Long story short, I won a trip from a company raffle that includes roundtrip flight to anywhere in the world + (5) night hotel up to $300 per night. I'm more than happy to add onto this as well out of my own pocket.

I'm married, we're both 29 without kids so this will most likely be our last hoorah before settling down haha. We've been to Anguilla (honeymoon), Peru, Australia, Thailand/Vietnam/Singapore. Haven't done Europe yet... we definitely prefer beach/tropical.

Definitely want to go somewhere we would never go on our own dime. Initial thoughts were automatically Maldives, Bora Bora, Fiji etc... but we also don't want to go somewhere and just lay on a beach for 10 days. Would love to be able to explore the city a bit and local surroundings. Not necessarily looking to hike, zip line or anything that active.

Really just trying to narrow our focus a bit. The opportunities are endless... but we definitely want to go somewhere really nice, stay at a nice luxurious resort (even if we pay a little out of pocket) and ultimately, somewhere we wouldn't go to ourselves in a few years. For example, I doubt we'd ever have the money to justify a trip to the Maldives in the future... but we could potentially do something like Paris down the road.

Any and all recommendations would be greatly appreciated! Anywhere in the world...!

Welcome to Fodor's and congratulations!

Where are you starting from? How long do you have? Is there a specific time of year you can go or are you limited as to time of year? Would you want to stay close to one place or are you prepared to travel around a little?

Example - safari in South Africa. You'd be amazed how far your dollar (assuming USD) will go, and the variety of experiences you can have in a fairly short period of time will knock your socks off. Combine a few days on safari in some nice game lodge followed by some beach time, or touring the winelands around Cape Town... terrific. But that's just one example.

I was thinking Galapagos, but not sure about the luxurious part.

We reside in Dallas, TX. We have to use the trip by end of 2016, so we have some time. I think we'd prefer to stick to one general location, as opposed to traveling around like a Euro-trip for instance. That said, we'd love to be able to island hop

I will say we have $1500 from the prize and would be willing to pay another $1,000-$1,500 out of pocket to make the trip at least 7 nights and/or nicer hotel resort.

We have definitely determined beach/tropical/exotic/luxurious... but even then, the choices are a bit overwhelming! I'm not sure if wifey would be too interested in safari, as amazing as that sounds.

Since the airfare covers anywhere in the world, I'd focus on the most far-away places where the plane ticket are expensive (more than I'd care about spending a lot of extra of your on money on a high-end resort). Just thinking the most "bang for your buck" with the prize.

Well if you have a week or 8/9 days total, you don't want to spend too much of it in the air, so places like the South Pacific or Indian Ocean are dicey - one day or even two just in transit - each way - really eats into your time.

I'd probably be narrowing it down to the Americas, or maybe the south of France. Warm water, nice beaches, and plenty of nearby distractions.

I'd say preferably 10-12 day trip, so yeah completely understand limiting the amount of time traveled. Although, we still want to go somewhere far with the same mindset of 'best bang for your buck' on the flights.

" wifey "??? " wifey "!!! Get lost.

How about New Zealand w/ a stop in Fiji/Bora Bora before/after?

wifey

A REAL Lady, Not your only but your favourite, different from them hood rat chicks. Sexy in everyway possible, when she smiles it's sexy, even when she's mad at you it's sexy.

"I'm gon make her my wifey, she's not like them chicken heads round da way, she's a diamond in the rough"

Not even sure I get this.

How about Australia. Somewhere on the gold coast or even Sydney. Beaches , night life, etc.

How about Greece? Some place like Santorini with gorgeous views.

You could go to Athens as a side trip

I suggest you visit Africa New 7 natural wonders and especially those 3 from Tanzania named Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro crater and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Serengeti National park was named best safari park in Africa.

Nguyenning, nothing beats window shopping for travel destinations, so you might want to check out travelogs from full-time world travelers who cover lots of countries. Thanks to the internet it doesn't take much effort to make informed decisions, e.g.:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJF5NXygL4k

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD2l1fpWJeo

etc.

Also I second the advice about relative currency values, SE Asia in addition to Africa is great in this regard. $40/night in Thailand (most beautiful country overall imo in the world) will get you a 3-bedroom beachfront home with a resident cook and butler/housekeeper.

Congrats on winning and enjoy it!

Africa would cost too much in airfare alone. So I would rule that one out and safari hotels, camps (nicer resort types) would greatly eat into the budget. $3,000 for 7-8 days and that includes what you spend on airfare isn't a lot with today's airfares. I don't think one could get to Austraila or South seas on that. Good luck and please let us know what you decide to do.

Shar-airfare is free!

SOUTH AFRICA FLY TO CAPE TOWN THEN KRUEGER GAME PARK FOR ANIMAL WATCHING ABSOLUTELY THE EXPERIENCE OF A LIFTIME

sorry didnt notice caps

Croatia! Loved it. Go now while the going's good and the word hasn't quite spread how wonderful it is in every way!

San Francisco is the best in all ways. It’s one of the world’s most fascinating cities, and also one of the most restful place where the breeze floats through the hills, bringing with it an invigorating sense of calm.