Help me figure out 25th anniversary vacation

[TravelingChris]

Bit of a background: we currently live near the Nation's Capital and we will likely be bringing our two younger daughters who will be 13 and 16. For our twentieth, we drove down to Venice, cruised the Mediterranean, drove to Slovenia then on to Budapest, SLovakia, Poland and back home through Dresden to Belgium. It was a totally fabulous vacation. It also wasn't that expensive since the cruise was a great price and the hotels weren't that expensive. Since then we have cruised to southern Caribbean and another time to Bahamas. My dh is traveling to wonderful places with his work- Chile, Singapore, Australia, Scotland, Germany, ALaska etc. I am not. We will likely be going in later July or first half of August. My problem is that while I think there are a lot of great places we could go, I am having trouble figuring out prices or when I do, they are so expensive. Obviously, we know we will have to spend money. But I am hoping to keep it down to about 4000, not 8ooo. SInce we are very flexible in where to go if not so much in price, how do I search? Vacations we are considering are cruises, western National parks including maybe Canadian, Alaska cruise-trip, Hawaii, somewhere in Europe, etc, etc. Any ideas?

[gardening momma]

I've been to Hawaii and would love to go back (with kids, even). I really liked the zip line tour in Kauai.

 

Here's a WTM discussion of Hawaii vacation things-to-do.

[Chris in VA]

We are celebrating our 25 this July--thought we'd go to the Holy Land (I'm sorry, I don't know if that would be appropriate for you :D). We can stay at a hostel in Jerusalem, right down the street from the Old City. (I say hostel, but it's more like a 2-3 star hotel.) With air fare, it'd come to about 3000USD--and that includes entrance fees, food, buses to get around, etc.

Now we are rethinking b/c of other expenses.:glare:

[Melinda in VT]

Bit of a background: we currently live near the Nation's Capital and we will likely be bringing our two younger daughters who will be 13 and 16. For our twentieth, we drove down to Venice, cruised the Mediterranean, drove to Slovenia then on to Budapest, SLovakia, Poland and back home through Dresden to Belgium. It was a totally fabulous vacation. It also wasn't that expensive since the cruise was a great price and the hotels weren't that expensive. Since then we have cruised to southern Caribbean and another time to Bahamas. My dh is traveling to wonderful places with his work- Chile, Singapore, Australia, Scotland, Germany, ALaska etc. I am not. We will likely be going in later July or first half of August. My problem is that while I think there are a lot of great places we could go, I am having trouble figuring out prices or when I do, they are so expensive. Obviously, we know we will have to spend money. But I am hoping to keep it down to about 4000, not 8ooo. SInce we are very flexible in where to go if not so much in price, how do I search? Vacations we are considering are cruises, western National parks including maybe Canadian, Alaska cruise-trip, Hawaii, somewhere in Europe, etc, etc. Any ideas?

 

Well, July and August is generally a more expensive time to travel to Europe, at least in terms of airfares.

 

Would you be willing to consider doing a home exchange? We did this once, and it eliminated our housing costs for a two-week trip to England in July. It sounds like you might be in a good location.

 

We aren't currently in a position to exchange houses, but we do find renting houses in Europe or Latin America to be pretty cost-effective for our family of six.

[TravelingChris]

Yes, I am finding air fares everywhere to be ridiculously expensive. Like I tried Hawaii and just the airfare will be 4000. I can't see doing that. I am actually not so concerned about the lodging as getting to somewhere. Somehow, staying right near where we are just doesn't make it for me, especially since dh is going everywhere. And I am not stuck on Europe at all. I just am not really interested in driving up and down the East Coast for a vacation. I really want it to be more memorable. It is also one of the last vacations for our middle and not to far off for our youngest.

[Melinda in VT]

Yes, I am finding air fares everywhere to be ridiculously expensive. Like I tried Hawaii and just the airfare will be 4000. I can't see doing that. I am actually not so concerned about the lodging as getting to somewhere. Somehow, staying right near where we are just doesn't make it for me, especially since dh is going everywhere. And I am not stuck on Europe at all. I just am not really interested in driving up and down the East Coast for a vacation. I really want it to be more memorable. It is also one of the last vacations for our middle and not to far off for our youngest.

 

I have Europe on the brain at the moment, so that's skewing my response. :D

 

To be honest, my approach to air fares is to just accept that they are expensive these days. We use Orbitz, we try to travel in the off-season when we can, but at the end of the day I buy the tickets and forget about the cost. (This is assuming we have looked at our budget and decided we can afford the trip. If the money is there, I try not to get freaked about the sticker price.)

[Susie in SWVA]

How about going north to Canada? Alittle over a year ago we flew to Boston, rented a car and drove to the eastern provinces. We spent most of our time on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia (we love the music), but also visited New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island (Anne of Green Gables - your girls might enjoy that). We did mostly bed and breakfasts and stayed several nights in each place. No whirlwind tour - very relaxed. We had such a great time, we hope to go again.

 

Susie in SWVA

[sheryl]

We are celebrating our 25 this July--thought we'd go to the Holy Land (I'm sorry, I don't know if that would be appropriate for you :D). We can stay at a hostel in Jerusalem, right down the street from the Old City. (I say hostel, but it's more like a 2-3 star hotel.) With air fare, it'd come to about 3000USD--and that includes entrance fees, food, buses to get around, etc.

Now we are rethinking b/c of other expenses.:glare:

 

OH, LOVE this idea! That would be great. I've always wanted to go the Holy Land.

 

To the other Chris, I would think Alaska over Hawaii in July/August. Or, Ireland, Scotland, Gr. Brit...

 

HTH. Sheryl <><

[Karen in CO]

Since your dh travels a lot - how about a beach rental instead. Check out these rentals in Martha's Vineyard.

[3littlekeets]

My husband and I spent 2 weeks in the Canadian Rockies and were stunned at the sheer beauty of them. We flew into Calgary and drove to Banff. The high time there is Winter for skiing, but summer is warmer:D, and still lovely. It was much like a small European village where everyone spoke English. We spent several days there hiking and exploring, and boating, then headed up to Jasper. In Jasper, large animals such as moose and mountain goats walked up to our cars, wandered the town, etc. We went white water rafting twice, and took the tram up Whistler's mountain.

 

I loved that area of Canada, and would live there if I hadn't had to wear socks in the summer:lol:. It was stunning.

 

You can start here http://www.banffnationalpark.com/