vertigo99

My husband and I are looking to take a trip between June 26 - July 14. We are in our mid-thirties, adventurous, and "off the beaten path" type travelers. We have thought about Hawaii, or maybe one or more of the Scandinavian countries. We are trying to avoid locations that may be too uncomfortably warm or conversely to uncomfortably cold, given that these dates are in the middle of summer for the northern hemisphere and in the middle of winter for the southern hemisphere.

Any suggestions???? thank you!!

crosscheck

We always have to travel in July or August and have been to some awesome places, all with great weather:

Cook Islands - unspoiled paradise, like Hawaii 100 years ago. Inexpensive, good tourist infrastructure.

Australia - there are always great Qantas specials that let you stop at three destinations, like great barrier reef, Uluru (ayer's rock) and sydney

Galapagos Islands and highlands of Ecuador

Train through Switzerland

Scotland

janisj

It is June 12 -- very VERY late to be planning a trip starting on June 26. July is the highest of high season most places -- and finding flights may be very difficult, let alone finding accommodations.

If I was you -- I'd first find out where I could get R-T flight availability and work from there.

suze

Sure Hawaii would be great!! I think you can plan that last minute. How about Kauai? that's more off the beaten path than Oahu or Maui generally speaking.

hlphillips2

I'd also try to find out deals from my home airport. But if you want to focus on location, a few thoughts... I'd skip Europe because most of the continent is busy during the summer. Australia and New Zealand are amazing and the weather would be ideal in both places. I traveled there in late June and it was perfect. Or maybe Peru, Bolivia or Brazil? Or since you have two weeks, what about Kenya, Tanzania or South Africa? With the World Cup ending soon, it's possible there could be some good deals in SA later in the summer. Botswana or the coast of Namibia might be more temperate options while still giving you the "off the beaten path" feel.

suze

With only two weeks I think you'll get more bang for your buck closer to home in a less "exotic" destination. I wouldn't do a "big trip" like South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, even Europe without time to plan properly.

Hawaii, Mexico (inland, colonical cities where it's cooler in summer), maybe Costa Rica or Belize someplace like that would be my suggestions.

suze

Oops, I realize I am just assuming you are in the U.S. to start.

umsm

If you live in the US, I would visit any of the national parks including Yellowstone, Yosemite, or Zion for a week. Then you could probably stay in vegas for a few days to relax.

http://www.nps.gov/findapark

vertigo99

Thank you all who replied with such helpful suggestions. We decided on Spain. So far last minute booking has been easy and cannot wait to start our 12 day adventure!

thank you all again.

john_johnson

In case you have another tough decision to make check out Travelworld Magazine, it has an endless amount of travel ideas such as China's Harbin Ice Festival, http://issuu.com/jhemsworth/docs/tra....janfeb10sm/34. Check out the many other great travel ideas and accounts at www.travelworldmagazine.com, it's also the only online travel magazine in flash script, making it easy and more pleasant to read.

DMBTraveler

Vertigo99,

I will be in Spain the first week of July. Pamplona, Madrid and hopefully Barcelona. Will blog and post about it here or at: www.dmbtraveler195.blogspot.com. Buen Viaje!