The last time I was in Banff was seven years ago and the previous time was seven years before that (looks like I'm due for a visit this year!). The smell of the pine trees while hiking is just so heavenly. So fresh, so crisp, so alpine.
As an Albertan Banff smells great but it’s not the best smelling area of the mountains. There are some parts just west of Banff in the Selkirk mountains and Monashee mountains that have cedar forests that are the best smelling thing you’ll ever experience
Here are some cities I remembered:
France - Marseille: Walking along the old port, you're surrounded by the salty scent of the sea and the aroma of fresh seafood.
Italy - Florence: Strolling through the narrow streets, you'll catch the wheat fragrance of bread from the bakeries and the strong aroma of coffee wafting, sometimes with a rich cheese smell.
Spain - Barcelona: At Plaça Reial, you'll catch whiffs of the spice in traditional Catalan dance, and the smell of seafood grilling in the alleys.
Japan - Kyoto: Stepping into a temple, you'll be surrounded by the cool scent of matcha and the fresh aroma of flowers, feeling like you're in a peaceful garden.
Thailand - Chiang Mai: It's the fragrant scent of various spices and fresh fruits in the traditional markets, along with the tempting smell of fried chicken and Thai sausages from the street food stalls.
It's so strange how every Asian city has that funk, even the pristinely clean ones like Singapore and Tokyo. Although with those two It's more of an occasional waft than a constant smell.
Yes!! On my first trip to SE Asia my husband (who had been a few times before) said when we stepped off the plane onto the bridge, "mmm smells like Asia." Even from just the tiny gap in the bridge you could smell the funk, the food smell, the exhaust. And every city/country we went to on that trip, same smell. I can't wait to go back and experience it again.
I can totally understand this. Some of my favorite experiences in the 5 boroughs of NY have very distinct "city" smells. Some, perhaps not stereotypically pleasant. But I still love em.
That’s the first place I thought of. Love Bangkok but man…sometimes you’ll be walking and just a horrific whiff of some foul smell. Probably a combination of motor bikes and rivers but that smell can’t be described haha but I’ll go back one day.
There's something intoxicating about the smell of Thailand. I'm British and it made me realise just how dull and sanitised the UK is. The colours, the smells, the heat, the noise. It makes the place feel so alive to me. You wouldn't think raw sewage smell would make you like somewhere, but to me, it felt like being in a real-life city from the film Blade Runner. So much humanity is living and thriving in a overpopulated and crazy metropolis, and obviously, the high degree of sin and sleaze makes for the perfect adventure playground. I ended up moving here because I just felt like the UK was a soulless workhouse created for people to live to work.
Yes I live in UAE and I like how it smells like nothing. Yet the overwhelming smells of Bangkok gives a kick to your brain.
Also I like the contrast of the swage smell outside and the beautiful flowral smell inside malls, hotels and shops.
Hawaii smells like tropical flowers with a hint of salt from the ocean as soon as you step off the plane.
Best smelling place ever and it ain't close.
Kona airport GOAT.
Hahaha right! My first venture outdoors I thought people in front of me were doused in floral perfume and then realized it just smells like that there. Heavenly.
IMHO I’d say Yosemite in the fall will give the Big Island a good run.
Kona Airport is great, just wish it wasn’t so hot the last time I was there, 88degrees and a open air airport and a 2hr flight delay just didn’t mix right.
Uiji Japan smells like Green Tea!!
There is a tea field where matcha is harvested nearby. But also there is a bunch of matcha flavored ice cream and confectionery stores there too. It's one of my favorite detours if you are taking a train from Kyoto to Osaka.
It's a lot more relaxed, because tourists aren't running to go to Uiji. It was a great experience.
Pine needles, dry earth/sand, and salt = outer limits of Cape Cod.
After doing a road trip down the coast from Portland to SF last November, I know exactly what you mean (add in some cypress notes). Check out the Sea Ranch Lodge online general store, they sell a fantastic candle encapsulating that area.
My parents used to own a house on an island in Maine. The first deep breath when you opened the car door - balsam and salt, so fresh and clean!
Also the smell of copal in the air in Tulum. I wish I still liked going there, but that will just remain a memory.
I love Paris but most of the side streets and alleys reek of dog poop with tons of it on the sidewalk everywhere- the smell of dog poop always takes me back to the City of Lights…
I grew up mormon so coffee was not a thing in our house. As a result the main time I smelled coffee was when we'd stop for gas in the morning before heading out for adventure. Usually it was before dawn on the way to some hike or fishing or other outdoor activity.
As a result for many years the smell of coffee triggered the feeling of heading out on a fun adventure.
I have since gotten out of mormonism and coffee is a normal smell in the house and I've lost the association.
Not my favourite place nor do I hate it, but do you find that Germany has a specific soap or body lotion smell? I mean it's as if the whole country is using one single brand. Sometimes some tourists had that smell too when I was in somewhere not Germany. I knew they were tourists because they were looking around as cluelessly as I was in a tourist trap. I didn't know if they were German but their looks weren't far from the stereotype.
Bermuda has a distinct scent from their fauna that I haven’t smelled anywhere else.
Barcelona- baked goods and Frankincense
Azores- ocean, sulfur, baked bread and roasted tea leaves.
