you don't have time/didn't like the train, no worries! Just head to Fukuoka and get a cheap airfare back to Tokyo.
Hope that's given you some ideas. Honestly, most of the time I go, I just spend a week in Tokyo because there's so much to see and do, but for people with limited time, you can see a lot in a week!
This is the best reply I could have possibly asked for!
I mentioned in another comment, Japan is already on the bucket list, and I have a number of things I want to do. I don't particularly care to do it myself, but I'll definitely have to go to Tokyo DisneySea because my husband is crazy for Disney. I'm just hoping I can talk him out of going to Tokyo Disneyland as well. We're both weebs so we'll probably spend more time than we should in collectables shops, and I'm not coming home without picking up an X68000, later model PC-98, or an MSX2+.
Tokyo DisneySea is, in my opinion, the best Disney theme park in the world, and I've been to all of them. It is so many things going for it - it is architecturally the most beautiful. It is owned and operated by the Oriental Land Company, not Disney, and they have invested a lot more money and it shows. The staff are the most friendly, and part of that is just the japanese culture but it is also because the locals consider going to Disney parks a special occasion, so they dress up and act appropriately like they are going to someplace special.
It was shocking to me as an American just how different it felt. I felt like I was the least well dressed person there and I don't think I'm all that bad by American standards.
The food is also excellent - they have unique food items that are designed to appeal to locals but also have a bit of Disney "flair". Japan is big on seasonal things and the food at the theme parks is no different.
The only downside is that after having visited Tokyo DisneyLand and DisneySea, I came back home to the US depressed about how bad our parks look and feel by comparison.
Thanks for posting this, but reading this made me feel sad.
Me and my girlfriend had an epic, almost 3 week Japan and Hong Kong trip planned in October 2020 for our thirtieth birthdays and then the world shut down due to Covid. We reorganised the trip for October 2021 but still couldn't go so we got our money back to plan it at a later date. However, in the intervening couple of years we've moved into a bigger house, spent a ton of money (including the Japan trip money) to do it up, and had a child as well so the plan to visit Japan is now on the back burner for the foreseeable future.
Japan had been on my bucket list for years. I'd tried to get in to the JET programme back in 2012 (which if you don't know JET is an exchange programme for English speakers to live in Japan for up to five years and teach English to schoolkids in Japan). I submitted a strong application and got an interview but ended up screwing up at the last hurdle where I just wasn't answering the interview questions well enough.
I was incredibly hyped to travel all over the country for a few weeks after the disappointment of not getting into JET and reading your post made me pine for a trip we never got to experience.
If you are in the US, you can subscribe to discount/deal aggregators like travelzoo and Japan sometimes comes up as a destination.
You can also subscribe to services that are specifically for low price flight alerts.
There are hostels and cheap hotels in Japan. When I went, we got a private room in a hostel in Kyoto that had all you can eat breakfast included.
There was a zen temple in Kyoto that I really liked. Himeji Castle was also very nice and interesting.
edit, for cheap travel trips, r/shoestring is a good resource.
I live in the UK and I'm subscribed to a few flight deal aggregators and low price flight lists. Japan does pop up now and again but it's just plain out of our price range now (the joys of being DINKY's previously was being able to just go on holiday when we wanted, kids are crazy expensive).
We're planning on maybe going when she's a wee bit older though, I think taking a very young child on a holiday that'd generally be spent on foot and train isn't the best idea, she can be grumpy at the best of times.
We'll get there eventually!
A bit of a tangent, but this is the first time I've come across travelzoo.
Are there any similar aggregators you'd recommend? I know costco travel packages are also recommended in general.
Just FYI for your first point, Japan Rail Pass is going up in price in November I think. I spent a week and a half there in July, feel free to talk to me about it as well :)
I feel Osaka warrants more than a day trip, it's like it saw all the madness of the busiest places in Tokyo and said "I can top that".
The sprawl of markets, eating and dining establishments both over and underground is really something.
