My top 5 favourite countries (so far)

Here I am kicking off with my first ever blog for travelR and what better place to start than sharing my top 5 favourite locations I have visited. Now, this has been a very difficult list to come up with as I have fortunately loved every place I have travelled to in one way or another, but I have managed to narrow it down to five for the sake of this blog. Purely in order of when I visited (can’t be showing too much favouritism) and chosen by their niche and personal to me characteristics. So, here goes... 

Croatia

Croatia was the first country I ticked off my bucket list when it was just a little baby list and not the monster list it has grown in to now. As I am sure is the case with many travellers, I am a sucker for becoming obsessed with a place before I even visit, thanks to the copious amounts of social media content available these days. My partner and I went to Croatia in summer 2018 and it was the first place we went out of our comfort zone and planned a trip to multiple locations. We started in Split, followed by Hvar, we then went to Pag (the Ibiza of Croatia) and finished in Zadar before heading back to Split to fly home. 

View from Spanjola Fortress in Hvar

Out of the four locations, we loved Hvar and Zadar the most. Hvar is an absolutely gorgeous island with plenty to do there but also various day trips to go on via boat. From Hvar, we visited the famous blue and green caves, stopped for a swim and to jump off some cliffs in a gorgeous spot and had lunch on a secluded island all in one boat trip. We also trekked up to the Španjola Fortress on the island itself for some amazing views across the ocean.

Waterfalls at Krka National Park

Zadar was little known to tourists compared to other cities in Croatia when we went, making it feel really authentic and traditional. On top of that, it had some great sights to visit, the perfect sunset spot and we were able to do a day trip to Krka National Park from here as well. Croatia is a truly gorgeous country, and I would recommend anyone to go there. 

Mexico

Mexico was another one to top my bucket list early on. Loving the Spanish language but wanting to go somewhere new played a big role in this amongst other reasons. In 2019 we stayed in Cancun, just along from the ‘strip’ with various restaurants, bars and of course, the famous Coco Bongo nightclub – now that is an experience. Despite being young and loving a party (not much has changed since), I wanted to make sure I saw more of Mexico, take in some incredible views and experience some culture.

Having booked our trip as a package holiday with TUI and given what Mexico has to offer, we had a huge number of excursions to book from. Eventually opting for a trip to Chichén Itzá, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, which also included visiting an authentic Mayan village, eating a traditional homemade Mexican meal – slow cooked in a banana leaf underground – and a swim in a sacred cenote. We also spent a day on Isla Holbox, a beautiful, car-free island set in a nature reserve where you can see flamingos, pelicans, turtles and dolphins if you’re lucky. Both were really great days out and I would love to go back and see more of Mexico one day.

 Chichén Itzá

Isla Holbox

Iceland

Iceland is such an interesting country and still remains different to many of the places I have travelled to. There is so much to see and do and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience there, getting to know even a small part of the country. I went with friends in 2021 and we filled our days and nights with trips to various waterfalls, geysers, craters, glaciers, seeing the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), frequenting bars and restaurants in Reykjavík and of course, the famous Blue Lagoon. 

Simply put, everywhere we visited in Iceland was spectacular. The Northern Lights were incredible, each waterfall got more and more impressive, Sólheimajökull glacier was sobering to see how much had disappeared in just 15 years, the black sands of Reynisfjara beach made for some amazing photos and Reykjavík is just a cool city to hang around – although they aren’t even slightly joking when they talk about how expensive it is, start saving now!

Reynisfjara black sand beach

Cape Verde

A country of islands off the coast of Africa, Cape Verde took me by surprise. In 2021, we chose to travel to the island of Boa Vista, one of two islands built for tourism, and the lesser so compared to Sal.

Boa Vista, Cape Verde

Again, having booked the trip as a package holiday with TUI, we had plenty of excursions to choose from and I was shocked by just how much there was to do and see on the one island, especially as there were only three hotels on the whole of Boa Vista at the time. During our many excursions we booked on this trip, we saw a lot of the island and got to know a lot about the culture and life there. We sailed around the coast of Boa Vista on a boat, explored the village of Rabil and main city of Sal Rei, went sandboarding and had breakfast in the desert, visited the gorgeous Praia de Santa Mónica, enjoyed a sunset dinner followed by traditional dancing and music, and had a lot of fun at the hotel. It was such a good holiday!

Thailand

Thailand is always going to hold a special place in my heart now as I got engaged there (humble brag but it’s true). My now fiancé and I spent two and a half weeks travelling around Thailand in 2024 and we had a blast. Starting in Bangkok, we then flew north to Chiang Mai, then the beach holiday began. We ticked off Phuket, Koh Phi Phi, Krabi and Railay Beach, Koh Phangnan and Koh Samui.

Bangkok was chaotic but definitely worth spending a night or two there. Chiang Mai was much more relaxed but still with a lot to see and do. Phuket was great for going sightseeing including James Bond Island. Koh Phi Phi was one of our favourite places, a really beautiful and fun island. Railay Beach in Krabi was a great day trip, the views from the minute you get on the boat to when you get back are unreal and the sunset from Ao Nang beach was a perfect way to end the day. We had a lot of fun at the Half Moon Party in Koh Phangnan. We used our time in Koh Samui for some rest and relaxation before ending the trip on a high with the proposal on the last night there. Even without our very exciting life milestone, Thailand would have certainly made this list – there are clearly many reasons why it’s such a popular travel destination.

James Bond Island

Wat Arun Temple in Bangkok

Railay Beach

And there you have it, travelR’s first blog and top five favourite destinations (at time of writing). Whether you were here out of sheer nosiness (no judgement here), looking for some inspiration for your next trip or to see if your favourite countries made it on my list, I hope you got what you were looking for and are excited for more to come. It is worth noting that my homeland of Scotland and adopted second home, Spain, haven’t been included in this list as they are just on another level. Stay tuned to hear more!