“Once you have traveled, the voyage never ends but is played out over and over again in the quietest chambers. The mind can never break off from the journey.” – Pat Conroy
We watched the sun setting in a haze of orange and pink across the parched sands of the Thar Desert. As the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon we looked at each other in silent communion. Both of us had the same questions running in our minds. The sun had finally set over 2016 and in about 12 hours it would rise again over a bright new year, 2017.
Our minds were abuzz with ideas hovering like bees over brilliantly colored flowers. It seemed that in a fraction of a second we had flown across the world in our quest for new horizons for 2017. We smiled at each other, acknowledging the fact that our appetite for travel had only increased as we bid farewell to 2016 and welcomed 2017.
So we unleashed our travel dreams and let them free to wander, untethered across and beyond the realms of imagination. The new year holds a promise of new travel adventures. Presenting our travel dreams to explore & experience new horizons. Here is a list of places that we came up with to visit in 2017.
Table of Contents
Travel Dreams
Asia
India
Ever since we had a scintillating time in Sikkim, a couple of years back, we have been wanting to head back there. In fact, we had vowed to ourselves to get back someday to visit the villages of Lachung and Lachen. Lachung which is situated at an elevation of about 9,600 feet is a small picturesque village situated that is the base to visit the famed Yumthang Valley, which is known as the “Valley of Flowers” and is nestled in the arms of the great Himalayan mountains. Lachen is another Sikkimese village that is the gateway to the mystical Gurudogmar Lake which at about 17,800 feet is one of the highest lakes in the world.
Cambodia
The majestic temples of Angkor Wat have been silently calling us for some time now. Though this place bears the brunt of hordes of tourists and it has been written and rewritten about umpteen times, the grandeur of the largest religious monument in the world is irresistible and we hope to heed the call in 2017.
Europe
We have planned our itinerary for Eastern Europe a number of times and are looking forward to our European dreams taking wing in 2017.
Prague
The plan is to start our European extravaganza with a visit to the charming city of 100 spires, Prague, the capital of Czech Republic. We dream of getting lost as we walk in the winding lanes of the Jewish Quarters.
Bratislava
Our minds still soaking in the beauty of picturesque Prague we shall then move on to Bratislava and walk around the elegant town to our heart’s content. We would love to experience the confluence of the multiple cultures of Hungarian, Czech, German, Austrian and Jewish origins in the charming environs of the Slovakian city of Bratislava.
Budapest
Bidding goodbye to beautiful Bratislava, we will move on to one of the most beautiful cities of the European Union, namely Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Apart from a heady wine tour to Eger we look forward eagerly to a leisurely cruise on the Danube.
Vienna
Our next port of call would be vivacious Vienna a city that personifies grace and elegance. A city where we want to lose ourselves amongst its numerous palaces and museums. A city that has an ethereal and dream-like quality.
Salzburg
From Vienna, we are sure we can almost hear the “Sound of Music” from neighboring Salzburg and the sound will draw us magically to the lovely city of Salzburg. Another city where our visual senses will be provided a feast of the best of Baroque architecture and stunning natural landscapes.
Innsbruck
From Salzburg, we shall proceed to keep our rendezvous with Innsbruck. At Innsbruck, we will frolic in the snow and ski away to glory. When we get tired we shall stare in wonder at the exhibits of the Swarovski Crystal World.
These are some of our travel dreams for 2017. We do not know if these travel dreams shall flower into reality or not. But what we do know is that 2017 holds the promise of something new, something exciting as any other new year. The year 2017 brings with it the promise of new adventures and new experiences through the exploration of new travel destinations. The new year is pregnant with the promise of unheard, unread and untold adventures. Adventures that will be our very own to experience, cherish and share with the world. Wherever we go, we will relish each moment for all it is worth and not let it go till we have squeezed the last ounce of experience from it. So dear readers do stay hitched to our site in 2017 for more travel stories and experiences. Thanks for staying with us through 2016 and we promise you an exciting 2017 as well. Do share with us your travel dreams for 2017.
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Ultimate Pictures , thank you for sharing the blog, well done.