There's a whole neighborhood with old-timey arcades/carnival games (think pop-guns, ring-throwing and fishing games) right next to the billions of restaurants and bars right next to gigantic market streets, all festooned with lights, pictures and bright signs you can't read.
For the crazy-busy-metropolis vibes I found it better than Tokyo. Granted, I only spend a total of 4days in Tokyo which is nowhere near enough to say I got around.
Kurokawa is such a hidden gem, I rarely see it mentioned by non-Japanese. Easily one of the most memorable experiences of my trips to Japan, and I’ve been many times.
That's a fantastic writeup and I will 100% endorse trying to get to a baseball game if you have a chance. Even if you aren't a sports fan, the atmosphere is incredible and would be worth checking out just for the food and people-watching alone.
Can I recommend you Hamburg? It’s usually overlooked since it’s not in the Paris, Berlin, London triptych when talking about European cities. Once you are here, you’ll find a plethora of things to discover. Did you know that Hamburg is the city with the most bridges in Europe? So there is a lot of sightseeing to do by discovering small canals. And not only that, it also has the world wide largest ware house district, that is a must if you are into street photography.
It also has a rich music scene (eg. Hamburger Schule) that is heavily influenced by the British. Did you know the Beatles got started here, when there were still 5 of them?
On top of that, we have a deep anti-facist, left, punk, anarchistic history that has been heavily pushed out by gentrification, but is still noticeable if you look for it. Here or here. (Sorry, the second link is in German. DeepL is your friend.)
Basically, to go back to the beginning, Hamburg has the weather and music/culture of London, the fucked up parties of Berlin and the romantic street scenes and posh shopping of Paris. All wrapped into one.
Which culminates in the regional food recommendation: Sundays between 6 a.m. and 12 p.m. there is a market that used to be where the fishermen sold their catch of the night directly from the boat. Nowadays, you get live music, beer and Fischbrötchen, which is like a roll with pickled fish.
And, to close it of, since you mentioned historical bathhouses, we got those too. (Now someone explain to me again, how to share a kagi search on mobile)
Plus, there is a lot to discover outside of the city. Look up these places: St Peter-Ording, Timmendorfer Strand, Lübeck, Bremen.
I would also like to add that Hamburg is home to the world's largest model railway/miniatures museum. Miniatur Wunderland. Truly an amazing place.
There is the usual German food fare, but my personal fav in Hamburg is their fish sandwich "Fischbrötchen"
Hamburg is sorta between Berlin and Copenhagen (to an extent, Amsterdam), so there are good options for a nearby "next" place to visit too.
Went there specifically for Miniatur-Wunderland with my family as part of our greater holiday in May/June to Switzerland, coming from New Zealand.
MW is very large and impressive, though was quite crowded at the time.
From our base in Luzern, we took a day time ICE train from Basel, stayed a few days in Hamburg, returning to Zurich on a NightJet sleeper train.
We were traveling on hard mode by having two adults and three kids under 5. Daytime ICE train went well. Returning NightJet was surprisingly comfortable (we had two 2-bed cabins). Helps that our kids are ridiculously easy.
Experienced some culture shock on arrival to Hbf. Elevators in Hbf smelled of piss. Saw some guy piss on the U-bahn tracks. Biggest mistake was not realising that it was a hostel I had booked for our accom there. Stayed the first night there before abandoning it for a proper hotel.
Despite all that, glad we went there, and that it went the way it did. Happy to have had that experience.
Oh, and realistically, it was just an excuse to go on an ICE train and a sleeper train.
Reminds of that time we came back from a trip to Berlin with our kids of similar age and they declared: Berlin smells like urine, because many of the metro stations were just reeking of piss.
Oh, this is very timely information for me, as I'll be visiting Hamburg for the first time in a couple months. Really looking forward to it.
Would you say that Hamburg has a signature beer style?
Style, no. Brands? Yes, especially if you include Northern Germany as a region. It’s all Pils up here.
So, pretty dry and bitter. There are couple of smaller craft breweries that came up the last years, but to be honest, I hadn’t had alcohol for 6 years and am not up to speed with that scene. Ratsherrn is a bigger brewery from Hamburg, though probably not craft anymore, but their alc free one is one of the best.
