What was the most beautiful unexpected place you've been to?

Delaware Water Gap.

Hawaii. I’m from Florida so I thought it would be just another pretty beach with palm tees. It is truly stunning though.

Bordeaux, France - I had no impression of it before I went and sometimes felt like walking through a painting.

I was impressed with western Wyoming -- it was all green, forested, and pretty. I previously had the impression that Wyoming was brown and resembling something out of an old West movie, and I'm not a desert person.

To “Me.”

Hope you sampled the wine, R3!

The Galápagos Islands

Vicenza, Italy

Sedona, Arizona

Doylestown? It's Philly, for god's sake

The backwoods of Laos

Bangkok Thailand

There are a few hikes in Montauk. There’s one with woods and dunes and a cranberry bog and you end up back on the shores of a bay. There’s such a variation of scenery in half an hour, it’s amazing. The air pressure and light seem to be from another planet. Been there in the summer and the winter and it’s always like going into a trance.

Also a huge fan of our national parks. Acadia National Park in Maine. And Yellowstone and Grand Tetons.

Queenstown, NZ

Big Sur

Driving south out of Yellowstone National Park heading for Jackson Hole, I looked out and saw The Grand Tetons.

Breathtaking!

North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia

The Faroe Islands. I travelled all over the islands, expected it to be beautiful and a bit Scandinavian or Iceland-like but I was absolutely blown away by how gorgeous everything was. Can't wait to go back

The San Juan Skyway in western Colorado. I expected it to be beautiful, but it was breathtaking. Gorgeous. What mountains are supposed to look like.

Born in Chicago and when we took a vacation, as a child, to the Wisconsin Dells IT WAS MAGICAL.

Parts of China and Russia were gorgeous. Northern Vietnam blew my mind. I put off going to those particular countries as I figured they would be polluted hellholes. I'd go back to China in a heartbeat (wearing a biohazard suit at the moment, obviously)

[quote] Queenstown, NZ

That’s funny. I got into a shitfight there with the dutchman I was travelling with who hated it with a visceral passion, calling it a second-rate Whistler, and demanding we leave immediately. I had to admit it is pretty second rate, and we had one of the worst meals of my life (Mexican) served up by couldn’t-care-less Irish staff. So slightly surreal. NZ is very over-rated if you’ve been to Norway, and you have to drive hours between the scenic bits.

R22 Poor thing. That must have been terrible for you.

The GAP store in the Sheboygan Squared Mall, Sheboygan, Wisconsin

"Just unbelievably beautiful clothing in such a vibrant cosmopolitan setting"

Unexpected? Gosh. I'd say Liverpool. I'm a Beatles fan and went their years ago after a trip to London. I LOVED it. Quaint. Great people.

People saying they think Big Sur is unexpectedly beautiful is ridiculous. Ditto the Grand Tetons. My god. Two of the most beautiful places on earth.

Cranford, New Jersey is a surprisingly beautiful little town. And at the local gym, I saw some of the hottest guys with the biggest dicks. All in all, quite unexpectedly beautiful!

Canberra, Australia. That said my expectations were extremely low, but with the lake in the middle its actually far more attractive than I expected

I expected a soulless concrete shithole, and although a few bits live up to that description a lot of it is quite beautiful too

Bodrum , Turkey

When I was a teenager we went to Maui and drove the road to Hana, and there were natural pools and waterfalls and tropical foliage, and we drove this thin ribbon of road on the side of a mountain overlooking the ocean, and the fucking road was a packed dirt road and it was so narrow it was really harrowing no guard rails, and a sheer drop off the side into the sea. It seemed like it took hours. But we made it through and there we were sitting on the grass, on these cliffs watching these huge waves batter the rocky shore. Amazing experience.

Canberra is a shithole. And one of the most pedestrian unfriendly places I’ve ever visited. I was so frustrated I ended up having to walk over flower beds to get where I wanted. The National Gallery is a 70s-80s carbuncle: probably the ugliest national gallery innthe world. Some of the surviving 1920s architecture is modest and nice, but you could bulldoze the whole city and start again without tears.

I begrudgingly went to Santa Fe with friends expecting to not like it at all but I was immediately charmed. We were there in the winter and the town was perfumed by people burning pinon in their fireplaces - it was the most amazing scent. The architecture is absolutely iconic. The area around the central plaza is very beautiful.

