The trilogy 50 Shades of Grey brought about a 50 Shades of all colors craze. You might talk about the 50 shades of red lipsticks you have, or the 50 shades of blonde in your hair. I’m going to turn your attention to travel. I have seen lots of colors during my travels. Some destinations are full of many colors, others make you think of a specific color. For example, Marrakech, Morocco is known as the Red City. Dublin, Ireland is the city of a thousand greens. As I try to think of one place with 50 blues, too many come to mind. So here is a list of 50 shades of blue in travel.
Iceland
Of course my first thought of a country that has 50 shades of blue was the cold blues of Iceland, but it’s not only because of snow, ice, and frostbite. There is blue ocean, blue lagoons, blue snow as the crystal clear waters freeze with the snow, blue waterfalls, blue icebergs, blue geysers, blue sky, the blue water of snorkeling the freezing waters of Silfra, and of course blue lips when it’s -10 degrees outside with no sunlight in winter. That’s definitely 50 shades of blue in Iceland! Good thing Iceland also has some white, green, and purple to break up all that blue.
Iceland has 50 shades of blue, and it's not just because of snow, ice, and frostbite. Click To Tweet
Caribbean Islands
Another place that immediately comes to mind when I think of 50 shades of blue is the Caribbean. The blues of the Caribbean Sea mixing with other bodies of water nearby create swirls of incredible light and dark blues. With so many islands popping up all through the sea, the levels of deepness create different shades of blue as well. Places like Curacao, Aruba, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Cancun are a great place to see crystal clear blue water with swirls of light and dark blue constantly sweeping in and changing things up.
Croatia
Croatia is a mostly thin country on the Adriatic Sea. Even though it’s small, it got lucky enough to get all the prime beach real estate. Mountains are the natural border between Bosnia and Croatia, and the Adriatic Sea creates the other boundary. Because it’s such a mountainous country, there are lots of mountain islands that pop up off the coastline. These islands create tides and different depth levels that make the 50 shades of blue in places like Dubrovnik really an incredible sight to see!
Cartagena, Colombia & the Rosario Islands
Cartagena is a port city at the very top of Colombia, close to the Panama Canal. Depending on where in Cartagena you are, you can see waves crashing against beautiful Colombian beaches, inlets, or deep ocean. Grab a day trip or overnight trip to the nearby Rosario Islands, about an hour by boat, to see some truly stunning beaches and water. If you stay overnight on a moonless night, you can even catch phosphorescent plankton glowing a greenish-blue in the lagoon. A boat trip is a great way to see 50 shades of blue in Colombia!
On a moonless night, you can catch blue phosphorescent plankton in Colombia's lagoons! Click To Tweet
Juzcar, Spain
What better place to see 50 shades of blue that a completely blue town? Juzcar, Spain was one of Andalucia’s famous white villages that fell across the radar of Hollywood. The Smurf movie chose Juzcar as the site of a premier party and struck a deal to paint the town blue for five years, after which they would return the town to its original white. Every building in the small village was painted blue, some with smurf drawings on the side. The blue town drew such a tourist crowd that business started booming and the village people decided to keep the town blue indefinitely. You can visit Juzcar, deep in the mountains of Andalusia, by bus or car to see the town’s 50 shades of blue for yourself!
The Smurf movie painted the entire town of Juzcar blue for a premier party. Click To Tweet
Key West, Florida
Another island bordering the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea is Key West. Surrounded by so much water with different temperatures, tides, and depths, Key West is a great place to spot some blues. From the famous Mallory Square, you can catch a beautiful sunset over the ocean, casting 50 shades of blue in every direction. Many people in Key West live on boats – what a great way to see blue right before you go to sleep and as soon as you wake up in the morning!
Chefchaouen, Morocco
While I haven’t actually been to Chefchaouen yet myself, I have seen pictures from other travelers and the city intrigues and delights me. It’s another completely blue city, but doesn’t look like quite the bright blue of Juzcar. From photos, Chefchaouen looks like it has 50 shades of blue from soft, subtle blues to bright, vibrant blues. This is definitely a blue city I have on my travel bucket list for the near future! (If you have photos of Chefchaouen and would like me to share them, please leave a link to your page in the comments!)
Have you been to other places where blue seems to be the national color? If there’s something I’m forgetting, let me know in the comments below! I’m already adding Chefchaoeun to my travel bucket list – feel free to give me some more places to add.
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P.S. You might also enjoy 23 Places in the World from a Bird’s-Eye View or Someday I Will… (A Travel Bucketlist)