creekland Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Hubby and I are planning on creating our three travel Bucket List buckets. We need weekend/day trip ideas, week long ideas, and longer ideas and we want them filled with a multitude of options so when we have the time and money, we can pull one out. ;) Our general preferences are for temps in the 50s to 80s F (10 - 30C) and rural or scenic vs city, BUT we want a multitude of options. We might separate them out into more than three buckets if there are enough options we like. We tend to stretch our travel budget, so camping and similar are ok. Mom & Pop (or locally owned in general) restaurants and similar are preferred. And we can like quirky too. We're on Grand Bahama now - nigh onto perfect for us as a Feb destination (sure beats the weather back home and FAR less crowded than FL). It's a laid back island (meaning boring for most). One of the cute things we like are the buses. They have public buses that sort of run on a regular route, but there is no schedule. And the last time we took one? When we told the driver our destination (what you are supposed to do), he did an immediate U Turn and took us straight there. This MIGHT be why there's no working schedule! Did I mention that many of these public buses are no larger than typical vans in the US and that most would probably not pass state inspections? But these are the sorts of things we like - coupled with a nice walkable beach out our door and reasonably decent snorkeling, etc. We don't need nightlife - but for some of the shorter things - a trip to a worthy show ought to also be in the bucket... a trip to Hard Rock Cafe? Not our thing. I guess the short answer would be to share anything and we'll figure out if it goes into a bucket or not. :coolgleamA: In any event, I love reading about other folk's adventures, so no post would be wasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*lifeoftheparty* Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Have you ever visited the Monterey Peninsula in CA? It's one of my favorite places on Earth! I lived there for 2.5 years, was married there, and we just went back for our 10 year anniversary. Monterey is a beautiful, quaint, town. Our favorite hotel is the Spindrift Inn, which is on Cannery Row. We walk down the trail to Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. (GORGEOUS!!) We drive over to Carmel and walk around, and drive 17 mile drive. OMG. You can stop at The Inn of Spanish Bay around 5 or 6 o'clock, and there is a bagpiper who plays on the golf course (overlooking the sea) to signal the end of the day. Then dinner at Roy's of Pebble Beach- O. M. G. And then you can drive down the coast to Big Sur, stopping to eat at Nepanthe, which has long tables outside looking out over the cliffs- it's sublime. Keep going south and stop at Julia Pfifer (sp?) state park to hike a bit and see the most beautiful waterfall spilling onto the beach. You can keep going south to Heardt Castle if you want. In Big Sur, we almost stayed at this resort that had really nice yurts on the mountainside, overlooking the ocean. They had one of those "nest" things too. But we had kids with us, and it just wouldn't have been as great with kids. Anyways, it's just one of my favorite places ever :) We are planning a road trip starting in Oregon, hitting Refwoods in Ca, and going back up Oregon and Washington coasts- it looks amazing. I just LOVE the West Coast!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amira Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I'm not sure that our favorite places we've been would quite fit what you're looking for. Staying in a yurt in the mountains in Kyrgyzstan was wonderful and you can bike and camp around the country. There's so much to explore in Mexico if you get off the touristy coasts. The ocean is lovely here, but the places where the tourists stay don't feel like Mexico. If you stay away from resorts you can easily spend $50/day for a couple for a hotel and food. I always love Yellowstone. The Oregon coast is one of my favorite places in the world. And there are lots of cities I love. Xi'an, China was amazing- I could have poked around the city for a long time. Jerusalem is endlessly fascinating, as is Cairo. I love to go to New York City and Washington DC. San Francisco and Seattle are great cities too. Day trips are tricky to suggest because I don't know what's a day trip for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Interlochen is supposed to be one of the most gorgeous natural sites in Europe, according to everyone I know who has ever been there (I have not.) I love the Redwood Highway in Northern California near Eureka. It winds through some of the most stunning forests of Coastal Redwoods in the world. These are massive trees, the tallest ones that exist, huge in diameter, in their natural settings, with mists and ferns. Some of them are so big that they create their own microclimates--SEVERAL of them, varying with distance from the ground. They are really quite remarkable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AK_Mom4 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 You should put Alaska somewhere on your bucket list. Or possibly multiple places because we ARE talking a state bigger than most European countries. Like Fjords? We have them. Rainforests? Check. Icy Tundra? Amazing Camping and wildlife? Adorable small fishing towns? Leaping Salmon? Fishing Bears? All here. Good Grief..... I sound like a tourist brochure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 I'm liking what I'm reading... We've been along the WA - San Fran western coast and enjoyed it, but we need to do Big Sur and the Monterey area, so that sounds terrific as a road trip option sometime. Xi'an and China in general need to go in the bucket too - definitely with destinations within China since it's quite large. Xi'an HAS to be in there as I really want to see the Terra Cotta warriors. Jerusalem is a city I want to see someday too - a general trip to Israel. Interlochen looks interesting. And Alaska - yes - must be there. It's the only one of the 50 states we haven't yet been to at all. We MUST get there someday - and allow a bit of time to see more than one area! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bootsie Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 Anywhere in Tirol, Austria is beautiful. http://www.tyrol.com/ You have scenerey similar to Interlochen--but at a much cheaper price (especially given current Euro and Swiss franc exchange rates.) Innsbruck is a college town. There are many outdoor activities from walking paths too much more adventurous mountain climbing. There are many historical sites and a lot of local culture. You are just across the border from Italy, 2 hours from Salzburg, 2 hours from Munich, and about 3 hours from Zurich. The public transportation system (busses and trains) is fantastic whether you are trying to get to another major city or go to some of the small villages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted February 13, 2015 Author Share Posted February 13, 2015 Austria sound beautiful in general... And as a note, these suggestions don't all have to be "aimed" at us. Hubby and I like to read through other's adventures and think of some - or variations of them - that we'd like to do - and we want a huge variety in the buckets so we can be truly surprised at what we pull out. I know from other threads on here I've read about Prague and Iceland and Columbia, etc, as well as lurking on many of the US/Canada travel or "what to do" threads. Feel free to share tales - not just suggestions. While we've been to 49 states and the eastern half of Canada, I know we haven't seen everything even if we were 20 miles away. Besides, we can't fly off for the daytrip/weekend deals. There are bound to be smaller gems out there in people's backyards that we don't know about and it doesn't matter whether that backyard is in Harrisburg (more or less our backyard) or New Zealand. We'll just sort them into the appropriate buckets. We hope to have 30 or so more years to pull some of them out as we have money and time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 On a much smaller scale we love northern Michigan. Mackinaw Island is very unique in that all travel is done by bike or horse drawn carriage. NO VEHICLES at all (except a fire truck, ambulance and police car). There is a state park to explore. You can go horseback riding, drive a carriage, wander the quaint town, visit the historic fort, etc. Then in a days drive are falls, Soo Locks, Whitefish Point (shipwreck museum), pictured rocks, etc. all in the UP. Then a bit south are Sleeping Bear dunes, Traverse City, and beautiful beaches. Temps are generally quite mild. Lots of mom and pop places. Easy to camp if you want. Not much for big city life though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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