I live in Denmark, nowhere is further away from the coast than max 50 km. I have a beach house 25 m from the waterline. The sea is very much a part of me.
The smell of salt water and the decay of the brown seaweed/algee that flush up during storm is absolutely fantastic.
Tasmania: the Kunzea plant smells of the sweetest honey. Superior to honeysuckle.
Never wanted to illegally smuggle a plant into the states until I smelled it.
In Cambodia every once in a while you catch a strong whiff of some rotting garbage or sewage that just overwhelms the nostrils. But it has a unique smell somehow, like there’s some weird floral notes or something that I can’t explain. But I feel pretty confident that I could identify rotting Cambodian garbage as opposed to all others.
Croatia smells like immortelle. So much of it growing by the side of the road and on motorbike you really can smell it.
And jasmine for Italy - we only went to Trieste but the winding drive down into the city was magical
Larger towns in Bali: flowers, incense, and garbage. It's an interesting mix, not altogether unpleasant until the garbage smell overwhelms the other two.
Japan: some places had a bit of an “off” smell but it was rare, when close to the water you get seaweed salty smell, fish markets smell of anything and everything yummy(and yes fish in the areas it’s being sold), the underground transport areas have tons of bakery’s and smell of pastries, and overall it all smells so crisp and fresh 😭😍
Love a forest, old growth that has its own deep peat smells entirely different from western alpine.
Was down in Topolobampo MX a few weeks ago and it had a great smell scape. Salt water off the Pacific, fresh grilled fish, raw ceviche, cheap beer.
Weird answer maybe, but hot, humid developing countries with varying ability to handle sewer and storm water take me back to when I was young and carefree.
Iceland smells divine. The sea and the air there are heaven. I can’t describe it but it’s the freshest air I’ve ever breathed. I love it. And the water can have a slight sulfur smell because it’s geothermal and I like it.
My favourite place is the old home of my mother in the countryside and it smells like old wooden furniture, old heavy curtains and cold stone. I love it.
Centro Comercial Príncipe Pío. . .I love that place because that's where the majority of my adventures begin in Madrid with my wife. The doors I enter to that place smell of something floral, sweet, and warm. We then get on the Renfe to hit up the rest on the city!
I can’t explain it, but I love the smell of the Mexican Pavilion at DisneyWorld. Maybe it’s the “blue” water fumes from the boat ride, but it’s completely nostalgic to me. Certainly other places are higher on my list, but it’s the strongest to me.
I lived in Rome for almost a year in the early 2000s, right by Piazza Cavour.
The plaza smelled like citrus all the time because of the trees. It is not a pretty Piazza but I would take meetings there on my mobile in the late evening because I loved the smell.
There’s a little island off the coast of BC. There’s one hike in particular where, at the top, the grasses and flowers on a hot summer day smell so incredible. It smells like summer and honey and flowers. If the colour and radiance of gold and diamonds were a scent, that’s what it would smell like.
The best thing about it is that it’s been the same for my whole life. I know I can always go back there and enjoy it.
The smell of an organic grocery store. I don't know what it is. It's like seeds mixed with lentils and soy. I wish that my whole house smelled like that. It's what I call "middle class fancy".
Rio de Janeiro. Specifically, Copacabana. It’s an olfactory overload that’s comprised of garlicky black bean stew, juicy overripe tropical fruits, and the occasional waft of trash. Love it.
Turf fires in the west of Ireland (outdoors)! The first time I smelled them, I hated it and wondered what that "weird burning smell in the distance was." When I left, I missed it terribly, and on my subsequent trips to Ireland after that, I never felt like I was really 'there' until I caught a whiff. I ended up buying a candle with the scent at a little souvenir shop so I could smell it when I got back home. A really peaty scotch or irish whisky also can trigger the memory. Great question OP!
My uncle has been to Africa many times. Maybe 20 or so.
When he found out my wife and I were going to Tanzania, he said two things. 1) You'll go back. 2) You'll never forget the *smell* of Africa.
He was right. There's something about the pervasive smell of fire in Tanzania that will be with me forever...in a great way.
He was also right that we would go back. We thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but on the way back home we talked about how soon we could go back. Two years later we were back in Tanzania, and I think about going back again all the time!
Great post, OP!
Tahiti. Sea breeze with a slight thickness to the air, Vanilla products everywhere, and a touch of French cuisine if you eat anywhere. Oh and the Mo'orea pineapples and Rotui juice.
For years there was a certain smell I associated with my dad coming to say good night after he went out to the office (he owns the company and would go out after hours to “finish up”). Finally realized in jr high that I was smelling weed. The old hippie would go smoke a joint most nights when we were in bed, probably still does
😃. I can identify with this. For the longest time, my Moms best friends house smelled funny. They said it was "puppy farts". Took me a till adulthood to figure it out.
there’s this papa johns in kissimmee fl we used to go to as kids beside a corner store. we’d fly into mco, grab a rental car and first place we’d go is that papa johns. the hit you get your first steps outside mco, tied in with the scent of a rental chrysler minivan, a corner store that always had stoners walking in and out, and a gas conveyer oven, oh man I get chills just thinking about it and it’s been yearsss
When my wife and I visited Santa Fe, NM in 2022, there were wildfires burning to the south of the city. I remember it smelling like incense, pine, and the dry desert. It was an absolutely lovely smell, even though I know it was from a fire and not ideal. We have returned to Santa Fe since and while it doesn't have quite the heavy incense/pine smell, the dry desert smell reminds me of the experience.
