10yr anni, 9 days, $10k

[atouchofklasse]

Where would you go?

September

Love wine, food and scenery.

We've traveled Europe extensively and been to NZ, Fiji, and Sydney.

Chile?
French Polynesia?
Maybe Portugal? (I've been but H hasn't.)
Return to our HM AI in Mexico?

[mx27]

argentina

sonoma/napa

south africa

[CloudBee]

I loved French Polynesia. However, you have already done the South Pacific. Thus, I think South America should stay at the top of your list for initial consideration.

Ecuador - Galapagos?

Peru - Machu Picchu?

[gtkim]

South Africa

[alleinesein]

Chile

Its got wine, good food, wonderful people and amazing scenery. You could spend a few days in Santiago, a few days up in the mountains and a few days on the coast (Valparaiso and Vina del Mar)

[atouchofklasse]

Yeah I'm thinking either Chile or Portugal. Hmmm

[FrozenSunshine]

S. Africa or Chile.

[Deleted]

I'd do Argentina! That's on my short list for anniversary trips.

We did Portugal this past winter for our second anniversary and it was amazing. I found Lisbon to be a very romantic city, and my husband said it was one of his favorite trips. I think you'd come in well under budget, though. We spent about 3600 total for 7 days and we are not especially budget travelers...we rented a great apartment in a nice neighborhood for 1000/week, flights were 800pp (over the holidays), and I found transportation, food, and wine to be pretty inexpensive in Lisbon.

[atouchofklasse]

Is nine days enough for South Africa? I'm thinking no, although I did go to Sydney for only seven nights my second visit.

[FrozenSunshine]

We were down there for 12 days and it was awesome. We were on an organized tour, so I know we could have done what we wanted in 9 days.

We went to Cape Town, the surrounding wine areas, Soweto, and Pilanesberg Game Reserve. It was one of the most amazing trips I've been on.

[SJ]

Chile or South Africa.

Do you have miles/points to help with flight costs? I think SA might be hard to do on $10K depending on itinerary/safari choices- we paid $2500 each for our flights to Tanzania.

Can't go wrong with Chile/Argentina though. Same time zone as here so easier adjustment. Chile has it all- beach, mountains, desert, wine, etc. I can definitely hook you up with recommendations too. It should totally be doable on $10K. Next time we go, we hope to make it to Easter Island too (not that it's particularly close, but you can fly from Santiago)

[fernane]

Jun 24, 2012 21:13:23 GMT -5 gtkim said:

South Africa

:Y: :Y:

[shorty20]

Croatia!

[emilyinchile]

Chile or Argentina. I loved Croatia, but I think based on what you're looking for I'd stick with Chile, Argentina or both of those. When exactly in September? Sept 18 is Chile's independence day, and there's a lot of fun stuff to do associated with that (much bigger deal that 4th of July in the US). Some stuff will be closed, so ideally you'd only have a couple days of overlap with the holiday week in order to enjoy that without missing out on other activities. It'll be spring weather, could still rain a day or two but should be mostly sunny and brisk.

The Colchagua Valley is absolutely fantastic with some of the best wines in the world as well as really beautiful hotels and restaurants, but the Casablanca and Maipo valleys are also good bets. There are lots of options.

Let me know if you have questions, I've lived here for 5+ years and have also been to Argentina several times (got back from Buenos Aires yesterday).

[katieh]

With $10k, I'd say South Africa, and I think 9 days is enough (and $10k is plenty!). We did 14 for about $8k including flights and it was a long trip (5 of those days were just going to different places on the coast, which we could have skipped). Otherwise, maybe Australia, New Zealand, or Chile and/or Argentina.

I loved Portugal, but it's a very affordable place. We spent about $3k including flights for 6 days and we didn't really skimp at all, so personally, if I was looking to spend that much, I'd choose a place that couldn't be done for much cheaper.

If wine isn't a make or break thing, I'd look at something like China and Mongolia or maybe Japan.

[GilliC]

If I had that kind of budget? La Digue, Seychelles.

Maybe the Maldives, since I haven't been, and people always rave about it (though I can't imagine it being more beautiful than La Digue).

As for wine... Western Australia has some fantastic and friendly wine makers, and 9 days is a good amount of time to explore Margaret River and the southwest corner of the state. but you'd be way under your $10k budget.

I'd also like to go wine touring near Nasik, India someday. And of course the food on that trip would be fantastic! ...Now I feel like going home and making a curry!

[Deleted]

Maldives

Madagascar

South Africa

[atouchofklasse]

Thank you for the suggestions!

We want to hold off on South Africa/ Subsaharan Africa until we can bring our child/ren for safari.

I think some of the other suggestions are wonderful but too far for nine days given we can take longer vacations later on. (I also failed to mention we've been to Tokyo and SE Asia.)

I will look further into Chile, Argentina, Portugal, and Croatia!