Vacation

[lolo]

So I've been holding off saying this, but it's looking really likely that we'll be returning to the States soon. I know it makes sense in my head, but I still kind of feel like throwing a fit about it.

To assuage myself, I've begun planning our 'last hurrah' trip, which will be 7-10 days to do *something* in Europe. Help me pick?

[oneslybookworm]

I voted Barcelona, but I absolutely loved Spain. I think it would a great vacation though!

[pittpurple]

I chose Barcelona because I want to go there, helpful right?

[allibally]

I vote Balkans. I feel like that trip would be harder to coordinate if you ever wanted to do it leaving from the US. Flights to from the US to Barcelona or Ireland would be less expensive then to cities in the Balkans. Just a guess.

Plus I have always wanted to go there too.

[clogged]

Why not do something "crazy stupid insane" and do like 3-4 city breaks back to back? It will be utterly exhausting, but what an adventure for a last hooray!

[lolo]

I've been to Barcelona about half a dozen times, including an extended stay for about a month while doing research there. So I'm really familiar with it. But I haven't been there since 2008 and DH has never been, even though it's one of my favorite places I've been. The advantage here is that I love it and get to share it with DH. It requires little planning and I speak Spanish (although only a few Catalan words/phrases). The disadvantage is that I've done it and it's an easier prospect to do from the States.

For the Balkans, I've just really been interested in this region. I would start in Slovenia around Lake Bled with some nature stuff, I'm interested in Sarajevo and Mostar for historic/cultural reasons, and potentially finish in Spelt so DH can have a day or two on the beach. This all depends on flights obviously. The pro is that it's something I'm really interested in and I think it marries my interest in nature and history with DH's interest in relaxing. The con is that I think this trip requires the most planning out of any of them, and I'm totally unfamiliar with things like how transport works. I don't know any Slavic language so that could be challenging. We will be hauling around our shit, which generally sucks, and I don't think we'd take a car, so that means hauling shit on trains, buses, etc, which is distinctly un-vacation-like. (Flame away if you wish.)

For Ireland, we've done Dublin a lot for DH's work, but we went to a wedding in western Ireland in 2011. We only had a day to explore on our own but absolutely loved it. The idea of going from B&B and car tripping around these beautiful, historic sights is great. Again this marries my interests with DHs, especially if we go at a slow pace.

[lolo]

Oh, and I don't really want to do 3-4 cities back to back. I get that I'd see a lot, but I wouldn't enjoy it. Too fast, too many flashing lights, too much packing and unpacking.

If it helps, here's where I've been outside the UK:

Copenhagen (brief trip, just me); Stockholm; Germany: Hamburg, Black Forest, Heidelberg; France: Paris (just me), Lille, Strasburg; Ireland (Dublin multiple times, brief trip to County Kerry); Spain: Barcelona (just me), Mallorca, Basque Country (Bilbao, San Sebastian, Guernica, etc), Sevilla, and a lot of other places just me (Granada, Valencia, Malaga, etc etc etc); Athens and Corinth (just me); Switzerland: Bernese Oberland (me), Zurich and Davos (DH); Vienna and Budapest (me).

DH has also spent time in Finland (Oulu) and a lot more time travelling around Germany.

There might be other places that I'm forgetting.

[dorothyinAus]

I voted for the Balkans because it would be the trip I would want to do most.

But second would be Ireland. I was supposed to go on a 3-week trip with my BFF when she finished up a volunteer assignment in 2001, but unfortunately her grandfather passed away and our plans changed -- we did 5 days in Cork, with a side trip to Blarney and then the remainder of two weeks in London. If I had it to do over, I would have spent the 5 days in London and the rest of the time in Ireland.

[dulcemariamar]

The Balkans. I agree with the other posters. You can always get to Western Europe from the States.

[NomadicMama]

I also voted for the Balkans trip, for the same reasons--I'd like to go and the other two areas are more easily accessed from the States. But, any of the three trips would be great!

[pittpurple]

Now I'm confused - who are you? New name right?
Anyway, what about Italy? I don't see that anywhere on your list unless I'm missing something? It's my favourite country in the world. A close second is Portugal, I absolutely adore Portugal.

So I went on a 10 day trip to Ljubljana / Bled / Trieste / Zagreb and Plitvice last year and it was difficult. Transport isn't the easiest in that region and everything took ages. We needed a car in Croatia and we hardly ever rent a car. How much stuff will you be hauling around?

That being said - it was gorgeous, really gorgeous. But I think it would be hard and not necessarily the most relaxing unless you cut down on the places you go. It takes absolutely ages to get around (not many roads and they're really twisty) and we were exhausted at the end of the trip.

