When you’re young and ready for adventure, the world is your oyster. With so many places to choose where to go, how do you choose? Here are some of the best places around the world to visit when you’re in your twenties:
Havana, Cuba
The capital city of Cuba will transport you to a time past. Walk from the dramatic coastline through streets lined with buildings that are rich with age and crumbling at the corners. Disintegrating convenience stores are right next to colonial palaces and locals drive past in vintage American cars with rhythmic Latino music blaring. This place is jam-packed with eclectic culture, energy and raw authenticity. In fact, the La Habana Vieja is the best preserved Spanish complex in the Americas.
When you’re there be sure to try a Cuba Libre cocktail – it’s said Havana offers some of the best in the world. And be sure to check out Old Havana in the centre – this is a UNESCO heritage site and a place of regal and glorious architecture that harks back to to when the Spanish founded the city in 1519.
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
This is another city that is bursting with vibrant culture. The waves at Prainha Beach come in fast and thick and are a surfers dream. Ipanema Beach is known for being elegant and luxurious and is perfect for lazy days. Walking tours can take you into the dense rainforests of Tijuca or to the city’s heritage sites.
When you’re walking through the city you’ll be embraced by the vivid modern life, with Samba music playing, and beautiful people dining rodizio style or cooling off with a refreshing acai, a smoothie made from the deep purple fruit of the same name native to the Amazon. Christ the Redeemer has to be seen with your own eyes to really gauge the majesty and scale of the statue.
Lapland, Finland
Throughout the middle of winter, toward the end of January, the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon. The light is unlike anything you’ll have experienced before – with glowing snow, massive skies littered with stars and the Northern Lights. This phenomenon sees the sky imbued with sweeping colourful light. In the summer the landscape blooms and flourishes in the crystal clear air. The culture of the Sami people is alive and well here, with ancient traditions still practiced daily, and the saunas are world class.
Las Vegas, United States
Where else can you go from ancient Rome to the Eiffel Tower and stop off at New York in a night, while seeing every incarnation of Elvis? Las Vegas is known for it’s shopping, fine dining, nightlife and gambling. With the amount of neon lights, it never feels like night, and the days meld into one another. It could be considered a theme park, where people sleep during the day and venture out at night to let their hair down. There are casinos galore, with blackjack tables and slot machines, luxury spas and continual world class performances from the likes of Cirque du Soleil. Restaurants line the Strip from the best in the business – the Wicked Spoon is full of Asian goodies, whereas the Bellagio offers an opulent evening service.
Machu Picchu, Peru
This is one of the most intriguing places on the planet. In ancient times, around 20,000 years ago, the Incas built what is now known as the Lost City. The Inca Trail will take you through the area – with giant walls, ruins of palaces and temples that blend in with the hills and rocks, you can get a sense of how grand and splendid the Incan Empire was in its prime. Get a sense of the grandeur and wonder how this place came to be as you walk from The Guardhouse, the original entrance, to the Sacred Plaza, one of the finest structures here.
These places are perfect to travel to when you’re in your twenties and are rearing to discover the culture, history and natural wonders of the world.
