Bonjour!
I need advice on preparing the itinerary for my parents' Silver Jubilee anniversary holiday.

The initial destination choice is France, simply because of its association with romance. Otherwise, anywhere in Europe would be alright. The timeline is mid-august, Around 8-10 days.

They'd like to have a nice romantic, chilled out time out together around natural beauty and good weather. Definitely some slight, subtle dose of adventure, not involving heavy physical input. Not a lot of sightseeing, except maybe Paris.

They've been to Europe once before, went to Edinburgh from London. Loved the euro train experience, had a great time roaming around and getting the proper local experience and would like to replicate the same experience in some other way.

Flexibility- Day trips to destinations 1-2 hours away is ok. Comfortable ONLY with the English language

Accommodation preferences - Resorts, and little places that they could take up for a few days to get a local experience is on the bucket list too.

I'm thinking Paris and Nice, maybe Cannes or someplace along the French riviera.

Also, Are there any special deals/offers/programs in France/Rest of Europe for Silver jubilee couples?

TIA

So silver is 25th and guessing they married at say 25 that makes them 50. (Please advise if actually 75)

Comfortable only with English....

Do they like crowds, because in August it is what they will get.

For romance Italy and France is perfect
For English being certain you will find Netherlands and Denmark is remarkable.

I'd look at Copenhagen, maybe a little sailing, a little bike riding and perhaps some out of town nice hotel as a break from the city. Also Copenhagen gets a bit quieter as everyone has gone south.

Or Amsterdam, much of the same but with more art thrown in.

I would just stay in Paris.

We spend 2 months vacationing in France every year and we try to visit new regions - but return often to our favorites.

Mid August presents a problem. It is very crowded in the most popular places and you will hear a lot of English. It is less crowded in some of the hidden "gems" we've found - but no English.

A good plan might be:
- Fly into Amsterdam & spend 4 nights there (1 to recover from jet lag)
= Take the 3 1/2 hr fast train to Paris & stay 6 nights in Paris.
- Fly home from Paris

Stu Dudley

Fly into London, spend 2 nights, then take Eurostar to Paris.
Get over jetlag, get over culture shock, enjoy the rest of the week in Paris. Stay in a hotel with air-conditioning, somewhere near Metro Odeon or on Ile Saint-Louis.
Everybody speaks English, especially in August.

Amsterdam romantic ?
Italy : yes, Siena, Venice, Firenze... Ti Amo pasta, ... ahhhh.
France : Je t'aime, french kiss, Paris, Nice, Gordes, un verre de côtes du Rhône... Carcassonne, les chateaux de la Loire, La Rochelle, Bordeaux : any place is ok (except Douai and Aubervilliers).

Amsterdam : cheese, Heineken or Karnemelk, coffee shops and 'ik hou van jou' .... Romantism ? come on ;-)

Belgium could be nice for your parents : Brugge, beer, Gent, Lier... chocolate.

English is not an issue in toursity areas and in big cities. Small villages... people there are quite often monolingual.

Amsterdam and romance, that is like Disneyland and subtlety.

Because of the reasons stated above, I too would recommend Italy.

Shoulder to shoulder people in Florence and Siena in mid August with the crowds & heat doesn't seem very romantic to me.

Stu Dudley

If they are not comfortable in hot humid weather often surrounded by mass tourists, August presents a difficulty. While northern countries offer somewhat cooler outdoor temperature, the accommodations don't come with A/C because of this. They can end up having to sleep in a 85F room even at midnight if they get hit with a heat wave. French and Italian accommodations usually come with A/C.

>>> around natural beauty
Unless this includes man made structures, you will not find these in Paris, Cannes, or Nice.

>>> Comfortable ONLY with the English language.
Any place frequented by international tourists, such as the ones you mentioned, speak very good English. Bus drivers usually don't, but they understanding enough that if you can pronounce the destination name, they can tell you and gesture yes or no on whether you are on the right bus. Most of the drivers I did this always remembered my stop and told me "this is your stop" and even told me which way to head to the destination.

>>> Resorts, and little places that they could take up for a few days to get a local experience
Resorts tend to be isolated from the local experience. Small non-bottom-of-the-market local family run places usually offer local experiences.

For our 20th we did Paris, Lake Como (Varenna) and Rome. Our anniversary was in August but I insisted we waited until September to go.. actually it was the last couple of days in August and we still found a lot of restaurants closed in Paris...I know there are still millions open, but even shops were shut and it had a bit of a 'closed up' feeling, at least in the 7th arr for a few days into Sept. We were there for ten days.

Staying on the water at Varenna at the Hotel du Lac was just lovely... Very romantic and such gorgeous scenery. (There are several hotel du lacs around the lake!)

Also Santa Margarita Liguria in Italy was a gorgeous spot.. Lovely size town, great walks around and train or bus rides up and down the coast.

It depends how 'easy' your parents want to make it... Getting to some of these out of the way places can be harder than just flying into a city.

I found Rome far too busy for my personal preference.

They can do easy day trips by train from Paris to places like Chartres and Giverny or the Champagne country to get a feel of France outside Paris..

Or what about Paris for a few days then fly to Nice and stay there and take the bus to some of the gorgeous hillside villages...

I never stay in a resort style place so can't help there.

>>around natural beauty
Unless this includes man made structures, you will not find these in Paris, Cannes, or Nice. <<

How about the Nice Hinterland? It's some of the most gorgeous "natural beauty" we've ever explored. Red rock canyons, mountains, roaring rivers, perched/isolated villages. And the Grande Corniche isn't bad either.

Stu Dudley