"Not craft" is perfectly fine -- and a particularly good alc free one is definitely of interest. Thanks for the tip!
Yeah, good alc free ones are hard to come by and I have yet to see the Ratsherrn in a bar, just in the supermarket.
Feel free to hit me up when you’re here. I love this city and am always happy to share some insight or history. You probably already made plans, so obviously I don’t want to impose anything, but maybe I can point you somewhere off the beaten paths.
I get what you're saying about Canada being a relatively young country that shares a lot of similarity to the US, but you'll find a pretty wide variety of cultures here depending on where you visit.
I always suggest Montréal and Quebec City to Americans as options for international travel on "easy mode". They're some of the oldest cities in North America and have a distinctly different feel than anywhere else on the continent. Montréal is a very bilingual city and the Quebecois government has gone to great lengths to protect French language and culture in the province. Montréal is also the best food city in the country by a wide margin.
A little further West in Ottawa, the capital of the country, you'll find our main government buildings and most of our big museums. If you're interested in learning about Canadian history and culture, Ottawa is a decent place to consider.
British Columbia has a more Pacific Northwest feel to it. As a Vancouverite, I feel much less of a culture shock when I visit Seattle or Portland than I do when I go to Halifax or Calgary. People out here tend to be more outdoorsy and you'll see a lot of examples of our Indigenous cultures.
I'll echo what @boxer_dogs_dance said though. Finding an exciting place to visit really depends on your interests. "Culture" is such an all-encomapssing term and a place doesn't necessarily have to be old to have one of its own.
Speaking of some of the oldest cities in North America and cities that feel very different than the rest of the continent, let me stump a bit for St. John's, Newfoundland. It's beautiful and extremely friendly, and Newfoundland is a unique place in a bunch of different ways.
For a "big city", it's quite small, so while it has its share of "city" things to do, it's easy to get out and see the countryside and/or some of the nearby smaller communities. If you go in the summer, take a whale or birdwatching boat excursion (some of them are one and the same). During other parts of the year, some of the same boat tour outfits do iceberg excursions.
Oh sure, I know I gave Canada something of a short straw. It's just too... American? French canada sounds more interesting to me but the main thing is that I don't know anything interesting that is uniquely Canadian in a way that isn't really simelar to stuff already in the United States.
Totally understandable. If you're looking for a drastic shift in cultures, you have to go look further than Canada. Aside from ketchup chips, multicoloured currency, and poutine, you'll mostly feel like you're in a smaller American city most of the time.
How do you feel about Japan? Most of the country is easy to get around in without knowing the language. Signs and announcements in trains (which go almost everywhere) are bilingual. It's safe and has a rich history. I wouldn't even know where to start listing all of the things you could find there that you wouldn't see at home.
Japan is already on the bucket list! I've got a number of places I want to go there already, and I even know a tiny bit of the language. It's just a bit difficult because of the distance and some health issues that I'm dealing with right now. Once it clears up and the money hole has been plugged I'll be making my way there.
If you've never been to DC, that's worth a whole vacation all on its own. You can see all kinds of cool historical artifacts, from the Declaration of Independence to the Apollo 11 capsule, all for free. If you're a plane nerd like me, don't miss the Udvar-Hazy Center over at Dulles Airport - it holds all of the cool planes that the Air and Space Museum couldn't fit on the Mall. Go check it out!
It’s kinda off the path from DC so I just want to jump in and echo how awesome Udvar Hazy is. When you walk in you’re greeted by an SR71 in front of a space shuttle. Then as you’re walking around you randomly run into the Enola Gay - one of two planes to drop the atomic plane. Incredible to see such a piece of history just sitting there.
I have been! And it was a pretty fun trip. The museums there are fantastic.
I'd highly recommend Puerto Rico for anyone, but even more for those in the US. No passport requirements and really easy travel from just about anywhere. Tons of history and cultural significance. Plus, you have a rainforest and great beaches. When I went we stayed mostly on the west side of the island, which kept us firmly away from most of the tourists.
