Fun Friday Poll: Your best vacation ever

[katietornado]

We finally have the money for a vacation. We need ideas. H travels a ton in Europe for work, so he doesn't want to do Belgium, Netherlands, Canary Islands, or Denmark. BTDT.

We decided we'd each come up with three ideas on our own and compare notes tonight.

What's your best vacation ever?

[msmerymac]

Scotland.

We actually spent 4 days in London, then 5 days in Edinburgh, then 1 more in London (direct flight between LAX and Heathrow). We took the train from King's Cross Station to Edinburgh and it was great. We did a day trip out to Loch Lomond and Stirling Castle. We were also there for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, so we saw 10-12 shows/performances at cool venues, ranging from an organ performance in a church by candlelight, to a reading of Robert Burns poems, to a magic show, to Janeane Garofalo's stand-up.

We'd love to go back - probably a few times. Next time we'll stay longer and spend some time in the highlands and on the west coast, and do more scotch tasting!

[Deleted]

Mediterranean coast of Spain. We stayed in a small town about an hour or two south of Valencia. You could easily do a few days in Barcelona and then make your way to a small town or even some place more touristy like Sitges. It's so gorgeous there, people are friendly, food is awesome, etc.

[Deleted]

Lucurn Switzerland was one of my favorites, as was the Emolfi (spelling?) coast.

[Deleted]

Rome. We went for our honeymoon. We saw all the major attractions, walked around, drank wine at every meal, had gelato every day.

Austin for SXSW was also awesome.

We've only taken 2 real vacations in the last year, so they were both pretty friggin' awesome.

[passthewine]

I loved Paris when we went for our honeymoon.

We had stopped in Santorini on a cruise and I'm dying to go back and spend more time there, it's so gorgeous.

[marie427]

I have a love affair with Prague. We're planning another vacation there in February. I studied abroad there for a summer and we also went for our honeymoon. It's the land where the beer is cheaper than the soda and sometimes even water.

I also really enjoyed my trips to Vancouver, the Croatian coast, and Vienna.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2012 15:44:36 GMT -5 marie427 said:

It's the land where the beer is cheaper than the soda and sometimes even water.

:-(

I really hope I can drink beer again some day.

Guess I'll have to stick to Italy and France since they have excellent cheap wine everywhere.

[emisi]

Scotland. I was there for 9 months studying abroad, it was amazing. I guess technically it wasn't a vacation... but it was still awesome.

I desperately want to go to Vienna or Budapest, though. Or Prague. If you want to go cheaper and still feel European, Warsaw is supposed to be pretty.

[noodleoo]

Hawaii. It was the perfect blend of beautiful beaches, nature, exploration and activities for us. We spend 2 weeks and hit Maui and the Big Island. It is tough, I'm not sure how we'll top that vacation. We just went to Curacao and kept saying it wasn't as good as our Hawaii trip.

We also had a wonderful trip to Italy, specifically Venice and the Tuscany region. However, we went with H's siblings, so that keeps it from being my favorite trip.

[Deleted]

i thought this was a totally P&CE poll and "best vaccination ever." i was going to say DTAP.

anyway, i had the most fun ever visiting a friend in rome (and then we took the train to florence). i had so much time (2 weeks) that i was relaxed and could do things like spend a morning sipping coffee in a cafe and eating italian pastry.

[summer]

Antarctica! Hands down! You need 14 days though at least.

[Deleted]

I loved Morocco this summer. We had an awesome vacation

[Deleted]

Easter Island/Rapa Nui

[ESF]

Istanbul is the most amazing city I've ever been to. It should top everyone's Must See list.

If I had unlimited resources and time, the next trip I'd book would be to Argentina to drink wine and eat steak for 10 days.

[Kristinmo]

Italy just for the food.

Hawaii if you like beaches.

[Deleted]

Sept 7, 2012 17:30:00 GMT -5 ESF said:

Istanbul is the most amazing city I've ever been to. It should top everyone's Must See list.

If I had unlimited resources and time, the next trip I'd book would be to Argentina to drink wine and eat steak for 10 days.

UGH. We actually debated flying through Istanbul to Cyprus when we go in a few months but are flying through Heathrow instead :-( we would have had a day and night in Istanbul

[basilosaurus]

Oh, goodness. We've done some great trips. I think everyone is my favorite

NZ for 15 days is probably the top overall for just everything being pretty much perfect.

Thailand is top for being the exact vacation we needed at that exact time (we needed to thaw from Japan and get away from H's crazy work schedule). A week cruise on the Andaman plus a few days in Chiang Mai

Vancouver/Victoria for being perfect with food and weather and just being together when we'd been apart a few months, but that's probably not enough for a big trip for you. It was probably our top food trip, though, topping even Paris.

Recently we did a med cruise stopping in Italy and southern France, and we combined it with Barcelona and Paris. It wasn't the best vacation in all aspects (b/c the cruise itself kinda sucked), but it was awesome for being H's first trip to Europe, and for some of the amazing things we saw and great food when off the ship.

Our honeymoon on the big island was pretty flipping awesome.

Top cities I've been to, in no order, are Prague, Tokyo, Florence, Paris, Kyoto.