Utah... spectacular beauty everywhere. If it wasn't full of Mormons, I'd love to live there.

Thr horse farms around Midway, KY. It looked like a movie set.

Istanbul. I had steeled myself to expect a dirty, grungy city, and while I'm sure there are parts like that, nearly all the places I went I was overwhelmed by how beautiful it was. The day cruise on the Bosphorus was an absolutely astonishing experience.

The Grand Canyon. We visited in February, there was snow on the ground; that night, it was a clear sky with a full moon - the Canyon was a silvery blue. Breathtaking.

The Catskills and Canada. The woods, dear.

The rivers and falls are breathtaking. They made a tomboy out of me, before the confines of high heels and dresses came along, and told me to be pretty, or else.

There is just nothing more beautiful than an open sky filled with stars, and the smell of pine and woods, filling the air. Swimming in a lake at midnight. Stuff like that really is so simple yet pleasurable.

National parks are where it’s at. America, the beautiful, really is beautiful.

I wanna go to Alaska, and check that out. I’d certainly go there, before hitting up the UAE, like so many younger Americans want to. I cannot believe how many people I hear say that this is their desired destination, especially if they’ve never travelled outside of the US.

After Alaska? The Amazon. Certain areas of Peru. Mount Kilimanjaro, and then other peaks in Asia. I love mountains.

I think it would be awesome to go on some sort of archaeological expedition, as an observer, and learn.

Turkey would be on my list, but not at this very moment. I have family in the security biz, and he says it’s just not safe right now, and not because of Ergodan, but because of rogue cells of kidnappers popping up here and there. Allegedly, people get kidnapped more than we know, and it usually does not become as public as we think. And most importantly, I can’t justify spending my money in a place where it’s leadership approved the assassination of a journalist by a Saud Prince.

R34, I had a 9 hour stopover in Istanbul, and I have to say I was not impressed. Did a day tour, and although the Blue Mosque was nice, most of the rest of Istanbul struck me as quite grotty. And the touts were fucking relentless. As 35 says, with Ergodan running the joint I am in no rush to return

Jim Thorpe, PA

Sedona, but I had to filter the foreground.

Devil’s Tower National monument in Wyoming. Isle of Skye, Scotland. Monte Verde Cloud Forest, Costa Rica.

[quote] told me to be pretty, or else.

Did someone literally say this to you?

Columbia County, NY

Very pretty and rural

I'm not saying because I don't want a bunch of people to start going there before I buy property!

I went to Suzhou this past December- it was unbelievably beautiful. My brother had warned of rumblings of a flu in Wuhan area. I told him I wasn’t worried.

R40, yes. My mother. All the fucking time.

R40, yes. My mother. All the fucking time.

Tofino, Vancouver Island, BC.

R46, that’s beautiful.

My Aunt Shelia.

She was less dried out and more receptive to my advances than I had assumed earlier at cocktails.

Went on a family vacation in my teens and had no desire to go to Austria (even tried to stay in Paris with a new "friend" I'd made!) but ended up loving it. It was so clean and beautiful.

The Lauterbrunnen Valley and environs. Stayed in Murren for a few days, would walk down to the valley and walk for miles there. It was so beautiful, I had moments in which I wondered if I were still alive.

R50, wow!

I've taken the train between Edinburgh and Inverness several times and loved the scenery through the highlands. I stayed a couple of nights in a small town west of Aberdeen. I'd like to return some day.

Wowza R50

Southern Utah

Victoria, Canada

Corsica: Mountains, rivers, beaches, castles...blown away.

Good stories, but we've gotten away from "unexpected". In the olden days, you'd travel for business without knowing the first thing about the city you were flying to other than the hotel and Company address and the rent a car map. The company would send you to "Chicago" but you'd be in Kankakee. It's hard to be surprised anymore with maps and websites, thankfully!

