Vacations!

[tcrudisi]

I have decided that I wish to surprise my wife with a vacation. The only problem is that I have not decided where. Hence why I am here. I would like so advise.

We will be taking it in August. So I'd like to hear from everyone: What's the best spot you've ever gone for a vacation? If you live outside the US, what's your native city/country like (or more appropriately, is it a nice place to take a 3-week holiday)?

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

I think a main question you have to answer is what type of vacation are you looking for. Are you looking to go lay on a beach somewhere and relax, or are you looking to do some serious sightseeing, or do more active activities like hiking and that sort of thing.

[tcrudisi]

I think a main question you have to answer is what type of vacation are you looking for. Are you looking to go lay on a beach somewhere and relax, or are you looking to do some serious sightseeing, or do more active activities like hiking and that sort of thing.

Good questions! I'm not really the "lay on the beach" or "relax" type. I definitely enjoy some serious sightseeing, and I do enjoy activities like hiking, white water rafting, etc.

But really - if it's the most beautiful beach in the world, why would I pass that up? Plus, we will have 3 weeks, so hitting a beautiful beach for a few days before moving on is not out of the question. I'd just prefer to stay in the same country, to minimize flight costs and maximize money/enjoyment.

[Assassin89]

I have been to Hawaii once during December of 2007 for two weeks. The big Island does have beautiful scenery and contains national parks. There is also an observatory there. The problem I see is that as Hawaii is not part of the continental US, it might get expensive.
I have also gone to Southern California a few time since my sister goes to college there. I don't know much about it, but it might interest you.

[Felixaar]

Come to Australia! We have lots of nice beaches on either coast and plenty of hiking and sight seeing to do. I could rant on for a while, please tell me if you wish.

[Fostire]

My father surprised my mother with a vacation as a birthday gift. They're going to Cuba and Panama, in fact, their plane leaves in about 5 hours :smallbiggrin:


Good questions! I'm not really the "lay on the beach" or "relax" type. I definitely enjoy some serious sightseeing, and I do enjoy activities like hiking, white water rafting, etc.

But really - if it's the most beautiful beach in the world, why would I pass that up? Plus, we will have 3 weeks, so hitting a beautiful beach for a few days before moving on is not out of the question. I'd just prefer to stay in the same country, to minimize flight costs and maximize money/enjoyment.

If you like sightseeing, I would recommend Chile, specifically the lakes area to the south. I went there 2 years ago with my school and I loved it, specially the mountains. It's summer in the southern hemisphere so it should be nice to go to the beach if you choose to (I don't know if the beaches are that nice though). The weather could be a problem, when I went it rained most of the trip, but from what I heard from students who went on previous years, I was just unlucky.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot you said you were going on august. Ignore the part about summer then :smallbiggrin:

[TheBST]

Amsterdam and Paris (Montmartre especially) are fantastic city breaks if you can afford the flight.

For my own country, London with a night or two in Edinburgh probably have the most entertainment value for tourist, but you're never more than six hours away from anything else worth visiting.

I'm off to Egypt this Wednesday (Cairo and Luxor). Does anyone have any tips?

[Sneak]

I'm a fan of Barcelona, myself.

Thailand is nice, too, although I personally prefer the more rural areas there to the urban areas.

[Jimorian]

Japan was really cool when I went there a couple years ago. 3 weeks is enough to spend 1 in Tokyo to establish yourself and get used to things (and it's very friendly to English speakers, I didn't know any Japanese and got around fine). Another week heading south on the trains, more cultural stuff like Edo down that way. And a week heading north, maybe even all the way to Hokkaido for more nature type excursions.

[THAC0]

If you like outdoor activities, check out Alaska. In August there's plenty and more sunlight. Hiking, kayaking, fishing, rafting, and sightseeing abound.

[Innis Cabal]

Pruage is an amazing city if you are looking out of country.

Columbus Ohio is a great city, and teh surronding region is beatiful with some great skiing not to far off.

[Bonecrusher Doc]

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Expensive but awesome.

Croatia - everything from Zagreb to Plitvice National Park to Dubrovnik in one small country. Beautiful beaches - mostly rock but some sand. Great food.

I hear Montreal is like Paris, but less expensive and possibly even nicer. In August it wouldn't be cold, right?

I have also heard that if you want to save money, instead of going to Prague, you can go to other towns near Prague and see a lot of the same stuff for less.

Personally I want to take a summer vacation to Idaho. I hear they have all sorts of great outdoorsy stuff not far from where the airport is in Boise.