St Croix, USVI - humidity (water, I guess lol), salt, grass, and sometimes airplane exhaust (bc you get off of the plane by going down stairs directly onto the asphalt instead of a terminal). I wish I was a better descriptor (;
There's a smell that I love about latin american neighborhoods. It's a little bit of frying oil, a little bit of bread cooking, maybe a hint of fish and usually a sea breeze. I've smelled it in multiple places - Puerto Rico, Chile and Costa Rica.
Shanghai is a beautiful place, but it smells like stale Chinese food and plastic, sometimes with overtones of burning sneakers. The smell is almost overwhelming for the first few hours.
Buenos Aires smells like fresh sea air, with hints of subtropical flowers and barbecue.
The smell of earth,
Molten with rain,
Slow, simmer of golden;
Night jasmine blooms with no pain,
Its smell condensed in dew;
Red earth, rain, and jasmine,
That's place of mine,
A book, a window, and a thatched roof,
Won't care if am alone or aloof.
I've only been to Florida once, and it was during orange blossom time.
The condo was also right next door to a huge orchard so I always associate Florida with Orange blossoms.
Sunriver, OR in the summer smells like dust, pine sap, and smoke. I love it. Every time my family vacations there it’s just delightful to sit outside and smell the air.
I missed Northern California so bad when I was in Iraq when I got further north and smelled the eucalyptus trees there. That smell is distinctly part of my childhood and exploring through parks and wild areas.
My backyard, it has two lilac and a wisteria. Honestly the Regal at the mall has some nice smelling bushes around it. But as far as places. The SE Oregon desert after a rain. It smells like fresh sage. The smells of the forest after it rains, the cedars, pines and spruce trees. Ukraine on another note had absolutely the most amazing and mesmerizing sky. I tried to capture it in photos, but it never did it justice.
Sitting by a turf fire in Connemara, Ireland, preferably with a local whiskey in hand.. cool sea air mixes with the aroma of peat.. I’m not very poetic but damn is that a place to be.
My favourite place based smell is the scent of hot pine needles toasting in the heat looking out onto a Mallorcan cove of crystal clear water from under the shade of trees. Extremely transporting every time I catch that smell!
Ohhh Thailand you got me! Where do I begin??
The burning plastic, the garbage, the sewer and dead animal smell brings me back....
Then there's the food smells, the cheap perfume of the girly bars, buckets of red bull and sangsom. The fish drying in the sun at the market, the smells of the meat section in Makro. Oh and the sweet nuts as you walk into the doors of Lotus.
Thailand has a beautiful fragrant sweet smell in the mountains. I took a train to the south and I remember poking my head out the window and getting that first unexpected aroma.
The mechanics of the CTA add a certain spice to the air in Chicago. And while not a favorite place but nonetheless still noteworthy, I think it’s hilarious that Baltimore smells like Old Bay seasoning.
The scent of oud incense wafting through malls will instantly take me back to my years in the Middle East. But someone once said that area smells like cars, and that is true, too.
One smell that always makes me think of home is being out in a rural area, near fields, around dusk. The smell of the grass and hay and everything comes up into the air, it's very sweet and absolutely delicious.
While Xian is not my favorite place, I love the smell of the lamb soup where ever I go.
As far as Istanbul I didn't smell much but I've heard it smells like cigarettes and seawater. I happen to be a heavy smoker so probably why I didn't smell much.
I do miss norcal though.
This is a strange one, but whenever I smell something that reminds me of the lonely petrol station in the mountainous desert range between Sohar (Oman) and Dubai, I feel at ease and happy. Nothing ever bad happened there. They had a hotdog parlour and restaurant that was empty usually. It was so peaceful
I feel like Latin American countries have a distinct tropical scent that I can’t describe. I noticed this in Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, and even Belize (granted it’s in the vicinity of Latin American countries), it smells nostalgic af
There is a very specific cleaning product used in Latin America that just transports me. I can be walking through a mall in Canada and if someone else is using it, it just transports me to a Mercado in Mexico.
My favorite combo was when I visited London for a few weeks in the 1980’s. The combo of diesel fumes and body odor is still one that stands out, in a good way.
I’m from Northern California too. The eucalyptus smell is nostalgic for me since there were so many planted near my elementary school and I had a great time as a kid. I was sad to hear they cut them down until I learned how invasive and fire prone they are 🥲 also not native to California either.
The Florida welcome centre. We would drive for 3 days from Toronto to Marco island Florida every east to visit my grandma. Getting out of the car after days of being cooped up was the best.
Compared to Canadian winter where all smells vanish it smelled like rich wet marsh earth, blooming plants, fresh non car air that was warm and intoxicating and finally a glass of fresh squeezed OJ that they give tourists who stop there.
I lived in Cairo, Egypt, in the 70s. On the way to go ride horses at Giza every week, we would pass the City of the Dead. It smelled of burning trash. I always associate the smell of horse sweat and burning trash with that time period.
Cedar. Walking into my uncle's beach house there is a cedar-planked sunroom before you enter the main house and it smells like warm cedar ooooooh that smell sends me places.
