Vacation Ideas

[Fingolfin269]

(Inspired by the Napa Valley thread)

We're looking to plan/book a vacation for Summer 2014 and I'm looking for ideas. We went to Maui back to back years 2011/2012 and went to the UK earlier this year. At this point I'm thinking we may just head back to Maui but am looking for alternatives. We've also considered an Alaskan cruise or a trip to Italy. Honestly I'm a bit leery of cruises and want to wait at least another year before heading back over to Italy.

What are some summer vacations you've been on in recent years that you enjoyed and would recommend?

*edit*
No kids.
Enjoy pretty much anything. We're active and enjoy hiking/running but have no problem sitting next to the pool for an entire day relaxing either.

But honestly I'm just interested in hearing what you've enjoyed doing in the past. Kids/no kids it doesn't matter to me. We're flexible and just looking for ideas.

 

[Imported]

Any kids?

 

[glenn1]

Where have you already been and what kinds of activities do you enjoy?

Recent "summer" vacations in the last handful of years for me have included Iceland, Peru, Australia, Hungary, and Costa Rica.

 

[Fingolfin269]

Edited OP. Glenn, some previous spots have been Maui (twice) and the UK. But I did also add to the op that I'm really just interested in what you guys did and enjoyed. I can parse through that to figure out what we might enjoy. We've also been to Disney World a couple of times and had a great time.

 

[glenn1]

Edited OP. Glenn, some previous spots have been Maui (twice) and the UK. But I did also add to the op that I'm really just interested in what you guys did and enjoyed. I can parse through that to figure out what we might enjoy. We've also been to Disney World a couple of times and had a great time.

Sure. I like active vacations and plan ahead to pack in as many things as possible. A lazy vacation sitting around the pool drinking Mai Tais is something I can't do. I typically check out TripAdvisor and browse through the activities page and compile a list. I then rank them in priority order and see as many as time and money allows. Generally time is the bigger constraint. For example, on recent trips, here are what I consider the highlights.

Iceland: dog sledding, Jökulsárlón glacier lagoon, beautiful scenery and photo ops, glacier hiking, whale/orca watching, aurora borealis hunting (no luck), sampling meal of puffin, minke whale, reindeer, dry cured shark meat.

Peru: tooling around Lima, Macchu Picchu and other Incan ruins, Amazon river lodge.

Australia: Melbourne (!!!), Great Ocean Road, Great Barrier Reef, saw an awesome production of Mikado at Sydney Opera House, Taronga Zoo.

Hungary: visited Pécs, hot springs at Heviz, Parliament, old town Buda and Pest, eating at the Hare Krisha restaurant in Parliament Square (my guess is the only vegetarian restaurant in Hungary)

Costa Rica: seeing San Jose, Arenal volcano, Monteverde rain forest, zip lining, horseback riding, coffee plantation tour, etc.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Airfare is expensive, but the Dominican Republic has great beaches and most resorts are All Inclusive. You could do the same thing in Cancun, but they are slightly more aggressive toward ripping off tourists there.

For *summer, I recommend shooting for early summer. If you get into July/August your likelyhood of hurricanes and tropical storms rise significantly....but this could help your budget too.

 

[pete6032]

Pacific northwest if you want something local. If you're willing to go more exotic you could check out Cape Town. Tons of history and its a vacation hotspot for rich UKers.

 

[BurnItDwn]

In summer, we like to go to Wisconsin/Sturgeon bay area. It's half vacation, half visiting family for us though.

Alaska, Denali National Park is my favorite place to be in the summer.

Otherwise, We plan to go to Glacier National Park but not sure when (haven't been there yet.) It should be perfect in the summer.

Usually we travel in the winter or late fall... (last Jan , South Carolina last Nov, This Dec we are going to Baltimore (but then a cruise))

If you do decide to take the plunge on a cruise, I recommend you book a 3 or 4 day "short" cruise ... that way, if it's not something you enjoy, you won't have to endure it for as long....

 

[purbeast0]

maui is fucking awesome, you can't really go wrong with there.

other places i've been and would go back in a heartbeat:

cancun (2x)
aruba (2x)
barbados
bahamas (stayed at the atlantis and would go back there in an instant)
florida keys
maui
vegas

only place i've been that i wouldn't go back in a heartbeat is costa rica, primarily because of the place we stayed at and the area it was around. but it was for a wedding so we had a great time with a group of people.

but i'd seriously go back to any of those places i listed above in a heartbeat if given the chance/time to do so. already taken 3 vacations this year though (costa rica, vegas, keys) and we might go somewhere in december too, but if we do it's gonna be a quicker 3-4 day type of getaway. we're thinking maybe puerto rico or possibly back to the atlantis.

 

[ponyo]

My favorite vacation is going down to the Forgotten Coast region of Florida and fishing, crabbing, and catching various shellfish. It's what I find most fun and relaxing.

 

[Hoober]

Depending on what you enjoy about Maui, you might try Kauai. It's my favorite of the Hawaiian islands.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Our favorite vacation place these days is Acadia National Park and the Bar Harbor, Maine area.