Your local library might have a collection of National Geographic Traveller or Budget Traveller magazines you could look through.

[purple gelatinous cube o' Doom]

tcrudisi, I suggest going to a local travel agent, and see if they can help put something together with you. That's how we ended up going to Costa Rica about a month ago.

[Flame of Anor]

San Francisco is cool. So are the Niagara Falls, and Philadelphia is awesome. Outside the US, I hear Spain is really awesome.

[Boo]

I'm a fan of Barcelona, myself.

Thailand is nice, too, although I personally prefer the more rural areas there to the urban areas.

It's also inexpensive, don't forget inexpensive!

In today's economy (not to bring up any conversations on the subject) I'd suggest not going anywhere that you would find to be very expensive.

Asia and Africa are probably your best bets for travel. They're interesting (based on what I've heard) and have unique and interesting cultures in different regions.

If you go to Asia, why not try doing a mini tour of it? Go to Thailand, China, South Korea, and/or India. I'm sure going to some of these countries would be no more expensive than visiting anywhere in the UK for three weeks.

In Africa, make sure to keep to certain parts, and that the drinks are opened in front of you. As silly as this may sound, some drinks can be poisoned, and this is more or less a safety measure used by many in that country.

@Bonecrusher: I'm sure those NG magazines won't be very helpful as they tend to be very old.

[Don Julio Anejo]

Cancun. Woo, Coco Bongo!!

Other than that I've been to several cool places... but ultimately IMO all sightseeing is pretty much the same and it doesn't matter where you go if you're the "lie down on the beach for 5 hours" type.

[Z-dan]

I can give one piece of advice: avoid Leicester, UK :smalltongue:
However, UK is a good place to come to- hundreds of things to do in London alone, then there's Stonehenge and all the castles and cathedrals everywhere... and though the English landscape isn't up to much then there's Wales (a beautiful country, well North Wales is at least) or Scotland (another slightly more mountainous place- also where most of Monty Python and the Holy Grail was filmed) and Ireland- which I don't know much about having never been.

Other places I've been are Holland/Netherlands- a nice country though a bit boring really (I'm allowed to say stuff like that, most of my family lives there)... if you do go be sure to stop by the Efteling theme park.
Spain: Very nice country, when I went we spent all night sitting on the rooftop looking at the geckos. For best impression of what it's like then watch a Spaghetti Western :smallwink:
Norway: I loved it, my partner tells me it's like a mini Canada- and we didn't even get to see any fjords
Greece: Possibly the best holiday I've had, but then I love ancient greek stuff :smallwink: also a nice variety if you do some island hopping as well- that way you get the mountains, the beaches, and the history

Tbh, I think just about anywhere you go can be worthwile... I intend on going to as many countries as possible- havent decided where to this year but it seems likely we'll be going to holland again, or possibly scotland or ireland.


EDIT: should also mention that the above places are all best viewed around August... apart from possibly Norway if you want to see snow. You're guaranteed to get sunburnt if you go to Spain or Greece in August

[thubby]

you can always go to disney world.

you could do the universal/disney/florida beach thing. but seeing as how I've been to just disney twice and still not done 1/2 the stuff there is to do, i would pick just one.

i have a thing for new zealand, being a snowboarder, wanting to learn to surf, and having an unhealthy obsession with kiwis. go, tell me how good it is, or else
-,-
*pokes*

[Quincunx]

It might be a tad difficult to get surprise passports for a surprise vacation if you don't already have them. Start working on that now if you don't; I believe the horrid backlog has been reduced, but it's still not a six-week turnaround time any more. The U.S. dollar's been rather low against the euro and the 'other' dollars and will probably remain there for for the foreseeable future*. At the moment, the pound is extremely weak against. . .everything, really. That may not persist until August, but if it does, it'll still be the cheapest U.K. visit an American can do in a lifetime.

There were three weeks' worth of activity in the tri-state area centered on Philadelphia, especially for history buffs, and August there is just as oppressive as it will be further south along the coast. There's several weeks' worth of activity centered on Orlando, Florida, but do rent a car and escape the clutches of the Mouse, and have a high tolerance for humidity and for getting rained upon generously and punctually each afternoon. There wasn't one week's worth of activity centered on St. Louis; distances get too darn extended west of the Mississippi.

*2007, overheard in an Irish bank: "We only got how many euros for 500 bucks?! Next summer, we're going to Canada!"

. . .I imagine they were unpleasantly surprised again.