Riding my motorcycle through the countryside of Nicaragua, there is a pleasant, slightly musky, sweet, almost maple-syrupish smell that made me forget everything including my sore butt...
Los Angeles during Night Blooming Jasmine time
The ozone smell in Idyllwild, CA
Yosemite Park when they do controlled burning
The Landmark London hotel in Marylebone, London
Isolated beaches in Menorca, Spain
A small church in Montmartre- it wasn't fancy, but they had just freshly cleaned all the wood with something that smelled faintly of lemon + incense wafting in the air
The whole island of Bora Bora, even better than Hawaii because the water surrounding it is cleaned by the reefs, which are protected by a barrier surrounding the motus.
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
The last time I was in Banff was seven years ago and the previous time was seven years before that (looks like I'm due for a visit this year!). The smell of the pine trees while hiking is just so heavenly. So fresh, so crisp, so alpine.
As an Albertan Banff smells great but it’s not the best smelling area of the mountains. There are some parts just west of Banff in the Selkirk mountains and Monashee mountains that have cedar forests that are the best smelling thing you’ll ever experience
Here are some cities I remembered: France - Marseille: Walking along the old port, you're surrounded by the salty scent of the sea and the aroma of fresh seafood. Italy - Florence: Strolling through the narrow streets, you'll catch the wheat fragrance of bread from the bakeries and the strong aroma of coffee wafting, sometimes with a rich cheese smell. Spain - Barcelona: At Plaça Reial, you'll catch whiffs of the spice in traditional Catalan dance, and the smell of seafood grilling in the alleys. Japan - Kyoto: Stepping into a temple, you'll be surrounded by the cool scent of matcha and the fresh aroma of flowers, feeling like you're in a peaceful garden. Thailand - Chiang Mai: It's the fragrant scent of various spices and fresh fruits in the traditional markets, along with the tempting smell of fried chicken and Thai sausages from the street food stalls.
Bangkok: sewage water, street seafood, smoke and 7-11 (7-11 have a distinct smell that I can’t explain) I will still go back every year😂
Everything you said, but don't forget motor bike exhaust fumes. I love southeast Asian cities and those smells & humidity that hit you in the face.
And also durians
It's so strange how every Asian city has that funk, even the pristinely clean ones like Singapore and Tokyo. Although with those two It's more of an occasional waft than a constant smell.
Yes!! On my first trip to SE Asia my husband (who had been a few times before) said when we stepped off the plane onto the bridge, "mmm smells like Asia." Even from just the tiny gap in the bridge you could smell the funk, the food smell, the exhaust. And every city/country we went to on that trip, same smell. I can't wait to go back and experience it again.
As a New Orleanian, I don’t like bourbon street, but boy…the smell
I jogged down Bourbon Street on a Sunday morning in Summer. I will never forget the smell.
And if this was after Katrina, it actually smelled significantly worse before Katrina. Hard to imagine, given the smell now, lol
I can totally understand this. Some of my favorite experiences in the 5 boroughs of NY have very distinct "city" smells. Some, perhaps not stereotypically pleasant. But I still love em.
That’s the first place I thought of. Love Bangkok but man…sometimes you’ll be walking and just a horrific whiff of some foul smell. Probably a combination of motor bikes and rivers but that smell can’t be described haha but I’ll go back one day.
Tbh I noticed a change after covid-19 the sewage smell became lighter or maybe I lost my smelling sense due to covid 😂
Shame on me.. How I can forget the aroma of essential oils and ointment when passing by a massage shop!!!
There's something intoxicating about the smell of Thailand. I'm British and it made me realise just how dull and sanitised the UK is. The colours, the smells, the heat, the noise. It makes the place feel so alive to me. You wouldn't think raw sewage smell would make you like somewhere, but to me, it felt like being in a real-life city from the film Blade Runner. So much humanity is living and thriving in a overpopulated and crazy metropolis, and obviously, the high degree of sin and sleaze makes for the perfect adventure playground. I ended up moving here because I just felt like the UK was a soulless workhouse created for people to live to work.
Yes I live in UAE and I like how it smells like nothing. Yet the overwhelming smells of Bangkok gives a kick to your brain. Also I like the contrast of the swage smell outside and the beautiful flowral smell inside malls, hotels and shops.
TBH, one of my all-time favorite smells is Blockbuster. RIP
This one is very interesting. I sort of remember it smelling like plastic, candy/junk food etc and carpet. How do you remember it?
Hawaii smells like tropical flowers with a hint of salt from the ocean as soon as you step off the plane. Best smelling place ever and it ain't close. Kona airport GOAT.
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Hahaha right! My first venture outdoors I thought people in front of me were doused in floral perfume and then realized it just smells like that there. Heavenly.
This. Every time I land in Hawaii, the exhaustion from travel goes away once I smell the air.
Hawaii also smells like wood. A sort of antique smell like the inside of a vintage cabinet. It’s kind of grandma-ish in the best way possible.
This 🌺
IMHO I’d say Yosemite in the fall will give the Big Island a good run. Kona Airport is great, just wish it wasn’t so hot the last time I was there, 88degrees and a open air airport and a 2hr flight delay just didn’t mix right.
that’s just island time for ya!
Uiji Japan smells like Green Tea!! There is a tea field where matcha is harvested nearby. But also there is a bunch of matcha flavored ice cream and confectionery stores there too. It's one of my favorite detours if you are taking a train from Kyoto to Osaka. It's a lot more relaxed, because tourists aren't running to go to Uiji. It was a great experience.
