Where is the most beautiful place you have flown?

[Emkay]

More specifically, outside of the UK?

Looking for inspiration on where to go on holiday and rent an aircraft :)

Would be curious to hear where others have rented outside of their home country, how the experience was and how easy it is to get checked out and rent aircraft abroad?

[TURIN]

I rented a hang-glider and soared with sea eagles over the Lighthouse at Byron Bay, Austalia.
Which was nice.

https://a.travel-assets.com/mediavault.le/media/99f0c02fc4a471b5ea8300738f9658b0cfb2825e.jpeg

Not me but you get the idea.

[Wageslave]

Aren't there any suitably beautiful places in "of" the UK?

[TowerDog]

. Where is the most beautiful place you have flown?

The Exuma Chain in the Bahamas.

[eagleflyer]

Maui was nice...Iceland too...French Alps are spectacular....and of course South Island NZ.

[Romeo Tango]

Greenland, Grand canyon, Scotland, Alps

[9 lives]

In order of beauty: The west coast of Norway, East coast of Labrador, Greenland, Iceland, Yukon, British Columbia mountains near Vancouver, South New Mexico and Arizona, Outer Banks of the Carolinas USA, Coast of Georgia USA, Florida Keys.

[Genghis the Engineer]

In the UK, I think that the Hebrides are as beautiful a place to fly as anywhere in the world.

Ourside the UK, I have loved flying over the deserts in California and Arizona, particularly around mountains, sand features, the odd dead volcano, the Flagstaff meteor crater...

G

[jayemm]

Blue Mountains and coastline of Jamaica. Stunning mixture of lush greenery, flashes of waterfalls and off course the beautiful colours of the carribean.

[Piltdown Man]

In the UK, low level through the Cairngorms, Snowdonia, Lake District or over Morecambe Sands. In Europe I think Norway has some of the most beautiful scenery, and the best I've seen to date is around Arlesund.

PM

[ChrisJ800]

Cape Tribulation in Oz. Fly over rainforest, barrier reef and nice islands with beautiful turquoise water.

[Chuck Ellsworth]

Moose Jaw Saskatchewan.

[Pilot DAR]

Chuck, VFR on top doesn't count! ;)

[Glasgow_Flyer]

Funnily enough, I was going to say the north-west coasts of Scotland and Ireland.
The Byron Bay suggestion is fantastic - there is plenty of GA around there too.
But, aside from Scotland (!), perhaps over the great barrier reef off far-north Queensland. Matter of fact - flying in Australia in general is just amazing- the vastness of the country in itself is spectacular - desert, to snow, to mountains to great barrier reefs - quite sensational.
And then there is NZ - that's next on the bucket list!

[Maoraigh1]

For easy renting, go to the US. After trying around in 1987/88, I've repeatedly gone back to Grand Junction, Colorado. Cheap rental, good planes, good cheap motels and food. And G(ood) airspace. And lots of good weather.
You need a US 61.75 license issued before you travel, on the basis of your EASA PPL. You'll need a 2 hour Biennial Flight Review - which will be part (or all) of your convertion/check-out, depending on your needs.
Be sure to have all the family, if they're going to be flying with you, covered for flying in a non-commercial aircraft. American Express did this for me until I was too old. (65 or was it 69?) Since then I've got it through the broker who insures our Jodel.

Link to photos from a Pa28 - pre digital, scanned (the FBO knew where I was going): http://www.flickr.com/photos/27183900@N04/

And videos from a C172:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHBD6TKxMMw&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwNNrtfAS7I&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=oZiMy7Dn8iU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frks0jU1kiM&feature=player_detailpage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EmmnogqeX1g&feature=player_detailpage

[pummel]

The grand canyon is amazing (even at the altitiudes you need to cross it at as a non-commerical flight), but if you are out that neck of the woods it would be a real shame not to land at Sedona - absolutely stunning red rock surrounds and the airfield is elevated on the spine of a hill. Tioman in Malaysia is a beautiful place with a non standard approach to Land which is exciting for passengers and pilot alike. The latter would be hard to get a holiday rental for though :(. Flying Ski planes out of Meribel is also right up there - you might not solo over the course of a holiday and I think you need a mountain rating to leave the 'circuit' but it's great fun, a very different way to fly. Finally if you only have a morning - the Hudson river VFR corridor. You'll be amazed not at how close you can go to the skyscrapers, but at how close you have to go!

