Ideasite

I won 2 airline tickets to anywhere in the US48, Bermuda, Caribbean, Mexico and Canada. I am 46 years old and athletic (reasonably). I would like to take a significant other (43 yrs.) and am looking for a great experience. We like everything - shopping, food, beaches, and are adventurous but not rich. We need to travel between June 20 and June 30, 2007. Where should we go?

lovethecape

Posting your budget for lodgings might help. I love the Virgin Islands and St. John has beautiful beaches and very good snorkeling. It is not a cheap island but you are traveling in low season. You can also island hop to the British Virgin Islands.

Our family just came back from St. Kitts which was a fairly undeveloped island with lots of beach bars. My husband and son hiked the dormant volcano, we took an island tour, and rode a catamaran to Nevis. We enjoyed the cultural experience on this island more. The island has one large resort, The Marriott, which is very nice which you can get a good deal on www.skyauction.com. The island also has some smaller inns (Timothy Beach Resort). Nevis is even quieter than St.Kitts and has some beautiful inns.

Hopefully this will get the thread going for you.

A_Traveller

When you say you won 2 airline tickets to "anywhere in the Caribbean, etc." do you really mean anywhere or just those destinations serviced by a particular airline (and perhaps its code-share partners)? If it's the latter it would help if you identified the airline as that could narrow your choice of destination (assuming you don't want to incur some additional transportation costs) since not all islands are serviced by all airlines and some islands are reached only by ferry from other islands.

That said, if you are seeking access to very good shopping consider St. Thomas, St. Martin or St. Barths as you'll find lots of duty free shopping on those islands. A lot of islands can be on the expensive side especially if you are seeking upscale dining experiences i.e. the aforementioned St. Barths is considered an all around expensive island). It would help if you could give us some type of budget number for your food and lodging rather than saying you are "not rich" or you'd like "something affordable" as those terms mean different things to different people.

Give us a bit more information (the more you tell us the easier it is to steer you in the right direction) and you'll get many more suggestions.

jerirl

Also please say more about your interests. What's more important - beach, shopping, food, culture? Do you want a nice resort where you'll spend most of your time or a place where you can walk to restaurants, shops etc?

Knowing

We love the FS in Nevis. Not cheap, but if you have free airfare, and you're going in low season, it may be in your budget. Not at all commercialized, and lots of great resturants on the island. Easy to take a ferry to St. Kitts to explore around over there. The people of Nevis are very real and warm.

christiegr

What are your interests?

SAnParis

You may also be very dependent on what the airline has available. Many flights only commute to the Caribbean on Saturdays & certain days. In addition, to use freebies to the Caribbean I usually book (at least) 6 months in advance. I would check where I could go, then perhaps return w/a more specific question.