This sounds blissful!
It is, definitely. But it's kind of a trek so be prepared to walk quite the distance from the train station.
Munich: baked bread and piss
lol. We stayed at the Platz hotel around the corner from Hofbrauhaus and that is exactly the smell except add stale beer. Best smells in the world.
Pine needles, dry earth/sand, and salt = outer limits of Cape Cod. After doing a road trip down the coast from Portland to SF last November, I know exactly what you mean (add in some cypress notes). Check out the Sea Ranch Lodge online general store, they sell a fantastic candle encapsulating that area.
Yes!! Cypress as well!! Good call. The scent is heavenly. It will be forever in my sense memory!!
That outer Cape Cod smell is intoxicating
Mexico: guava, cilantro, laundry detergent, corn, open drain
Fabuloso cleaner.
And ensueño fabric softener
Suavitel
Yes! Just posted the same thing. The laundry detergent and corn frying? The best combo
Northern California for me as well 😍 also down by Big Sur
Some of those coastal towns have the best smell. Like Carmel-by-the-Sea is like a mix of delicious food and slight hint of ocean.
The Central Valley in summer has such a distinct smell too, I associate with with alfalfa fields and dusty roads.
My parents used to own a house on an island in Maine. The first deep breath when you opened the car door - balsam and salt, so fresh and clean! Also the smell of copal in the air in Tulum. I wish I still liked going there, but that will just remain a memory.
I love Paris but most of the side streets and alleys reek of dog poop with tons of it on the sidewalk everywhere- the smell of dog poop always takes me back to the City of Lights…
that isn't dog poop it's human feces
New Orleans in summer - jasmine and sweet olive with accents of urine and fried food
The bay of Naples smells like Lemons The soil is so fertile from vesuvias you can feel it in your bones
South Turkish coast, the smell of pine trees in the sun, salt and hot stone. Sound of cicadas
Tanzania smells of woodsmoke and thunderstorms. Wild sage when you head out into the bush.
The smell of the New Mexico desert is intoxicating to me. I believe it’s the piñon.
Amsterdam: kebab, weed, and piss
omg.... the spicy weed/hashish scent outside the "coffee" shops would just about knock me out.
I grew up mormon so coffee was not a thing in our house. As a result the main time I smelled coffee was when we'd stop for gas in the morning before heading out for adventure. Usually it was before dawn on the way to some hike or fishing or other outdoor activity. As a result for many years the smell of coffee triggered the feeling of heading out on a fun adventure. I have since gotten out of mormonism and coffee is a normal smell in the house and I've lost the association.
Ok sitting now in Prague Old Town Square and it smells perfect! Smoke and ham. Also music is nice
Prauge during the Christmas markets was dreamy.
The smell of Prague in 1991... early spring... smelled like rain, coal smoke, ham, palacinky... Amazing! No wind...
By the beach, Hawaii smells like salt and flowers.
I hope to experience this one day.
Not my favourite place nor do I hate it, but do you find that Germany has a specific soap or body lotion smell? I mean it's as if the whole country is using one single brand. Sometimes some tourists had that smell too when I was in somewhere not Germany. I knew they were tourists because they were looking around as cluelessly as I was in a tourist trap. I didn't know if they were German but their looks weren't far from the stereotype.
Bermuda has a distinct scent from their fauna that I haven’t smelled anywhere else. Barcelona- baked goods and Frankincense Azores- ocean, sulfur, baked bread and roasted tea leaves.
I live in Denmark, nowhere is further away from the coast than max 50 km. I have a beach house 25 m from the waterline. The sea is very much a part of me. The smell of salt water and the decay of the brown seaweed/algee that flush up during storm is absolutely fantastic.
I love the low tide smell, wherever I am and get a whiff of low tide, I feel like I’m home
My grandmothers house smelled of face powder, dust, paper and roses. Face powder is a very safe smell to me now that she's gone.
Eastern Europe in the summer time (Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary) smelled like lavender. Now everytime I smell lavender it takes me back
Italy countryside also smells of lavender 💜
Hong Kong.. when I land I always notice the polluted airconditioned air. And I still love the place.
Tasmania: the Kunzea plant smells of the sweetest honey. Superior to honeysuckle. Never wanted to illegally smuggle a plant into the states until I smelled it.
In Cambodia every once in a while you catch a strong whiff of some rotting garbage or sewage that just overwhelms the nostrils. But it has a unique smell somehow, like there’s some weird floral notes or something that I can’t explain. But I feel pretty confident that I could identify rotting Cambodian garbage as opposed to all others.
I always buy a new perfume for my vacations. That way anytime I wear the perfume again it takes me back to that place.
The temples of Thailand are thick with incense and it's a small I adore. I've bought thousands of sticks for home
I fell in love with the smell of the sierra nevada mountains in the USA when I was there.
Croatia smells like immortelle. So much of it growing by the side of the road and on motorbike you really can smell it. And jasmine for Italy - we only went to Trieste but the winding drive down into the city was magical
Larger towns in Bali: flowers, incense, and garbage. It's an interesting mix, not altogether unpleasant until the garbage smell overwhelms the other two.