I described my 1st trip to Houston as through the looking glass. My only reference points were "Urban Cowboy" and Terms of Endearment. I found my way to the Hotel- in a mall with an ice skating rink! Me, checking in.."Hey, why did people at work snicker when I told them I was staying on Westheimer?" "Oh, it gets a little weird downtown, you want to stay away from there" . Me-"So, I don't want to turn right outside the parking lot and drive about 3 miles? and make a left?" That's how you would find the gay bars back then, drive around and look for guys in tight shirts. I assure you that when I found the Garden of Eden/Montrose bar area, I was more excited than my 15 yo self going to Disneyland. The night ended at a little slice of heaven called the "House of Pies". (AKA House of Guys). So much UNEXPECTED fun.

Ottawa- I arrived at Christmas time with light snow, it was like a dream.

Avery Island Louisiana- A remarkable Garden paradise in backwater/industrial area. The inventor of Tabasco sauce and a factory tour.

Japanese tea gardens, bamboo forests and alligators. Totally unexpected. If you ever do that drive Houston-N.O.. It's worth the stop.

The Painted Desert of northern Arizona!

Okay, we were driving from Montana to LA, helping someone move by driving a load of their stuff, and we wanted to stop by some national parks in the Southwest. So we thought we were just heading for the Grand Canyon, but slowed down because the desert around us was so spectacular! It wasn't a national park or marked on the map, just desert dotted with farms and Navajo hogan houses, but it was luridly colorful, amazing, layered desert! The landscape is made up of sedimentary layers of rock, and the layers were varied red and maroon and white and pearl gray and gold and pink and coral and blue-gray, every hillside was a miracle and every roadcut a rainbow!

It was the single most amazing place I've ever unintentionally blundered onto.

R56 beats my first trip to Texas.

I was tripping HARD on LSD, and recall drinking with an American Indian dude at a bar, who was cool AF.

Second trip? Obviously much of a let down, because the LSD and good company were not around.

Texas as a sober person kinda sucks. I see no point.

The trick with traveling through America, particularly the South, is staying away from people.

Haha! I jest. But not a fan of Texas.

Honestly, I think California and Hawaii are the two best States we have got going. Two beautiful and livable places, depending on where. Volcanoes and quake faults, withstanding, obvs.

OK. A surprise or an unexpected place? Probably my happy trails into the Angeles Creat Forest, when horseback riding. You can just take off, willy nilly. You spend weeks learning markers, landmarks, etc. Each time, you go in a bit further.

I’ve stood with my horse, alone, looking down at the mountains and rocks below. I’ve come across packs of coyotes, that I had to aggressively scare off, in order to be OK, and I’ve sometimes met lone riders, like me, just going zen and off grid for the day, with their horse.

I have seen so many different, beautiful things, while riding. Sometimes scary, always made it back OK, and have definitely been thrown, and had to get back on, because I had to get back home.

Horses are special in the same way that your dogs are. They’re just much bigger, and eat lots more. But they’re amazing, beautiful and intelligent animals.

Newfane, VT

Deerfield, MA

Not completely unexpected, but The Nachez Trace Parkway blew me away with how beautiful it was, especially when you get off it and look at some of the Mississippi landscape not contained within the National Park. Especially if you're able to take the time to stop to see some of the historical/natural markers. Loved the walk around the swamps.

SALZBURG

BRUGGE

VENICE

NANTUCKET

SEDONA

KEY WEST

Ha Long Bay - Vietnam. Saying Mesmerizing is an understatement to say the least.

R58, you reminded me of an unexpected foray into the Mojave. I had no idea I was coming up to it, or that it was easily accessible from where I was driving. The sun started to come up, and suddenly I could see, and said something like, OMG, holy shit!

We got out and walked. It was so quiet. Not one soul in sight, but the two of us.

Death Valley

Kansas--it's not all corn fields. The rolling hills are stunning, far more so than anything you see in Illinois.

That's the motto on the state license plates, right R66?

"Kansas, hills more stunning than those in Illinois"

^^ It doesn't say that on the Kansas plates, it says...

"KANSAS"

"Hey, it's better then Illinois"

r10, Doylestown is not the city of Philadelphia. It is in the 'burbs, in Bucks county. It became a very upscale place. Very charming, great restaurants. It takes big bucks to live in Bucks county. The place isn't cheap.

Bronx, NY and Washington, DC. ... neither one in its entirety, of course, but there are a great many unexpectedly beautiful places in each.

There is very beautiful scenery in Utah and Colorado going across Interstate 70. Even the Eisenhower Tunnel and the descent from the Front Range into Denver are surprisingly fun experiences.

