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I'm surprised they don't build floating observatories at sea, it's the perfect spot. I'm guessing it has something to do with altitude ;)

One other place that sticks out is Caye Caulker off the coast of Belize. A group of lads and myself thought we'd found the perfect idyll with palm-fringed shores, coconut drinks and even a bag of weed delivered by our host upon our arrival! That night we all wandered down to the wooden jetty that protruded into the darkness, lay on our backs and viewed what was for me the clearest night sky I had ever seen. Then, fast as you like, a storm approached and a wall of water came racing towards us. We had to scarper like hell to out-run it.

Sadly the next two evenings were spent running from mosquitoes. What we'd failed to realise was that we'd landed in our paradise on the first day of mozzie season and we never got to see that sky again.

Funnily enough, as with the cemetary question above, the best place I've ever seen stars was Ascension Island - a small pin-prick of a place 1000 miles south of the equator and 600 miles off the west coast of Africa. We used to climb on the roof of our accomodation 'bashas' with blankets and lay looking up - it was staggering how many stars you could see there without a city full of lights going on around you.

The best place for me was on New Georgia Island in The Solomons, lying on my back on a jetty (with a G & T) seeing the Milky Way and all the stars as clear as anything, the clearest I've seen anywhere.

The best starry sky I've ever seen was in Australia in a camp site not far from Uluru.  At night it was pitch dark, so dark that you can't see yuor hand right in front of your face ( a bit dangerous for wandering around!).  With torches in hand we wandered away from the few lights of the camp site.  The sheer number of stars visible was astonishing, littering the sky.  It was simply amazing.

I saw similar skies when in other parts of the Australian outbback too, but that one stuck in my mind the most. 

Also a few months later I was living in Perth, WA and Mars was visible in the night sky for a number of weeks.  Rather than some exciting red blob in the sky though, it shone yellow and basically looked like a star...only yellow!

Wherever Professor Brian Cox is ;)

Wow, the list totally misses out on Chile/Bolivia!

Two experiences for me totally stick out - one was in a little village south of Uyuni on the Bolivian Altiplano, up at about 3,800m above sea level. There is so little light pollution (or any other pollution) and the skies are so huge and clear. The Big Dipper was visible on the horizon, despite being in the southern hemisphere.

The other was climbing Volcan Villarica (near Pucon) in southern Chile - we set off at about 4am, before dawn - the milky way was extraordinary - the whole sky was full of stars.

Anywhere in the Chilean mountains is amazingly clear (hence having the biggest telescopes in the world). In the northern parts of Chile there is also very little cloud ever, so you're almost guaranteed to see the stars in their full glory. A bit chilly though at night in that part of the world and those altitudes...

Moored up next to an island filled with croaking frogs on Lake Nasser in Egypt.  Lying on the top deck of the cruiser on a lounger with a cocktail in my hand.  Wrote an experience about it, I think it might still be around on my pages.  I have no interest in astronomy, my husband is avidly interested but that night sky was magical, I had never seen the shape of the Milky Way before.

This is what I posted last time someone popped the question in Nov 2009....
If one travels the road from Marigat to Lake Bogoria in Kenya, just
before reaching the Lake Bogoria hotel there is a small, hot spring
which the road passes over, and the local kids have hollowed out a pool
in which to wash away the dust and grime after school. Floating in that
with a jungle gin and tonic below a clear, large, African sky is simply
amazing, especially if the fireflies (akin to Howellsey's glow-worms)
are active and swirling in the reeds in the periphery of vision as they
look like an extension of the skyscape... or perhaps a reflection of the
suace!
Another, flat on ones back on the cold, hard, ancient ice of the
Antarctic plateau with no artificial light within 300km.... pick a quiet
night without those 'pesky' auroras writhing around, and the colours of
the stars and the clarity brings them ever so close....

Simply to see the stars - anywhere people haven't installed lights, so I shall add the Kyzylkum desert of Uzbekistan.
But the key to the question is what other circumstances made a particular occasion special.  Lying on one's back on a jetty seems good, and it is hardly surprising that a G&T seems to help.  I doubt if I get any brownie points for the wonderful starscape I saw one dark night looking out of a cliff top toilet in Ethiopia - you really don't want any more information, but the memory of the stars has lingered.

No question for me, the prize goes to Namibia.

Our first trip to Namibia, we were exhausted when we got there. We'd worked full days, taken the tube straight to the airport, flown to South Africa, then to Windhoek in Namibia (which I think was routed via Botswana) and then finally a little Cessna to Wolwedans in the NamibRand Nature Reserve. On arrival we were welcomed and shown around and then headed out for a sundowner, then freshened up and had dinner. By the time we went to bed, we were falling asleep on our feet. The accommodation was individual wooden and canvas chalets up on decked platforms. The structure and roof were solid, the walls were canvas. We opted to leave the large wall opposite the foot of our bed, completely rolled up open throughout the night so we could see out as the sun rose the next morning. Before we hopped into bed, we stepped out on the deck and looked up and... it was one of those times where the expression breathtaking is actually accurate. I genuinely had no idea there were so many stars out there! I couldn't believe the density of the stars, heck we could see entire galaxies! Mesmerising and we admired it for some time before finally conceding defeat. Remains one of my favourite memories, to this day.

The Antarctic had the most incredible wide-open expanses, but for most of us visiting as tourists, we go in summer, so it's light right around the clock. Only real explorers like DrG experience the winter down there!

Wow, there's an awful lot of the USA on that list. And not a whole lot of Africa.
The place that sticks in my mind the most was on the bank of the Orange River miles from anywhere, lying in a sleeping bag staring at the night sky, and being given a lecture from a Canadian sailor about all the constellations which was fascinating, and then being woken up when a full moon rose and shone like a spotlight in my face, and seeing the constellations had moved - it really brings it home to you that the earth really does move.
The first place I really saw the Milky Way was in the Greek Islands when I was 17, and that was pretty amazing - didn't see much of that 'up north' in the 'burbs.
And finally, seeing Orion's belt through a velux window whilst lying in bed in the cottage in Wales where we spent this Christmas, was pretty amazing too!

Oh that said, I should give a mention to a outdoor sleep out in the Makgadikgadi salt pan in Botswana. Bloody cold it was, but no lights, nothing taller than trees and those not anywhere near us... astonishing skies. It can't match for Namibia for me, just because that first experience was so unexpected, so emotionally high-impact. But it was beautiful!