yellowrose477

My husband and I are in our late 50's. We have been to Germany, Paris, Taiwan, Japan, Rome and are just starting to plan a trip for this summer. We thought we were going to Venice on a business trip but that fell through so are now thinking of other places. My husband loves history! I enjoy castles, ruins. Shopping is not important but we like good food. We like to mingle with the locals and usually rent a car to get out into the countryside. When we went to Germany we stayed in small hotels and B&B's. Would like to hear some advice on the above locations and if you have any other places that you would recommend more highly. I have been thinking of Prague as well. I know this is vague, but would love hearing about places that you loved to visit in Europe and UK.

Michael

If going to the Belgium and the Netherlands, you might find a car an encumbrance--parking is a pain in most cities. The train system is so efficient that going from one end of Holland to the other takes no more time than going from one end of NYC to the other by subway.

lavandula

Belgium has its fair share of castles, palaces and citadels: here are a few you might want to check out:

http://www.freyr.be/
http://www.kasteelvangaasbeek.be/ (slow to load, be sure to select English option (EN))
http://www.bouillon-initiative.be/ (a general site, you are after the château-fort bit)
http://www.citadellededinant.be/en/welcome?language=eng
and
http://www.visitbelgium.com/index.ph...es-and-gardens

Just to get you started ... some of these options are better visited by car, even though I prefer trains myself, but you would have to put together an itinerary to determine what's best for you.

Lavandula

lavandula

I don't know if there's a way of tagging posts retrospectively but you might get more mileage if you tag this for specific countries (Belgium, Netherlands, Ireland, Czech Republic) because this post will more or less disappear after enough new posts have appeared. People interested in specific countries can call up those that correspond with their interests so the life of your post will be extended for a while. If you can't tag it start a new post.

Lavandula

yellowrose477

I don't think you can post after the fact - I may need to just re-post it in the specific countries. Thanks.