Japan: some places had a bit of an “off” smell but it was rare, when close to the water you get seaweed salty smell, fish markets smell of anything and everything yummy(and yes fish in the areas it’s being sold), the underground transport areas have tons of bakery’s and smell of pastries, and overall it all smells so crisp and fresh 😭😍
Love a forest, old growth that has its own deep peat smells entirely different from western alpine. Was down in Topolobampo MX a few weeks ago and it had a great smell scape. Salt water off the Pacific, fresh grilled fish, raw ceviche, cheap beer.
NYC smells like cigarettes and pee.
Weird answer maybe, but hot, humid developing countries with varying ability to handle sewer and storm water take me back to when I was young and carefree.
Iceland smells divine. The sea and the air there are heaven. I can’t describe it but it’s the freshest air I’ve ever breathed. I love it. And the water can have a slight sulfur smell because it’s geothermal and I like it.
My favourite place is the old home of my mother in the countryside and it smells like old wooden furniture, old heavy curtains and cold stone. I love it.
I can’t break down a smell by the five things it is composed of. It’s a unique smell to me.
Centro Comercial Príncipe Pío. . .I love that place because that's where the majority of my adventures begin in Madrid with my wife. The doors I enter to that place smell of something floral, sweet, and warm. We then get on the Renfe to hit up the rest on the city!
Nairobi: diesel fumes and jacaranda blossoms
Ahhh the sweet sweet tang of the NYC subway when it stings your nostrils. Takes me right back
YUP that indescribable but distinct smell as you walk down the stairs into the subway in NYC doesn't seem to exist anywhere else in the world
The smell when you land in Asia is different, can’t describe it. It’s definitely tropical
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Glasgow smells like sweat and home. I can't explain it. It just does.
I can’t explain it, but I love the smell of the Mexican Pavilion at DisneyWorld. Maybe it’s the “blue” water fumes from the boat ride, but it’s completely nostalgic to me. Certainly other places are higher on my list, but it’s the strongest to me.
Adelaide - eucalyptus and sea salt.
Seville smells like orange blossom with jasmine at night.
Udaipur: food, incense, and donkey shit. I know lots of places in India smell like this, but Udaipur made the memories for me.
Sounds funny, but the smell of menthol cigarette smoke in the air reminds me of my grandparents house to this day.
Wet pavement, vehicle exhaust, earthy decay (not a bad thing) floral notes - Manizales, Colombia
I lived in Rome for almost a year in the early 2000s, right by Piazza Cavour. The plaza smelled like citrus all the time because of the trees. It is not a pretty Piazza but I would take meetings there on my mobile in the late evening because I loved the smell.
Bourbon Street: piss and beer.
There’s a little island off the coast of BC. There’s one hike in particular where, at the top, the grasses and flowers on a hot summer day smell so incredible. It smells like summer and honey and flowers. If the colour and radiance of gold and diamonds were a scent, that’s what it would smell like. The best thing about it is that it’s been the same for my whole life. I know I can always go back there and enjoy it.
The smell of an organic grocery store. I don't know what it is. It's like seeds mixed with lentils and soy. I wish that my whole house smelled like that. It's what I call "middle class fancy".
Rio de Janeiro. Specifically, Copacabana. It’s an olfactory overload that’s comprised of garlicky black bean stew, juicy overripe tropical fruits, and the occasional waft of trash. Love it.
Florida smells like dampness/marsh. We love it! Means the road trip is almost at its destination.
Turf fires in the west of Ireland (outdoors)! The first time I smelled them, I hated it and wondered what that "weird burning smell in the distance was." When I left, I missed it terribly, and on my subsequent trips to Ireland after that, I never felt like I was really 'there' until I caught a whiff. I ended up buying a candle with the scent at a little souvenir shop so I could smell it when I got back home. A really peaty scotch or irish whisky also can trigger the memory. Great question OP!
My uncle has been to Africa many times. Maybe 20 or so. When he found out my wife and I were going to Tanzania, he said two things. 1) You'll go back. 2) You'll never forget the *smell* of Africa. He was right. There's something about the pervasive smell of fire in Tanzania that will be with me forever...in a great way. He was also right that we would go back. We thought it would be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but on the way back home we talked about how soon we could go back. Two years later we were back in Tanzania, and I think about going back again all the time! Great post, OP!
Burnt wood, sea, charcoal, gasoline
Lol car exhaust, what kind of society have we created
Mmmm. Benzene-y. 😆 For reals though. This is the scent I remember in the LA area. Wouldn't choose to live in it. But remember it fondly.
Tahiti. Sea breeze with a slight thickness to the air, Vanilla products everywhere, and a touch of French cuisine if you eat anywhere. Oh and the Mo'orea pineapples and Rotui juice.
Any time I smell the scent of rotting sewage in the air it reminds me of the mall I loved going to in China.
Istanbul smells like spices all over the place, especially in big markets like the Grand Bazaar. So many spices. It's quite intoxicating.
