Wheres the top places to go backpacking/traveling?

im thinking about going travelling around the world for about 6 months, and was wandering where are the best places to go? have you been there and why do you recomend it? and also any places anyone wish they didnt go to?

North & West African countries such as Niger, Nigeria, CAR, Camerioon, Mali, Mauritania etc aren't the easiest of places to back-pack.

Six months actually isn't that long once you're on the road. Are you thinking of a true RTW or maybe just covering one continent? A lot depends on whether you want to go round the world - in which case, a lot will depend on flight routes - or concentrate on one area.

I spent 7 months in Africa, although much of that was on an organised overland trip and then 6 months travelling independantly through Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Australia (briefly) and NZ before flying back to the UK via HongKong. Kathmandu to London, with a side-dip down into Syria & Jordan, was a 3 month trip. All my time in S America has been shorter holidays (3 weeks at a time) but I could easily spend 6 months travelling round the continent. You could also spend a lot of time travelling through Europe, although that will prove more expensive than elsewhere.

Don't spend too short a time in each country - you want to see the place / enjoy yourself, without being constantly on the move. You can also go beyond the highlights and see more of each country if you're not on a short holiday.

India, Thailand, Australia, NZ & Peru are the top favourites of most backpackers. Personally, I love S.E. Asia and suggest visiting Laos, Cambodia & Vietnam as the well as the staples of India, Thailand, Malaysia etc. You can easily spend 2 months in Indonesia, going round the varous islands. I have also thoroughly enjoyed my times in Latin America - Chile, Peru, Ecuador & Argentina were all very easy to travel in, even with my limited knowledge of Spanish - and I wish I'd discovered this fact before I settled down into a permanent job & bought a house!

Aside from CAR in Africa, there's no-where that I haven't liked and, even that was an experience, if not one I'd like to repeat.