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I always wanted to visit China and enjoyed it when I first got there. I was very quickly disturbed by the environment and nature of the country. I still go back from time to time but find i like it less and less each time.

14 ***** pages.

14 pages for a 13-item list? Really?
*sigh*

Most of Israel really feels similar to traveling in England (with the exception of the religious areas, i mean)

Surprised Tunisia is on there. I (an American) was just there a few months ago and had a great time. They were all very happy to see Americans there.

very interesting article and a great resource for travellers .. im surprised south africa wasn't on that list..

i've done
palestine
syria
tunisia
iraq


doing iran very soon i hope, and maybe sudan.


Syria is indeed a BEAUTIFUL country, and very very safe.


china is not appealing to me.

I want to visit Israel and hang out with some of those IDF women...

It's a shame that so many beautiful places in this world are considered so dangerous, and the average American will be scared away from such destinations....

I'm not reading 14 pages.

Bury for inaccuracy. The US should be one of the first on this list.
WHY GO:
Beautiful country, friendly people (some), great cultural hubs.
WHY NOT GO:
The government spends much more on military interference in other countries affairs than it does on its own people's welfare. Recent years have seen a disturbing erosion of civil liberties. Amnesty reports consistent abuse of political prisoners. The economy is based on destructive and unsustainable exploitation of natural and human resources across the globe.

Cuba: They missed out the great collection of old American cars or "Yank Tanks". If you are into classic cars (such as I) then this is a must visit.

They could also have included USA in that list! Its indeed controversial especially when u think that they killed a country (Iraq) without proof of any weapons!! especially when you see how gay people are disciminated cause many people in the US are very religious or just not tolerant enough!, etc etc.... but hey, its not only USA but many many other countries!!!!

I was there. Nice place.

14 pages - buried for *****.

Most of these are only controversial if you're American.

Though the article does a good job in bringing out tourist destinations you might not have thought about, it seems to have inaccuracies.
On Israel it states that:
"Travel to the Dead Sea, the Jordanian border, and the Sea of Galilee requires transiting the West Bank. According to the U.S. State Department, daytime road travel is safe on Highways 1 and 90. Do not take Israeli-plated rental cars or taxis into the Occupied Territories lest you be mistaken for an Israeli settler by Arab militants." This is incorrect. All three can be reached without every having to enter occupied Territories .

Myanmar is on my list. I would give them a chance to recover from the cyclone damage. I have friends (Americans) who have traveled there multiple times. The people were friendly and the culture is amazing. I would definitely choose one of the travel specialists recommended in TFA. That way, my dollars will go mostly to the locals citizens, and not the the government.

My friends say it is very safe (just use common sense). They had no problem with their daughter (in her 20's) going there on her own. They made some great friends in Myanmar.

can't believe they use the U.S. State Department as their primary source of information about Syria. That's like in the 80's getting your info about the U.S. from the Soviet Ministry of Information.

Venezuela is not bad at all...especially when compared to some of these other destinations. Beautiful country, INCREDIBLE women, not cheap though.

LOL@ "Travel to the Dead Sea, the Jordanian border, and the Sea of Galilee requires transiting the West Bank."
You'd think the author would at least look at a map of the region before writing such nonsense.

lol, of course Cuba's on the list. Too bad it's a perfectly normal vacation spot for most other countries. Canadians go there all the time.

Russia may be controversial, but of all the places on that list it is the one in which I've felt safest. I've walked the streets of St. Petersburg and Moskva in the early morning hours without a care in the world - I knew and know I was more likely to be attacked at high noon in most American cities. Their political freedoms are repressed and I wouldn't wish to live there, but I sure wish the US handled their common criminals the way the Russians do - most of them would find better ways to make a living or they would simply vanish.

CHINA
SYRIA
ZIMBABWE
NORTH KOREA
TUNISIA
CUBA
MYANMAR (BURMA)
RUSSIA
ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES
ETHIOPIA
SUDAN
IRAN
VENEZUELA

I'm not surprised that Israel has been included in the list, but in reality Israel is probably safer than many many places in the US. There are actually many tourists here (many French) and plenty of high-level management of global hi-tech companies (as well as lower staff) visit the Israeli branches quite regularly.
While the shekel did get stronger over the dollar, its still ~3.5 NIS per dollar, which makes Israel a relatively cheap place to travel. Its probably more expensive than other middle eastern destinations, but unlike those you're basically traveling to a western country.
As long as you stay away from Sderrot and Ashkelon area, which are being targeted by Hamas, you wouldn't even know that this country is involved in any kind of conflict.
I find the statement of "both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority have been accused of human-rights abuses linked to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict" ridiculous as a reason not to go since other than paying taxes, you don't see any government influence of pretty much anything, especially on tourists.

Why isn't Kashmir listed? It's supposed to be the "heaven on earth"....

The list should include Europe for ***** with the world for four centuries.

Anybody else notice her last name??

I'm certainly reluctant to travel to ANY middle eastern country. I can just imagine how easy it would be to spot and kidnap me, days later my tortured body is found. All because I'm an American infidel.

Is it me, or does anyone else hate these sites that put a story on multiple pages you have to "flip" through.

Venezuela being a country ruled by Chavez is one thing. Saying that they´re covering for Uruguay??? Please!! Uruguay can barely fight its place on the map....Who said that!?

This is a really weird list, some of these places are "different" some oer dodgy and some are dangerous.
Going somewhere where starvation and poverty are rampant are probably not a good idea for your nornal person, and you'd want to be a nutter to visit Zimbabwe or Myanmar but you're not going to convince your pals you're a psycho
So for the hardcore may I suggest
Venezuela
Lebanon
Darfur (Sudan)
Haiti
Central African Republic
Iraq
Only 5 but I'm sure there are another 6 which are more controversial than these pussy destinations (I think 2 on the list are probably genuinely dangerous, and Darfur is a part of a third)

so let me get this straight in order for me to go to North Korea i must first go to another controversial country (Beijing, China) in order to get a visa that allows me to go to another controversial country (North Korea)? so does that make North Korea extra controversial?

Only way to get these assholes out of power is the bankrupt the country, you can't bankrupt it when your funding their economy and making out that everything is fine and dandy.

Russia, East Germany, Romania (?), etc. All of them had to be bankrupted before the corrupt officials went out of power. Where is the evidence that the opposite works? Oh that's right, it doesn't exist!

beautiful countries... they have so many great qualities to them...