What a great list! I’ve been to all the places you mention and let me tell you, you are heading in the right direction no matter what you choose. Let me know if you have questions!
Beautiful bucket list for 2017! I was lucky in 2016 and took off my bucket list Cambodia and Angkor Wat. I wish you many happy travels in 2017!
I’d love to visi Angkor Wat. We visited Prague and it was one of my most favorite cities to date!
When I was backpacking Europe after college, everyone I met raved about Prague. I kept hearing how amazing it was and how it was the most beautiful city in the world. When I went I was so disappointed! Yes, it was lovely, but it couldn’t live up to its reputation. So beware of listening to too much hype.
Wow, what a spectacular sunset to say goodbye to 2016! It sounds like you are like me, always having travel on the brain! I haven’t been as organised though, I’ll be travelling to Eastern Europe in March but beyond that, I have no plans. I’d also love to return to India & Cambodia too. Happy New Year, look forward to following your adventures!
Your plan for 2017 looks incredible I spent quite a bit of time in Vienna and its an incredible city. I really want to do a tour of Europe but I need to get saving while I’m in South America so I’m able to subsidise myself. Europe is so much more expensive! I can’t wait to hear all about your 2017b travels.
Those are some nice travel dreams. I hope all of them come true for you!
My travel dreams this year is more open to going with whatever comes up. I am heading to Thailand next week and have a couple of destinations in the states this year but other than that, I am just going to see where my travels take me this year =)
The way you traveled in 2016, I have no doubt that your travel dreams will come true in 2017. Looks like you have it all mapped out~ Happy travels!
Well we got some similar bucket list ideas for 2017. I def want to do another Euro trip this summer and Bratislava and Salzburg are on my list too – its a small world, who knows we might bump into each other? Also Sikkim sounds lovely – I need to rediscover more of India.
Your 2016 was far more adventurous then mine! I only hope one day I can travel to even one of these beautiful spots!
Nice to see Bratislava on your list. I can really recommend a visit. The city might not have as much to offer as Prague or Budapest, but there are so much more. The history and struggles are move evident and there are a different feeling when walking around.
We lived in Bratislava for a year and a half, so just ask if you would like any advice. We have also written about the city.
It’s nice to see someone who found a beautiful place in nature to ring in the new year. We have only been to China in Asia but would love to visit Cambodia, Japan, and Vietnam as well. And you can’t go wrong with Innsbruck and Salzburg. Hopefully you’ll be able to visit the Alps surrounding the cities – so peaceful and beautiful. Good luck with all your travel plans for 2017!
We share very similar lists for this year. India is a top priority for me to visit this year and more exploration of Europe. I fell in love with SE Asia last year but the flights are forever long from the United States. I would like to stay a bit closer to home this year – with the exception of India.
You have a long list of beautiful places and I wish you luck! Prague is on my list as well and maybe we might just bump into each other there! Cheers 🙂
Great pictures. We did India in 2015 and last year we did Alaska – those were our travel dreams. Hoping to hit Iceland this year and explore the rest of Europe.
We’re thinking of exploring a bit of Europe this year. I really appreciated your little summaries of each place. Hope you have an amazing travel year in 2017!
It was quiet an year of travel for you with so many gorgeous destinations that you visited. Hope 2017 will be even better. And we will get lots of interesting stories to hear. 🙂
Have a blast on your travels! I look forward to reading about your adventures. I hope to travel more at some point.
Hope you get to fulfil all your travel wishes this year, Sandy and Vyjay. I was in Vienna and Prague last year and both of them were just as magical as you can hope it to be. However I had to cancel Cambodia due to something else coming in. Hopefully will get to go there this year.
I’ve only been to Austria on your dream list, but I did make it to all three of those cities. I highly recommend it. Absolutely beautiful country. And if you haven’t seen it, watch the sound of music before you travel. I hadn’t seen it prior to my travels!
I love the ability to dream big at the start of a new year because the possibilities just seem endless!
Looks like you have got a lot to look forward to! I have just recently come back from india, it was amazing! I can;t say i have heard of Lachung but im sure it will be incredible! Looking forward to the pictures and blogs.
