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-   -   Active Couple Looking For Isolation (https://www.fodors.com/community/europe/active-couple-looking-for-isolation-1677054/)

Automaton25 Jan 29th, 2020 05:11 PM

Active Couple Looking For Isolation
 
Hello Everyone,

My wife and I are looking for travel location ideas for this year. We are planning on traveling in late July or early August. We are very active, previous trips include mountaineering, multi day see kayaking trips, multi day glacier exploration, deep jungle tours, etc. We like to be away from people and if it's a tour, we prefer small groups.

At this time we're highly considering the Dolomites but open to suggestions and input.

Cheers,
Andrew

janisj Jan 29th, 2020 06:38 PM

If you are mainly looking at the Dolomites / Italy you will do better starting a thread on the Europe forum.

Jean Jan 30th, 2020 07:37 AM

Yes, ask the moderators to move this to the Europe forum...

We love exploring the Dolomites, but we don't travel in July/August so I can't say where you'd find the level of isolation you want. There are comments on Tripadvisor forums about crowded 'main' tourist towns (Cortina, Ortisei, etc.) and certain trails accessed by some lifts. You'd need to do your research, but I think it's entirely possible to craft an itinerary that avoids crowds. You might find helpful info in these articles:

https://www.independent.co.uk/travel...-a7228981.html

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/d...the-Dolomites/

crellston Jan 31st, 2020 10:46 PM

For an active vacation In July or August I would look towards South America, maybe Peru, Argentina or Colombia or, in Asia, Borneo or Indonesia (specifically Sulawesi or Java) .

To find isolation in Europe you would need to choose your locations very carefully as those months are the peak holiday season for most European countries.

jpie Feb 1st, 2020 06:48 AM

If you are open to France then the first place that came to mind for me was the Cévennes since it is lovely and still pretty isolated. Here's a link that talks about many of the sporting activity you mention.

https://www.ultimatefrance.com/holid...-national-park

kerouac Feb 1st, 2020 07:00 AM

The Cévennes are a good location, but would probably not correspond to "isolation" which I will also say that you probably don't really want. I cannot even imagine why you would even mention the possibility of a tour if you want isolation. There are no "tours" to isolated places.

In terms of nice little places that never seem to be overrun, I would recommend Millau, Lodève, Gramat… small towns that tourists pass through without staying. For a slightly larger place, I highly recommend Le Puy-en-Velay, which has the added advantage of numerous things to see in town.

SemiMike Feb 1st, 2020 07:26 AM


Originally Posted by kerouac (Post 17056048)
The Cévennes are a good location, but would probably not correspond to "isolation" which I will also say that you probably don't really want. I cannot even imagine why you would even mention the possibility of a tour if you want isolation. There are no "tours" to isolated places.

In terms of nice little places that never seem to be overrun, I would recommend Millau, Lodève, Gramat… small towns that tourists pass through without staying. For a slightly larger place, I highly recommend Le Puy-en-Velay, which has the added advantage of numerous things to see in town.

Ah, kerouac, Le Puy-en-Velay - my favorite medium size town in France! I'll be back for a second visit this September (day trip from Montpellier area - and yes, I know it is a 3 hour+ drive) for the marvelous Fêtes Renaissance du Roi de l'Oiseau festival.

StCirq Feb 1st, 2020 09:04 AM

Yes, but even kerouac's suggestions don't spell out "isolation" in July or August, though they're close. I'd head to the Lozère for isolation - no one wants to be there.

kerouac Feb 1st, 2020 09:06 AM

And there is a reason for that. :)

StCirq Feb 1st, 2020 09:27 AM

No kidding.

Coquelicot Feb 1st, 2020 10:06 AM

The Morvan was the least crowded place we've ever been in France. Plenty of walking in that area and there's a parc naturel et regional. It was not only untouristed, the towns we passed through were hollowed out. Once-lively towns now had very few businesses. I've seen other villages like that in France, but there was always new growth somewhere nearby. Not in the Morvan. I'm not making it sound very appealing, I know!

