My Favorite Towns in the World

We have returned again to Bucerias, Mexico for a 5 week stay. This will be the 4th year in a row that we will have spent at least a month in Bucerias. Last fall I wrote a post about how we didn’t know how to answer the question- Where is your favorite place? I have been thinking a lot more about our favorite spots. I’m not sure Bucerias makes the top tier. Yes, we like it here. It is comfortable, we know some people, I have a volunteer job, we know our way around the grocery store, and have our favorite bars and restaurants. It is close enough to Seattle that family and friends come and visit us, which is a huge bonus. Traveling can be stressful, but Bucerias doesn’t seem like traveling anymore, we are so used to it. It is relaxing time, but I can’t claim it as one of our best ever. But I do have a list (in no particular order) of my 9 Favorite towns in the world that I would love to share with you guys. Hopefully this list will continue to grow and I hope you can see some similarities between these places. (There are links to my blog posts for all of them)

• Caye Caulker, Belize We were here during Covid and it was really chill. I don’t think it was just because of the pandemic. This island is always chill because of its small size and mostly dirt roads. Transportation is by bike, walking or golf cart. Caribbean lazy life is the vibe.

• Yelapa,Mexico No roads go here so you need to arrive by a boat from Puerto Vallarta. The trails aren’t even good enough for golf carts so most people walk. Isolation creates a fantastic relaxed atmosphere.

• Isabela, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador Incredible wildlife and beaches meet a friendly little beach town. Affordable food and accommodations make the Galapagos reachable by those that can’t afford the $600-$1000 per cruises.

• Gili Air, Indonesia Another island that doesn’t have paved roads. We rode to the ferry dock on a horse drawn cart. I sometimes dream of sipping a tropical cocktail while waiting for my fresh fish to be cooked over a grill.

• Koh Lipe, Thailand Small enough of an island to be able to walk to see the sunrise or sunset. Eating fantastic Thai food on the beach in the morning and evening was a highlight

• Minca, Colombia This was our chill time in Colombia in contrast to the hectic pace of Cartegena, Bogota and Medellin. We walked to town on dirt trails and a pedestrian only bridge over the river. Birds were everywhere.

• Korcula, Croatia When the cruise ships aren’t in town, this is a tourist paradise. We loved walking the pedestrian only alleys and biking the deserted roads next to beautiful turquoise waters.

• Saint-Jean-De-Luz, France Huge parts of this small French Basque country town are blocked off to traffic. Swimming in the warm water and visiting other small French towns were our highlights.

San Pedro La Laguna, Lake Atitlan, Guatemala There are many fairly isolated towns on Lake Atitlan that have so much charm. Transportation is generally done by boat to avoid the windy roads around the volcanos.

I think it is clear that I love the relaxing small towns. No Traffic!!! No Tourist Hordes!!! No Cruise Ships!! No Tour Bus Groups!!! Yes, some of these places are clearly tourist towns but the relaxed atmosphere makes me forget that. I like the isolation of islands and I love places that are pedestrian only. I like nature focused activities like snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, biking, and bird watching. Yes, I like the history and art museums in the bigger cities as well but I prefer to mix in some chill destinations to our trips and these are the places I always look forward to. Many of these I would love to go back to and spend some more time and we probably will. M always asks what would we do all day if we returned for longer stays. The answer is not much!! Reading, eating and relaxing in beautiful locations is never a bad plan. Traveling long term needs some time outs.

We are currently planning a Mexico trip for next fall and then heading for Asia in January 2025. I am looking at Isla Holbox and places on the island of Cozumel that I am hoping would fit really well into my list up above. We are planning 2 to 3 weeks in Taiwan to start our Asia trip. We need to see the city of Taipei but are now looking for a smaller Taiwan location for our 2nd week. Sometimes these places are hard to find. We look at tourist guides to the Philippines, Cambodia and Laos. They always list the big tourist attractions, which we still want to see, but we are also scouring travel forums, travel blogs and youtube to find some out of the way hidden gems to mix in with the big ticket places. Hopefully we can find a few more small towns that we can add to this list.