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I like all of the regions, but I'd probably have to say that Johto is my favorite. The others are great, but I think Johto was consistently good throughout. Gold and Silver captured a very distinct and different feeling than the original games did. There were a lot of areas designed specifically to have the player go back to re-explore, something Kanto kinda did with the Power Plant, Unknown Dungeon and Viridian Gym, but that's nothing compared to the Siblings of the Week, Union Cave, Dark Cave, Ruins of Alph, Goldenrod Underground's shopping stalls, the fact that Johto pinches together halfway through to connect Violet, Goldenrod, and Ecruteak without having a city/series of gates middleman. It felt like you could go back anytime, and going back would net you something in a surfable corner, perhaps.
I also feel like there was lastability and a deep impression left from playing those games. Like each town is memorable for something, whether it's as simple as "Cherrygrove is the place where you get the map card" or something like "Violet city has Sprout tower full of monks." There was a lot of feeling conveyed through the style of the region. Goldenrod was a big city that somehow felt more significant than Saffron did.
And, when I played through Heartgold, I was surprised how much stuff was implied that I could imagine when I was younger that wasn't even stated. I remember getting to Azelea with my Quilava and checking on it to see how it felt and getting a message about it sniffing around and enjoying the scent of wood and smoke in the air, something I thought about as a kid anytime I played through Azelea.
And maybe it was because it did all of this before the other regions, so since they didn't pioneer it it's not as fresh, but it feels like no other region has quite captured the same feeling as Johto so consistently.
Plus the route music blows the tits off any other region.
