My 5 Favourite Countries After Visiting 50+ (And Why)

"Hey Steph, What's your favourite country you've ever visited?" This is most definitely one of the top questions I get on a regular basis in regards to travel. The truth is, many places I've visited hold a special place in my heart; whether they're based on my personal experience and where I was physically/emotionally in that current point in my life, the landscapes/nature (always a biggie!), my interactions with the local people and the bittersweet memories that have been created with others.

Let's get into it!

Turkiye

I have visited Türkiye 3 times (2015, 2017 & 2023) and if I had one place I'd always

people to visit, it'd be here. Türkiye is such a HUGE country, that offers some of the most delicious food, wonderful hospitality, an interesting history and incredible scenery and landscapes for everyone to enjoy. As you can see, I've visited this country over many ages in my life (early & mid 20's + the start of my 30's). Each holds a different experience.

Istanbul - the bustling capital which one could spend weeks here exploring the surrounding neighbourhoods. The bazaars here are incredible - the Spice bazaar is one of my favourites and of course the iconic Grand Bazaar; both filled with delicious treats such as Turkish delight and flavoured teas that you can take home with you.

Cappadocia / Göreme - One of my favourite places on this Earth. I stayed in a cave hotel (iconic, I know), went hot air ballooning, explored the surrounding valleys. This was truly a highlight amongst all of my travels, being able to see this with my own eyes.

Fethiye - Sailing along the Turkish riveria and living the boat/sail life for 8 days was such a fun experience (highly recommend this if you want a more relaxed version compared to Sail Croatia). The scenery and places we docked at along the way were incredible, delicious food, fun water activities and beautiful sunshine to enjoy.

Namibia

On my adventure through Africa in 2019, I visited Namibia and this country took my breath away. Namibia had the most picture perfect and out of this world landscapes, the wildlife encounters at Etosha National Park were just incredible (this was one of the best safaris I'd been on whilst on this trip), the food, the people, the markets and the adrenaline activities; the list could go on!

Geographically speaking, Namibia is located on south west coast in Africa neighbouring Botswana, South Africa & Angola. It is the home to the oldest desert in the world - Namib desert.

Spitzkoppe - this place is INCREDIBLE and is honestly, one of my most favourite places I've ever visited. Spitzkoppe is the home to a group of 120 million year old granite peaks in the Namib Desert, yes... we're talking those beautiful natural rock arches and dusty red boulders. You can also find petroglyphs here (pre-historic rock art) which is just magical to see. I camped here overnight, under the most insane amount of stars (there is zero light pollution here, so the stars just look so magical).

Soussuvlei National Park - another scenic and iconic place to add to your list; this is an unbelievablely beautiful national park, home to the famous Dune 45 and Dedvlei. The bright orange sand dunes in the desert contrasting with the blue sky is just something I'll remember forever.

Etosha National Park - As we all know, safaris are a game of chance of what animals you'll be able to see (depending on the time of year and where the animals are roaming freely); during my time here I had so many great encounters, one of my favourites was towards the end of the day where we stopped at a lake and a Rhino and Lioness both started drinking from opposite ends; my group just sat there in absolutely awe, then when we were ending our game drive, we spotted 3 lion cubs on the way out (about 1.5m away from our 4x4), SO CUTE!

Kyrgyzstan

This is one for the girlies (and everyone too) who love the mountains and love hiking, even flying into this country already had a huge wow factor (the snow capped mountains peaking through the clouds, absolutely gorgeous). I loved my time visiting here because it was like 'visiting the unknown'; there wasn't really a huge tourist base here (english is not widely spoken) and it's still true to its roots. I visited the history museum when I was in Bishkek, which absolutely blew my mind. I couldn't believe the artefacts I was looking at, from the year 100/200 etc (it cost around $2aud to visit as well, which is hard to believe because there was literally so much in this museum). Countries that were once apart of the Soviet Union hold an incredible piece of history. The food here really surprised me, all quite heavyily based meat dishes but a big stand out was laghman - a traditional dish with noodles, beef and vegetables.

For me, the major standout was being remote and one with nature. The landscapes in Kyrgyzstan were so special, each day was filled with a new exciting adventure which was something I really appreciated after being on the road for a long duration of time.

Georgia

A hidden gem tucked away in Western Asia/Eastern Europe. Georgia is another beautifully scenic country to add to your 'must visit' list. The main reason why I fell in love with Georgia was the landscapes and the delicious food and wine. The local people here were so kind and friendly. When I visited Georgia in 2023, I booked a tour with Intrepid which was an in-depth tour visiting Azerbaijan and Georgia; my tour leader shared a wealth of knowledge and explained a lot about the history of the country which is something I love to learn about when visiting somewhere new.

Stepensaminda - This place absolutely blew my mind! This was such a highlight of visiting Georgia. We stayed in a gorgeous homely run hotel located about an hours drive from here. When we arrived at our accomodation, I greeted the owner kindly and shook his hand and spent some time talking with him about Georgia and the region we were in. I remember telling him how excited I was to be visiting this place and how much I loved the mountains/how beautiful the scenery is. I was lucky enough to luck out on this tour and had my own room to myself - usually on tours you're buddied up with another traveller. The owner kindly gave me what I would say was one of the best rooms (view wise), the room was filled with so much natural light and windows surrounding all corners. I slept with the curtains open, so I'd wake up just before sunrise to go and take some photos and all I can say is WOW. I was blessed with the most incredible sunrise this day. Picture this - me running out of the accomodation with my camera in one hand through the fields with the sun creating the most pleasant hues on the mountains. This was such a perfect start to my day - we then drove to the base of where we would hike to the most incredible church on the top of the hill.

Tbilisi - The capital city of Georgia. I took a liking to this city, it was quite quirky in its own way, yet such a fun place to explore. Tbilisi felt like a designers dream, the 'design' culture here was something that really stood out to me. The hospitality/food scene here was incredible. There were so many different types of restaurants with local cuisines and international cuisines to try. The shopping here was great as well (always a bonus for a gal that loves to shop).

Mestia/Ushguli - In the second part of our trip, we visited this area through the windy mountain roads to one of the most unique places in Georgia. This is what I would say would be the 'hiking capital'. You are surrounded by snow capped mountains, watch towers and incredible villages. Each hike we did here was so much fun.

Guatemala

If there is one country in Central America that should be on your bucket list, it'd be Guatemala. Guatemala is unbelievably scenic with lush rainforests and soaring volcanoes and is rich culture. The ancient Mayan sites (Tikal National Park) were remarkable to visit, walking around listening to the sounds of nature (the monkey's calling, birds chirping) and seeing the ancient ruins was such an unforgettable experience. Guatemala felt like a step back in time, as I journeyed through the country visiting Antigua (a gorgeous colonial township) with beautifully coloured buildings.

For me, one of the biggest highlights was hiking Acatanego. This overnight hike was challenging but so so so worth it for the views. The altitude always makes it so much more difficult, but imagine the accomplishment feeling once you've reached base camp (and the summit) and your view is overlooking Fuego (which is another volcano) and just watching an eruption/smoke plumes. An incredible experience for anyone to witness.

And there you have it, my rundown of the top five countries I've visited and the reasons they hold such a special place in my heart!