In need of a de-stress vacation...
 

It has been a long couple years, and we are ready for a week to 10 days of a de-stress vacation.

We enjoy seeing the world, but our last few vacations have tended to be ones where we hop from place to place, constantly on the go with luggage, and while it is wonderful and the experience of a lifetime, we often come back happy with memories but weary from the trip.

Our top two choices:

1. Austria. It has been a dream of mine for a long time to see Salzburg, but I'm afraid we will be unable to resist the temptation to travel all around the rest of Austria, and Switzerland, which is also a dream destination. If there's a way to do this that could be relatively stress-free, we would love to do it. The time difference from here to Austria is also an issue, as jet lag is no fun on the return home. We are not interested in cramming in every museum, historical site, castle or palace, we just want to enjoy local culture and food, walk around, maybe take some side train or bus trips, but ultimately be able to return to a nice hotel for rest, relaxation, maybe massages, etc.

2. The Caribbean, Mexico, or Baja. The idea of the week of just lazing around, doing nothing, is very appealing to us since we've spent a year or more basically just being nonstop with everything. The ideal place that I had pictured includes a private beachfront access with perhaps a private pool cabana/villa. Issues with this include our possible innate inability to completely unplug. I also have a major problem with mosquitoes. On a great trip to Hawaii, I basically took a bath in repellent every night, which mostly succeeded in repelling my spouse.

Thoughts? Advice? Alternate ideas which have worked for you in de-stressing? We are up for anything, and consider budget a non-issue – although, of course, it is always a consideration!

Thanks in advance.

Mexico is a great choice! Puerto Vallarta is my go-to place to de-stress (but then again I am VERY good at relaxing -lol!) I've never had problems with mosquitos. I've also been to La Paz and Cabo San Lucas on the Baja, but I prefer PV for being further south and much more lush and tropical (Baja is a desert peninsula).

Sorry I don't know about private villas or private pools, you're way out of my price category, but I do know they exist on both coasts of Mexico - Caribbean & Pacific.

My suggestion is to pick a destination that basically forces you to 'unplug'.

There are plenty of places with no phones, no tv, no wi-fi, no nothing to keep you 'plugged in'. I think some people would be amazed to discover that life can indeed go on without any of those kind of things.

Pick a place that is hard to get to and therefore hard to 'tour around from'. You are basically stuck there for the duration in other words.

An example would be Turtle Island in the Fijis.
http://www.turtlefiji.com/

Not totally 'unplugged', they do have iPhone chargers but you would be an idiot to even take an iPhone with you.

Thank you for your comments. We will not be going to Austria this time around, maybe next time. We are leaning toward Cabo San Lucas, but we are wary of the time of year, spring break crowds, etc., as we are looking for a place that truly has more of a mature, romantic vibe to it. And of course, not too many mosquitoes.

Any idea if mosquitoes tend to be worse on the west coast of Mexico compared to the eastern coast/Caribbean?

I've been to Puerto Vallarta 22 trips, 1 to La Paz, 1 to Cabo San Lucas. I think I've seen 2 mosquitos (both in PV). The Baja is a desert. I think you are worried for nothing (about the mosquito part).

You'll only run into "spring break crowds" in Cabo if you choose certain resorts or go to certain bars downtown. It's not like the entire town is taken over. Do watch the dates for Easter, those two weeks are much more or an impact with Mexican visitors heading to beach resorts than American/Canadian college studnets.

22 trips to Puerto Vallarta. That says something.

We found the all inclusive resorts on St. Lucia to be absolutely incredible. Many are absolutely the height of luxury. Sandals also has really nice resorts there.

See JadeMountain.com

The thing to know about planning a Los Cabos trip... definitely check a map. Things are very spread out and you want to pick the location that best suits you. The airport is 29 miles from downtown Cabo. There is the smaller town of San Jose del Cabo which many prefer, then "The Corridor" which is the stretch of coast between the two towns that features lots of nice high-end resorts, then the town of Cabo San Lucas, which I like but it too busy for some. But even within Cabo you can find some quiet resorts (check around the Pacific side of the tip) that fit what you're after.