where would one go to turn fifty? i was thinking paris as i have spent some time there and love it, been to portugal, spain and the netherlands. it will be in june. we will go for one week and always rent apartments. cant wait to hear what the fodorites have to say. p.s. we will be with another couple. thanks in advance.

Cubby... been thinking of this myself as my husband turns 50 in April and me in October. I'm thinking about Venice... just because it's a city where you can stay with no expectations of accomplishing a cetain list of things.

It's such a personal thing, I can't imagine someone could really tell you where you'd be happiest, spending your birthday.

I love to travel for significant birthdays, but honestly I don't see what 50 has to do with the particular place you pick to visit. Go to where you want to go most! Then celebrate from there
;-)

hi ! i turned 50 4days ago in my living room with my husband and son. it was painless -- haha.. actually, it was great! cubby, i say go where you will make a wonderful memory of the day!

When DH turned 50, he and three other friends (also turning 50), and their respective spouses, chartered a boat in the USVIs for a week. This year, they all turn the big seven-oh and there was some talk of another boat charter. Since DH has married me in the meantime, an avowed Francophile, we will all be barging in Burgundy in October to mark the occasion.

I had wanted to turn 40 in India, but felt insecure about adventurous travel after 9/11. So, I was in Paris for that birthday. Not too shabby! I took my 10 y.o. daughter to Europe for the first time (that she remembers...she went to Italy as a baby) on that trip...marvelous. When I turn 50, hopefully it will be in India. (With a luxury tour company!)

turned 40 in Paris some years ago - will never forget it!
Paris or Rome !

Lucky you, the weather will be nice wherever you go. Happy Birthday.

I'm turning 50 this year also and have been thinking it would be fun to go somewhere new, mixed with somewhere I already love. For me it's Germany and Amsterdam.

I say stand on a beach alone, somewhere on a warm Caribben Island. Be there at daybreak. Open your arms wide and embrace the sunrise. Express gratitude to the universe for all that you have been given and all that you are still waiting to receive. Then give yourself a big hug and say, "Happy Birthday!"

jgarvey, that was nice to read! I love to spend my birthdays with special people in special places. But the moments alone are memorable.

cubby, I spent my fiftieth (yikes, I still can't believe I am that old) last year in Italy with dear friends. I think it depends on what you need at the time. I had had a few tough years and opted to not 'challenge' myself physically but to soak up culture, food & wine and atmosphere in a country I love - Italy. I was there, and in Spain, for a month, but the actual May birthday was spent in a wonderful farmhouse in the hills of Umbria.

After a perfect sunny morning that began with a bouquet of roses from "our" garden and a huge cup of coffee in bed, I enjoyed the view across the hills and then a good hike. An amazing dinner, prepared in our kitchen and enjoyed al fresco at a wooden table, followed, along with great wine & singing.

Later I lay in the grass, beneath ancient olive trees, a full moon and thousands of fireflies, listening to my dear friends sing slightly more drunkenly, and felt very much at one with the universe.

Now that was a perfect 50th for me! I wish you an equally delicious one!

Cubby, I would spend your 50th birthday to wherever your heart pulls you be it Paris or somewhere else. For me it would be in Italy, be it Rome or some small village but that doesn't mean that would be the right place for you. Only you know where your special place will be. A happy and early 50th birthday to you. And may you celebrate it where your heart yearns to be.

Santorini beckons!

If someone had asked me where I wanted to spend my 50th (which occured 10 months ago) I would have chosen Amsterdam. At 50o we came of age in the 70's with all that entails. In my experience we are "forever young." LOL

LOL, I tried to make it a yearly event, My Birthday, waking up in a strange city, preferably out of my country.
Paris and London were my favorites..but Las Vegas was a lot of fun too.
I think Paris in June would be faaabulous !
Be sure to tell everyone you meet that it is your birthday, lol

I turned 50 on Lake Como ... with lunch at Villa d'Este. You don't need to stay there ... it's quite expensive ... but it's quite a treat to visit for a meal.

thanks everyone. i will chew on this for awhile and let you know. in the meantime, you'll be seeing ole cubby all over the fodors site.

40 was my first trip to Europe where I visited friends living in Switzerland

50 was a quick solo trip to Hawaii because I'd just unexpectedly changed jobs and didn't have much vacation time built up yet to do more than that

My wife asked me where I'd like to turn fifty and I answered, "Wherever." Have to say I don't undertand all the fuss. I think young Keats had the right idea: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water."

I think we awere at my folk's place in Florida, as it turned out. Don't remember.

I have friends planning big spa or ski trips for their 40 or 50. I'd like to grab a bunch of friends and do something adventurous, but what I think would be fun would not be fun for most of my friends. Right now I would lean toward rafting down the Grand Canyon, and I would go with my husband b/c I think we would be the most compatible for this.

But then, we treat any vacation just the two of us this way - we go do something active that we can't do with our kids.

Of course, it's YOUR party, but I turned 50 in Paris and didn't regret if for a minute...and this year I'm going to turn 60 there (and can't believe it!