For some time now I’ve been keeping a list of the most amazing places or things that I knew little or nothing about before I saw them. Many people seem to travel to see what they already know is there. Part of the fun, I think, of  travel, is experiencing something that you never expected. For me, all of these are little-known greats:

• El Escorial, the royal palace of the kings and queens of Spain. Unbelieveable what the Spanish Armada could buy.
• Cathedral in Toledo, Spain, particularly the Madonna in the nave and the St. John's Bible
• Musee d'Orsay, in Paris. Terrific Impressionist art in a remodeled train station.  More thrilling for me than the Louvre.
• The Phillips Collection, another art museum. This one is in Washington, DC and has fabulous Impressionist art hanging in a home that’s been turned into a museum. If I remember this is where Monet’s Luncheon of the Boating Party is hanging. Worth the trip just for that but lots of other great paintings also.
• the quality of light in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Plus if you go there you should head up to Taos also and stay at the Old Taos Inn. Wonderful old hotel.
• the Marcel Duchamp installation in the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I can’t tell you.  It would spoil the surprise.
• the hike up to the famous Arch in Arches National Park, Utah.  The Arch itself is quite famous but the hike isn’t.  It’s quite a path but the walk is fascinating, dry and hot, and the view at the top is worth it.
• Ste. Chappele church in Paris, near the more famous Notre Dame.  Stained glass extraoirdinare.
• Salzburg is one of my favorite towns.  There’s a great church and just lovely strolls through the town.  Feels like Mozart’s music.
• Channel Islands National Park, off the coast of Ventura, California.  What a great trip -- accessible only by boat, no fresh water, and a gorgeous spot to learn about the  fragility of ecosystems.
• the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, NM. Even if you don't think you like folk art, this is an amazing place. This is like the most elaborate, worldwide collection of miniatures and toys imaginable.
• The Glass Flowers museum at Harvard. These flowers were created by a German father and son in the early part of the last century to facilitate the study of botany.Yes, they absolutely look real. And no one yet can explain the technology that created them. Unbelieveable. 
• How about a Xinxiang restaurant in Beijing? Dance on the tables and eat, well, different types of food. Never expected such a mix of places.
• The Fairyland Trail at Bryce Canyon National Park was probably the best hike of my life.  The whole family walked down in and amongst the spires and on a path where few travelers venture. The pink and gold  and yellow and white and orange formations are fragile and fascinating.
• Capitol Reef National Park also had a great hike.  Just two level miles but through a wash between cliffs on both sides. It’s stark but colorful, like a landscape from another planet.  There’s no one around either which adds to the desolate feeling. 
• The Night Safari in Singapore is great fun. It’s a zoo open after dark. A train takes you into the middle of the zoo, where you can then wander around and see nocturnal animals doing their noctural thing.  Probably couldn’t do it in the US because of liability issues. How about having a 2 1/2 foot fruit bat fly right past your face! What a great experience. Eating in Singapore is also great fun.  Try Doc Cheng’s at the Raffles Hotel.
• We had a terrific vacation to Dunk Island off the coast of the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. It’s a island with hiking, water sports, nice beaches, and fine food.  The rooms are comfortable but not fancy, and our days there were relaxed and fun.  In particular we would recommend the jet-ski trips around the island. They take about 2 hours and it’s a great adventure.  The bumps and the water spray are real!
• On a family trip to Beijing, we visited the Great Wall at a more remote place called Mutianyu. The Great Wall is a fabulous site but I know you’ve heard about that before. We took a cable car to the ridge where the Wall is. Again, no great surprise I suppose. What was a surprise was the metal slide down from the Wall to the parking lot. It must be several hundreds yards long, and you ride down the hill on a plastic toboggan device that has a brake but no steering. It’s sort of like a long water slide but with no water. We figured that it was on the ground so how unsafe could it be? We all did it successfully, though a colleague of mine (name omitted to prevent collegial embarassment) did fall off the track. No damage though. I guess you do need to use the brake sometimes.
• Koh Samui has the most beautiful beach -- Chaweng Beach. We stayed in a authentic teak house about 20 meters from the beach. The beach has the softest, cleanest sand I’ve ever seen -- in fact, some of it floats. The water is clear and warm. The shallows extend out at least 40 meters before they are so deep I have to swim. Wow, what a nice place!
• Nearby to Koh Samui is Ang Thong National Marine Park (Thailand). Never heard of it until we went to Thailand. We went sea kayaking around some of the islands and into caves and even a hidden sea pool. It was a spectacular and wonderful experence.
• Of course, I had heard of Bangkok and knew they had some temples, but was totally unprepared for the extravagant beauty of them. From a distance, and from pictures, they look like they are painted in gold. Up close you can see that they are covered in clear mosaic tiles backed by gold leaf. The temples also have multicolored carved details on every side and surface. The detail and the craftsmanship are superb. 
• Penang is a place that I had heard of, but really had no idea what to expect. In fact, Penang is a great place to visit. Georgetown is a city of about 900,000 people, and it’s a bit rundown, but there are still great old market streets and a real colonial/Chinatown feel about it. The Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort on Ferrenghi Beach is a terrific spot to stay. The rooms are very comfortable, there are choices of pools, and there isn’t much better than reading a book under a tree near the beach. The sunsets were superb while we were there also.
• Saipan is not a place you might think of for a vacation, but our recent visit there was delightful. We stayed at the Aqua Resort which had very nice rooms, great service, a great spot of beach, and terrific food. Perhaps surprisingly, although this island is a commonwealth under the auspices of the US, it is mostly host to Japanese tourists. Many of the local tours were in Japanese, though some were also in English. We did not feel limited in our choices! It was a great place to visit -- not for the city life though!