A Seat with a View

Posted by Lynn on February 28, 2018 in Advice + Tips, Around the World, Ex-pat living, Hiking, Inspiration, Landscaapes, Local Color | 14 comments

Make your reservation for a seat with a view, or better yet, just stumble upon one. While long term travel isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, the world does offer up a spectacular array of beautiful views, and I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you from over a dozen countries around the world. You might not always be able to find or afford a room with a view, but you can usually find a seat with one, and more often than not, they’re free, like this rock with a view of the ocean in New Zealand…

Seats with views aren’t always the most comfortable places – they can be hard, full of slivers, made of cold metal or stone, or not really shaped to fit the human body, and are often placed out in the wind, rain, or hot sun.

But when the views are as incredible as these, you don’t really mind. Maybe the discomfort of some seats, like benches, is intentionally designed to keep you from lingering too long, so that somebody else can also enjoy the view, like here in the highlands of Scotland, or at sea level in Tasmania.

Seats with views can be found to include flora or fauna, like these mustard fields in the vineyards of Napa, California, and this fenceless wallaby nature park in Australia. No matter that the seat is on the ground, as long as you can still get up!

There are cloudy day views and sunny day views, from seats on rocky outcroppings, like these in southern Australia…

…and views with only a wall to sit on, like this spot in Sydney, or across the globe in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

There are seats with secluded, rocky views in Ireland, and crowded, sandy seats in Italy.

Some people prefer city views, where even in more populated areas you can still enjoy nature, like in this park with a view of Sydney Harbour.

If you are a city person, Paris has plenty of places to park your posterior and gaze at the scenery, including gardens and galleries of shops, by fountains, and in famous museums…a different kind of beautiful.

If you prefer the outdoors, and love water views of lakes or the sea, you might like to check out Croatia and New Zealand, two countries with water the color of gemstones.

Some people might want views of the mountains. Try a hike up Arthur’s Seat in Scotland, or the Sierra’s in California, or if you want to go really high up, from a seat in a helicopter over the glaciers in New Zealand.

Perhaps you prefer ocean and mountains all at once? If so, don’t miss New Zealand’s Milford Sound.

Some seats with a view may take a more unusual form, like a stile in Scotland, a kayak in Croatia, or if you’re more daring, an open seat in the sky in New Zealand…

Maybe a seat on a bike to catch views like this in Slovenia is more up your alley.

If a seat on a boat with a view is your style – you can find them in places like Slovenia and Venice. Or would you like to play captain with a seat at the tiller? In Croatia you can try it!

If you prefer dry land, you can see all kinds of scenery from the seat of a tuk tuk in Japan, Thailand, or Cambodia…

There are artsy seats with a view, like this Gaudi bench with a sweeping scene of Barcelona below it. Or seats that are actually sculptures, like the sea pipe organ in Zadar, Croatia that uses wind and waves to play music. Nearby you can find the Monument to the Sun solar panels that you can sit on by day, or dance on the colorful moving lights after dark.

Speaking of color, if you want a seat with a view of a rainbow village – they’re everywhere in Ireland! Or head down to Hove, in England, where you can have a seat with a view of the sea in front of a colorful cabana.

Some scenic seats come with pillows and cushions to make your stay more comfortable, like this one in Montenegro. But cushions or not, there are those that can’t be bothered to enjoy the view, like these lounging ladies and sleepy kitties in Croatia.

Many people enjoy a picnic table along with their view, in order to more easily eat their repast, like here by Lake Pukaki, or on the Banks Peninsula, in New Zealand.

Or you could grab a window seat at the bar in the Tate Modern Museum with a view of London.

If you’re willing to sit on the ground while you dine, the world offers up many more options for al fresco meals with a view, like these huts near Chiang Mai Thailand, or in a field with a sack lunch in New Zealand.

Maybe you’d enjoy sitting on the dock of the bay, scanning the island of Brac, Croatia.

There are those who like to be occupied while they’re sitting somewhere with a view, which is okay too. Maybe drawing or painting the local scenery is your thing, like here on the Croatian island of Korcula.

There are long-distance views, and views that are closer, some lined right up at your feet (in New Zealand and Slovenia).

If you’re looking for a fairytale view, check out the castles in Frances’s Loire Valley. There are views of gardens worthy of queens and kings, and if you play your cards right, you might get a moment or two on a royal seat.

Lounging in a seat with a view of the ocean in Mexico is lovely. But nothing quite beats a sunset scene, especially from a Bambu Bar by the shore of the sea with a glass of wine or a margarita.

Us humans aren’t the only ones who enjoy a seat with a view. Our furry friends like it too. If you happen to house and pet sit, you can take your charge along for the fun, and hope that they’ll sit still for a while with you. Although sometimes they have different priorities, and may prefer the view right in front of their face…

Wherever it is you may roam in the world, you’re bound to find scenic places to sit. Take time out from your hectic schedule of ticking things off your bucket list, to enjoy relaxing on your very own seat with a view.

Note: keep an eye out for my next post, where I’ll show you another very special kind  of seat, the underworld of seats, so to speak, in a variety of high-tech and low-tech incarnations.