Best country to go on holiday to: the first debate; what's missing?

[San Bernardhinault]

Group M

Namibia is glorious. One of the best places I've ever been. The people are so friendly, and it has the astonishing sand dunes at Sossusvlei. The drive there from Windhoek was beautiful - all dirt road, and amazing scenery. And there's so much I've not seen. Fish River Canyon (apparently second only to the Grand Canyon). The wildlife of the Etosha Pan. The Skeleton Coast. It's up there as one of the places I most want to go back to.

New Zealand - Never been but it was the place we almost went to for our 10th anniversary earlier in the year, and would have got stranded...

Then probably Norway. A bit of a coin toss with Nepal, but I loved the fjords and Lofoten.

-

Oman - I've heard it's by far the most appealing country on the Arabian peninsula

Peru - Everyone seems to love it

Poland - it's fine and the rest of the group isn't great.

[elguapo4]

Group M
Nepal is great, and it's not all mountains, there's loads of other scenery too. And Kathmandu is a deeply fascinating city (maybe the most fascinating I've ever been to). I'd go back again in a heartbeat.

New Zealand, I've never visited (aside from Auckland airport) and would love to

After those two I'n torn between Norway and Myanmar and Nicaragua. Think I'll say Myanmar

Group N
Palestine obviously (though I would probably not get in since you have to pass through Israel and I'm active enough on social media to make that unlikely. I may get to find out in the not too distant future when the lockdown is over). Jerusalem is amazing. Hebron is shocking. Bethlehem, Jericho, and all that biblical stuff. Then the fact that the more people that visit the better, both for the economy and for getting the story out.

Never been to Peru, and it sounds amazing.

I think my third choice is PNG. Just because.

Sorry Ad Hoc,I'm just wondering where you were travelling to and from that you had a stop over in Auckland. New Zealand always seems like the end of the line to me.

[ad hoc]

Sorry Ad Hoc,I'm just wondering where you were travelling to and from that you had a stop over in Auckland. New Zealand always seems like the end of the line to me.

LA to Brisbane

[elguapo4]

Ah,never thought of USA to Australia .

[Stobart]

Norway is the only one of these I would really look forward to going to. I want to visit Northern Norway to (hopefully) see the Aurora Borealis.
Of the others, the decision is do I pick tried, trusted, but not overkeen to return, or do I try somewhere new that I've no real notion of going to.

I'll choose a bit of both.

Namibia
Netherlands
Norway

Paraguay
Peru
Poland

[jwdd27]

M

Nepal - gurkhas, sherpas, mountain air
Norway - pining for the fjords
New Zealand - seems a bit more jwdd27 friendly than Aus. Plus the Kiwi women I've met have been universally lovely.

N
Palestine, although as above Israel would be problematic.
Papua New Guinea - FSOL, classic
Paraguay - seems to be a bit low profile as far as South America goes. I usually like their kits when they qualify and roll over for England.

Poland would be a choice but I've used up my already been there vote. It reminded me of northern England in the 1980s, but in a good way. Any British person who regards themselves as a drinker or party animal should go to a Polish wedding. The British on our table were under the table by midnight, where as the bride's grandparents were still going with the rest of them at 6am.

[Sam]

Group M is strong. I'm not happy about having to leave out Myanmar, Norway and to a lesser extent New Zealand, but I'm going with Namibia, Nepal and Nigeria.

In Group N similarly there are a couple of countries I'm overlooking, but that's in part because I know that if I hang around down here for long enough and actually start to earn money at some point, I'll get to Paraguay and Peru eventually, I assume. The ones that really grab my imagination are Oman, Palestine (I imagine my girlfriend being Jewish, and having been to Israel before, would make getting through immigration in Tel Aviv easier) and Papua New Guinea.

[Vicarious Thrillseeker]

Group M:


Namibia
Nepal
New Zealand



Group N:

Oman
Paraguay
Peru

[slackster]

M: Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua

Was tempted to put Nigeria in, because the central plains and north look intriguing, but as Lagos is the only place I’ve ever visited where a shake down was attempted by an airport official as soon as I landed between plane and arrival terminal - and my local contacts insisted I had an armed guard with me at all times - I’m giving it a swerve. Nicaragua gets the nod because I loved Costa Rica, and feel this might be similar if less developed for tourists.

N: Oman, Peru, Poland

Oman is by far the most interesting and scenic of the Gulf states (ok, Yemen is good too - but probably best avoided for a while). And nowhere near as blingy as its richer neighbours. I was due to tour Peru last autumn until the dvt kiboshed that, so it’s high on the list to see still. Poland is fascinating, there’s still a couple of cities I’d like to tick off there, and the provinces look worth touring.

[Sits]

M
Nepal
New Zealand (lived in Australia nearly 22 years and not made it yet)
Norway



N
Papua New Guinea (see NZ)
Paraguay
Peru

[Sporting]

Closing these groups in 3-4 hours.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

I'm keeping a side list from this thread of all my choices. They will be my bucket list, before I'm ready to kick one.

[pebblethefish]

Bit of a waste of time for you Rogin - there's only about eight that you haven't been to

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Bit of a waste of time for you Rogin - there's only about eight that you haven't been to

Ah, were that were true ... never crossed the equator mate! I have been to pretty much everywhere in Europe that doesn't involve 2 days in a cell at visa control being looked at sniffily by an armed Slavic guard.

