First impressions: 11 destinations I fell in love with instantly
March 18, 2026 — 5:00amSaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.Save this article for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.Got itAAAIt’s easy to look back and fool yourself. Did I love Rome the first time I visited? Was it instant?After almost 30 years of visits to one of my favourite places in the world it’s difficult to imagine not being in love with the Eternal City. But I don’t think I was, to begin with. I don’t think I was swayed particularly either way.Rome wasn’t somewhere I took an instant liking to. iStockI was in Rome on a Contiki tour when I was 17. I’d been given all the scare stories about pickpockets and scams and fake babies thrown at you on public transport and so I was on my guard the whole time, unable to really appreciate where I was or what would eventually inspire a three-decades-long affair.Was it love at first sight in Rome? I don’t think so.There are, however, destinations that I have loved immediately, where I have felt instantly comfortable, where I have known in my bones straight away that this is a place for me. It’s a magical thing when that happens, and worth celebrating.Sign up for the Traveller Deals newsletterGet exclusive travel deals delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up now.Scotland, all of itEdinburgh. Scotland is somewhere I immediately felt I belonged.iStockI have deep family connections to Scotland (and the red beard to prove it), so it was no surprise to find myself instantly comfortable in this country. Some places it takes a long time to understand it, to pick up its rhythms and appreciate its subtleties, and there’s joy to be found in that process – however, Scotland for me was immediate. I understand this place. I belong here.Berlin, GermanyKreuzberg has become gentrified, but remains a wonderful place.iStockI was a cliche in Berlin before it was even a cliche: the gormless foreigner who turns up in gritty, arty neighbourhoods like Kreuzberg and Neukoelln and declares them the greatest places on Earth. The inundation of my fellow cliches has led to widespread gentrification and discontent in these areas, but you can’t help how you feel, and the rebellious, creative and accepting nature of Berlin instantly appealed to me.Mexico City, MexicoIf you love big cities, Mexico City is for you.iStockWhat can I say: I love a big city, and CDMX is a biiiiiiiig city. Places like these have so much energy, you get swept up by it, you get shifted from bar to taco stand, restaurant to attraction without even realising it. I loved the music of Mexico City instantly, I loved the city’s flavours, its passion, its deep sense of identity. All of this, to me, is immediately recognisable and beautiful.Lauterbrunnen, SwitzerlandLauterbrunnen: stunningly, gob-smackingly beautiful.iStockSwiss people tend to laugh when you tell them you love Lauterbrunnen – like, yeah, of course you do. You’re an Australian tourist. This small mountain village has been a regular stop for the likes of Contiki and TopDeck for decades now, so it might be a bit of a cliche, but it’s also stunningly, gob-smackingly beautiful – soaring mountains, fairytale meadows – and to this Antipodean chump it was the best place in the world.La Paz, BoliviaLa Paz seems exciting even from the air.iStockI knew I loved La Paz before I even set foot in the city. Just flying above it, seeing the way the Altiplano drops into this steep valley that is lined with winding streets and jam-packed buildings, the sight of the snow-capped Illimani peak rising in the distance … how could you not be excited? On the ground La Paz is even better, like no other city in the world. It might be heady joy or it might be dizziness from the altitude, but I’m into it.Moscow, RussiaThe candied domes of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow.iStockThis feels a little controversial to say now that Russia is a global pariah, but I really did love Moscow as soon as I arrived in it. Plenty of people are into St Petersburg, but to me Moscow is prettier, it’s more interesting, it’s this deeply entangled mix of brutality and beauty, of stoicism and creativity, where everything looks familiar but works in ways that are completely foreign and strange. That’s what I’m looking for.Tangier, MoroccoTangier: an ancient meeting place of cultures and ideas.iStockPart of Tangier’s appeal was how little I knew of it before visiting. This city doesn’t have the popularity of Marrakech or Fes, or the cult favouritism of Essaouira or Chefchaouen. What it does have, however, is history worn on its sleeve, influences from Berbers to Moors, Spaniards to the Portuguese and French, a destination loved by artists and musicians, an ancient meeting place of cultures and ideas.Tokyo, JapanTokyo hits you with immediate effect.iStockMost people would tell you about Kyoto, about the historic streets and the temples and the gardens. And it’s lovely there – but still, it didn’t hit me with immediate effect like Tokyo. As soon as I stepped off the train in Ebisu, my first base in the city, and found myself surrounded by people, by buildings, by restaurants and bars and bright lights and wonder, I knew: this is the place for me.Isfahan, IranNaqsh-e Jahan Square, a place to watch the world go by during more peaceful times.iStockI’d been in Isfahan all of an hour before I had found my way to Naqsh-e Jahan Square, the city’s central plaza, and taken a seat to watch the world go by. From there you could see the tiled domes of Shah Abbas and Sheikh Lotfollah mosques, you could watch families gather and kids play, see shoppers head in and out of the bazaar, residents make their way around. Iran is embroiled in war now and we don’t know how Isfahan will fare, but we can only hope its spirit is undimmed.Buenos Aires, ArgentinaBuenos Aires: full of character, passion and life..iStockLook, I have a type. I like them big, gritty, a bit scary, full of character and passion and life. I like Barcelona, Mexico City, Berlin, Beijing. So of course Buenos Aires was always going to appeal. Instantly.Melbourne, AustraliaMelbourne: different to the rest of Australia.Visit VictoriaI grew up in rural Queensland, so to me as a kid, Brisbane was the big smoke, Sydney was impossibly huge and intimidating, and Melbourne was unimaginable. Eventually though, I made it to the Victorian capital as a young adult and it was instant joy. Do I have a footy team? Nup. Do I know how to pronounce Prahran? Not a chance. But the feel of Melbourne, the energy, the cold and the leaves blowing in the wind, the old-school pubs, the sense of being different to the rest of Australia and yet so recognisable … If only I’d grown up here.SaveYou have reached your maximum number of saved items.Remove items from your saved list to add more.Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.Traveller GuidesFrom our partners