Salzburg was one of my favorite destinations! You’ll definitely enjoy it! I can’t wait to get over to Peru this year and see Machu Picchu!
What a wonderful list of possibilities! I’m hoping to travel in 2017 for the first time in years, so l will definitely be checking back in here to everyone where you go 🙂
I love how well thought out all of your destinations are! I’m like, yeah, I want to go to Paris…grumble grumble grumble. Ha! I should probably put more thought into it!
So fun to plan for travel, especially at the beginning of the year. Cambodia is on my list as well. Hope to visit over spring break with my son.
What a great list of places to visit. I would love to go to Prague some day. It is on my bucket list for sure. Oh to dream!
We are heading to India too in January! We had plans to go to Sikkim too but the last four months on the road taught us to project for fewer destinations and visit these well, so we are focusing mostly on Rajasthan this time around!
I’m from India and I yet to visit Sikkim. I’m adding it to my list of places to see. I have seen Prague and its AMAZING.
Wow! I hope you make it on this dream trip. I’d love to do something like that. (Gorgeous picture, by the way.)
I really love traveling! I don;t think we will make it anywhere this year, but hope to make it to Disney World next year!
Oh I totally agree with you on everything. Traveling is the ultimate success in life. Beautiful photos too!
What a great list! I hope you’re able to heed the call and make to all of those places as well. Angkor Wat is so worth it and India.. I mean.. there’s just so much to see there. You’ll have amazing year.
I’m always quite jealous when I read these types of posts, they are the stuff of dreams for me. I haven’t actually traveled in 17 years and there are so many places I would love to see. I hope you are able to see all the places you have listed, it will be quite amazing.
Sounds like you’re ready for the new year! I’d love to visit Eastern Europe, but I don’t know how well that would go with kids… especially on the expenses side.
Appreciate that you dream big and pick unique destinations! For me, in 2017 I’m dreaming of Brussels, the Pyramids in Egypt and of course Antarctica is the biggest dream. Like you, I can’t rest easy without seeing Angkor Wat either!
A beautiful insight into your travel dreams. I hope that you do get to go to Vienna it is meant to be breathtaking.
Your plan for this year looks very full but very interesting. I hope that you can achieve most if not all of them.
This looks very good list and I have noted a few of the destinations for myself!
I’ve been wanting to visit Cambodia, too! Some of my friends have been there and they say the Angkor Wat experience is truly memorable. 🙂
Cambodia is in my wishlist too esp for the Angkor Wat. I can’t believe I missed visiting Salzberg when I visited Europe. The tickets to Salzberg was a bit too high when I went! 🙁
Best wishes to you to visit all the places in your wishlist this year!
Great travel list for 2017. I have a lot of trips planned: Singapore, Doha, Bangkok, Hong Kong, New Zealand, England, Iceland, just for the first three months of the year.
Beautiful pictures. I love that quote, it rings true for me. Salzburg is one of my dream places, ever since my Mozart fan days!
This is such a great travel list to kick start a new year. Cambodia is a place I’ve always wanted to visit someday. If I’ve the opportunity to go to India, I would want to visit the Taj Mahal. Happy Travel to both!
These are all great to add to your bucket list. I would love to go to Europe one day!
Those are some really great travel dreams. My travel list is not very long, honestly. I want to go to Ireland first and foremost. Then Scotland and Norway. If I only get to these there my happiness with overflow.
Happy new year! I hope you make it to all or at least some of these places this year. I can vouch for Budapest and Cambodia as places that are a must see!
Stunning pictures and we must say that’s a great to-do list. 🙂 🙂 If you have not been to Ladakh, you should plan to visit the place as well. Even we are planning to go to Eastern Europe this year, fingers crossed. 🙂
Hope you are able to cross every item on this list.
Ugh, your travel dreams are officially my travel dreams. I have been asking my partner to do a European escapade for a while, hopefully this year he takes some time and actually does it.
Take lots of photos so that we can feel like we are there!
That’s a great list with some very unique places on it! I’d love to travel to Asia one day!