I kind of love the idea of Puerto Rico. All the people I know of who have Puerto Rican heritage have been wonderful people. But where in Puerto Rico would you recommend going to? What would I do there?
We mainly went for the beaches (and there are many great ones). But there is a lot of historic sites to visit. There are caves and the rainforest. You can take a day trip by ferry over to Vieques (which is a smaller island with a quaint town and great beaches). We just like to go some place and explore and generally stick to the small towns and away from tourists. We just enjoyed driving all over the island and visiting many small towns and seeing anything they had to offer. You can drive across the entire island in less than 3 hours.
What are your hobbies? Enthusiasms? If there are writers or musicians you love, you could seek out places from their life. Likewise scientists or leaders that you find interesting or admire.
I do like music and movies, and I am comfortable listening to music in languages I don't understand (it's a huge part of my library) and watching foreign movies with English subtitles. The live music in Hofbrauhaus was one of the major appeals to me. I also love theatre, but that's not quite accessable when you don't know the language.
I also really love eating, but that's a problem in and of itself because I'm in the middle of trying to lose a substantial amount of weight, so eating rich food is going to make me feel bad when I get home and weigh myself.
Is English your native language? England has an amazing theater tradition.
In terms of cultural significance you can't really go wrong with Athens and Greece in general.
In terms of everything else, well it takes a specific mindset to enjoy what is an overpopulated, chaotic, busy, dirty city in a disorganized country.
Athens takes your "it has to be more than a nice view" requirement and says "Not into nice views, are we? WATCH THIS!" and serves up a miles-wide soup bowl of concrete.
The views, unless looking at the Acropolis, a couple of nice hills or a specific interesting sight, are TERRIBLE.
There's a lot of ancient history, a lot of recent history, a lot of great food, a lot of music and theatre. If visiting during the right time and can cope with travelling a bit (or are brave enough to rent a car) you can actually catch a performance in the 2000 year old Theatre of Epidaurus. Check to ensure they're subtitled. If that's too far you can try a performance at the Odeon in downtown Athens but that's just from 1AD built by the poser Romans, boooooo! It's hard to get more "visiting and actually using a famous historical X" than this.
Really there's too much to write about Athens, its sights and food and overall vibes so if you're considering it, answer this for yourself:
Do you need a clean, tidy, organized city? If yes, never ever ever set foot in Athens.
Do you enjoy dirty, messy, chaotic, "how is this even allowed" cities? If yes, we've got you covered.
One caveat, Athens knows tourism and has an abundance of tourist traps. If you need any tips I'll be more than glad to help out.
Even if you're headed to Canada there is still a deep history in the area. The Haida Gwaii are the first nation of the outer islands in BC and have an incredibly interesting history. My partner and I spent 2 weeks on the northern end of Vancouver Island last year on bike and kayak and there is still a strong link to the original tribes. We ended up with a guide (it was pretty great 5 day with food and gear included for $1200 each) and it felt like we got a taste of what life would have been like. Navigating the insane tides through the channels of Broughton Archipelago in small paddle crafts. Unexpected encounters with humpbacks and orca in the dense fog. Moving entirely under the power of our own bodies. The guide suggested The Golden Spruce, a book that dives into the history of pre-contact first nations, early trade, the expansion of the logging industry, old growth forests (which are extremely endangered), and everything in between. All this had come after I had injured myself bike packing on logging roads through the northern most of the island which cut our trip short. We had gotten to see the impacts of the logging industry (both the clear cuts from the last decade and a sliver of old growth in the very north of the island) In those two weeks we got such an amazing education about the natural, human, and economic history of the area.
I guess my point is that while the west is "young" comparatively to Europe, there is still an incredibly rich history on this side of the globe. You may have checked it out already as you're in the area, but a trip out to Chaco Canyon or Mesa Verde is a great option for a trip closer to home as well!
