Thanks for the additional suggestions..

Unfortunately, biking is out too. I agree with amwosu - we've done the Grand Canyon and I figured the other areas of AZ we'd want to visit would require me to be in tiptop shape but wasn't sure. And Greece? Well, we've decided to wait on that for a little while.

Leely! You're too much. But good point about flights - I guess it's not going to be easy to find easy ones to Croatia.. I'll keep that in mind.

I just downloaded and printed a mammoth online brochure for Turkey. And so begins the insane trip research!

Hubby just added Cairo to the mix, I'm going mad! He hasn't quite gotten it that we're trying to narrow DOWN choices, not add new ones LOL!

Flights to Croatia,be creative.....I booked a flight to Ireland, we are staying there for 4 days and then flying on AerLingus to Venice.We will have an evening there before we rent our car and off we go to drive the Coast of Croatia...stopping and staying where ever we desire.It was less expensive to do this than fly directly to Dubrovnik...and we are seeing a bit of Ireland and two "special" evenings in Venice.I feel I am getting the most for the buck!Hope this helps.


Check out AerLingus...GOOD rates!

Thanks again for the responses, everyone.

I think getting to Croatia is proving to be too much a hassle right now..

Thinking it over, Eastern Europe is way too difficult to do what I want in such a short span of time. Saving that for later.

Boils down to Turkey, Mexico, UK or Morocco. Mexico is currently my last choice out of these 4. I definitely want to travel there, but the others, for me, seem more enticing.

I'm just kind of talking out loud here to myself probably, but of course would welcome any other feedback to help choose one over the other. :D

I wouldn't have made some of the choices you did, but since you've narrowed it down to Turkey, Morocco, Mexico and UK -- I'd choose Turkey or UK given your time frame. UK would be fine if you do want August. I wouldn't go to a lot of the places you named in August, and that would include your remaining ones. I was in Egypt in early October though, and it was a good time to go. I love Mexico also, but since it's not top on your list, why not choose from the others. I'd choose Turkey over Morocco myself, although that depends on some of my personal interests and experiences.

I do like England and Scotland very much, though, so I would choose that as top choice myself. I loved the Lake District, and the countryside in Scotland is very pretty (although I guess you won't be hiking, so that does remove a little of what you could have done there). Edinburgh is a very nice city to visit.

I think the Highlands in Scotland, including the Isle of Skye, is lovely, but it is mostly great for hiking, and it sounds like you need to give yourself a break there.

Given the fact you like to be on the go all the time, may I suggest you consider Japan? It's really not as expensive as people think it is, it's a wonderful adventure, and Tokyo buzzes round the clock. Five days in Tokyo (with a sidetrip to Mt. Fuji and/or Nikko), 3 in Kyoto (with a sidetrip to Nara), 2 in Hiroshima, then back to Tokyo. If you'd rather hop around even more, you could consider spending some time in Shanghai, or (more easily) in the more rural parts of Japan. A Japanese rail pass is fantastic, and you travel in real comfort.

One of the nice things about Japan -- no, make that one of the great things about Japan -- is that when your feet give out, there are no end of comfy clean taxis and rest spots and baths, etc., to refresh yourselves. All subway and street signs in Japan are also in English, and the Japanese everywhere treat you as an honored guest, extremely helpful.

I would wait until October to take a trip to Japan when the autumnal gardens will be at their best and you'd be well clear of typhoon season.

My other suggestions would be an extensive bike tour through Holland and Belgium, with a 3 days in Amsterdam and 2 in Antwerp, and I'd do that trip in August.

nessundorma (LOVE your screen name btw!!) - thanks, but Hubby just got back from Japan, needs to go back for work again and is not keen on heading out there a 3rd time. Biking is unfortunately not an option for me.

Christina - you say you would have chosen other destinations over the ones I listed - may I ask what you would have chosen?

Thanks again!

Boston Girl-

I'm not going to be a big help, but let us know what you ultimately decide.

My husband and I are looking at some of the same spots: Turkey (Istanbul), Morocco, Egypt, and Eastern Europe. We usually travel twice a year for 10 nights plus travel each trip. We're thinking of cutting it down by a couple of nights for a 7-8 night stay to do either Turkey and/or Morocco. We were also thinking about combining Morocco with Malta.

I think you could do either of those in your time frame--and you may need an overnight somewhere (Paris, Frankfurt, Madrid) with the connections.

You'll probably get lots of responses to the contrary, but I'd drop UK from your list. We have previously done the Bath, Cotswold, thing and spent two days in Edinburgh this past February.

I am very partial to Central/Eastern Europe, so would have had that as one of my top choices. I love Prague and Krakow, and only spent a little time in Budapest but would like to return and enjoyed it. Salzburg is also nice for a day. In fact that IS my trip this summer, ha ha, so I guess I did choose it. I'm going to Prague, then up to NE Germany (Dresden, Leipzig) then taking the train over to Wroclaw and Krakow Poland. After that, I'm flying from Krakow to finish up in Paris for 4-5 days and home from there. I love Paris and always try to fit that in, and this year fares are so expensive I really did. I have a friend living in Dresden this summer, and am visiting her for a few days, so that's part of my reasons.

I've also heard a lot about Croatia and would like to see it, and you didn't mention Slovakia, but that's another one that could have been put in that pot. But you felt you couldn't plan for them or something in time.

I understand that, you want to have the best vacation.

I would never choose N Africa, etc. for August. ugh. Also, I don't want to say too much about that as it will be political (as my opinion of some Turkish government things such as official announcements on their cultural affairs dept. website) and cultural. However, there are certain places that can be fascinating to visit, but trying, and where I do not like a lot of cultural aspects, aspecially as a woman traveling alone. Even with someone else, there are certain things I cannot stomach, shall we say, regarding treatment of women. It's just sometimes vacations can be wearying in certain ways and I get tired of things (e.g, not my main example, but I have zero enjoyment or tolerance of having to bargain for every little thing you do).

BostonGal
Portugal. I appreciate the country is not on your list but since you are both fit active and on the go from morn till night you could cover the wide area of Portugal, incl. the island of Madiera - from north to south incl. the Algarve region. You can even go from there to Seville Spain.
Suggest October the better time for travelling through Portugal.

Thanks Christina - Morocco would be over the other dates I had mentioned, the beginning of October. I'd need a straightjacket to do so in August!! As for E. Europe, I want at least 14 days there to do the cities I want to visit, and with all the travel time that would be included, I feel like we'd really only have 8 days and to me, that's not nearly enough time to do 3 cities nevermind 4 or 5...

lomajay - I suggested Portugal to my husband and he said he wants to put that on the back burner for a longer combined trip with Spain. But thanks for the suggestion!

And LoriS - thanks so much for your input. Much appreciated!