Mike W.

Last year, I was on this site daily for several months planning our trip to the Italian Lakes. Extremely helpful and informative, thank you all!<BR><BR>I can't believe we find ourselves NOT KNOWING where to go this summer. But we have fallen in love with traveling, so your ideas very welcomed!<BR><BR>First, here's what we look for:<BR><BR>We have 3 young children, but these annual summer trips are for just the two of us (thankfully, our family watches the kids, we get to have time with each other for a change).<BR><BR>We're from Boston, and we typically travel in the summers (July) for 12-14 days. We like to visit historical sites, different cultures, great food, nice hotels. We usually start in a large city, then rent a car and explore smaller surrounding towns.<BR><BR>So far we have been to: Venice, Florence &amp; Tuscany ('99), Paris, Provence and Cotes d'Azur ('00), Rome &amp; Amalfi Coast ('01) and the Italian Lakes ('02).<BR><BR>Nothing is jumping out at me, please share your suggestions? Thanks so much in advance.

Sheila

Scotland fits perfectly (given that you didn't mention weather<BR><BR>You can even do the &quot;great food&quot; if you're careful.

Ira

Hi Mike,<BR><BR> If you like Europe, why not two weeks in the British Isles?

Mike

Munich and Bavaria - Salzburg, Bertchesgarden, Garmish, Fussen, etc. Rent a diesel BMW at the airport and take off. Here's a nice place to pamper yourselves in the Schwangau area: http://www.neuschwanstein-hotel.com/hotel-rooms-rates/ Have dinner on their patio overlooking the castle.<BR><BR>

Mike W.

Thanks! Sorry, I KNEW I forgot to include something: weather!<BR><BR>We love it hot! (warm will even do). Like to dress (and pack) light, the beer tastes a lot better after a day of walking, exploring. <BR><BR>How's Barcelona/Western France as an idea?

xxx

Prague, where the beer is fabulous, Dresden, Austria, Budapest, and a side trip to Lake Balaton.

Mike

xxx,<BR><BR>If wants to stay warm and drink good beer, he will have to chose between Spain and Bavaria.

John H

Sounds like Spain or a combination of southern France and Spain fits the bill.<BR><BR>Enjoy!<BR><BR>John H.

Nancy

Different cultures,great food,nice hotels? Try Thailand. Was there last year and will return this year.

Wes Fowler

You might consider Belgium, one of Europe's undiscovered treasures.<BR>Belgium is slightly larger than Maryland, about 12,800 square miles. Maryland bills itself as “America in miniature” with its fine coastline beaches, rolling farmlands, horse country and mountains in its western borders with Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Belgium could well bill itself as “Europe in miniature” with its superb beaches, magnificent cities and towns, amazing number of rivers, rolling farmlands, forests, caves and mountains (of a sort) to its east. <BR><BR>While distances are short, a driver can easily find himself lost (at worst) or horrendously confused (at best) due to the bilinguilism of the country. Town and city names will appear on road signage in two languages, Flemish (a Dutch dialect) and Walloon (a French dialect). German is the predominant language of eastern Belgium where it borders upon Germany. Examples of the multiplicity of town/city names include Antwerp/Anvers, Bruges/Brugge, Bastogne/Bastenaken, Brussels/Bruxelles/Brussel, Gent/Gand, Kortrijk/Courtrai, Liege/Liuk and Louvain/Leuven. Confused? In Brussels, the street names are in two languages as well, to add to the driver’s perplexity.<BR><BR>If you can cope with that idiosyncracy, you'll find a country with two distinct cultures and languages (Flemish and Walloon); superb cuisine (more starred Michelin restaurants per capita than France); over 400 variety of beers, extraordinary architecture (Leuven's state house, for example) and a population that seems to thrive on parties and celebrations and any excuse to get into costume and parade on stilts.<BR><BR>Drop me an Email if you'd like some specific suggestions.

Karen

Mike, <BR><BR>Check out Spain. Warm weather, cold beer, lovely beaches, historical, good museums, great food and wines, relatively inexpensive compared to Italy or France, warm and friendly people, easy driving, very, very, very relaxed! Wherever you go, hope you're travels are just wonderful!<BR><BR>Karen

Deb

If you are considering Spain then I greatly preferred the Seville area over Barcelona. It would be a wonderful place for renting a car and driving to the white villages and Granada. <BR><BR>My other thoughts for you would be Prague which I thought was wonderful,after that rent a car and drive down to Cesky Krumlov. Beautiful scenery and a charming town.<BR>Or finally Croatia is wonderful place to rent a car and drive down the coast. There are many great towns between Split and Dubrovnik. I actually combined the Prague/cesky krumlov trip with Croatia by taking a flight down to Split.

Danna

Mike, Scotland! The Scots are wonderful, and there is the tradition of the 'auld alliance' which can create great food. If you are looking to start in a city and then explore, go to Edinburgh and then decide to visit any area, within a small area. Be sure to visit a pub, stand close to the bar and be ready to chat. You will have the grand tim!

John

Hi Mike,<BR><BR>Pretty good suggestions . . . branch out a bit. Consider the next three years.<BR><BR>Germany (Munich and Bavaria)<BR>Spain (Barcelona and Northeast)<BR>Scotland / Ireland (Northwest in both cases)<BR><BR>Have fun - get excited.<BR><BR>in any order.