Typical triathlete response. “Best” doesn’t
HAVE TO mean “fastest”.

I give a massive side eye to criteria #5 - or will frame it for posterity when your crew attempts this again without success

This one could bring me out of "retirement" https://www.1406inn.com/

when i read these threads i often wonder if anyone has every been somewhere that was actually beautiful. i've done races all over the country, and in different parts of the world. i have never been to a race that looked as pretty as it did in the videos and photo shoots. plus, when i'm racing, i'm racing. if you want good scenery, you're likely not getting it doing a race, unless you're a grand tour like the tour.

i noticed someone says st george is pretty cus of some drone footage... it's literally a giant pile of sandstone. i guess it can be nice if you've never seen sandstone. lol

Can someone bring St. Croix or Wildflower back to life?

Also a few years ago I thought there was a 70.3 in Odessa Ukraine

Also have not done the 70.3 in Port Elizabeth South Africa .

Mont Tremblant #1

then a close second would be Coeur d'alene

Sorry, I'm not a big world traveler. Both were beautiful and very well done events.

Starman, in the Cairngorms (half distance). Start with a swim in loch Morlich below Cairngorm mountain. Ride 56 miles through the Spey valley and back up to the Cairgorm ski station. Run up to the top of Cairngorm, back down to the loch then up another small stream-filled valley and then up and over the top of the 2nd mountain Meall a Bhuachaille. Finish the run across the sandy beach at the same loch as you started.
The only problem ? It starts at midnight so you actually don't see a sodding thing 🙄

actually, st croix might be the only one that was a view, but you're literally riding up a mountain, looking at the ocean. the rolling hills after the beast was pretty cool.

I don't watch races so I don't know which courses would actually be scenic but a Scandinavian country or Canada would be my choice of destinations. If it wasn't limited to IM races, Norseman or Celtman would be up there for me.

In terms of what I can recommend to others, the Ironman Cairns bike course is incredibly scenic. Great atmosphere for the swim and run but not quite as scenic as the bike course.

The Sunshine Coast 70.3 swim is fantastic. Run course is pretty good but the bike course is a little boring (though nice and flat and fast).

Seen a lot of responses about Europe, which is great, but based in the US, I can't spend the time needed pre-race to absorb the time difference, so need to focus on the Americas to actually have a good race day... Having raced 70.3 St. George it was such a beautiful course. And IM Lake Placid was so beautiful too. Not "otherworldly" the way St George can feel like you are riding a bike on Mars race morning, but the natural beauty of Lake Placid is just stunning, and the swim is both beautiful and clean (water.) I'd like to hear from the group, what 70.3s in the Americas most stick out for their beauty (and to be beautiful from start to finish requires clean water to swim in, no nasty river that has been poluted by factories or agriculture upstream for centuries.) Also not psyched for a frigid swim (i.e. St George in May rather than the 70.3 WC in September, or Indian Wells) or really cold morning (30s-40s Fahrenheit) just to round out what would make for a really appealing race.

I appreciated the comments on Puerto Rico (beautiful including the swim) and Cartagena (someone said nasty swim), and did see a comment about 70.3 Mont Tremblant above I think.

Any comments/thoughts on:
70.3 Cozumel
70.3 Santa Cruz,
70.3 Oceanside
70.3 Los Cabos
70.3 Mont Tremblant

What else in the Americas?

My priorities

1) IT’s a TRIATHLON! So a real swim! I avoid “with current” swims!!

2) A bike course that is a favorite for local riders. Nice mix of hills and climbs, rolling and flats. Terrain like that is generally always scenic.

3) a run course with similar characteristics to the bike, and hopefully shade! As the run is much shorter, the climbs should be to :-)

4) a location with relatively stable and reasonably predictable weather (less to pack!)

5) a community that embraces the race - Coeur D’Alene and St George are examples of this.

6) a community that you can find reasonably priced accommodations

“wish” list- 70.3 Pucon, 70.3 Taupo (or IM?), Cairns, Lanzarote (70.3 or IM), Nice, Croatia, something in South East Asia.