There was already a post about Japan, but I'll throw in my home country of Taiwan to visit if you're in Asia already! Not only is there so much culture and food, it's also extremely tourist friendly and probably the most LGBTQ+ friendly country in Asia! Feel free to ask me anything about it too, it's kinda late so I'm not able to type up a whole thing but Night Markets, Underground markets, Taipei 101, and beautiful scenery overall await :)
Just make sure to not go in July or August unless you really like humidity and 90+ degree weather.
I'm extremely interested in anything in particular you recommend! I studied Chinese in college but only visited mainland China, and I'd really love to see Taiwan. I have irl Taiwanese friends I can ask about some stuff but in particular if you have any restaurant or cuisine recommendations -- food is a big part od travel for me and I want to know the most important stuff to try!
If food is a big part of travel then Taiwan is the place for you!!! Literally every time I go back I gain weight lol. I'm actually heading back there myself soonish so I've just been thinking about the food to eat:
Obviously you have to get boba there. Not only is it cheap, it's much better (and way less sweet) than it is in the best places in the US!
Taiwanese breakfast is amazing. Fantuan, (basically rice balls) wrapped in everything from pork floss to deep fried dough, is a staple, but also scallion pancakes, dumplings, sandos, radish cakes, and congee. I'll always have 3 courses in Taiwan, even if I skip breakfast here in the States unless its NJ bagels lol.
Then you have staple dishes such as Beef Noodle soup. Perfect for a full meal.
If not, don't forget about hot pot and soup dumplings! If you've heard of Din Tai Fung, that comes from Taiwan.
Another signature is braised pork rice, pretty simple but it's good comfort food.
Stinky tofu is always worth a try, but its very hit or miss if you like it or not. I miss it a lot, but a lot of people including my parents wouldn't touch it!
My grandpa whenver I visited used to take me to a place that had Taiwanese Meatballs (Bawan), and I miss it very much, it's hard to find in the US and it reminds me of him whenever I get any.
All that being said, I still haven't touched on the food mecca that is night markets. Street food is always good, but Taiwan has the best, and I've been to many countries in my life lol. Taiwanese hamburger (guabao), salt and pepper fried chicken, (my personal favorite) Taiwanese sausage, oyster pancakes, chicken gizzard and hearts, all kinds of vermicelli, fried pork chop, literally any meat on a stick, rice cake, and much much more that I'm definitely forgetting!
Oh I'm not even finished yet. Can't forget desert! I can't stand red bean but that's most people's favorite. Shaved ice is the biggest thing to try here. It's so simple but there's just something so nostalgic about it for me haha. Don't forget pineapple cake and always try durian as well!
I just woke up so I'm super hungry. Let me know if you need more info! I spent a lot of time in both the very north and very south of Taiwan just because my parents's hometowns are there.
You made me hungry too. You just listed some of my favorite foods. My husband’s family is from Taiwan so we used to go to Taiwanese restaurants often. Now it doesn’t fit in my diet so I don’t get to go that often.
I am somewhat upset you described guabao as a hamburger and completely forgot 3 cup chicken.
LOL if you google taiwanese hamburger that's what popped up :( I'm not sure what the direct translation would be haha but I think all the food world calls it.
I did forget 3 cup chicken!!! ahh i knew I was forgetting something big haha.
I’m just generally against calling random foreign dishes hamburgers because people have difficulty with the pronunciation. There is a Chinese dish called roujiamo that often gets called “Chinese hamburger” and it really bugs me too. Putting meat in a bun does not make it into a hamburger!
I tend to agree haha but most taiwanese places i've had here in central jersey also call it taiwanese hamburger, so i'm just kinda used to it
Istanbul. Great food. Amazing history/culture. Turkish baths are a must. Pretty affordable (Turkish Airlines flies everywhere, strong dollar/weak lira). Great place where the east really meets the west. I can’t recommend it enough.
How is Turkey on LGBT issues? I'd like to go with my husband but if I'm going to be cursed out for holding and kissing him and risk being bashed it's not a risk I would like to take.
Otherwise, my family went to Turkey long before I was born and they talked about it for years after, so it must have made a big impact on them. It might be fun.
