Travel Bucket List | Top 5 Cities

We all know that practically everyone has a 'Places I Want To See/Travel To Before I Die' list, or in the popular terms, a 'Travel Bucket List'. I'm going to share with you the top 5 cities that I would love to travel to because I have a separate countries list. I'm currently on holiday right now on a cruise and so I thought that it would be a great time to evaluate the cities that I would like to travel to. So let's jump right into it. In alphabetical order because I'm compulsive like that.

Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Canals. Architecture. Flowers. Food. What more could you want in a destination? I have always wanted to see this beautiful city because it has so much character and history. The history especially is what pulls me there the most. Though most people immediately think of the infamous 'Red-Light District' and the cannabis coffee shops, I won't be frequenting those. I may go for the craic and just to experience it and say that I've seen it but it won't be high on my list of things to do there.

Santorini, Greece

My first of two cheat places. I have been to Santorini before. I visited it with my brother on a cruise excursion nine years ago where a donkey was determined to throw me over the edge as it walked up the steps zig-zagging up the cliff face. But we literally spent fifteen minutes in the place before getting the cable car down and back to the ship. We had been on a hike up the volcano and on a boat trip to the hot springs that you had to swim to and were tired and just wanted to get back to the ship. Well, that was our 'excuse'. Besides, being with your brother? Doesn't exactly make for a great travelling companion. I wanted to stop and admire the beauty of the island, the architecture, the white walls, the mosiac tiled ground that we walked along, the unbelievable views...Everything. I mean, just look at that photograph! Google Santorini and you will be mesmorised by the beauty that comes up. I missed out on a lot with Santorini and I want to put that right.

St. Petersburg, Russia

Set aside all of the political strife that Russia has been making headlines around the world five times over for, St. Petersburg is a truly photogenic city. I was fascinated by the mystery of the Russian Grand Duchess, Anastasia, and I especially loved the animated movie that boasted Meg Ryan as the voice of Anastasia and Angela Lansbury as her Grandmother, the Dowager Empress. 'There's a rumour in St. Peterburgs...' You know you want to sing along. I was fascinated by it all and read conspiracy theories and watched history documentaries about the Royal Family and Anastasia. St. Petersburg holds all of that history from the palaces that the Royal Family were born in, lived in, to the architecture of the early 1900s. 'On this journeeeey to the paaaaast'. Their architectural style is so unique and visually different that I desperately want to look upon it all with my own eyes. Naturally, I would want to go there during a warmer season and not the depths of winter. How would you say 'Brrrr' in Russian? But let's face it, I'll just go there and sing the songs from Anastasia (1997).

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Yes, it's a stunning city. Yes, it has a lot of character. Yes, it's on the coast and I can spot various kinds of magnificent marine life - major selling point. But that isn't why I want to go there so badly. It's actually quite a shallow reason. I'm a science-fiction TV nerd and several of my favourite shows are filmed there, namely, Stargate SG-1 (Atlantis and SGU respectively), Battlestar Galactica & Caprica, V, and Sanctuary. There are so many shows filmed there that there is actually a Wikipedia page! How cool would it be to go there and actually visit the places where they filmed and pretend that you're in Caprica city or on a distant planet accessible through a stargate? Or find Jack O'Neill's cabin and pretend to go fishing? Or you know, be honest and stalk your favourite actors that live there and live in hope that you might 'bump' into them accidentally on purpose. Oh yeah, and I have friends there that I would love to meet. That's a reason too.

Venice, Italy

I think that this is on a lot of people's bucket list. For me, it's my second cheat because I have been here before. And when I say 'been here', I mean that I've seen the airport and the mototway to the harbour where I boarded my cruise ship last year. When this publishes, I will have already been to Venice and seen that motorway again but this time I will have seen the route that the ship actually leaves by and seen the spectacular view of Venice as it goes. This year around, we will be spending a night in Venice once we leave the ship before returning home. Hopefully then, I will see a bit more of Venice. Ultimately, I would love to return and spend a lot longer there and see as much as I can. I particularly want to see 'The Bridge of Sighs' that Thomas Hood wrote his poem about. I was obsessed with that poem during GCSE English Literature. Also, take a gondola ride because who wouldn't want to do that? O, sole mio...

My bucket list features a lot of singing, doesn't it?

What cities would be on your bucket list?

* All city images are from Google related searches.