As someone that has a travel list as long as about five of my arms (side note: I have two arms, but I’m making a point, ok?), visiting somewhere twice just seems like a waste of my travel dollars and holiday allowance. I’ve already been to Mexico twice and Paphos in Cyprus three times, but that has been more by accident than any sort of forward planning on my part.
But when you are just dipping in and out of places for a short amount of time, how much do you actually get to see? And, as I’ve grown older, what I’m interesting in seeing as changed – so revisiting some of my favourite destinations for a second time seems sensible.
So I’ve dived back into my holiday archives and came up with my list of places to travel to twice – I’m firmly adding all five of these to my future travel plans. I’d love to know if you’d like to visit these or where you want to visit again!
Costa Rica
I have no idea how we ended up choosing to visit Costa Rica, but I am so so glad we did. It was mine and Andrew’s first big trip together way back in 2007 and we saved up our meagre charity job wages for months to be able to afford the plane ticket. If I’m honest, I don’t think I was that knowledgeable about Costa Rica before we went – it just seemed like a cool place to visit.
What awaited us was the most intense, magical and beautiful experience of my life. I’m not even exaggerating. Not even a little bit. And despite all the places I’ve seen since, it still ranks as my number one of places I have visited and places I want to visit again.
We trekked rainforests, walked through the clouds and treetops, watched the lava flow down the 10th most active volcano, bathed in volcanic hot springs, got up close and personal with howler monkeys and crocodiles and crossed the border to Nicaragua.
I cannot adequately describe the beauty of this country without using too many superlatives.
I’m thinking about doing a mega guide to my adventures in Costa Rica, so if you’d like to read more, pop me a comment down below!
Florence
Florence was one of my dream destinations that I finally managed to get to last year, and yet I still want to go back. Like immediately. You know when you build up an image in your head of what a place will be like, when you’ve been dreaming of visiting so long? And you worry endlessly that it just isn’t going to be as good as that? I needn’t have worried.
Florence was everything I wanted it to be and more. You want a weekend away with your mum wandering cobbled streets, visiting art galleries and eating pizza? Check. You want a weekend with your besties buying leather handbags, checking out the designer shops and drinking endless Prosecco? Yeah, Florence has your back. You want a romantic trip with your significant other looking wistfully over bridges down the River Arno and kissing underneath the sunset? This is the place you want to visit.
I’ve now booked even more Italian adventures for this year, travelling around Pisa, Rome and Naples but I’m already longing for a return to Florence very very soon.
Check out the full Florence City Guide here!
Love travelling to new places? Here are 5 places that are worth seeing twice!Click To TweetLake District
I’ve only ever visited The Lakes once, and we spent almost all of that snowed in at our B&B, instead of pottering round Lake Windermere and going on long hearty walks. What we did manage to see was absolutely glorious, and as we drove into the area with the snow starting to fall the beauty was outstanding.
So I really want to go back again – I want to hire a boat and while away and afternoon in the sun. I want to hike somewhere wonderful with a picnic. And I really want to go back and visit The Beatrix Potter Museum which was far too deluged with snow and ice to visit last time.
If you’ve got any Lake District/Cumbria tips please let me know if the comments as I think I’m going to plan a long weekend for this year!
Krakow
This was another of my 2016 adventures, and it was an unexpected gem of a destination and definitely high up of my list of places to travel to twice. I was recommended by a friend to visit, and it was so budget friendly that I combined it with my trip to Prague. If you are looking for an extremely friendly city to visit, that has both good food and vodka, and so much interesting culture and history to explore, Krakow is your destination. As with many Eastern European cities, there is a lot of WWII historical places to see, a thriving Jewish community and the most beautiful architecture and buildings you’ll ever experience.
Whilst Krakow isn’t huge and is very walkable (we walked everywhere), we spent a whole day going to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. If you go to Krakow, you must visit here. It’s that simple. But that means we barely scratched the surface of what this city has to offer in our 2.5 days there. We are yet to visit the Salt Mines (which apparently has a Harry Potter/Gringott’s vibe), we didn’t make it to Schindler’s Factory, and there were more areas of the city itself I’d like to explore more deeply. Plus, I really want to have a night out in the Jewish Quarter which is apparently THE BEST.
This is the kind of city you could visit again and again (cheaply!) and still see something different each time. And also vodka?!
Check out the full Krakow City Guide here.
New York
I visited New York back in 2011 on a girls weekend break with my Mum, and it was my first taste of the USA. I’ve since been to Utah for a work trip, but I’m desperate to see more of America and to revisit New York.
New York really is a place that I felt like I could have easily moved to in my younger years. From the minute we landed it was everything I wanted it to be and more and I was kicking myself for not having a year in the USA when I was studying, or just taking the chance and moving there on graduation. 4 days was not enough to do New York justice. We did a lot of the major sights – Empire State, Rockafeller Center, Brooklyn Bridge, Times Square, Grand Central, Central Park and the Staten Island Ferry but I barely scratched the surface.
I want to go back and see the museums. Spend an autumn day strolling through Central Park. Discover foodie places in Brooklyn. Visit the 9/11 memorial properly. See New York in every season. Just wander the streets really! New York (much like London) is a place you could go to every year and not get bored, IMHO. With flights as cheap as they are now, it is much more accessible. Maybe with the cheaper flights I could stay in a fancy apartment instead of a hotel and splash out on maid service NYC for a week!
Plus, my photos are a total fail – so I need to go back and create many more photographic memories of this amazing city.
So there are my top 5 places to travel to twice – destinations all over the world that I’m desperate to go back to – but that I think anyone could enjoy seeing for a first or second time. Where would you visit twice? Let me know in the comments!