Meesh44

A friend of mine and I are looking for a destination for a 7-9 day trip next May or early June. Last May, we went to Paris and had an absolute blast but are having trouble agreeing on a destination for our next trip.

We are two mid forty women (one married one single), want a destination with some history and culture - we love walking for miles exploring a city and love great people watching. We thoroughly enjoy eating well (and one of us enjoys drinking well!) and would like a destination with good restaurants but understand it might be hard to beat Paris in that department.

London seems to predictable and mainstream as a destination, but some of the ones we are considering are Barcelona, Amsterdam, St Petersburg Russia, Copenhagen, Edinborough, Lisborn, Berlin. My friend is very interested in some of these "up and coming destinations" such as Croatia, Bosnia but I feel we will be limited in restaurants and it may be still too depressed.

So my question to all of you experienced and enthusiastic travels. Where do you think an interesting, exciting destination would be for us? What are some of your favorite destinations - preferably in Europe but we are open to South America, too

Thank you for your help

brotherleelove2004

Go to Greece. Spend a few days in Athens seeing all the sights then fly out to Santorini to experience and enjoy the most beautiful and spectacular island in the Aegean. Stay in the timeless village of Oia in a room with a terrace overlooking the blue sea of the island's caldera.

Margaretlb

What about Venice or Rome?

Meesh44

Wow, do you guys respond quickly! Yes, Italy (Rome, Florence, Venice) would certainly be the obvious choice but we are not able to consider that because my husband (I'm the married one) is Italian and he is desparatly wanting to visit Italy but we still have small children. Therefore, it is bad enough that I leave him with the kids for a week but he would not be happy if I saw Italy for the first time without him!

Dukey

IMO the two B's: Barcelona or Berlin. Vastly different but both vibrant with LOTS to see and do; plenty of hitory and culture and certainly a good supply of restaurants, interesting architecture (especially in Barcelona); both are walkable and both have excellent public transportation systems; both use Euros so the exchange rate isn't as poor as that in the UK and for that friend who likes to drink...well, certainly no problems in that department, either.

kleroux

Stockholm or Istanbul would be my picks. Oslo Norway would come in 3rd.

batraveler

Croatia all the way. We just came home from the most spectacular vacation ever. After having been to 16 European countries this is our new favourite, even over Italy. It has history, stunning beauty, mountains, coast, tiny villages just begging to be explored, and yes, good food. We ate at the top restaurant in the country in Istria - a truffle restaurant. We also participated in truffle hunting! We had lots of fresh seafood/fish: sea bass, lobster, calamari, octopus, prawns, to-die-for truffle dishes, risottos, etc. I am a foodie, teach cooking classes, so food is my passion. Croatia is very easy to drive in - we rented a car for the entire trip except in Dubrovnik.

Believe me - Croatia is not depressed. We found the friendliest people we have yet encountered - very generous, spirited, happy, and enjoying a high quality of life.

Prague would be a second choice in my opinion.

steviegene

what about staying in the country - nyc, or san fransisco. Oh, or we loved Montreal.

FainaAgain

What about Amsterdam and Brussels? You can either fly open jaw or take trains. Benelux passes are inexpensive.

OK, I'm biased on this one as it will be my next destination

I also see Switzerland is off your list, May-June would be great time to travel there. And it has German, French, Italian parts.

luvparee

What about Provence? You KNOW you'll eat and drink well there! 6 of my girlfriends and I celebrated many 60th birthdays by giving outselves this fabulous trip this past summer. We stayed at a guesthouse (www.lelavandinprovence.com) in Pernes les Fontaines and then followed various markets each day and did our sightseeing in those areas. St. Remy, L'Isle sur la Sorgue, Bonnieux, Roussillon, Gordes, Vaison la Romaine, etc., are some of the villages we visited. We all just loved it!!! Lots of shopping, drinking, eating, laughing, etc., etc. If you have any questions, please post here and I'll be more than glad to help.

Enjoy wherever you decide.

joy/luvparee

Carrybean

"London seems to predictable and mainstream as a destination"

I don't really "get" this. London sounds perfect per your description of things you like to do & you can find fabulous food there now.

suze

Amsterdam
Geneva area
Venice

Kristinelaine

We just returned from Greece and loved the food. Not too expensive either. You can't beat it for history and culture either. Scenery is fabulous. A mix of mainland and islands would be a good choice. My second choice would be Prague.

katrine

I would go for Barcelona or Amsterdam. Or, as another post says, London perfectly fits your description. I go there twice a year and NEVER get tired of London!
I am a woman in mid 30'es (married, one small child) who go for the same things as you do - good food, wine, culture and people watching!
But, if you should suddenly go for Copenhagen, I would love to give you some advice - I'm born and still live in central Copenhagen (and knows where the good food is!).
Anyway, enjoy your trip to Europe.

estravel

How about amsterdam, bruge and brussels?

HappyTrvlr

I think Amsterdam fits your description of what you are looking for. It is a wonderful, small, walking city, with excellent ethnic dining, art museums,and lots of charm. The locals are very friendly,and helpful and most speak perfect English.

travelgirl2

So many places to go, so little time... I would choose Rome. Second choice would be London.

Stockholm was nice, but smaller and much less to see than the larger cities.

I see lots of votes for Amsterdam and while I enjoyed it, it was not one of my all-time favorites. Prague also I liked, but would definitely not choose as one of my favorites.

I still have to get to St. Petersburg, Lisbon, Edinburg and Copenhagen.

crazychick

Prague or Budapest with maybe Vienna.

artlover

Barcelona came to my mind immediately, but that might be because we're going back again in April (actually doing Paris and Barcelona). But IMO Italy does have even better food than Spain (though it's close, I've had some excellent meals in Spain too), so Venice/Florence might be a great option too. Oh dear, so many places, so many great choices, and I'm sure wherever you decide will be fun.

namaka

My vote is for Lisbon.

Lisbon has all the things you are looking for, and is one of the cheaper destinations. Plus, you can meet up with some locals for dinner like a lot of us have -see "Lisbon Dining Club"; that alone makes it such a memorable time.