[pittpurple]

Oh - I know who you are now. Hi!!!
And we were fine with English. A few entertaining moments in the farmers' markets (one of our favourite things to do while travelling) and we inadvertently ended up with a gigantic amount of cheese, but nothing too stressful!

[lolo]

Yeah, I forgot to list my Italy trips. I've been to Rome, Naples, Pompeii and Sorrento. So far, I've been under-whelmed by what I've seen but I also might prefer things like Florence and the countryside more.

Pitt, thanks for the info on transport. I'm also finding that this looks kind of tough (you can tell I just started researching!) so I might need to limit areas more in the Balkans. Unfortunately this also limits the appeal. I do have a guidebook on Slovenia and so potentially could focus there. Seems like a 'less cool' trip though, but maybe the guidebook will change my opinion.

[lolo]

And as far as how much stuff--I guess it depends on the variety of activities. If we just stayed in Slovenia, it'd only be normal clothes and outdoors clothes, so a reasonable amount. If we're also doing beach etc, it just gets annoying fast in terms of required outfits. And number of shoes that I have to pack...

[pittpurple]

I loved Florence and the countryside around there is meant to be gorgeous (I tend to do city weekend trips a lot) and it would be a lot easier.

Of course, Ireland is gorgeous but I love anything with sunshine so I tend to vote that way.

[frlcb]

Slovenia is awesome. I also always recommend the Baltic, we did a 10 day trip through Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and it is one of my favorite trips that I have ever taken.

[crimsonandclover]

I agree that Barcelona and Ireland are fairly easy to do from the States, and it sounds like you love them enough that you would do it, too. The Balkans, on the other hand, are more difficult to arrange, plus flights from the US would be more expensive (I haven't seen any NYC-Sarajevo deals advertized on the airline sites lately, but US-Dublin and US-Madrid/Barcelona flights often have deals).

[Cheesecake]

I agree with Pitt on Italy. Sounds like you haven't done the North yet, which truly is completely different from the South. The trip we're planning pretty soon is take Milan as a take of (fly-in) point and take trips from there. Verona and Venice can both just be day trips, Cinque Terre (which is supposed to be super amazing) is going to be a 3 or 4 day trip, then Tuscany (Siena, Florence, Pistoia, and a tiny little town DH's grandma was born in) will also just be a few days. Enough to see some stuff and get the vibe, but not spend a whole vacation in one area.

The Balkans have never really interested me that much and since you've been to Barcelona so often, I voted Ireland. that really does sound awesome.

[pittpurple]

We've had an Estonia/Latvia/Lithuania idea in our heads for a while now too. I went to Tallinn last year and it was fantastic. Not sure about the public transport thing though.

I'm voting Italy :-)

[pseudoagain]

I voted for Barcelona. Or maybe Italy?

Hey what about Monaco? Glitz and glamour?

[karmaroma]

I've seen Barcelona so I voted for the Balkan adventure

[irish]

Guess what I voted for! :-)))
I suppose we need to know what time of year you are going to be doing the trip - is it during summer months or in autumn? Barcelona could be very hot and busy if you go in August (which might make you less inclined to explore), whereas September or October would be more pleasant.
An Ireland trip along the west coast would be fantastic! And yes, staying in B&Bs is a good way to do it. A few airports along the west so you could pick a point of entry and work your way to point of exit (eg fly into Knock or Galway and fly out of Faranfore (Kerry) or Cork). Funny how I'd always go from north to south along the west coast. There are loads of places off the 'normal' tourist routes that are great - do you know of Fr Ted? Ive seen the house (in the middle of Co Clare!)

[elenetxu]

I voted for the Balkans, because I'd LOVE to go! I agree with PPs when they say it's easy and cheap(ish) to get to Barcelona or Ireland from the US.

[lolo]

irish, this would be next month, the first week in June.

[Deleted]

I voted Balkans, but a close second would have been the road trip in ireland. I'm sure the scenery would be lovely!

[clickerish]

Why would you have to speak Catalan in Barcelona? I speak Catalan, but every time I go there they speak less and less...

Portugal is amazing, and it could easily combine both of your interests in that it's far more laid back than Spain but also beautiful. Portuguese not required. Although, and I say this with love as someone who goes there nearly every year, there isn't all that much to do there. .

I would say Greece but luggage-wise that might be impossible. What about Istanbul? I'm feeling more and more drawn to non-Western European countries these days having seen most of the west. And Istanbul etc is really cheap comparatively!

[lolo]

I realize you don't have to speak Catalan in Barcelona--just didn't want to imply that Spanish is the only language there (especially since I've done quite a lot of studies around Catalan nationalism). A few niceties do usually get good reactions though.

I don't really want to do Greece again yet, but Portugal and Istanbul are great suggestions. Something to think about!