I just learnt about 〜てみる and the book introduced 〜てみたい in an exercise.

I can see the difference between, say, 食べたい and 食べてみたい, but with 行きたい and
行ってみたい it's not so clear.

Would I be right to assume the first expresses my desire to go somewhere, and
the second my desire to go and check out if I like it?
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question
word-choice て-form
Difference between 〜てみたい and 〜たい
First, whether the main verb is 「[食]{た}べる」 or 「[行]{い}く」, the usages of 「～～たい」
and 「～～てみたい」 stay the same.

If I said 「スペインに行ってみたい。」, what should you know as a listener? You should know
that:

> 1) I am interested in going to Spain.

And also that;

> 2) I have never been to Spain. ← This is an implied **_fact_**.

From this simple sentence alone, however, you would not know how much I really
want to go there. The chances that I might actually go may or may not be very
high.

Now, what if I said 「スペインに行きたい。」 instead? You would know that:

> 1) I have a fairly strong desire to go to Spain.
>
> You would **_not_** know if I have been to Spain before.

Therefore, a person saying 「スペインに行きたい。」 would generally have a higher chance
of finding himself in Spain in the near future than a person saying
「スペインに行ってみたい。」.

Here is a children's song that should "explain" nicely the nuance of 「～～てみたい」.
Not many people went abroad at the time this song came out.

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlXJEuWqu3I>
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～たい expresses your desire to do something. ～てみる is used to express that you
will try something (usually for the first time). so when you put them
together, ～てみたい expresses that you want to try to do something for the first
time. (which would imply that you will see if you like it or not). This works
for all verbs.

夏休みに日本に行きたいです。 I want to go to Japan during summer vacation.

夏休みに日本に行ってみます。I will try to go to Japan during summer vacation.

夏休みに日本に行ってみたいです。I want to try to go to Japan during summer vacation.
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answer
I would like to add a note on the implications of 〜てみたい. Consider the case of
the verb 行く. In a simple sentence such as Ｘに行ってみたい, it may imply you have
never been to X before.

In general, however, it implies that the verbal action is in some sense
something new to you, and that you'd like to experience it. Or in other words,
if you are `trying out something to see how it is`, you would not have to try
it out or see how it is if you were familar with it already.

But perhaps this is better illustrated by examples.

> 行くのはいつも春から秋。 **冬にも行ってみたい。**

The speaker is saying that he has been there [滝野【たきの】すずらん丘陵公園【きゅうりょうこうえん]
already, but only during summer or autumn. He has never experienced it during
winter. The speaker would like to pay a visit during winter as well.

>
> 今年(2014年）初めて熊谷【くまがや】うちわ祭【まつり】に行きました。素晴らしいお祭りでしたが、公式サイトでも、熊谷市のサイトでもスケジュールがほとんどわからず、ＧＰＳの山車・屋台情報も混雑で（？）表示されませんでした。
> **来年も行ってみたい** のですが事前にある程度詳しい情報を入手できるサイトなどは無いでしょうか？

The speaker has already been to the festival at _Kumagaya_. However, the
festivals from two different years are never the same. The speaker is hoping
the logistics will be better next year.

> 《中禅寺湖【ちゅうぜんじこ】》日光の紅葉は経験上、ハズレがなく満足度が高いです。 **今年も行ってみたい。**

Similar to the above. For all we know this year might be different and it
could turn out not be fun; but the speaker is convinced otherwise and wants to
go and find out. It could be a new or different experience compared to last
year.

> 商業施設での香りが消費者行動に影響:
>
>   * 「好意的な印象 86.3%」
>   * 「 **また行ってみたい** 70.3%」
>   * 「より長くそのお店にいたい 69.5%」
>

>
> ([source](http://www.at-aroma.com/research/pdf/enquete/enquete02.pdf))

A survey on the effect of releasing pleasant fragrances in shops. About 70%
answered they would like to go there again. As above, they could find new
products, better prices &c. -- it might be worth a try.

> もう何年も故郷に帰ってない感じがして、ふとした瞬間に「懐かしい **故郷の学校へ行ってみたい**
> な」と思うような気持ちがして、こう言う時って、誰にでもあると思うんですよ。

Obviously the speaker has already been to the school they attended as a child,
but many years have passed since. The speaker wants to see his old school
again and see what has become of it.

* * *

Especially the last example shows that the notion of never having done it
before needs to can be rather subtle. The construction 〜てみる adds some sense of
trying something new or different or seeing how it is, but the details vary
depending on the context.
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answer