52 Places to Go in 2016

* Brno, Czech Republic - I stayed there just a few days, but even though pretty, the city wasn't very exciting. It's quite cheap and less touristic than Prague, so if you're looking for something less crowded than the capital, it might be a good choice to experience Czech culture

* Barcelona, Spain - one of the most touristic places in Europe, but it totally deserves it. It's not only beautiful and lively, but even if you want to avoid crowded areas, you can book a room a few stations from the center and enjoy the fantastic local culture. I stayed there for a month and as long as you stay away from La Rambla, it's very relaxing place

* Vietnam - I haven't been to Dalat yet, but recently I've visited Ho Chi Minh City and Mui Ne and both are wonderful places. Vietnamese cuisine and coffee, as well as cheerful and very friendly people, make it a perfect place for a low-cost trip.

* Malaga, Spain - way different from Barcelona, with the influence of African culture, it's a good place to spend a few days, but also perfect base for short trips around - from Malaga you can easily get to Gibraltar, Granada, Jerez and Seville

* Phnom Penh, Cambodia - I think that other places in Cambodia like Battambang or Siem Reap are better to visit. Capital of the country is rather crowded and polluted. There's plenty of things to see, however, especially if you know a bit about history of Cambodia, you can constantly feel demons of the past being present in the city.

* Sydney, Australia - I spent 1 week in Melbourne and then 1 week in Sydney, when I was in Australia. I must say I strongly prefer Melbourne as it is more a place to live, while Sydney seems more a business city. Having said that, I highly recommend to visit them both, they're expensive, but wonderful.

The Eastern part of the DRC is still a dangerous place to go with still ongoing guerrilla activity.

"Getting there requires a flight to Kigali, Rwanda, and a three-hour taxi ride."

"While a park spokeswoman said there have been no reports of unfriendly encounters between rebels and tourists, the eastern D.R.C. remains an unpredictable area that calls for sensible precautions."

If you want to see the mountain gorilla, just go to Rwanda. Very safe country, the Switzerland/Singapore of Africa. Or Uganda for even cheaper. I am not saying to only go to safe places, but avoiding active combat zones is easy to do.

Sad to see almost nothing in (non Northern) Africa. Great place to avoid the mobs.

EDIT: a few more points

36 - Tyrol, Austria

The Tyrol extends into Italian as south Tyrol, so if you are touring Italy, visit this region.

45 - Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I found it boring, and so did most visiting non-expats that I met. Most tourists simply visit the Killing Fields and prison, which is not mentioned.

The story of the siege of Malta in 1565 is absolutely riveting. The Knights of St John, with Grand Master de la Valette, and the Maltese population are attacked and besieged by the numerically superior Turks for the entire summer of 1565. Ernle Bradford does a remarkable job of describing the events in such a way that it almost feels like you are there. Along the way, you also learn a lot about life, war and politics in the 16th century

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Malta-1565/dp/1497637864/

700,000 square miles? Of Dockland? In Bordeaux? And each apartment gets 140 square miles of land? :-)

Then I realised as an NY Times piece, this is for Americans. Lots of the places are Anglo-Spanish-friendly (St Helena, really?), mostly within less than insane flight times (explains the lack of New Zealand on the list) and the inevitable references to Kanye and other celebrities (because you know it'd be insulting to suggest that these places actually have things going for themselves without the affirmation of a celebrity).

While I disagree with almost the majority of the choices (choose Melbourne over Sydney any day of the week as a tourist, avoid anything with Democratic Republic of the Congo on it unless you're already familiar with the safety requirements for the region) it's an interesting and thought provoking list, nonetheless.

What I'll be interested to see is what the impact of a major data center will be on tech investment in the area from both the local community and from outside investors[2].

[1] http://www.experiencegr.com/things-to-do/beer-city/

[2] https://www.supernap.com/news/switch-confirms-plans-for-mass...

I used to work with someone from St Helena. She was just 20 years old, and — understandably — didn't see much future for herself on the island. Perhaps the airport will change that, or at least mean she no longer needs to take two weeks holiday to visit her family by ship.