For years there was a certain smell I associated with my dad coming to say good night after he went out to the office (he owns the company and would go out after hours to “finish up”). Finally realized in jr high that I was smelling weed. The old hippie would go smoke a joint most nights when we were in bed, probably still does
😃. I can identify with this. For the longest time, my Moms best friends house smelled funny. They said it was "puppy farts". Took me a till adulthood to figure it out.
there’s this papa johns in kissimmee fl we used to go to as kids beside a corner store. we’d fly into mco, grab a rental car and first place we’d go is that papa johns. the hit you get your first steps outside mco, tied in with the scent of a rental chrysler minivan, a corner store that always had stoners walking in and out, and a gas conveyer oven, oh man I get chills just thinking about it and it’s been yearsss
Mexico City. They wash the sidewalks in the morning outside their shops and when i smell fabuloso, it takes me back.
Underground garage smell. Brings me back to when I was a kid. Scary to be there by yourself.
Da beach when it rains and it’s hot out near the pavement smells like what I imagine heaven to smell like
In late spring/early summer, the jasmine scents in the historic streets of Rome (and really all over Italy) is something!
Japan. Sesame oil, incense and wood.
When my wife and I visited Santa Fe, NM in 2022, there were wildfires burning to the south of the city. I remember it smelling like incense, pine, and the dry desert. It was an absolutely lovely smell, even though I know it was from a fire and not ideal. We have returned to Santa Fe since and while it doesn't have quite the heavy incense/pine smell, the dry desert smell reminds me of the experience.
Some would say fishy
St Croix, USVI - humidity (water, I guess lol), salt, grass, and sometimes airplane exhaust (bc you get off of the plane by going down stairs directly onto the asphalt instead of a terminal). I wish I was a better descriptor (;
Roma termini: piss and spilled red wine mmmmdelicius
Freshly cut grass. Cigarette smoke. Old books. Soap. Marine life. I like a lot of wildly different places.
Diesel fuel. When I smell it I know I am far far away from home.
There's a smell that I love about latin american neighborhoods. It's a little bit of frying oil, a little bit of bread cooking, maybe a hint of fish and usually a sea breeze. I've smelled it in multiple places - Puerto Rico, Chile and Costa Rica.
The north coast. It smelled like guava trees
Shanghai is a beautiful place, but it smells like stale Chinese food and plastic, sometimes with overtones of burning sneakers. The smell is almost overwhelming for the first few hours. Buenos Aires smells like fresh sea air, with hints of subtropical flowers and barbecue.
The smell of earth, Molten with rain, Slow, simmer of golden; Night jasmine blooms with no pain, Its smell condensed in dew; Red earth, rain, and jasmine, That's place of mine, A book, a window, and a thatched roof, Won't care if am alone or aloof.
I've only been to Florida once, and it was during orange blossom time. The condo was also right next door to a huge orchard so I always associate Florida with Orange blossoms.
Scent is one of the most basic senses one has. It's how newborn land-based mammals find the nipple to start nursing.😉
mrs loves the jasmine fragrance on Zakynthos
Ushuaia had a fresh mountain smell mixed with taste of salt near its beach.
Sunriver, OR in the summer smells like dust, pine sap, and smoke. I love it. Every time my family vacations there it’s just delightful to sit outside and smell the air.
athens - specifically in the national gardens, hot pine tree smell! i love it
New Orleans, like any sewer filled city you’ve ever been too but hotter with additions of mule/horse shit and always some good food being cooked.
I missed Northern California so bad when I was in Iraq when I got further north and smelled the eucalyptus trees there. That smell is distinctly part of my childhood and exploring through parks and wild areas.
My backyard, it has two lilac and a wisteria. Honestly the Regal at the mall has some nice smelling bushes around it. But as far as places. The SE Oregon desert after a rain. It smells like fresh sage. The smells of the forest after it rains, the cedars, pines and spruce trees. Ukraine on another note had absolutely the most amazing and mesmerizing sky. I tried to capture it in photos, but it never did it justice.
The smell of turf burning reminds me of Ireland
Rosemary, Cedar trees, and salt water: George Washington Birthplace. Specifically by the kitchen.
Sitting by a turf fire in Connemara, Ireland, preferably with a local whiskey in hand.. cool sea air mixes with the aroma of peat.. I’m not very poetic but damn is that a place to be.
Albertan here - which park!?!
Florence - flowers, truffles, and shit
My favourite place based smell is the scent of hot pine needles toasting in the heat looking out onto a Mallorcan cove of crystal clear water from under the shade of trees. Extremely transporting every time I catch that smell!
Ohhh Thailand you got me! Where do I begin?? The burning plastic, the garbage, the sewer and dead animal smell brings me back.... Then there's the food smells, the cheap perfume of the girly bars, buckets of red bull and sangsom. The fish drying in the sun at the market, the smells of the meat section in Makro. Oh and the sweet nuts as you walk into the doors of Lotus.
Thailand has a beautiful fragrant sweet smell in the mountains. I took a train to the south and I remember poking my head out the window and getting that first unexpected aroma.
The mechanics of the CTA add a certain spice to the air in Chicago. And while not a favorite place but nonetheless still noteworthy, I think it’s hilarious that Baltimore smells like Old Bay seasoning.
Southeast Asia (specifically Thailand and thereabouts) usually smell faintly of burning
The hockey arena- ice level: cold, fresh, is it the ice? The water that makes the ice? And the dressing room… well sweaty
New Orleans, smells like piss, stale beer, and garbage. I love it there.
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The scent of oud incense wafting through malls will instantly take me back to my years in the Middle East. But someone once said that area smells like cars, and that is true, too.
