Summer Vacations 2012: 10 Places You Should Visit (and Avoid) in 2012

Culture

Should see:

Mauritius

If you are looking for an exotic place, Mauritius is the answer. This little island, located in the Indian Ocean, offers heavenly beaches, luxury resorts and joyful and warm people, where all your stress can be blown away.

Galicia, Spain

Galicia is found on the North-West of Spain. It offers a vast cultural background, going from prehistoric ages to our contemporary times, beautiful green landscapes, and amazing seafood cuisine. Enjoy the past in the Iberian Peninsula.

Venice, Italy

Venice is definitely the new Paris. Its romantic channels and buildings will steal your heart. You can delight yourself with Italian culture and cuisine or get enchanted with just the city itself. Best enjoyed with a loved one.

Machu Pichu, Peru

For adventurers, Machu Pichu is the ideal choice. Located on the high mountains of the South American Andes, it is believed it was a holy place for the Inca civilization and the rest place of Pachacuti. Let yourself be taken over by its magical and mystical view.

San Francisco, USA

Probably the most artistic and liberal city in California. It holds numerous museums and the second largest Opera after New York City. San Francisco offers a terrific nightlife, beaches and cultural tourism.

Should avoid:

Ciudad Juarez

Ciudad Juarez is one of the most dangerous cities in the world. There are approximately 3000 murders, related to the drug war, per year only in this city. Social life is almost completely paralyzed due to the violence and the kidnapping, and it is a place definitely to be avoided.

Brussels, Belgium

A survey conducted by Trip Advisor, marked Brussels as the most boring city in Europe, beating Warsaw and Zurich. Apart from chocolate and beer and some buildings, Brussels has little to nothing to offer to tourist.

Mogadishu, Somalia

Somalia is known for its pirates and terrorism, from which nobody is safe, specially visitors, like NGO's workers. Undiscriminated attacks on civilian population and the violation of human rights take places on a daily basis.

Caracas, Venezuela

At the en of 2011, Caracas held a record: the city with the highest crime rate in all of South America. Armed gangs operate in the city with little to no punishment and poverty in the suburbs keeps on rising.

Greece

Since the crisis hit Greece, numerous riots have taken place throughout the country. Greece has always been a very touristic country, but the high violence of the riots makes it almost impossible to visit.