The 25 sights and places you should visit when you retire, or before!

In recent years there have been a multitude of books charting the thousands of places you must see, such as gardens, historic sights, churches or cemeteries, before you die. Let’s consider the thrill of visiting and exploring some of these unique places as you retire, or simply have the inclination to travel at any time.

Dr. Richard Benfield, visitor to over 137 countries, will outline his Top 25 list. He will eschew the obvious and popular (Sistine Chapel, Big Ben, Grand Canyon) and take you on what Robert Frost called the road less travelled; places for adventure and places rarely mentioned in “1000 places you must see.”

Thus, we will see the oldest human-made artifact in the world (800,000 years old), 40,000-year-old Paleolithic Art, the great cathedrals of Europe, majestic mountains, the Panama Canal, gorillas in the mist and much more. Join us for this visually inspiring one-hour journey and get valuable tips for your next big adventure.

Dr. Benfield is the former Chair and Professor of Geography at Central Connecticut State University in New Britain, Connecticut where he taught courses in Human Geography, Plants, Predators and Parks, Russia, The European Union and many of the courses in the department’s tourism track. His current research interests are in biogeography, particularly garden tourism, and the use of tourism as a conservation tool through the great botanic gardens of the world.