Of the 70.3's I've raced; it's 50:50 between IM Swansea 70.3 and the Slateman Legend triathlon in Snowdonia (for anyone wanting a non ironman branded stunning race in the UK can't reccomend slateman enough - although it is a little hilly on both bike and run...)
Of the one's I want to race; Taupo is bucket list at some point (hopefully it's world champs again at a time it's feasible to accept a spot after qualifying). I'd also love to do the Celtman Solo Point 5; to get to race in the North West Highlands, Swim in loch Torridon, race the Applecross peninsula and over the bealach na ba, and run around the mountains by Torridon... having ridden/supported riders around the NC500 multiple times that is a race that would tick every box (unless it's far too windy around the Applecross peninsula, then that would be terrifying haha)

Edit; forgot to say in 70.3 Andorra is still a thing that is super high on the list

holy cow, thanks for the heads-up on that. i've just bookmarked it.

i did a bike trip down the adriatic coast with my wife, years ago, and the bay of kotor the highlight. it was . . .staggeringly beautiful. dolphins swimming past our campsite. monasteries in the willows, snowy mountains in the background. racing a half there sounds like a wild opportunity.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

I've been looking at that one for years. I think I would still love to do the half distance someday. The water will be cold and probably low 50sF but with a thermal wetsuit I think 1.2 miles could be feasible. That place looks like one of the most beautiful places in the world. Travel would be tough but I'd suck it up for Lofoten. Could always stay a couple nights in one of the bigger cities before flying North. I think you'd be fine on the bike and run since it's in August. Just have to get through the swim.

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Death is easy....peaceful. Life is harder.

Replying to thread in general, but if you want to go somewhere scenic and beautiful why does it need to be constrained by IM locations? For roughly $1000 less you can take your equipment literally anywhere in the world and just enjoy the place. You won't have to worry about saving your legs before the event or going out on sore legs after. You can ride, run, and swim to your heart's content, loved ones wont have to schedule their vacation around packet pickup and prerace meetings and the actual race.

Plus most race weekends have upcharged flights and hotels, especially those in smaller (read: more scenic) places.

.
.
Stop being so sensible...

From the races I've done, they're in this order (on the bike)

Tier 1 - Stop and take photos
St. George

Tier 2 - not bad
Tremblant
Lahti
Maryland / Eagleman
Barrelman
Muskoka
Maine (OOB course)

Tier 3 - Might as well be on the trainer
Atlantic City

For the run...

Tier 1
Barrelman
Atlantic City

Tier 2
Tremblant
Lahti
Maine
St. George
Maryland / Eagleman
Muskoka (Through town run course)

Tier 3
Musoka (Highway run course)

I have thought about scenic races, but realized that I have no memory whatsoever of the scenery of any IM (or half) that I have ever done.
However I have remembered the people.

So my first thought and ambition would be Challenge Roth, simply because of the stunning crowds it attracts.

Scenery is something I see before or after any event, but not during, that was as true in Kona as it was doing laps in the Esprit (in Montreal) and many hours of rain in Louisville. I only remember the scenery of the finishing chute.

I assume it's because people want to travel and want to race but don't have the time/money to separate those two from each other.

I suppose you could try to travel somewhere for 4 days to see the sights then travel somewhere for 3 days to prep/race. Both of those trips are pretty compressed time lines for both vacation and racing. You have some dead airport/checkin/travel time that just got doubled if you do it this way. If you're in airbnbs its twice as much fixed cost (cleaning etc) fees. Rental cars usually get a lot cheaper at the weekly rate than a few days rate. Two different flights, and baggage fees. Etc etc.

One thing I'm kind of changing my tune about is travelling for an Olympic distance race. I used to feel that Ironman racing just got more value out of the long trip because it's such a long race. But from the race vacation stand point, an Olympic is relatively low stress, you're not so worried about load on your body going into it and not as beat up after it. So I could see more opportunity for race-cations at the Olympic level. AG nats is pretty justifiable for this. Unfortunately, next year its in Atlantic City, which is surprisingly less interesting sounding than Milwaukee was -- and Milwaukee turned out to be a gem of a city/location for me at least.

Morro Bay? You have The Rock and a ride up the coast.

in my case, i - believe it or not - really love racing. like, i love it. and racing, to me, is just an awesome way to experience a place. years ago, when i visited uluru, i opted not to climb it out of respect to local wishes. instead i ran the 10k around the base of it. perfect!

i guess i've also traveled a lot already, so i'm not sacrificing much if i travel to race.

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https://lshtm.academia.edu/MikeCallaghan

http://howtobeswiss.blogspot.ch/

Most of my travels for races have been sprints and its awesome from a race/vacation standpoint.

Lake Tahoe

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USA Triathlon Level 1 Coach
ASCA Swimming Level 2 Certified Coach

To each their own, I don't want to fall into the 'no true scotsman' and say there's on;y one way to race.

For me, whenever I'm racing somewhere I feel like I barely get see any of the place. Chilling in the hotel with legs up before the race, going to a predictable restaurant for an safe meal or even just eating your own stuff you brought along. Early to bed and early morning, straight to the race, back to the hotel to shower, then you can go and get a nice dinner somewhere before heading back to the hotel or back home. I don't really look around at the scenery during a race.

You could go out and see the sights before the event, but it is risking some race performance by doing so.