Great Views
 

My wife and I would like to take our first vacation since having a baby a year ago but are struggling to come up with a list of places to go. The trip will be a week long in either May or July. Her only request aS some place with great views. Trying to stay away from places we've been before so Alaska and Colorado are off the list. Anyone have any suggestions? We would like something budget friendly and are open to cruises or traveling ourselves.

Define "budget friendly" in terms of actual dollars. We have no idea how much you consider "friendly".

"Great views" are in the eye of the beholder so it would help if you gave us more to go on. You said you've been to Colorado - does that mean you don't want other locations in the Rockies? What about other mountain locations such as the Canadian Rockies or perhaps New England?

Desert locations can be very scenic. Have you considered Santa Fe - lots of scenic vistas there.

What about visiting some of the National Parks? Yosemite, Grand Teton, Yellowstone, Zion, Moab to name a few? Many companies offer tours that combine visits to several different parks.

The Grand Canyon is probably one of the most awe inspiring views in the entire US.

Are you willing to travel to other countries? If so, we found spectacular views in the Swiss Alps, the Italian lakes region, Tuscany, the French Countryside, especially Burgundy and the Loire Valley or perhaps Scotland. Iceland has great views as does the fiords of Norway.

View of ... what? mountains? the sea? city lights? etc....

I'm sorry, but I don't think we can help without that information.

Sorry should have been now specific. We would like to stay under $4k for the trip but could go up to $5k. Traveling from Atlanta and I would prefer going out of country if it's within our budget. Looking for nature views not the city.

Since Atlanta is a major hub for Delta Airlines you should concentrate on locations that they service.

Since just about every country has areas with "great nature views" you really need to list other criteria to narrow down your focus otherwise all anyone can tell you is you can go just about anywhere to find "views".

Make a list of things that interest you and your spouse other than looking at the view (I can't imagine doing only that all day long). Keep in mind, that scenic views of "nature" are generally found in country and rural areas so you'll be giving up activities like shopping, museums art galleries, etc. which tend to be found in the cities.

With your $4k to $5K budget (that's not much) I'd look at doing a cruise through the Scandinavian countries or along the eastern coastline of New England and Canada (all very scenic areas) or an organized land tour through Ireland, Scotland or Switzerland (again, very scenic countries). Lastly, look at river cruises through Europe - you get the best of both worlds - wonderful views of the countryside with stops in quaint villages, small towns and a few larger cities.