Sue54

Looking for suggestions for an anniversary trip. Does not need to be in Canada so all suggestions appreciated. We have travelled in Europe both on tours with bicycles and guided tours. We would like to stay in one place and not pack and un-pack throughout the trip. We are both active and would like to be somewhat busy with options like biking, hiking, cooking classes, historic education, etc.. Access to great food and a local, small town setting would be ideal. We would consider a group tour but most we have taken travel throughout the trip on buses and change hotels every few nights. We are not opposed to larger cities with public transportation options.

Any ideas and suggestions will be greatly appreciated. Our anniversary is about away and we are thinking to go on a trip in June 2023.

Thanks.

NorthwestMale

If I were you I would tell the gang approximately where you live... (so we can know if you're always near water, always near mountains, or always on flat prairie somewhere)

Also, from that point (home base)... what semi-nearby places have you traveled to and enjoyed on a getaway sort of a trip.

This group works best if provided a few parameters.

Sue54

Great suggestion, NorthwestMale! We live near Tucson Arizona. We are originally from upstate New York near the Adirondack Mountains and we love the big forests and outside activities like biking, hiking and kayaking/canoeing. We hope to go somewhere for our big trip in June because being in Arizona is not very pleasant as the temperatures keep us in the house with the A/C on! That said, our timeframe is flexible as we are retired. Our actual 50th anniversary is in August.

From Tucson we have roadtripped to San Diego, CA; Sedona, AZ; Sante Fe, NM; The Grand Canyon; Bryce Canyon and Zion National Park. We have also driven to Northern Idaho up near the Canadian border. We lived in Washington State and visited Seattle often and Vancouver, Canada. We spent another anniversary at Lake Louise, Alberta, CA.

We just recently returned from a tour of Portugal and Spain. We have biked and toured in Italy, France, Spain and Portugal. In summary, we are well travelled and in great health. Enjoying local cuisine and culture and history is what we enjoy!

I look forward to any and all suggestions from followers!

trycke

There are so many choices in the world! However, since this is the Canada forum, I’ll throw in a favourite destination for us for hiking- Newfoundland. Second half of June is a great time to visit since there may possibly be icebergs in the bays (more likely earlier in the month, if it’s an iceberg year) and the puffins and whales are usually back and visible from shore or boat. I am pretty familiar with the east coast of the island, specifically the Avalon and Bonavista peninsulas, where the trails are plentiful and kayaking is available. St. John’s has some excellent restaurants and Bonavista also has an up and coming “food scene”. There is a variety of accommodations ranging from B&Bs, airbnbs to more expensive inn type places (e.g., Fogo Island Inn, Fisher’s Loft Inn or Artisan Inn). Now isn’t too early to book a rental car (there was a shortage this year) and accommodations since people tend to go back year after year and book early. We tend to fly into St. John’s, pick up the rental car upon landing, stay a night at the Alt hotel and enjoy a meal at their Terre restaurant. Then we head to one location for a week (usually Trinity, Elliston, Bonavista) where we do a few trails a day or a whale watch excursion. We bookend the trip with another stay in St John’s or somewhere near there in order to do some of the east coast trails
before heading home. We break up the drive to and from with a midway hike (Chance Cove, Arnold’s Cove).

We haven’t yet made it to Gros Morne (west coast of the island) but it looks beautiful and is in line for our next visit. You would need a lot of time and enjoy driving, IMO, to try to visit the whole island in one vacation.

A second location for a big # anniversary worth a splurge if you can swing it would be Tofino and a stay at the Wickanninish Inn! I believe you’ve already travelled to the west coast though.

My two cents- happy choosing and planning!!

tlc195

See trip reports for our visit to Newfoundland.

Unrelated to Canada but how about Hawaii or Ireland/Scotland beautiful places to check out.

NorthwestMale

If looking into Newfoundland...

it is never a bad move to review this touching story to gain a sense of the place:


(from September 11, 2001)