[Sporting]

Group M:

New Zealand 14
Nepal 9
Norway 9
Namibia 6
Myanmar 4
Netherlands 3
Nauru 1
Nicaragua 1
Nigeria 1
Niger 0

(Nepal qualifies directly because I voted for Norway)





Group N:

Peru 13
Poland 9
Oman 6
Papua New Guinea 6
Paraguay 5
Pakistan 3
Palestine 3
Palau 1
Panama 1
Philippines 1

[Sporting]

Group O:


Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Rwanda
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Samoa
San Marino

Group P:

Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal
Serbia
Seychelles
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia

(Only 9 countries in this group, as we don't have 200 altogether for our 20 stage groups)

[San Bernardhinault]

O:

Portugal
Romania
Rwanda

P:

Slovakia
Slovenia
Senegal

[Balderdasha]

Group O

Portugal. Definitely want to visit. Ridiculous that I've never been. Was good friends with a Portuguese colleague who always brought back amazing pastries wherever he visited home. Another friend over in Lisbon for about five years and I never got around to visiting him. Worth it if only to gorge on pastel del nata.

Romania. Would like to visit.

Russia. Went on a fantastic school trip to Moscow when I was at sixth form. It was supposed to be a physics trip, but there weren't enough girls studying physics A-level so they opened it up to girls who were studying further maths as well (me). It was the first time I got on a plane as I was terrified of heights and flying as a child. I stayed with a lovely family where both parents worked as university professors and they did their absolute best to accommodate my baffling vegetarian diet (they made me fried potatoes and vegetables and lovely curd cakes). It was the depths of winter with deep snow everywhere which made Red Square and the cathedrals look even more beautiful. My host family were terrified of Putin being voted in (it was just before his first successful election). I'd love to travel further. I'd love to visit St. Petersburg and Lake Baikal (a housemate worked for an environmental charity there for a couple of years and it looks amazing) and travel on the trans-Siberian express to Vladivostok.

Rwanda. I'm fascinated by how the country has rebuilt itself and its high proportion of female parliamentarians. A friend visited to create an animated documentary about one female politician and it sounds intriguing.

All the Saints. No doubt beautiful, but I'm not as interested.

Top three, Portugal, Romania and Russia.

[Balderdasha]

Group P

I'm surprisingly uninterested in most of these.

Seychelles sounds pretty. Singapore, one of my best friends is currently living and working there with her husband so would like to visit. Slovenia edges out Slovakia because I like the sound of Ljubljana.

[via vicaria]

Group O:

Portugal: had some nice trips here. Lisbon is really great - in many places undeveloped with a Naples-style vibe, but the atmosphere is better and friendlier. Was offered drugs by an exceptionally well-dressed and polite lady in a square. I said no, but she really did it so nicely that the non-transaction left a nice feeling with us for the day. Also it's probably the cheapest place I've been in western Europe.

Russian Federation: I've been to European Russia. Worst food anywhere I've ever been, and generally filthy. But surprisingly fun. Also the far eastern parts (in particular Baikal) really appeal.

San Marino: just cos it's there and it's small and incongruous. The old city and the towers look like they'd be nice and quaint though.

Group P:


Serbia: Belgrade is meant to be good fun from what I've heard.

Seychelles: seems like a decent place for a beach holiday, and at some point I'll likely want one.

Slovenia: more or less the ideal trip if you want a mitteleuropa themed trip and have about 3 days in which to do it. For such a small country it packs in loads. Lake Bled and Vintgar Gorge are excellent.

[Greenlander]

Group O:

Portugal - love it here. A more mellow vibe than its neighbour. I need to see more of Lisbon and the north around Porto, but I really like the peninsula south of the Tagus around Setubal and could quite easily spend a couple of weeks there relaxing in the hills and eating seafood.
Russia - the Trans-Siberian Railway is in the top 5 of my bucket list. Would like to see the Kamchatskiy peninsula too but that's about as inaccessible as anywhere on earth.
Romania - Bucharest and the Peoples Palace

Group P:

Slovakia
Serbia
Senegal

[Stobart]

An easy one for me. Five European countries I haven't yet watched a match in - and take Mrs S to the Seychelles.

Romania
Russian Federation
San Marino

-------------------------------

Serbia
Seychelles
Slovenia

[MsD]

I don't know how to play, but I love Russia, and would so love to be in St P for White Nights (coming up soon). The Red Star from St P to Moscow or vice versa is one of my top things ever to do in summer or in snow (and I've done it about 8 times? Maybe more).
My boss/client has gone to Belgrade tonight and it looks lovely.
Carry on.

[Sporting]

I don't know how to play, but I love Russia, and would so love to be in St P for White Nights (coming up soon). The Red Star from St P to Moscow or vice versa is one of my top things ever to do in summer or in snow (and I've done it about 8 times? Maybe more).
My boss/client has gone to Belgrade tonight and it looks lovely.
Carry on.

Choose three from each group. Welcome aboard.

[Sits]

P
Portugal
Russian Fed
Samoa

Q
Seychelles
Slovakia
Slovenia