It's nice to see Doylestown on this list. It is a charming town getting better every year.

[R72] Check out the wonderful Mercer Museum next time you're in Doylestown, if you haven't already. And the center of town is one of the rare US places that suggests a European village, as the houses are of stone and set quite close together. There are also unexpected details, such as the Art Moderne movie theater with a bright blue ceramic facade.

The Old City of Jerusalem, 30 years ago.

Driving through the scenic Seward highway in Alaska. It’s an unexpected feast for the eyes.

Jersey City

Slovenia, especially around Lake Bled and the Julian Alps. Absolutely stunning.

The first time I went to Waikiki, and was swimming near sunset. The colours changed, and before I knew it - plink ... darkness.

I was at one with the water. Mary! Pass me a tissue.

R56 , and they have a Devine coconut cream At House of Pies .

[R76] I assume you are joking, but if anyone is actually ever in Jersey City check out the historic 1929 Loews Theater. Outside and inside it is simply spectacular and one of the few cinema palaces of the era to survive essentially intact.

Doylestown is really sweet.

Walpole NH surprised me with its elegant architecture and beautiful green. Even by classic New England standards it is something very special.

A lot of New Hampshire towns in general are underrated in terms of charm. Vermont and the Maine Coast get all the spotlight and places like Sandwich and Plymouth remain overlooked.

Big Island, Hawaii. Because of the deep space telescope at Keck Observatory, lighting is very limited after dark. As a city dweller, seeing the stars like that was awe inspiring. Every single night I was outside, just star gazing. Was so beautiful!

Kaua’i. When I moved there, I was prepared for the tropic vistas. But what continually startled me were the myriad unexpected beauties:

- A tunnel of trees, arching over the road to Koloa.

- A forest of Norfolk Island pine trees, whispering in the wind.

- A deep tidal pool right next to crashing waves.

- Moonlight so bright you can distinguish colors in its light.

- Sufi dancing on full moon nights in the Dry Cave on the North Shore.

- Watching great cloud galleons sail out to sea at night from where they were gathered over the mountains.

- Up in Koke’e, near Kauai’s own Grand Canyon, coming upon a forest of tall redwoods, planted by the CCC in the 30’s.

- Seeing the rare night rainbow, the Anui Nui Kaupo, formed by moonlight, with the faint ghost of color tints.

- The crashing boom of waves hitting the cliffs in winter, loud as cannon.

- The wind in the palm fronds, clacking them together, sounding exactly like rain falling on leaves back East.

- Moonlight so bright I used to drive with my car lights off. (Though certainly not for long!)

Ravishing, unearthly place!

Who the fuck never thought Hawaii would be beautiful??

south of Broad, Charleston, SC

Ravello, Italy on the Amalfi Coast

See comment R85, R87. Same for the Amalfi Coast.

Guatemala. Surprisingly lush and beautiful, and the volcanic soil made everything grow emerald green.

Big Bend NP: lots of variety and weirdness (geologically speaking) and no crowds. Stark and beautiful. The night sky is spectacular, too. The Milky Way is not something you have to strain to see--at all.

The national parks near Kuching, island of Borneo (Malaysia): rain forest and ocean paradises (I have to sadly acknowledge that much of Borneo's rainforests are getting raped). Much of the food in Kuching is outstanding: a Malay/Tamil/Chinese mixture. I think the Chinese ethnic group is mostly Hokkien. Beautiful scenery and amazing plants and animals.

Perhentian Islands, Malaysia: I'm not into lying on the beach, but the diving/snorkeling options there are outstanding. Underwater, there are mini-seamounts on white sand. Lots of lobster, sea turtles and all sort of other marine life. The islands are a marine sanctuary/underwater park. Bee-yoo-ti-ful.

Sagano bamboo forest in Kyoto

Most of these places aren't unexpected as far as beauty goes.

R90 - where did you stay near Big Bend? It’s been on my list for a while - but it’s really a hike from anywhere so I want to make sure there is a decent place to stay to be able to appreciate the stars at night. I imagine a Motel 6 surrounded by harsh fluorescent lights that would completely ruin the vibe /view.

I find it funny that Doylestown was the poster child for places with unexpected beauty. Grew up near there. Umm...it’s not all that. It’s a suburb.

r93 -- I've had this place bookmarked for whenever I go to Big Bend but can't personally recommend since I've yet to make that trip

Awesome !! Thank you R95.

