Hmmm. Museums and Shopping? You love the energy of cities but hate to drive. Rome, Florence, Paris, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam and Madrid all have tons of museums, great shopping, and are all energetic cities.

Stateside Chicago is great for museums, shopping and city energy. I excluded NYC and DC since most Philadelphians daytrip there often.

Canada - Toronto or Vancouver or Montreal + Quebec City

Buenos Aires!

I look in my bank account and then decide where I'm going, LOL.

I also would suggest Buenos Aires. It is like many European cities without the high costs. The museums, culture, nightlife, food, wine, shopping and people are wonderful. The exchange rate makes Argentina a real bargain compared to Europe! BA is a great walking city, but the taxis are very cheap if you need them. English is very common so even if you don't speak any Spanish, it is easy to get around. Check out the Argentina posts to see why it is so highly recommended.

Amsterdam for sure. Its wonderful!

Amsterdam was a great walkable city. But I choose Paris as my favorite, the food is great , lots of museums and it is both walker friendly and has easy to get around public transportation. Also you will enjoy the shopping. No problem with the language;as most people speak English if greeted with a Bonjour.

Jane, I would absolutely vote for Paris -- but don't you think its a special city that should be shared with someone? I fell so in love with Paris and would have hated being there alone the first time. A friend, a lover, just anyone to hear you say WOW!

Paris would be the first on my list, especially if you have never been. I also loved Copenhagen and Stockholm. Never been to Oslo but I hear it's great. Prague is another great one-there are so many options!

A couple of missing things...

When? How long? Budget?

Parsing through your likes/don'ts (urban energy, no car, no hot sun - does that mean no hot weather or humidity? Since you live in Philly I assume you're okay with those...)

Do you have the time or budget for Sydney? In late (northern) summer it's late winter there. We were there in August and had sunny days in the 70s, and for an urban destination it's near the top.

Amsterdam is good, so is Vancouver. Dublin? Copenhagen or Stockholm? Hokkaido?

But I still think Edinburgh for the festival is a good pick - more energy than you can imagine, great walking city, and theater, film, music... more than you can handle. Great for solo travelers too. If you want to visit Glasgow, the trains run every half hour and take 40 min.

You are an extremely helpful lot. I'm a librarian, and it's refreshing to have someone answer my reference questions for a change!

Someone in this thread mentioned Chicago, which is one of my favorite US cities. If it weren't for the cold, cold winters, I'd seriously consider moving there. But I digress.

Someone else asked where I have already been. In the US and Canada, you name a city with a convention center and I've been there. Sometimes I even go back on my own time to check things out more throughly. I have also had the privilege of traveling to several cities in Germany (East and West), Prague, Vienna, Japan, and Hong Kong.

Buenos Aires is another place "on my list" to visit. My SIL's family is from there and she and my brother have been 2-3 times. I don't think they would go again in our summer either (as someone here mentioned). But they will definitely go again -- loved it.

As for Paris, I do speak some French, so I could probably get around. However, that is someplace I'd like to experience with another person. Preferably not a relative.

As stated before, I could do E Europe on my own, but the trip was planned as a "family roots tour" and I'd like to respect that. Or perhaps I just value my life.

Now that I've rambled on [forever], I have a question about Amsterdam. Is there a particular section of the city in which I should look for a hotel? Places to avoid? In my preliminary research, I've seen some conflicting info.

Thanks again.

In Amsterdam, stay at the Canal House. It is wonderful and has an excellent location (near the Anne Frank house) for walking nearly anywhere. While technically a boutique hotel, it feels more like a B&B with breakfast in the dining room overlooking the garden and evening cocktails in the small lounge. You will have opportunities aplenty to meet other travelers. It is our favorite place and we return often.

http://www.canalhouse.nl/

I second the recommendation for the Canal House in Amsterdam. It is located in the Jordaan district, which is well situated for shopping, museums (Anne Frank is around the corner) and dining. There is a lovely organic market on Saturdays that is a short walk away -- also a wonderful flea market. Everyone in Amsterdam speaks impeccable English. Day trips to Delft, Haarlem, etc are easy by train or bus. If you dare, rent a bike!

Paris is a natural for shopping and museums. Lots of wonderful areas to stay (my favorite is the Marais) and day trips to Chartres and Versailles are easy.

Barcelona is another excellent spot. I think it looks like a slightly shabby Paris --but still extremely beautiful. Great shopping, food, museums. I believe USAirways has seasonal non-stops to BCN during the summer. I know USAirways flies non-stop to Amsterdam from Philly.

All of these cities are extremely popular in the summer, so you may be late to find accommodations.

PHL has direct flights to Amsterdam, Athens, and Munich now...any of those might be fun.

I agree with Paris and Amsterdam - even Germany because alot of Germans speak english -- it is required in their educational curriculum.
I don't think anyone has mentioned London yet. I found it alot of fun. Loved the theaters!

If you're settling on Amsterdam, you should probably head over the Europe board for more advice. I've never been so can't really comment. While London looks really expensive right now given the poor exchange rate, it's really loaded with GREAT museums if you haven't been. You can get a hotel using Priceline for around $100/night.
http://p070.ezboard.com/England--Lon...abiddingfrm215

Many of the museums are free. You can take the train to Paris for a day or two (and save a big trip there for later). You can also do daytrips to various places quite easily. London Walks (http://www.walks.com/) has some great Explorer days as well as good in city walks. When traveling alone, I find the evenings the biggest challenge and there's really plenty to do in London (theater, concerts etc.)

There is also a great report on Amsterdam on travelerstogo.com