40th Birthday Trip with Hubby and 6 year old son?!?
 

Hello! I am trying to settle on a destination for my 40th Birthday present to myself. Traveling with my husband and 6 year old son. Some parameters:
(1) I'd like a trip to include some sightseeing/ history, some relaxation, some adventure, getting into the local scene (not tours), going with the flow and ending up wherever along the route the day may take us. We are not opposed to car rental and driving through the countryside (as we have done from Bavaria to Bern to Colmar).
(2) We are not a "Disney" family and don't require the typical "family" or kid attractions. (Example: trip to Germany/ France - spent a morning at Senckenbeg Museum just for son; otherwise he was very entertained with other activities; lucky to have a good little trooper.)
(3) Have been to: Costa Rica, Jamaica, Mexico, Bahamas, Toronto, Frankfurt, Bavaria, Alsace.
(4) Our trip will likely be Fall/ early Winter 2010 (October, Thanksgiving or Christmas breaks from school, but we could do something in the Spring, depending on destination).
(5) Interested in: Spain, Malta, Mediterranean, Ireland/Scotland, maybe Sweden or Denmark. Also interested in some "wide open space" and a connection to the Earth / natural beauty and not just a large city. Concerned about weather everywhere! Not interested in Asia.
(6) Traveling from Atlanta, GA, USA - would have 9 days, and with a 6 year old and with time limitations, probably don't want to go beyond 15 hours travel time one way.

I hope these details give you some flavor for our tastes and outlook on travel. Your suggestions and thoughts are so welcomed! I am excited to hear your ideas for me!

My first thought is southern hemisphere. Patagonia? Some magnificent national parks, wine tastings, horse country, Buenos Aires and/or Santiago are both great cities. Politically stable, reasonable priced, you can get there in about 10 hours, huge change of scenery!

Central or South America makes sense because of the time of year.

Or how about Europe maybe including some Christmas markets? Switzerland is amazing and fun in wintertime.

I'm not sure about the weather there in Nov/Dec or Spring, but I have on my list of possibilities a trip to southern Spain flying into Seville and driving down to the coast, renting a house for a few days on the beach, then taking the ferry over to Morocco for a night. Then driving up into Portugal to spend time along their beaches. This is just on paper for travel with our two young girls but I'm in a similar situation with our travel wants and what they're able to do.

As for what we've done, Italy is very easy to travel by train (which is a bit more exciting and relaxing with kids). And Venice is IMO one of the most beautiful locations on Earth - plus it's a pretty cool place for kids. Lots of fun history. The weather might be an issue though. You might be okay in October, and can also spend time in the countryside around Florence (where Pinocchio was "born")

Should also add that I've tried finding fun things in Malta for kids and there doesn't seem to be much. Budapest though is extremely kid-friendly (a big park with a kid's circus, train and puppet theater among other activities).

hlphillips2: That is so funny to me - we were actually talking about Italy this weekend as a possibility, and I would love to go to Barcelona, so great advice!

And yes, after reading many reviews on Malta that indicated what you mention about kids, I'm shoving it down the list.

Suze and spcfa: South America is very appealing, just really don't know that much about it. But I will definitely check it out based on your ideas!

The Christmas Markets are wonderful - we were in Germany/France over Thanksgiving in 2009 and were so fortunate to visit several markets just opening during our trip!

sunkissobx: The Outer Banks is high on our list for a family vacation, so fantastic info! Thank you!

This is such a great community. I don't post things very often, but I so appreciate all the ideas and suggestions! It isn't often you get to pick exactly what you want to do, so I want to make the best of my decision! Thanks again everyone!

We've been to Italy (Rome and Florence) at Thanksgiving and had beautiful weather. In the 60's most days but warming up to 70F on a couple of afternoons. Check weather history for averages but it's pretty mild generally.

Malta is fine but probably not enough to do for 9 days imo.