That looks cool, R95!

But not as cool as the Aurora-viewing hotels of Finland.

R69, it's still odd to see Doylestown on this list. I say this as someone who grew up in Bucks and now live in New Hope. Yes Doylestown is very pretty.

I would have to add to this list - Colorado Springs and Flagstaff AZ. I've driven cross country several times and I just thought those two areas were beautiful.

R94 we must have been neighbors :)

OMG R71 - I went down that decent with bad rotors. It was a nightmare. I thought I was going to die. I was driving cross country to PA from Los Angeles I ended up staying a few days in Denver until my car was fixed.

It is beautiful though

I got afib - or first noticed it - going through the Eisenhower Tunnel. Altitude sickness /heart effects of altitude is no joke.

Petra, Jordan.

Was in Amman for a work trip, and went to Petra, as locals recommended it as good for tourists. Knew it would be beautiful, but had no idea that the long, windy road down into the valley would be so beautiful, and end up with a familiar site. Breathtaking.

Ouray Colorado - the US's Switzerland (or how I would image).

Driving to Ouray is terrifying though. Did it once and not sure I would do it again - especially as I get older. It’s pretty though. And not the conspicuous consumption and overdevelopment of Aspen.

Kraków. Such a beautiful and charming city.

Another vote for Vicenza.

York in the UK.

Oh yeah, the San Juan mountains of Colorado are stunning! I had no clue how gorgeous the drive was, we were on a road trip and wanted to get from Colorado to New Mexico, and took the road marked "scenic route". Ouray was stunning, the whole drive was stunning, and it's a pity we didn't know what we were doing because it got dark when we were still goggling. And BTW the drive was fine, for someone who's used to the mountain roads of the Sierras.

I went back a couple of years later and spent a couple of days in lovely Telluride, which is a lovely little town and simply stunning in the fall. But there was a storm over the San Juans the day I had expected to drive over the pass in proper style, I ended up going to Vail instead. I didn't like Vail nearly as much as Telluride, Ouray, or even Aspen.

Vail is an ugly corporate park. One of the ugliest mountain towns in CO.

Minneapolis in May several years ago was surprisingly pretty (beautiful might be too strong). So green, lakes everywhere, many parks, nice brick houses (all houses seemed to be brick and several stories high, but the lots get smaller in the poorer sections of town). Extremely clean city. No outward signs of poverty at all. Have friends who live there and they really love it 'cause they live in a high rise virtually in the downtown area and they an walk to the Guthrie Theater, the Walker Art Museum, the symphony hall, etc. (they are super culture vultures). Obviously they have double glazed windows, extremely good heating and the parking is underground and heated so the engines don't freeze. I was surprised and what a nice city it was.

True, R107. Telluride and Ouray obviously have tourist industries, but they still look like real towns where real people live.

Vail looks like a place where nouveau riches from Dallas have their second McMansion.

Point lobos south of Carmel. I wandered in by accident, amazing

R106, that drive, the "million dollar highway", is gorgeous. I wouldn't call it unexpected beauty, since it's famously beautiful, but I will say it's something that has to be seen to be believed. It is truly spectacular. I think it's especially impressive for Easterners, because we don't have mountains like that here.

For a gentler beauty that was unexpected, at least to me, here are two places in Northeast Pennsylvania:

I-81 from the NY state line south to Lenox. There are very few settlements in this area, and low mountains are all around. I drove through in the fall, and the colors were spectacular. The afternoon sunlight glowing off the golds and reds was breathtaking.

Not far away, I-84 through the Poconos, from Matamoros almost to I-380 outside Scranton. As with the I-81 stretch, there are few towns or even villages. Miles of green forest and low mountains. It’s one of the most peaceful drives I’ve ever taken.

There are some very pretty places in rural PA. The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon is beautiful

When I was a kid. my aunt from Allentown, PA, drove me from NYC to there (Atown) to Valley Forge through the Amish country (or vice versa?--don't know my PA geography very well). It was probably late June. Has to be one of the greenest places I've ever seen with all those rolling hills and the hex signs on the barns. Do the Amish still have those?

