Describe a place you visited that you would like to visit again.
A card about a place that stayed with you after the trip ended. It can be a nearby town, a family destination or a city you explored for only one day.
The task card
Describe a place you visited that you would like to visit again.
You should say:
- where the place is
- when you went there
- what you did there
and explain why you would like to return.
Hear the same card at three bands
The band 7 is not longer or grander than the band 6 — it develops one idea instead of listing four. Play them back to back and the difference stops being abstract.
Why this is a band 7: One idea is chosen and developed instead of four being listed, and the vocabulary is precise — borders of lavender, damp earth — rather than decorated.
Follow along
The place I would go back to is a botanical garden on the edge of my home city. I went last July with my sister, mainly because neither of us had had a free weekend in months. What struck me straight away was how quiet it was, you walk through the gate and the traffic just disappears, which is not something you get anywhere else nearby. There were long borders of lavender, and a glass house full of tropical plants that smelled of damp earth. We ended up sitting by the pond for about an hour, not really doing anything. And I think that is the reason I would return. It was not the plants exactly. It was that for once I was not in a hurry, and I have not managed to feel like that since.
Now say it yourself
Record your own two minutes on this card and have it transcribed and marked against the Speaking criteria. Practising is free; the band estimate is part of Pro.
Record my answerHow long you have
- 1 minute
Preparation
The examiner hands you the card, paper and a pencil. Make notes — a few words per cue point, never sentences.
- 1–2 minutes
Your long turn
Speak until the examiner stops you at two minutes. Finishing early is the most common self-inflicted problem in Part 2.
- 1–2 questions
Rounding off
The examiner may ask one or two short follow-up questions, then moves straight into the Part 3 discussion on the same theme.
Part 2 takes three to four minutes in total. The whole Speaking test runs 11 to 14 minutes across three parts, and Part 3 that follows lasts four to five minutes.
How to approach this card
Choose a place with one memorable feature: a harbour at sunrise, a mountain path after rain, or an old quarter where you got lost. Say when you went and who you were with early, then use that detail to keep the whole answer in one clear scene.
For 'what you did there', pick two connected moments rather than trying to cover a whole holiday. A walk, a meal and one unexpected discovery usually give you enough detail and make the listener understand the atmosphere of the place.
The final bullet should explain what remains unfinished: you want to see it in another season, return with a different person, or spend more time in one part you rushed through. Avoid saying only that it was beautiful; make the reason for returning personal and specific.
Ideas you can actually use
Three angles on this card. Pick the one closest to something real in your own life — invented material is what makes candidates hesitate at ninety seconds.
Places with unfinished business
- Somewhere you passed through in a day and only saw a fraction of
- A place you visited as a child and cannot properly remember
- Somewhere the weather, illness, or a short schedule ruined — a very natural reason to return
What you actually did there
- One walk, one meal, one conversation — three specifics beat a general itinerary
- The unplanned thing that turned out to be the best part
- Who you were with, and whether you would go back with them or alone
Why return rather than go somewhere new
- Name the specific thing you would do differently or for longer
- You would go in a different season, which changes the place entirely
- You want to test a memory — that is an honest and unusual reason
What your one minute of notes should look like
Not sentences — a few words per cue point. This is the level of detail sixty seconds actually buys you, and it is enough to speak from for two minutes.
- WHERE — small coastal town, north Portugal, 3 hrs from Porto
- WHEN — 4 yrs ago, Sept, 2 nights only, with my brother
- DID — cliff walk, market, the fish place with 6 tables
- RETURN — only saw it in rain; want a week + the walk south
Model answer
Speak your own answer first. Examiners are trained to spot memorised speeches and mark them down — use this to study structure, pacing and naturalness, never to recite.
Show the model answer
The place I'd go back to tomorrow is a small coastal town in the north of Portugal, about three hours up from Porto. I couldn't confidently point to it on a map, which is part of the problem. We went four years ago, my brother and I, in September, and we were only there for two nights because it was a stop on a longer trip rather than a destination in itself. That's the whole reason I want to return. What did we do? Not a great deal, honestly. There's a cliff path that runs south out of the town and we walked about an hour of it before it started raining properly and we turned back. We went to the market, which was mostly fish and one man selling extremely good bread. And on the second evening we found a restaurant with about six tables where the owner brought out whatever had been caught that morning and didn't really offer a choice, and that was one of the best meals I've ever had, in a place with a strip light and paper tablecloths. Why would I like to go back? Partly because I saw it almost entirely in the rain, and I have no idea what it looks like in sunshine. But mainly because of that cliff path. We turned round after an hour, and I've thought about the rest of that walk more than I've thought about entire cities I've spent a week in. There's something about a place you had to leave early that keeps its hold on you. Next time I'd give it a week rather than two nights, walk the whole path, go back to that restaurant, and, if I'm honest, find out whether the meal was really that good or whether I've spent four years improving it.
Why this works: Every cue point is answered with something specific — a named region, a season, a named activity, one restaurant described in three details. The reason for returning is unusually strong because it is concrete: the unfinished walk, not a vague desire. The final line, doubting his own memory, is the sort of self-aware observation that separates a fluent answer from a rehearsed one, and it gives the answer a genuine close.
Useful vocabulary for this topic
- a lasting impression
A strong memory that remains long after a visit.
- off the tourist trail
Away from the most crowded and obvious visitor spots.
- to take in the view
To stop and appreciate scenery carefully.
- a sense of place
The distinctive atmosphere that makes one location memorable.
- to go back for more
Informal phrase for wanting to return because one visit was not enough.
- to explore at my own pace
To visit without rushing or following a strict timetable.
The same phrases in a full sentence
A phrase list is only useful if you know how the words sit around it. Say each of these aloud once before you attempt the card.
- we only scratched the surface
- “Two nights is nothing — we only really scratched the surface of the place.”
- it has stayed with me
- “Four years later it has stayed with me far more than trips that were twice as long.”
- off-season
- “I would go back off-season, because apparently it is a completely different town in July.”
- to take my time
- “Next time I would take my time rather than trying to see everything in forty-eight hours.”
Part 3 discussion
After your long turn the examiner moves into a four to five minute discussion on the same theme, working from two related discussion topics with about three questions each. The first stays close to your own experience; the second widens out. Answer with reasons and examples, not one-line replies.
Travelling for pleasure
Example questions
- 1Where do people in your country usually go on holiday?
- 2How long does someone need in a place to get to know it?
- 3Do you think returning to a place is as enjoyable as visiting somewhere new?
Tourism and local people
Example questions
- 1What problems can large numbers of tourists cause?
- 2How can tourism benefit a small town?
- 3Should the number of visitors to popular places be limited?
More on how this family of cards is discussed: Places. Model answers for Part 3: Part 3 questions and answers.