10 year anniversary trip

[lizlemon19]

DH and I want to go somewhere fun, kid-free for our upcoming 10 yr anniversary.  I would like to go somewhere new we haven't been.  Up to 10 days.  Would be flying out of BOS or PVD.

Would like to keep it under 4k for flights and hotel/accommodations, not counting spending money.. Would possibly be in August.  We aren't really fancy people.  Would do hotel or air bnb/vrbo.  Would prefer to not drive in another country unless it is really easy.  We do not drive standard.  I speak some French and Spanish. We like a little bit of city/country, some adventure, museums, and some relaxing. Want to check some things/places..
off the bucket list.

Short list:

France - Paris and South of France
France and Italy
Costa Rica
Alaska cruise out of Seattle with extra days in Seattle
Northern California - wine country, big sur, san fran
Argentina
Hawaii

[orangello]

Well, we just booked tickets to Paris this past weekend for Memorial Day, so I vote for that. We plan to do a few days in Paris, and the rest of the time in Provence (taking the TGV train down).

The year of our 10 year anniversary, we did 3 separate one week trips - Northern CA (we have lived there in the past, so this was purely luxury for us, we split time SF/Sonoma/Lake Tahoe), Kauai, and Turks & Caicos. All were wonderful, so I think from your list you can't go wrong.

I'd check the weather in Costa Rica over your dates before committing! It can get really rainy.

[neonpink]

Our 10 year is coming up. We’ve got a few choices. We honeymooned in Barcelona and took a road trip through the country a few years later. Our plan was to do a Western road trip and hit Portugal too.Our Second thought. It’s the Rugby World Cup next year in Tokyo so maybe going to that.


Paris and France are lovely but it will be toasty in August. Also Europeans tend to holiday the month of August so prices can be higher.

Costa Rica is fun. I highly recommend a few nights at the Peace Lodge. It was one of the coolest/romantic places Ive stayed.

[erbear]

We did Istanbul and Greece for our 10th anniversary. It was awesome.

Other favorite trips:
Napa
Spain and Portugal
Costa Rica
Paris and London
Iceland
Ireland and Scotland

[meowmaps]

We had our 10 year anniversary last fall while we were TTC. Unfortunately, that limited some of our choices because of Zika. We ended up spending a long weekend in Jackson Hole, which was lovely.

Of the places on your list I would pick Costa Rica. One of my favorite recent-ish trips that we took was to a luxury ecolodge in Nicaragua. I would've loved to have had a similar experience in Costa Rica over ten days - nice accommodations, good local food, pampering, wildlife, natural beauty, relaxation, no TV, etc. Whatever you decide I'm sure it'll be wonderful!

[lizlemon19]

Thank you for the replies. Our actual anniversary is September, but for child care reasons might have to do summer.

I realize August in Western Europe is not ideal.

[GilliC]

Personally, I would skip southern Europe in August. It's likely to be crowded with people vacationing from farther north, and if you're planning to do more than hang out at the beach, the weather can be suffocating.

Also, keep in mind that depending on the area you visit, Argentina can be cool to cold at that time of year. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but definitely something to plan/pack for (especially if you're thinking of heading down to Patagonia).

I love both Hawaii and Alaska, but an Alaskan cruise is fairly easy to do with kids, so unless you're including something more adventurous like backpacking in Denali, you might consider saving that for a family trip. So for a couples vacation, I would probably go with Hawaii, California, or Costa Rica*.

*Costa Rica is the only place on this list that I haven't been, but everyone I know who has says good things. It sounds awesome, and I've seen some suggestions that early August is a great time to visit.

[emilyinchile]

I was basically going to say everything GilliC just said. I would wonder about Hawaii being more expensive, so I'd probably put Northern California at the top of that list.

[devonpow]

Hawaii! We did it for our 10 year anniversary. At the time it was too far for us to want to fly with kids (we are in Boston) so it was a great couples trip. Perfect blend of relaxation, adventure, and great weather really no matter when you go.

[lizlemon19]

Thank you for the replies.  I would consider doing another time of year- depends on who is watching our 3 kids.

[clseale]

Jul 17, 2018 5:53:31 GMT -5 lizlemon19 said:

Thank you for the replies. Our actual anniversary is September, but for child care reasons might have to do summer.

I realize August in Western Europe is not ideal.

Ehhhh, we did two weeks in Italy in late August/early September. The only city we really felt hot in was Rome (& it wasn’t miserably hot). The rest of the trip was gorgeous. Of course I should probably mentioned that we live in FL, so perhaps that skews our opinion. LOL

[wildrice]

Not sure if you are still figuring this out, but Costa Rica is wonderful and I think you could do 10 days for 4k, especially if you are willing to do airBNB and/or have any points you can use. We spent 3k for that amount of time, but we didn't pay airfare or about half our hotel rooms. We could have probably cut back on some of the food expense if we were on a tighter budget too.

If you decide to go I'd be happy to provide recommendations! We loved our trip so much.

[fernweh]

We did an Alaskan cruise with a few days in Seattle for our 5th anniversary. It was terrific and I would definitely do it again. That said it was an older crowd on the cruise so it was nice and quiet which was what we wanted but I guess it depends on what you are looking for.

[Waffles]

August is really not a good time of year for southern Europe or Paris. If you could go in May or September, it would be best IMO.

I'd pick Costa Rica as I feel an Alaskan cruise and Hawaii would probably be more kid friendly.

[lizlemon19]

Resurrecting this thread...

A quick update is that I got a school job (yay!) but that means I am at the mercy of the school calendar.

I could do a July/August trip.  Would that be a good time to do No. Cali? How is the weather that time of year?

Would love an Alaska cruise, but so far I can't get prices under 4k for 2 without getting an inside room, and that is without flights to Seattle or Vancouver.  If you have ideas for deep cruise discounts, I am open.
I am starting to consider a Canada cruise out of Boston or NJ - any feedback on that?  Would be much more affordable and easier to get to the port.

I may save Costa Rica for a trip with kids or a solo yoga retreat.

I am also considering a couples trip to France leaving the day after Christmas for a week - the way the holidays fall, we get an extra week of school vacation.  

[RoxMonster]

We did Northern California at the end of July in 2012. We loved it! I had been warned about cold weather in San Fran, but we lucked out with sunny and near 70 every single day. We did 4 days in San Fran with one day being a day trip to Napa with a private driver. Then we drove down to Carmel for three days. This was my favorite part of the trip. We drove down through Big Sur one day--gorgeous!

Napa was the only place that was hot--near 90 the day we went. Carmel was more like in the 60s, but that was perfect hiking weather for us (we did a lot of hiking on that part of the trip). I loved everything about our trip and want to do it again.

[goldengirlz]

I live in NorCal and summer is a great time to visit because the average rainfall is 0.0 inches in July and 0.1” in August. The coast can get foggy but as long as you bring layers, especially for the evening, the weather will be great for anything you want to do. As someone else said, you can expect high 60s-low 70s near the coast and 15-20 degrees warmer as you move inland.

What do you want to do here? Happy to answer any questions! We love to road trip.