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Destination suggestions for couple in 20s

Destination suggestions for couple in 20s

Old Dec 19th, 2015, 09:24 AM
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Destination suggestions for couple in 20s

My boyfriend and I are wanting to travel together and are looking for some suggestions on where to go. I've been to England, France, Switzerland, Italy, and Denmark already. I went to a lot of the major cities with a few visits to smaller, more rural areas on my last trip. This time I think we would like to see a lot of the natural beauty Europe has to offer, instead of the tourist attractions.

I'm not giving a lot of details about our interests because we are honestly open to anything at this point.
Thanks for the help!
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 09:44 AM
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When do you want to travel, and for how long?
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 10:42 AM
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Are you willing to drive? Away from cities, cars get you around far more efficiently. Except in Switzerland, where the trains and gondolas and boats all connect seamlessly and go places you can't go with a car.

My favorite European countrysides are found in Tuscany and England. One of my favorite trips was to Croatia, along the Dalmatian coast, inland to Plitvice national park and north to the Istrian peninsula. Plitvice, in particular, was spectacular. Another favorite was the Dordogne in France -- for its combination of hills and villages and forests and rivers, fairy tale land. And I really like Switzerland and Austria. But these preferences are particular to me.

What kind of natural beauty do you like? How about pretty villages?

You might look at the UN World Heritage Site list of natural sites in Europe to get ideas.
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 02:56 PM
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Much of the natural beauty of Europe have become tourists attractions, and the towns in the area have the character of being tourist destnatons, filled to the brim with tourists.

Europe is a huge continent filled with beautiful nature, even if you exclude Italy, France, England, Switzerland and Denmark. Other people will be able to make suggestions more in line with whatever you are envisioning if you tell them whether you are:

Interested in renting a car or using trains
On a budget or can spend freely
Do you want to get away from a tourist scene or do you not mind large groups of tourists if the payoff is spectacular scenery?
Do you imagine staying in one country or destination for the entire trip?
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 05:02 PM
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What time of year and how long you have matters a lot. Also if you want to drive and if you have a very tight or a large budget. (Scandinavia can be gorgeous but is not cheap.)
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 05:02 PM
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Thanks for your input so far everyone. I'm just looking for destinations. I'll start to plan what I do and how I'm getting there after I have this decided.

I'm open to any suggestions. Where have you been? What did you like?
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 05:55 PM
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If you want to rent a car, I hope one of you is over 25, otherwise there will likely be a surcharge.
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 06:18 PM
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Unless we know what time of year it is next to impossible to give useful advice.

And if you don't have a time of year in mind, you'll literally get hundreds of suggestions.
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 09:14 PM
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Really haven't gotten any suggestions yet, let alone hundreds.
I've said I'm open...
If Germany is really great in the winter, Great!
If Spain is best in spring, cool. (Making these up btw)
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Old Dec 19th, 2015, 11:52 PM
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Your brief is just too wide for us to really make suggestions.

What sort of natural beauty do you have in mind? Mountains? Fjords? Coast? Rolling Hills? Forest? Wilderness? Farmland? Near a city or out in the wilds? Camping or in a 5 star hotel?


With the exception of fjords you could meet all of the above in Great Britain (where coastal lochs will have to stand in for fjords) for instance, but you would need a lot more than two weeks to see more than a tiny bit of it.
Likewise in France, or Italy or Germany or Scandinavia, or Central Europe.

You have to think more about what you are hoping to see, what your budget will be, whether you want to hire a car, what sort of accommodation you want.
Then we can come back with some suggestions, and ideas of where and when.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 01:02 AM
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The Pyrenees. Crete. The Scottish Highlands and the Western Isles, The Italian Lakes. The Ligurian Riviera. The Troodos Mountains. The Alps.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 01:47 AM
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Poland. Norway. Malta. Slovenia. Portugal. Germany. Austria. Andorra.

Islands, highlands, lowlands, midlands.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 01:56 AM
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If you want bi golden sand beaches with rolling waves then the Cote d'argent or sauvage is the place, in June and early July this can be wonderful with great areas of countryside to visit inland.

I always recommend the Po valley because while the cities are ancient and walled, the palaces are palatia, the food is to die for and the people friendly.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 03:08 AM
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bilbo, I must ask:

Do mosquitoes never bite you?
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 05:17 AM
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sandra never been bothered by them in either place and been a fair bit. Worst places for me are Turkish swamps, northern Scotland and Finland all of which make Italy look mossie free.

What you do see in the Po valley is the mossie traps to check for the disease of the year (west nile dengue fever seems to be big at the moment) but no, worst problem last time was a giant wasp up Mrs Bilbo's trousers.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 06:25 AM
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You also haven't said where you visited in each of the countries you mention other than "a lot of the major cities with a few visits to smaller, more rural areas" which could mean just about anything. Some ideas although you may have visted since you have been to Italy & France -- Dolomites, Sicily, surrounding area near Lucca had some wonderful countryside and places to hike, Portugal, Greek islands, Dordogne, Provence, Bavaria, Turkey outside of Istanbul. As others have noted you really might get better suggestions if you narrow what you are looking for -- hiking, kayaking, beaches etc.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 06:53 AM
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>

It's irrelevant where we've been and what we liked. We all have completely different interests and tastes and travel for vastly different reasons.

I think you're putting the cart before the horse. Instead of looking at destinations, look at what you want to do and accomplish somewhere, what kind of terrain/scenery attracts you, what time of year you want to travel....THEN find destinations that have the combination of attributes you're looking for.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 08:23 AM
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Thank you to the people who actually gave suggestions. I will look into those places and see what works
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 09:34 AM
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My sympathies to Mrs Bilbo. Had the same problem earlier this year on an Italian stroll. Fortunately just a honeybee.
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Old Dec 20th, 2015, 12:25 PM
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>

It's irrelevant where we've been and what we liked. We all have completely different interests and tastes and travel for vastly different reasons.>

I totally disagree - experiences of others are a valuable tool to deciding where to go -especially the many Fodorites who are as expert or more than any travel guide.

and OP says things of natural beauty - so I would recommend say the Jungfrau Region in Switzerland or the Mosel or Rhine valleys - in Germany or Tuscan hill towns or the French Riviera or Amalfi Coast or Cinque Terre or the Lakes District in Italy.

But especially consider the Swiss Alps - settle yourselves in a small Alpine village like Grindelwald and be eyeball to eyeball with soaring glacier girdled peaks rising thousands of feet above lush cow-dotted meadows with toylike trains and thrilling aerial gondolas going off in all directions - hiking paths for all degrees of energy - no special shoes required, etc.:

https://www.google.com/search?q=jung...HZj9C88QsAQIGw
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