I'm also queer and would stay way from Turkey. It used to be that Istanbul was sort of okay but look up recent pride parades there... I don't think you can even get away with holding hands anymore.
Click around on this map: https://rainbow-europe.org/#8664/0/0
Or this one: https://www.equaldex.com/region/turkey
Or this: https://www.allgaylong.com/lgbtq-worldwide-travel-map/
Turkey is like this apparently.
I truly don't know how it is currently since it's been 4-5 years since I've been. My take is that Istanbul get so much international tourists that it's fairly accepting. I wouldn't expect that outside of Istanbul though.
Well I can only recommend my only country of Denmark! And not just out of bias, but because I think it may actually fit what you're looking for. The country is remarkably flat and dare I say does not offer very good views - and our nature is largely boring, aside from the occasional nice beach maybe a national park or two.
We have many centuries of history to see in the cities though. Walk through parts of Copenhagen and you will see 17th and 18th century houses and blocks everywhere. Not to mention the castles, many of which are nearly untouched from when they were built. In another comment you also mention being gay and Copenhagen also has great things to offer on that front too, for example the world's oldest still standing gay bar.
Obligatory are all the viking age things as well, although I don't think anything is still actually standing except for runestones, burial mounds dotting the landscape, and a couple of strongholds.
I don't think we have any famous bathhouses or things like that, but there are many famous historical buildings. Too many in fact - they are currently talking about tearing down a church from the 13th century since it's not unique and no longer being used
All of this should be accessible to an American since everybody speaks English, and most things worth seeing as a tourist also has signs and descriptions in English
If you live in the Southwestern U.S., and enjoy architecture and history, it should be a cheap day trip to Arcosanti. It's a miniature model of the "arcology" concept that was never funded well enough to realize the original vision.
It's still worth seeing - the building methodologies and architecture are fascinating, and the harmonious integration with the desert landscape is a lesson that should be as influential as Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water.
There's a guided tour, you can see the workshop for the casting of the bronze bells and wind chimes that partially fund continuing operations.
Is it possible to visit without a car? I'm a big Egberto Gismonti fan so I thought it might be cool to stay in Nova Friburgo or Teresópolis for a few days and maybe a few weeks in other cities, states.
You don't need a car, but it can be a facilitator depending on where you're going.
I have never been to either of those cities, but they are both under 200'000 people and I expect you're gonna be able to walk to some places. But they're not super small either. Uber is a reliable alternative in most urban areas, and, when you can't find them, there are still Taxis everywhere. There are local apps as well. Some smaller towns don't really have urban transit. The tip, here, is to talk to the locals to understand how their town works. If you don't know how to contact any locals, talk over the phone to the people from the inn or hotel you're looking to stay at. You can generally find a place that is closer to the things you wanna see the most.
I wouldn't recommend driving on large cities like Rio or Salvador, as it would be difficult for a foreigner to adapt to our, let's say, exciting way to drive :P
In São Paulo and Salvador, if the metro/train is an option, use it. It's safe and efficient. I'd say the same about Rio but I never used the metro there. I bet it is better than the bus, though.
Although there are obviously many problems with it, I'm a big fan of São Paulo's public transit. Here's a recent video in English about their metro system.
If you're an experienced driver with a knack for adventure, you can cover a lot of the country in a rental, and many of us do. The quality of the roads can vary tremendously between regions, states, and even in the same location (as you'll need to switch between federal, state, and municipal roads). It can go very quickly from "perfectly pleasant" to "more holes than road" to "essentially rearranged dirt".
Unless you're up for an adventure, whether driving is an option should probably depend on a continuous case-by-case asessment. Google the itinerary and talk to people. In some cases, you may opt for cross-country bus lines and domestic flights instead. In any event, always trust the locals. We take good care of our tourists, and, most of the time, it is a good idea to ask for help.
Pro tip to make people strike a conversation with you anywhere in Brazil: get two soccer jerseys, one of the most popular team in Rio (Flamengo), and another of the most popular team in São Paulo (Corinthians). If you wanna go the extra mile, get a jersey from the local team wherever you are.