The best places around the world for the mature traveller and the “young at heart” to view Cherry Blossoms!
Is travelling on your bucket list?
In an earlier blog, we introduced the country of Japan and mentioned that a significant symbol of their culture is the Cherry Blossom. The “flower’s brief bloom symbolized the fragility, transience and beauty of life” according to Smithsonian Magazine. In a celebration known as “hanami” many Japanese families travel to view these beautiful blooms and to partake of picnics underneath their idyllic (and iconic) branches. Today, we look at some of the most beautiful places in the world, including Japan, that you might travel to in order to view the seasonal wonder of cherry blossoms. Might we also suggest, who better to see such a spectacular sight with than an Amintro friend? Amintro helps folks who are 50+ to make new friends. If you’re ready for a new adventure, join Amintro then head for Japan….or Washington……or Toronto’s Hyde Park, or the state of Georgia….…..you get the idea!
Five Places to View Beautiful Cherry Blossoms Blooming!
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Hirosaki Park, Japan
There are over 2600 trees in Hirosaki Park where branches overlap to form “blossom tunnels” ideal for photo ops. There is also a 400 year old castle located here and for the truly adventurous, you can take an idyllic trip down a petal dotted moat in a row boat! By the way, cherry blossom season here is also known as “Sakura.”
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Mount Fuji and Mount Yoshino, Japan
There are actually many other lovely places in Japan to view cherry blossoms and perhaps the sight of Mount Fuji, seemingly surrounded in blossoms, is more to your liking. It’s a stunning photo opportunity. There is also the beautiful Mount Yoshino where there are over 30,000 trees! Ueno Park in Tokyo as well is another location where you are sure to find these beautiful blooms and as an added bonus, this park is lit up at night so you can view the blooms day and night!
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Washington D.C. and Macon Georgia, United States
Washington D.C., has long been viewed as a cherry blossom destination and is indeed a sight to behold. However, the cherry blossom “capital” of the U.S. would have to be Macon, Georgia where over 300,000 trees are in bloom each year!
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British Columbia and Toronto, Canada
Beautiful British Columbia is a lovely place to view the blossoms with around 50,000 trees lining streets and parks including the world famous Stanley Park. As part of the festivities in Vancouver there is also the downtown “Cherry Jam” a concert that appeals to both tree and music lovers! In Toronto’s Hyde Park most of the blooms are located along Grenadier pond and the area experiences a huge jump in visitors each spring so various websites suggest biking, walking paths and using public transit to travel to the area. Due to spring weather conditions in Toronto, blooms tend to fade a little faster, having a lifespan of between 4 and 10 days depending on whether it rains or not. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons it gets so busy!
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Paris, France
We would be remiss if we didn’t at least mention Paris. There are other European destinations for blossoms too but “Springtime in Paris” is prime tourist season and photos the world-famous Eiffel Tower, framed by cherry blossoms, are beautiful to behold. Jardin des Plantes and Notre Dame de Paris are two other prime viewing locations.
Time to travel? Are cherry blossoms in your future? Grab an Amintro friend and plan for your next great adventure, whether it’s close to home and requires a simple hop on your local transit or half way around the world visiting our featured country of Japan. Either way – the blooms will be blooming and beautiful! With spring almost here you’re probably a bit too late for this year – but NOW is the perfect time to start planning for 2020. Still looking for that friend to accompany you? If you haven’t already signed up for Amintro, click here to find out more and by the time the blossoms bloom again next spring both you, and your Amintro friend, will be ready!
By: Sheralyn Roman