Travel ABC: Dream Spots Ranging From P to U

Each of us has a list of places, cities, and mountain passes that they want to visit one day. Usually, this is known as a "travel bucket list". The other day, I sat on the sofa, twiddling my thumbs and looking at mine when I started to wonder if I'd be able to fill the whole Latin alphabet with places that I'd like to visit.

A month ago, I covered K to O and filled it mostly with beautiful roads. This month we are going to turn our attention towards P to U:

P: Paris

Given that most of my prior alphabetical destinations were centered around curious village names, race tracks, and alpine roads, Paris may seem a bit mundane. However, I feel like it is one of those cities in the world that you have to see at least once in your lifetime.

Photo by Lukas Hartmann from Pexels

Other cities of this type are London, New York, Berlin, and Sydney.

Q: Quebec City

Quebec City ended up on this list because ... you guessed it ... it's pretty much the only place that starts with Q.

But there is more to Quebec City: it is the most French speaking city in all of Canada, which might not tickle any fancy at all but according my brother their French is incomprehensible to any European speaker. In addition there is a beautiful castle in the inner city that is used as a hotel (Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenca) and a small independent shopping street that is always worth a look (Petit Champlain).

R: Reichenbachfälle

Every Sherlock Holmes fan will be able to guess why I would want to go there. The Reichbach Falls were the end station for Sherlock Holmes. It was where he and Moriarty met for the first and the last time. Then both plunged to their death ...

Or so it was believed. After lots of public protest Arthur Conan Doyle had to give in and bring Sherlock Holmes back to life. So he had only faked his death, and the Reichbach Falls became the end station for only one of those men. For the other it is the place of the best prank you can play on your companion.

S: Spa-Francorchamps

Just like the Reichenbachfälle are a place every Sherlock Holmes fan must have seen, the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is a place that every motosport fan must have seen at least once. In that case it does not matter if it's F1 or endurance racing. A lot of motorsport series' make camp there: Formula 1, WEC, ELMS, and Blancpain GT Series and even motorbike races

The discipline does not matter because everyone agrees that Spa is just that tiny bit more magical than, say, the Red Bull Ring.

T: Transfăgărășan Highway

The Transfa...gra.... that Highway has been dubbed the "World Greatest Driving Road" on more than one occasion but the most prominent is from a "Top Gear" episode back in the day of 2009.

Photo by Dariusz Grosa from Pexels

It is a driving road in Romania that goes on for 90 km and passes the Southern Carpathian Mountains until it terminates at Negoiu. The highest point is at 2.034 meters.

If it stacks up against the alpine road of my heart - which is the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße - remains to be seen.

U: Umbrail Pass

Of course, we finish this article off with a mountain pass. In this case it hides between Italy and Switzerland: the Umbrail Pass - which is named after a nearby mountain and is the highest paved road in Switzerland.

This series is going to find its end, and we'll discovered which places you can visit that range from V to Z 

Travel ABC Index

📸 Dream Destinations from A - E 📸

 🌴Where To Go To From F to J? 🌴

🚗 Driving Around The World From K to O 🚗

✈️ Dream Spots Ranging From P to U ✈️

🌃 Covering The Unpopular Letters From V to Z 🌃