R113 sounds like you were in Lancaster PA

How are we discussing “beautiful places” and Pennsylvania in the same thread? And I’m from PA.

kyoto japan during the height of cherry blossoms in april, amazing....

R115, you really think there are no nice places in the entire state? I'm from PA, too, by the way

How could anyone expect Kyoto at cherry-blossom time to be anytjing other than beautiful?

Thanks [95] and anyone else who has recommendations for Big Bend.

Heading there next week for my first visit

R115 and R117 where are you from in PA?

R120, I'm from the suburbs of Pittsburgh. Nothing special about my hometown, although I've been to other parts of PA that were gorgeous

Philly. And I appreciate there are some surprisingly nice places - given the general image of PA as depressed coal and steel mill towns. But in all of the US, PA is not even in top 20 nice states.

Sedona, AZ - Objectively beautiful, but deserts had never held any appeal for me. Visited and was bowled over by how breathtaking it was in person. Striking and yet somehow very zen. Would love to have a second home there.

R122, but we're talking about individual places, not the whole state. You don't have to drive far from Philadelphia to be in farm country of green, rolling hills and pretty villages. Also, the northern tier of the state, along the NY border, is thinly populated and hilly to mountainous. There is unexpected beauty all over the place when you get outside the cities and - yes, very depressing - dying coal towns and post-industrial small cities.

[quote]I find it funny that Doylestown was the poster child for places with unexpected beauty. Grew up near there. Umm...it’s not all that. It’s a suburb.

Agreed, R94. There's an unexpected amount of Doylestown boosterism, not that it isn't a nice enough or better place, but the categorization under "most beautiful unexpected place" is a little surprising.

Some places are widely acclaimed as beautiful but of course can come as a surprise to a visitor who may have figured they were overhyped or that it wasn't the sort of thing that would appeal to them (yet somehow won them over), like R102's experience in Petra, and others can shine against dim expectation so any list is going to have its surprises.

[quote]And I appreciate there are some surprisingly nice places

That was the whole point of the damn thread. "Unexpected places." No one ever thinks of PA as a beautiful place but when you stumble somewhere like Jim Thorpe you go "wow... I would never have thought!"

Mountains outside of Charlottesville. The whole area tbh. Really beautiful combination of mountains, large open space, classic architecture and historic vibe - with juts a hint of Southern graciousness.

At the very least, this thread has inspired my road trip vacation this year.

R122 I grew up in Bucks (newtown) and now live in new hope. But I spent my late teens through early 30’s living in other cities. What surprised me is once I started living elsewhere I began to appreciate Bucks a lot more. It’s so much nicer than a lot of other places/suburbs in the country.

R128 - take some Xanax. Driving those curvy mountain roads with sheer drop offs for more than 2 hours at a time will leave your nerves jangled. Be careful of committing to too much distance each day. You want to get out of the car and hike to enjoy the nature. And pick your stops carefully - the price of lodgings in many of those mountain towns is absurd - even in off season.

Is Doylestown,pa the new Hudson, ny? I keep seeing it referenced across different threads. Someone seemingly wants to make it happen ...

Judging from what I saw, it already happened some time ago.

No - Doylestown is not the new Hudson. Or Woodstock. You just have to peruse real estate listings to see it’s a suburb - with somewhat large lots- filled with bland suburban houses and an occasional interesting house. The only reason I can think it’s getting attention is New Hope is becoming over-developed, ungay and expensive and Doylestown has a train to Center City Philly. There are a lot nicer Philly suburbs. And there are much nicer country towns. I have no idea why Doylestown.

Doylestown Village - not the township - is a concentration of historic buildings surrounding the courthouse. They include the works of Henry Mercer, who created some of the most unusual architectural museums in the country. They also include the Mercer Museum, a major center of regional art that showcases the Pennsylvania Impressionism of the late 19th century. The houses is the district are chiefly from the 1850s through the 1940s with some substantial colonial era survivors and a few Art Deco and Mid-Century Modern public buildings. A look at the place on Google Maps will make that clear.

This idea that it's culturally and architecturally Levittown is bizarre.

Off topic, but the food options in Bucks county are amazing. Plus, Philly is so close. NYC not too far off when you have to get away. That town has changed in the past 20 years. New Hope, too, as has been posted already. The Raven is now gone! Torn down gone.