I have been in Bratislava, Vienna and Budapest they are great places you must see…
Your travel dreams sound a lot like mine. I want to make it out of the US at some point and see more of the world!
What an amazing list! I hope you make it everywhere you want to go in 2017!
Your dream has been my reality the last two years so right now I’m glad to be home and travelling locally.
It’s lovely to be able to travel and explore the world and you’re right, once you begin traveling you’re going to want more. I think it’s nice that you came up with destinations this year! I hope you visit each one of them before the year ends.
I love that you call them travel dreams – so much better than wish list! You’ve definitely inspired me to visit more of Eastern Europe in the future – can’t wait to read about your experiences.
My travel wishlist is also a never ending destination bucket! hahahahaha great choices
My husband and I love traveling and so we always plan the year ahead. We have all our destinations planned for this year and I’m very excited to make them all happen. I think it’s awesome to lay out travel goals!
I loved the pictures! They’re so authentic and dreamy at the same time.
Traveling is seriously one of the best things you can do with your time 🙂 I enjoy reading your blog and all the adventures you go on!
Absolutely in love with your opening quote! So true. And I agree, once you travel, there is no way back. It stays with you. All the best for 2017!
Great list! I’ve always wanted to go to Asia! Such a wonderful culture!
We are like-minded souls. Of your list, I have only been to one of the places – Innsbruck- and that was long ago. Hope that you are able to fulfill your travel dreams.
I’ve only been to India and Cambodia and I can say both are truly worth it. Here’s hoping you accomplish all your travel dreams of 2017!
I love your list since its different. Would love to see some of those places.
You’ve got some serious travel plans! Several of the places you listed are on my bucket list, too, so I’m curious to see how you’ll blog all of these.
Great list and choices! our bucket list is never ending!! but like you we hope to see Vienna and Salzburg. We also had the same feelings about Angkor calling us, we finally got to see these majestic temples last November, you’ll love it. Good luck with your 2017 travels!
Nice list of adventures you have had. Hope to visit a few of these places in the next couple of years. Happy and safe future travels
Fabulous plans for 2017! We have only planned as far as March… so we do not really know what the rest of 2017 has in store for us. I hope to get to Europe one day, but I know it will not be this year…. that’s not true, anything can happen!
Travel dreams are ultimately what will flower into a travel reality. Every single one of my adventures started out as a dream. Dreams are what make us who we are. Good luck for 2017 and making yours a reality.
I do always love hearing what travel plans the future holds.
Some beautiful spots you’ve picked out for sure!
Thus far, our dreams are centred around our Spain and Portugal adventures in March, but I’d love to do some more domestic Australian travel, especially into the red centre to see Uluru!
Good luck for your 2017 adventures! May you be able to cover all these places in this year 🙂
So many great destinations! I haven´t seen Budapest, but I will this year. I hope it´s amazing as it looks like 🙂
Really beautiful list of destinations for 2017.My girlfriend and I are heading towards Asia this year and the temples of Angkor Vat are also right on the top of our list.It would be awesome if we could meet you there.You are such talented writers!
You have a great bucket list and i hope that you tick off each of the places soon from them and make a new one in the days ahead. I come from india myself so thats off the list for me. As for your destinations in Europe , I share all the places with you. They are on my list too.
I feel like I just went on a quick trip through Europe! Your short descriptions of Bratislava and Vienna were of particular interest as I’ll be there in February.
Thanks and I wish you a great 2017!
Looks like an excellent list of places to see this year. We’ve been to Prague, Salzburg, Innsbruck and they were all incredible. I hope you have a lot of fun there.
What an incredible list! I look forward to seeing where you are able to visit this year. I hear nothing but amazing things about Prague and Vienna.
There are plenty on this list that is the same with my own travel bucket list. Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and India has been on my bucket list for some time now. Wish to tick them off that list soon!
Thats looks like a wonderful plan. I am not sure if I would be able to cover so many distant places in 1 year but whats wrong in being ambitious. What i am more interested in knowing is since airfares are usually the biggest cost, wont you like to cover one country in detail and not planning to go back in distant future rather than hoping from one to another and revisiting some of them frequently?
