25 Places Perfect for Cherry Blossom Viewing

The splash of color from a cherry blossom tree is enough to put a smile on anyone's face. Especially someone who has just suffered through a cold and grey winter. The following are 25 of the best places on the planet to admire these bewitching trees.

Arguably the world's most well-known cherry blossom destination, Kyoto will cast a spell on anyone who visits in spring. People flock from all over Japan-and the world-to picnic under the blossoms and celebrate the changing of the seasons. While the crowds can be overbearing in some spots of the city, there are plenty of hidden blossom locales waiting to be discovered.

America's answer to Kyoto, Washington DC gets painted in multiple shades of pink each spring. The most popular blooms are along the Tidal Basin and beside the Washington Monument, but there are scores of other locations scattered around the city. The city is also the home of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which puts on a full roster of fun, blossom-tinged events.

Now that the most obvious locations are out of the way, it's time to move on to some of the lesser-known blossom locations, like Seattle. The University of Washington is world-renowned for its bevy of blooms but you can also spot cherry blossoms in various locations around the Emerland City. Seattle also hosts a Cherry Blossom & Japanese Cultural Festival each year.

Even if you miss Cherry Blossom Day at the State Capital, a stop through "Cherry City" anytime during spring is sure to cheer you up. The surrounding region has always been home to cherry orchards and many are located within Salem proper.

You can certainly see pretty scenes in Seoul, but South Korea's second-biggest city holds its own when it comes to beguiling blooms. Admire the sights along the Mt. Hwangnyeong Ring Road before taking a quick side-trip to the town of Jinhae for one of the county's most loved cherry blossom festivals.

Not only is Macon home to thousands of blooming trees, but it also hosts its very own international festival dedicated to the cherry blossom. This makes its hands-down the best place to see the trees in the American South.

The bloom may come late in Buffalo, but when it arrives it will take your breath away. This year, there will also be a cherry blossom festival inside the Japanese Garden in Delaware Park.

You might not associate the Big Apple with blossoms, but the city has more than its fair share of fine blooms. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is the most well-known spot to go (they host an annual festival), but Central Park and Roosevelt Island are also known for rows of ravishing trees.

High Park is the place to park yourself in TO to catch the annual cherry blossom show. A large percentage of the trees in this park arrived as gifts from the citizens of Tokyo to the people of Toronto.

Due to its southern location, Jeju Island is the first place in South Korea to experience the bloom. The island is especially well known for being the home of the King Cherry Tree, which possesses especially striking, extra-large leaves.

Located a short train ride from Kyoto, Nara makes for a wonderful cherry-blossom exploring base. Almost all of the city's gardens and attractions are filled with blossom trees, including Nara-koen Park-also home to Nara's celebrated free-roaming deer.

The Subaru Cherry Blossom Festival has been entertaining Philadelphians for over twenty years. Each year, it comes to a crescendo on Sakura Sunday at Fairmount Park-where thousands of people enjoy a taste of Japanese culture and the sight of pretty cherry blossoms.

Vancouver is home to over forty-thousand cherry blossom trees and each year it hosts a huge cherry blossom festival. Join fellow petal lovers for a host of arts events, blossom bike rides and traditional Japanese activities.

Look no further than Stockholm's grand Kungstradgarden Park to see rows upon rows of enchanting cherry blossoms. The park also hosts an annual Japanese Festival.

Boston's Charles River Esplanade comes alive with cotton-candy-colored leaves in spring while neighboring Brookline is also known for its banks of beautiful blooms.

Newark's Branch Brook Park is steadily gaining a reputation as one of the best cherry blossom locations in the USA. In fact, this county park is now home to the largest collection of cherry blossom trees in the entire country.

It's not all neon and skyscrapers in Japan's supercity. No, during springtime you can find serenity and blossoms in the city's numerous green spaces. Two of the best locations are Ueno Park and Chidorigafuchi-which offers a striking scene of waterside blossoms with the Tokyo Tower in the background.

Nashville is hosting a cherry blossom festival this year which will be a celebration of both blossoms and Japanese culture. Take a leisurely stroll under the pretty-in-pink trees at the Cherry Blossom Walk before trying your hand at sumo-suit wrestling.

Virginia Beach will be paying respect to its sister city of Miyazaki City, Japan during its cherry blossom festival. The event will feature Japanese music, martial arts and will all take place near the blissful cherry blossoms of Red Wing Park.

Just when you thought Paris couldn't get any more romantic, the city's cherry blossoms go and bloom. Visit in spring to see the City of Light at its most lovely.

San Francisco has been holding a cherry blossom festival since 1967 and it now annually attracts over 200,000 people. The flowery fun takes place in Japantown and it is both a celebration of Japanese culture and the blossoms themselves.

Taiwan certainly doesn't get as much attention as South Korea or Japan in the blossom department, but that just means you can have more of the beauty to yourself here. Look no further than the atmospheric Wuji Tianyuan Temple to have your breath taken away as it sits surrounded by cherry blossom trees.

While Amsterdam is certainly more famous for its tulips, in the Amsterdamse Bos park on the outskirts of town, you will find rows of romantic pink cherry blossoms. Combine a visit here with a trip to the tulip-paradise that is Keukenhof Gardens and you will be in flower heaven.

The Dallas Blooms event takes over the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden each year and cherry blossoms are among the most magnificent of the annual attractions.

More and more travelers are discovering the charms of this "just-right" Japanese city and one of the top sights in town is Kenrokuen Garden. It is considered one of the top three gardens in the entire country and each year its trees display gorgeous streaks of pink.