So, yeah, we like travel. Honestly, the way we choose a vacation isn't based on a dream sheet but rather what works with our timing, location, and price. I have dream locations I haven't been to yet, when I've already been on some lower priority trips. But it was always the right trip

[Deleted]

For tropical I'd pick Hawaii - we love it there, especially Kauai but all of the islands offer some unique things.

For adventure I'd go skiing in banff and lake Louise in Alberta, stunning!!

Europe - you can't go wrong with Rome, although my fave city is actually Budapest!

[pescalita]

Paris was amazing.

But considering my favorite parts were drinking wine at a cafe and pick nicking at Chartres, it should come as no surprise that my favorites were not grand or exotic.

It's a toss up between San Jose del Cabo, mx, where we stayed at an AI and did nothing but read, swim, eat, drink and bone for 4 days, or San Diego, which was much of the same plus sightseeing and swap cocktails for beer.

[JLN]

I've only been out of the country once - to Vancouver, BC. :-(

I'm so jealous of everyone in this thread.

[caden]

Israel & Jordan. I loved every minute of it. It was fascinating.

[2vermont]

We have't gone anywhere exotic or expensive yet, but we always enjoy our vacations in Maine. Simple pleasures.

[sillygoosegirl]

Our most bragworthy vacation was 5 and a half months backpacking all around Asia and Eastern Europe.

However, our 10-day trip to England was probably the most fun on a per-day basis (we went to London, Oxford, the Cotswalds, Bath, and Salisbury).

Although I generally favor going new places over returning to prior destinations, London and Rome are at the top of my list for places I'd like to go back to someday. Outside of Europe, I would highly recommend Laos.

[emilyj]

I loooooooooved Rome. It was such an amazing city. We spent 4 days there at the beginning of our honeymoon, and I would love to go back. There is so much to do, and see - we did such a variety of things which I thought was really neat. And the food? OMG. The food.

I also went to Greece last year and while I liked Athens, I did two side trips from Athens that were pretty awesome - a cruise of the Greek islands of Hydra, Poros and Aegina that so cool, and then a trip up to Delphi, which was just fucking unreal.

Our honeymoon cruise around Italy, Greece and Turkey was pretty cool too - we got to see a little bit of a lot of places. Ephesus in Turkey was also a pretty phenomenal stop.

I would love to go back to Italy though.

[GailGoldie]

the past 2 i have been on.... Hawaii with DH last summer, our first trip away without the kids... and first trip alone since our honeymoon 6yrs earlier.

and this past spring to Disney with the kids... it was just so much fun, so we're going back in May

[Michelle]

Best vacation was backpacking around europe for a couple of months... saw Paris, Bourges, Avignon, Marseilles, Geneva, Munich, Berlin, Warsaw, Prague, Vienna. Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Ring of Kerry from Killarney, Ireland, and Dublin. Favorites were Edinburgh, Vienna, and Prague. Really enjoyed Warsaw but can't remember if I am biased because one of my besties lives there and I was with her. She wanted to go to Krakow but the weather didn't hold up. I never would have gone to Vienna but her dad put me on a train going there whether I liked it or not, and it was my favorite.

If I could go anywhere it would be new Zealand.

Oh I forgot I really loved Alaska too.

And I lived in Taiwan for a six week assignment in 2003. It was an amazing experience but I didn't see much of Taipei because it was during the peak of the SARS epidemic... Taroko Gorge and Hualien in Taiwan are amazing, as are Kenting Park. Lotus Lake is also super interesting along with Tainan for the confucious temple and dutch colonial history.

[foundmylazybum]

Italy--I have a love affair with Italy and it was pretty much everything I thought it would be and more. The first time I saw the Colosseum at night--I gasped. We did Rome, Tuscany and Cinque Terre. I would go back in a heartbeat to do more Rome and then go to Northern Italy.

Costa Rica was amazing. It was a perfect blend of outdoor adventure, nature and then relaxing on the beach. Also it is cost effective. I loved it.

The Cook Islands. If you are looking for straight relaxation on deserted beaches, with a totally relaxed atmosphere--this place is it.

I also really enjoyed Scotland but felt we did not have enough time there. I think we would go back again to explore more. It was really, really fun.

[osulori]

Sept 7, 2012 18:27:54 GMT -5 JLN said:

I've only been out of the country once - to Vancouver, BC.

I'm so jealous of everyone in this thread.

You and I can be jealous together...my only trip outside the US was to Niagara Falls

Katie, I've told you how much J and I loveloveloved our Yellowstone trip...but that's the best I've got

[foundmylazybum]

Sept 7, 2012 19:52:15 GMT -5 osulori said:

Sept 7, 2012 18:27:54 GMT -5 JLN said:

I've only been out of the country once - to Vancouver, BC.

I'm so jealous of everyone in this thread.

You and I can be jealous together...my only trip outside the US was to Niagara Falls

Katie, I've told you how much J and I loveloveloved our Yellowstone trip...but that's the best I've got

One of my most favorite trips I've ever taken was renting a pop up camper and going to Crested Butte for a week while the wildflowers.