Some of these places should be more and less generalized, however. "Skane, Sweden" ought to be changed to "a less populated region of the Norwegian or Swedish coast, somewhere with a historic lighthouse". I've spent some time on the coast of Norway, and I think it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. Additionally, naming "Kansai, Japan" is ridiculous, it encompasses 22 million people and three major cities (Osaka/Kyoto/Kobe); this is especially ridiculous given that there's also a place on the list with a population of 113.

There are lots of festivals and things do in the summer, but I can't honestly agree with the #7 spot. Many of the places on the list are more exciting.

Another tip: wherever you go, try to time your trip with a local holiday. This is when most public events will take place and locals will have the day off allowing you to interact with them as opposed to other tourists.

Things to do in each location: crowdsource to Facebook

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/newsgraphics/2015/11/10/places-...

   53. Nepal.

Sloppy editing.

Take a look: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkmPAOwpkL8

I'll add places I've been to that I haven't seen mentioned:

* Hangzhou, China - I spent about three days hanging around West Lake/Xi Hu (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Lake), a large, BEAUTIFUL lake adjacent to the city. Sprawling mountains in the background, an endless amount of Chinese gardens and beautiful greenery surrounding it. Cheap boat rides that you can drive yourself, and an extreme dearth of Western tourists - even by China standards. Though, I went during the summer and the place was swarming with Chinese tourists. Maybe my favorite meal in China was in a modern restaurant in a random mall there. I'd honestly consider Xi Hu one of the most beautiful places I've been.

* Malmo, Sweden - I didn't go to the countryside like the article recommends though did a day trip to the nearby University town of Lund, which is nice but nothing cooler than most small European cities. The city itself has nothing in particular worth seeing - it's still fairly expensive, though probably cheap by Scandanvian standards. I did stumble upon some good restaurants. I enjoyed Stockholm a lot more, and wouldn't return to Malmo if it weren't for a friend I have there. Gothenburg seems a lot cooler but sadly I never made it out there. Definitely avoid in the late fall / winter due to cold weather.

* Kansai, Japan - I spent a little over a weekin Osaka and various small towns in the area (Nara, Ouji). I got the sense that besides Tokyo and its surrounding area, Kansai contained a good chunk of the interesting tourist things in Japan. Himeji castle is an hour or two bullet train ride away (and many of the towns nearby have similar castles), Mt Fuji is in the area, there are great onsen / hostsprings, Kyoto and the closeby area appears to contain the strongest density of old shrines and temples, and Nara is famous for the thousands of wild deer intermixed with old shrines and temples. Hiroshima is a few hour train ride away and has a lot to see: the A-Bomb museum, memorial, infamous bombed dome remains, and Miyajima - a beautiful island also with wild deer and shrines that I unfortunately missed due to rain. If you have enough time and railpass duration, take a (~3-6 hour) train to Fukouka and then the (~$100/each way) fast ferry to Busan, Korea. I LOVED Busan. Also: be sure to buy the Japan rail pass BEFORE you get to Japan. You can't get it in Japan.

* Malaga, Spain - this one has been mentioned, but I'll add it did seem much more touristy and built up than other parts of Andalusia. The pros of this are there are some nice restaurants and bars and still some good historical stuff - like a nice Moorish fort and Roman ampitheater in the center. I was there in the winter (still ~60 degrees F) but there are beaches. I'd recommend checking out nearby Granada for Alhambra and Sevilla was also cool. Cordoba is overrated and this is coming from a huge history nerd.

* Phnom, Penh - this one was also mentioned. I found this place incredibly depressing. Nearly everywhere you go there are often disfigured or limb-missing locals begging (I am guessing this the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge). They're not actually begging for money, but rather to give you a tuk-tuk ride, which was unusual to begging in other places I've been where people usually just ask for money. It's very dirty - like usually you rent a tuk tuk (think 1970s era chariot - motorcycle with wagon on the back), and I remember getting really dusty just from driving around. The Cambodians are incredibly nice and speak remarkably good English especially compared to the even more heavily tourist-exposed neighboring Thais. You can shoot an AK-47 for $50 at an army range and even a bazooka if you're willing to pay ~$300 (though I found out later in my trip it's a lot cheaper to shoot an AK and Russian weapons in the Baltics - mainly Estonia and Latvia). Angkor Wat in nearby Siem Reap is a MUST see.