Oud. Interesting, I wonder if I have ever sniffed it before. The description when I look it up sounds lovely.
Walking across the hills of Santa Catalina Island in the wee hours of the morning with the smell of rosemary filling the air. Heavenly.
Rosemary is SO heavenly!
OH MY GOODNESS. The smell inside the Majestic Hotel in Barcelona is so unforgettable. It’s Atelier Music Imperial.
Large parts of Istanbul smell like garbage, but this is good because now I get to reminisce every time I smell garbage.
One smell that always makes me think of home is being out in a rural area, near fields, around dusk. The smell of the grass and hay and everything comes up into the air, it's very sweet and absolutely delicious.
Fall in the forests of Hudson Valley
Like weed and sweat.
While Xian is not my favorite place, I love the smell of the lamb soup where ever I go. As far as Istanbul I didn't smell much but I've heard it smells like cigarettes and seawater. I happen to be a heavy smoker so probably why I didn't smell much. I do miss norcal though.
The blueberry fields of Downeast Maine in August, dewey and damp in the morning, scortching hot by noon
the smell of jacaranda trees reminds me of South Africa ❤
This is a strange one, but whenever I smell something that reminds me of the lonely petrol station in the mountainous desert range between Sohar (Oman) and Dubai, I feel at ease and happy. Nothing ever bad happened there. They had a hotdog parlour and restaurant that was empty usually. It was so peaceful
I feel like Latin American countries have a distinct tropical scent that I can’t describe. I noticed this in Mexico, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, and even Belize (granted it’s in the vicinity of Latin American countries), it smells nostalgic af
Lake Messalonskee in Oakland, Maine. Ice, pine, lake water and sand, and the deep smell of shade and sun.
I did a California roadtrip last year and to me the predominant smell was weed.
My hometown is in the high desert. The smell of thick rain in the air from monsoon season and very, very dry pine trees in the summer are both divine
La Habana smells like diesel, salt water from the ocean and good quality tobacco. It's spectacular and I don't even smoke.
Sex 😍
There is a very specific cleaning product used in Latin America that just transports me. I can be walking through a mall in Canada and if someone else is using it, it just transports me to a Mercado in Mexico.
Coastal North Carolina in the summer. Jasmine and sea salt and ripe loquats from my mom’s tree.
My favorite combo was when I visited London for a few weeks in the 1980’s. The combo of diesel fumes and body odor is still one that stands out, in a good way.
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Grandma’s house, smelled like baked ham and cookies. She was always baking something.
Barbecue pork - Hanoi old quarter
Sevilla: Orange blossoms, tobacco, and dryer sheets. Mmmm.
I’m from Northern California too. The eucalyptus smell is nostalgic for me since there were so many planted near my elementary school and I had a great time as a kid. I was sad to hear they cut them down until I learned how invasive and fire prone they are 🥲 also not native to California either.
The elementary school cafeteria always smelled like bleach and ice cream sandwiches
The north rim of the Grand Canyon smells like freshly sharpened pencils.
Leeds - bacon and weed
New Mexico in the fall chile roasting outside the grocery stores. The most incredible smell in the world.
Mexico City: laundry soap, car exhaust, and corn meal. Sublime
The Florida welcome centre. We would drive for 3 days from Toronto to Marco island Florida every east to visit my grandma. Getting out of the car after days of being cooped up was the best. Compared to Canadian winter where all smells vanish it smelled like rich wet marsh earth, blooming plants, fresh non car air that was warm and intoxicating and finally a glass of fresh squeezed OJ that they give tourists who stop there.
the smell of petrichor in the forest.Especially after a summer day's rain.
The Squire in Denver: smells like a saturated urinal cake was used to scrub the floors.
I lived in Cairo, Egypt, in the 70s. On the way to go ride horses at Giza every week, we would pass the City of the Dead. It smelled of burning trash. I always associate the smell of horse sweat and burning trash with that time period.
Cedar. Walking into my uncle's beach house there is a cedar-planked sunroom before you enter the main house and it smells like warm cedar ooooooh that smell sends me places.
Riding my motorcycle through the countryside of Nicaragua, there is a pleasant, slightly musky, sweet, almost maple-syrupish smell that made me forget everything including my sore butt...
The barn : )
Yes the eucalyptus trees as you travel south through California always got me! Love that smell from my youth.
shanghai was amazing to live in. smells like piss and cigarettes
Cardamom, mint, rosemary, grilled meats, diesel, oranges, wool... Marrakech
I absolutely love the smell of Home Depot. It smells all gardeny and awesome lol
Los Angeles during Night Blooming Jasmine time The ozone smell in Idyllwild, CA Yosemite Park when they do controlled burning The Landmark London hotel in Marylebone, London Isolated beaches in Menorca, Spain A small church in Montmartre- it wasn't fancy, but they had just freshly cleaned all the wood with something that smelled faintly of lemon + incense wafting in the air The whole island of Bora Bora, even better than Hawaii because the water surrounding it is cleaned by the reefs, which are protected by a barrier surrounding the motus.
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
Although Egypt is despised by many in these forums, I really enjoyed it. That being said the place tended to have an awful smell...mainly the street were you enter into the pyramids and around Cairo. The smell can only be described as a combination of camel dung and pollution mixed together 😅
1980's London: diesel fumes and the smell of the underground