The wife and I went by ourselves once and twice with the kids. We usually go for a week in July but there's so much to do you could easily spend two weeks if you wanted. The main activity is hiking and there's many, many beautiful hikes to go on. They range in difficulty from very easy (kid-friendly) hour-long to more difficult entire-day hikes. But the scenery is always stunning. When the wife and I went alone, we went on a sea-kayaking tour and saw a bunch of bald eagles flying around and nesting along with lots of sea life. My in-laws also used to rent bikes and ride the carriage roads all around the park and they also indulged in rock-climbing lessons. When it was just the two of us we stayed at an awesome B&B right in town so we could walk to all the location restaurants (read: lobster) and take a short drive to any of the hikes or other park activities. It was called the Chiltern Inn, IIRC, and it had a marble, double shower and a jacuzzi tub. With the kids we've been renting houses right on the lakes there so that we could step out the house and go swimming/kayaking/canoeing and be closer to the park with a short drive to Bar Harbor and do our own cooking/grilling.

If you go, and you like lobster, make sure you drive over to Southwest Harbor and go to Beal's.

Let me see if I can find some pictures on my phone.

3 lbs lobster at Beal's

Ship Harbor hike

Jordan Pond trail

 

[crashtestdummy]

National Parks. If you have a ton of time (a month or more), you can make a big road trip out of it. If you've only got a week or two stick to one or a couple close together ones. My personal favorite is Glacier. From my trip a few years ago:

If you're looking to spend a bit more for something a little bigger, we did our honeymoon in Norway. They have an awesome hut system that lets you backpack from lodge to lodge carrying very little weight. They have (very good) meals and beds there, so you only need to bring sheets, the day's water, and lunch. I can't recommend it enough. From that trip:

Note that there is about a 1500 ft vertical difference between those two bodies of water. It's a sheer cliff, and you get to walk along that ridge.

 

[glenn1]

Otherwise, We plan to go to Glacier National Park but not sure when (haven't been there yet.) It should be perfect in the summer.

Glacier National is a great idea, and combined with Banff/Jasper park in Alberta is amazing. This is my work desktop wallpaper, which was a photo taken there.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Otherwise, We plan to go to Glacier National Park but not sure when (haven't been there yet.) It should be perfect in the summer.

Optimal in terms of hikability is the end of July. The only downside is that everyone else wants to be there at the same time. We went during the last week of June. A couple trails (like the highline) were still closed, but plenty of stuff was open and the crowds were low.

 

[Exterous]

You could take a short cruise to see if you like them. Maybe a 3 or 4 day to the Bahamas. We did that to make sure it was something we liked before we plopped down a lot of money on a long one. It was only $179 + taxes pp. for our 4 night.

I'll always throw in a recommendation for Ireland. Beautiful scenery and amazing people. Also pretty cheap to get to for a European destination. If memory serves you were in Scotland\UK roughly the same time we were so I don't know if you want to return to that area or venture someplace else

I've heard good things about Sedona Az but won't know until early next year when we go

 

[Jeffg010]

My favorite vacation is my family's cabin in Northern Minnesota and fishing the local lakes. The fishing is outstanding. If I was you I'd rent out a lodge in the Cook MN area. If you are into fishing and wanting to get remote. The fishing is awesome but you can get your hike on too.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g42972-Cook_Minnesota-Hotels.html

 

[nageov3t]

honestly, without kids I very, very rarely take vacation in the summer... since there's no need to base it around the school year calendar, I'd rather take vacation in the spring or fall when places are less crowded and you don't have a million kids running about everywhere.

I'm thinking our next big vacation may be Ireland. I'm a little leery about going somewhere where I don't speak the language, and flights to Dublin seem very reasonable compared to other European countries ($4-500 instead of twice that)

 

[glenn1]

honestly, without kids I very, very rarely take vacation in the summer... since there's no need to base it around the school year calendar, I'd rather take vacation in the spring or fall when places are less crowded and you don't have a million kids running about everywhere.

I'm thinking our next big vacation may be Ireland. I'm a little leery about going somewhere where I don't speak the language, and flights to Dublin seem very reasonable compared to other European countries ($4-500 instead of twice that)

Yes, go enjoy the "pudding" (hint: it's not the Bill Cosby kind), listen to people saying "Grand!" and "Brilliant" incessantly, and visit the local establishments:

 

[sdifox]

Machu Pichu

 

[Broheim]

Scandinavia, Norway has the mountains and fjords, Sweden has the forests and lakes, and Denmark has the beaches and Copenhagen.

 

[nageov3t]

Yes, go enjoy the "pudding" (hint: it's not the Bill Cosby kind), listen to people saying "Grand!" and "Brilliant" incessantly, and visit the local establishments:

less food, more beer, let's be real.

 

[JM Aggie08]

On a related note: has anyone purchased any of the vacation packages that Groupon offers regularly? I'd be interested to hear a first-hand experience with one of those deals.

 

[blackdogdeek]

I'm thinking our next big vacation may be Ireland. I'm a little leery about going somewhere where I don't speak the language

Are you sure you want to go to Ireland then?

 

[cyclistca]

We went to Italy this past September. Perfect time to go. Hot enough without being too hot. Visited Rome, Florence, Venice, Siena, and Cinque Terre. It you are going to visit Cinque Terre I suggest you stay in one of the villages instead of doing it as a day trip. get a better experience.