That is a wonderful list and I hope it all comes true this year. Here is to many more travels for you this year. 🙂
wow, Eastern Europe!? That should be awesome. Not many people go there so would be a good thing. I wanna do northern Europe, US and some more Asian countries. Maybe that is 2017-2018. Probably can’t do US and EU in same year.
So many wonderful destinations. This is a fantastic list, I think that your travel plans sound really cool 🙂 Good luck!
So much exciting stuff to look forward to! I hope you can do it all!
I love this post and how you started off 2017 in such an inspiring way. Your travel plans for this year sound incredible. Would love to help you with your Eastern Europe destinations, if you need advice. We live in Salzburg, have written about Prague and Bratislava (amazing) and have been to Vienna and Innsbruck a few times now. ENJOY! And cheers to 2017 🙂
Those are really great places to visit! I just came back from Prague and I loved it Hope you can make the dream come true this year!
I would visit India any chance I got. Your list looks great, I really hope you get to all of them! Happy 2017, here’s to many more travels around this beautiful globe 🙂
2017 sounds like a super busy year for you guys and very exciting too! You will absolutely love Eastern Europe – there is just so much to see and do and your itinerary sounds great. I have been to all places on your list apart from Innsbruck – you will not be disappointed!! Good luck and look forward to hearing all about your adventures!
You have chosen very good destinations in Europe. I have been there and devoured all I could during my stay there. 🙂
Wish you great travels in 2017!
Your Travel list is quite interesting. I do have mine for 2017 and wish that you cover most of the countries you want to travel this year. For me Istanbul and Morocco top the list .
There’s nothing better tan having dreams!! I share with you the Asian destionations as dreams too! 🙂 From Europe, I have been to Innsbruck, which I loved!!!, and to Salzburg, where the mass-tourism decreased the amazing urban landscape! 🙂 Best travels! E
This bucket list of yours is really awesome? Do share an itinerary of the places you plan to go to. And the food. Happy travelling 🙂
I can´t say I know much about these places. I am from Europe, but for some reason all the places on your list where such that I have never been. Also never been in India. I would love to visit all these places too someday and I hope your travel dreams come true. Happy new year!
An ambitious plan for sure and I am wishing you a great year full of adventures, new places and great people! I loved Budapest and would love to return for more one day. Prague is gorgeous but I would recommend going off season because there are tourists literally everywhere.
This is a great bucket list! Budapest and Prague are GORGEOUS, and Vienna is one of my favorite cities in the world! You’re going to enjoy these places SO much!
You have some great ideas for the year ahead. Prague and Innsbruck are places that I visited when I was very young and they are both places that I would love to experience again. Happy travels and happy 2017!
I love Cambodia I have been there twice, its beautiful. I will also be travelling in europe this summer. Slovakia is a place I haven’t been to yet but it’s on my list to see too 🙂
Have you visited the Philippines? If not yet, are you considering it this year? I would love to know. We have so many beautiful places that you can visit and you can also find affordable accommodations too!
What a nice way to start 2017. When you are in Budapest, think of the neighboring country – Romania. Sibiu, the town were I live is just 8h of train from Budapest. 😉
You have drawn up a diverse list for 2017. I see there are a lot of European destinations…all stunning places. I recently came across a picture of Gurudogmar Lake and was taken aback by its beauty. An overnight stay at Lachen village is recommended, right?
You gotta add Phuket to that list! But the list you have now is pretty cool, packed with awesome places! There are so many cool places all over the world. I don’t think we have enough time to visit them all, so better to make it count on each visit, no? Traveling can’t be cured, I agree with the quote you put there. But then why would you wanna stop? Crave for more, that’s only natural. Visit Phuket, though. Check our luxury, ocean view villa to accommodate your stay here! Thank you.
Love it! We are heading to Munich, Vienna, and Prague next month and I can hardly wait. Your post just got me excited again about our upcoming trip. Were you able to make it to these amazing destinations last year? If so, which was your favorite. I can’t wait to discover mine. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.