FS2020 has taken learning more about our world to a new level. There are parts of the world that I always thought would be rather "dreary" or barren, but I've been proven wrong.  I've a new appreciation for:

Iran:
Into OIAA (Abadan)

Into OINR (Ramsar), on the coast of the Caspian Sea

I had always thought of Iran as basically a desert county...

Turkey:
Into LTCA (Elazig)

This is actually an inland lake and mountainous area north of the Mediterranean.  The entire southern Turkish coastline with the Med is strikingly beautiful.

Reunion Island (East of Madagascar and west of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean)

There was a squall over the island (and part of the airport) on this day. The whole island is basically one giant remnant of a volcano.

China (City of Shanghai)
After coming in over a huge metropolitan area and landing at ZSSS I could see faint towers in the distance, so I decided to explore the city.  A lot of China is very undeveloped in MSFS, but I must say I found the details of the city to be amazing!

I posted more images from these areas in the Screenshot Forum under the heading: Exploring the World

The Arabian peninsular has some amazing scenery to fly over... picked some places at random and the scenery in parts in really breathtaking 

Iran is by far one of the best places to fly in MSFS in my opinion, it has such diverse and rich landscapes. Northern Africa such as the Libyan desert has many duplicate textures making it look very unrealistic. I hope a WU is done for the entire African continent.

1 hour ago, RandallR said:

FS2020 has taken learning more about our world to a new level. There are parts of the world that I always thought would be rather "dreary" or barren, but I've been proven wrong. 

Absolutely gorgeous screenshots you posted @RandallR!

I too have often been surprised by the landscape I encounter in MSFS. For example, I always imagined the state of New Mexico to be completely flat desert, probably at or below sea-level. But after landing in the capital city of Santa Fe, I observed that, of all 50 state capitals, the city of Santa Fe is the highest above sea-level at 7199 feet. MSFS is a great educational tool. I'll often read about the places I'm flying to.

My favourite place so far is Nepal?  So many amazing dirt strips to fly into. And the scenery is incredible 

Great shots, and indeed so much to see in MSFS's twin earth.

For those who don't know, these are some good websites to discover/plan destinations and flights in various areas of the MSFS world:
https://worldtour.flights/
https://flightspots.co

And of course this section of the official forums: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/c/community/world-discovery/146
 

18 minutes ago, lwt1971 said:

Great shots, and indeed so much to see in MSFS's twin earth.

For those who don't know, these are some good websites to discover/plan destinations and flights in various areas of the MSFS world:
https://worldtour.flights/
https://flightspots.co

And of course this section of the official forums: https://forums.flightsimulator.com/c/community/world-discovery/146
 

Your profile pic @lwt1971 looks like it was taken in a very beautiful spot. Is that near Toronto?

If you want to sightsee interesting places, you might find this freeware scenery rewarding:

https://flightsim.to/file/397/hungaryvfr-fs2020

https://orbxdirect.com/product/hungaryvfr-landmarks-msfs?sqid=a9fe51ea25073ffb62ba46949d5e7576-1

https://orbxdirect.com/product/hungaryvfr-airports-msfs?sqid=fe4f291a43899005d9481728c3f43dee-2

 

1 hour ago, David Mills said:

Your profile pic @lwt1971 looks like it was taken in a very beautiful spot. Is that near Toronto?

Bora Bora :)

2 hours ago, shamrockflyer said:

Iran is by far one of the best places to fly in MSFS in my opinion, it has such diverse and rich landscapes. Northern Africa such as the Libyan desert has many duplicate textures making it look very unrealistic. I hope a WU is done for the entire African continent.

Iran probably surprised me the most - I just didn't expect such a varied landscape.  The desert areas (which it does have) are full of interesting textures, hills, ridges and even a surprising amount of lakes in some areas (though you can certainly see that every lake attracts the most housing groups. 🙂

As you head north you get mountains and valleys, then areas of crops and some light forest areas.  The Caspian Sea area was rich and green.

1 hour ago, David Mills said:

 For example, I always imagined the state of New Mexico to be completely flat desert, probably at or below sea-level. But after landing in the capital city of Santa Fe, I observed that, of all 50 state capitals, the city of Santa Fe is the highest above sea-level at 7199 feet.

I've actually spent a lot of time in that area in my RW travels (Santa Fe down thru Albuquerque) and it's quite beautiful. The desert areas have their own beauty.  It's also a different desert as compared to Arizona - mores browns and tans, unlike the reds of Sedona, for instance.

One great post Randall !! .