[ZFT]

Agree with many of the USA suggestions above. Would add Monument Valley and Lake Powell for fantastic scenery.

[Jetblu]

Durban - Cape Town along the coast - low level. Northern SA with visits to game parks. Zimbabwe/Zambia is spectacular by air. Scotland and the Highlands are quite nice. My favourite of all [inc USA] is the Caribbean islands hopping. [The Maldives and ATOLS in a Twin Otter on floats as a passenger - magnificent]

[VictorGolf]

The Rift Valley and Ngong Hills out of Nairobi Wilson are worth a look. Did my solo X-country to Lake Magadi (soda lake) and felt very small against the vastness of Africa.

[eeesprit]

California! From San Diego to San Francisco, along the coast and inland... stunning places :)

[Steve6443]

For outside of UK, I'd have to say my flight down over the myriad of islands dotted along the Croatian coast was pretty spectacular, enhanced by the views of the Old City of Dubrovnik which contrasted sharply with the lush greenery of Montenegro.

In UK, I enjoyed flying down the south west coast over Plymouth (note to self: do not land there, not even in a Jodel ;-)) past the Eden Project, looking at the emerald green water near to old mines, then flying past Perranporth to Newquay, seeing the deserted beaches in mid summer......all the time wondering why people fly to Spain, to be crammed in like Sardines on the beach at Benidorm.....

[Flying Lawyer]

Joint 1st: Greenland and British Columbia (islands and mountains near Vancouver).

Thereafter, selecting the order becomes more difficult but I'd include:
New Zealand, the Western Cape, Botswana, Great Barrier Reef & the Sunshine Coast (QLD), Ayers Rock/Uluru, Colorado, the California coastline, French/Swiss Alps and probably the Florida Keys and the Caribbean although the last two fall short of the others in variety of spectacular scenery.

and how easy it is to get checked out and rent aircraftStill relatively easy in the US.
I don't know about the other countries because I was very happy to fly with either a Flight Instructor or a local pilot.

[BEagle]

Reaching V1 at Riyadh King Khalid International Airport on our way home from Gulf War One!

[overandout]

The wildness of Mongolia, The vastness of Siberia, The mountains of Alaska??

[Craggenmore]

Sunrise over the Kunluns and Himalayas heading east from Pakistan into China

[Hotel-Mama]

I would second California. The coastal trip from San Diego to SF not only has the spectacular scenery of Big Sur, but interesting experiences such as the low level VFR route crossing directly over the 4 runways of LAX, with airliners taking off and landing right underneath. Inland, the Sierra Nevada mountains certainly classify as one of the most beautiful places I have flown, and a flight through Owens valley to Lake Tahoe is a highlight.

[Sam Rutherford]

Sahara desert in southern Libya.

No longer a holiday destination though...:{

[Menko]

California! From San Diego to San Francisco, along the coast and inland... stunning places :)
eeesprit - go a little further North along the coast to Humboldt County - Shelter Cove has a good paved Runway along with courtesy car and excellent Restaurant on the field - otherwise you miss the best part of California! Cheers, Menko

[DownWest]

Pretty small beer amongst some of the places here, but an evening flight in a DH Rapide from Links to Norfolk as the sun was going down. There were stubble fires in the fields and the smoke was going up in gentle spirals as the wind angle changed with hight. We were at around 1000ft and the light was magical. It got a bit less so when we arrived in the gloom and there was nobody home to turn the lights on.

[semmern]

My playground, Norway :)

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/semmern/BAS2012/P1060085.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y82/semmern/BAS2012/P1060087.jpg