It's possible to stay in the country in France and pretty much isolate yourselves. You can avoid crowds by not going to local markets and not shopping on Fridays or Saturdays. Bike or walk on trails, walk in the woods or on quiet country roads.

bon_voyage Feb 1st, 2020 10:19 AM

Welcome, Andrew! Your travel style is intriguing. Could you say more about exactly where you went on previous trips?

menachem Feb 1st, 2020 11:16 AM

We run our wilderness retreats in the Aveyron region, near Millau. Pretty isolated.

tomboy Feb 1st, 2020 06:33 PM


Originally Posted by Coquelicot (Post 17056136)
The Morvan was the least crowded place we've ever been in France. Plenty of walking in that area and there's a parc naturel et regional. It was not only untouristed, the towns we passed through were hollowed out. Once-lively towns now had very few businesses. I've seen other villages like that in France, but there was always new growth somewhere nearby. Not in the Morvan. I'm not making it sound very appealing, I know!

It's possible to stay in the country in France and pretty much isolate yourselves. You can avoid crowds by not going to local markets and not shopping on Fridays or Saturdays. Bike or walk on trails, walk in the woods or on quiet country roads.

We agree re: the Morvan. We stayed at a B&B there two nights, and it was uncrowded. Sort of wild, but without mountains (did have hills). There were 2 British couples staying there as well. They had brought 5 gallon water jugs in the trunks of their 2 cars, and made side trips out of the Morvan to local vineyards, where they'd fill the trunk and back seat with vine, to be bottled once they got back to the UK.

hetismij2 Feb 2nd, 2020 02:01 AM

What a very odd thing to do Tomboy, maybe they liked vinegar.

The Spanish side of the Pyrenees is pretty isolated in places. We have spent time there and not seen another vehicle never mind another person but that wasn't in July/April and may be too isolated anyway. I guess it depends on the OP's definition of isolation.

kerouac Feb 2nd, 2020 02:47 AM


Originally Posted by hetismij2 (Post 17056457)
What a very odd thing to do Tomboy, maybe they liked vinegar.

The French buy wine like that all the time. It is the whole point of existence of all of the little vintners along the country roads. They sell very few bottles, but they sell lots of cubitainers -- or fill up the ones people bring. It's very cheap and ecological and it's the very same wine that is put in bottles.

hetismij2 Feb 2nd, 2020 02:55 AM

Yes but in old water containers and then eventually lug it home to the UK? I remember a French friend bringing wine over like that back in the 70s, but by the time it got back to the UK after sometime in the back of his car it was pretty disgusting. The bottled version of the same wine on the other hand was delicious.
It would work in France as it would be drunk quite quickly I imagine.

Odin Feb 2nd, 2020 03:09 AM

I can think of alot of places in Sweden where you can rent a cottage in the forest and not see anyone for days, even in high summer, if true isolation is a requirement.

https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2...nd-scandinavia


kerouac Feb 2nd, 2020 05:54 AM


Originally Posted by hetismij2 (Post 17056464)
Yes but in old water containers and then eventually lug it home to the UK? I remember a French friend bringing wine over like that back in the 70s, but by the time it got back to the UK after sometime in the back of his car it was pretty disgusting. The bottled version of the same wine on the other hand was delicious.
It would work in France as it would be drunk quite quickly I imagine.

I don't think that the containers are as dodgy as they might have been in the 70's. Water containers and wine containers are identical and non toxic -- thank god for EU rules for such things. Obviously, wine snobs will always want to buy bottles of wine (ecology be damned!), but ordinary people are thrilled to pay 1 or 1.50 euros for good wine in bulk. Oh, those ordinary people can be so annoying! All of the money they save is charged to the wine snobs instead.

Meanwhile, I hope we have a new intervention by the OP or else we are just idly chatting again.

Automaton25 Feb 11th, 2020 07:21 AM


Originally Posted by bon_voyage (Post 17056147)
Welcome, Andrew! Your travel style is intriguing. Could you say more about exactly where you went on previous trips?

Are you looking for specifics on our trips for personal use or to guide suggestions?


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