My husband has from April 8 - 18th free, so we can plan an impromptu vacation. Where to go? We don't have to use all the time, but we have this time period free. His interests for this time are simply to be able to exercise, either jog outside or in a health club, to perhaps have a beach to relax on, and since he is health conscious, he'd like someplace that has healthy food. Me, I like picturesque villages (big photography nut), animals & wildlife, and interesting cultures. One of his suggestions was to perhaps visit our dtr in Florida, where she is in College, then perhaps drive the coast of FLA, see Miami, Palm Beach, maybe Key West, the Keys. I've never seen the Keys, and thought maybe a tour thru the waterways would be cool... don't they have mangrove swamps there? I've also never been to N.C. or S.C... I heard the coastline's beautiful there. He also said "Europe"... Ireland.. I said how about the countryside of England, stay in a B&B? I thought I'd ask here, as I've had great success on Fodors. Thanks a lot.

Where do you live? This may be your backyard but I was looking for a trip in April too and fodorites suggested Portland Oregon (columbia river gorge and the coast). We only have a weekend but after researching stuff, now I KNOW we don't haved much time for all the wonderful things. Just the coast drive is something we'll have to cut short. How about something like that? They say Echola state park is great to photograph plus hike, etc.

We just returned from a trip to South Florida. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time. The Keys are very nice, my favorite being Key West.

Budget will be a big consideration. Florida would certainly fit the fill. The Everglades are near Miami. That amount of time would give you a chance to see a few different places. But rememember spring break and the Easter holiday may affect prices and availability. (That's probably true for wherever you go).

I think the south of France would also work. Fly into Nice. It won't be as warm as Fla., but still lovely with lots of picturesque photo ops.

England and Ireland are both beautiful, but April is not beach weather at either.

The Everglades sound like my kind of place, and the other ideas are very good too. Has anyone ever heard of this group called "Country Walkers"? I got a magazine, then a DVD from them in the mail. We popped the DVD in last night... they take groups of 12 to 15 people on walking vacations... the minimum walk per day is 4 miles... It looked pretty good to us... I am going to call them to see what they might have available, since the trip we're trying to plan is less than 2 weeks away... they might already be booked up... but I was curious if anyone had ever heard of them. Maybe I should post a separate post with the question of Country Walkers.

If you're thinking about a trip to Europe (country walkers sounds like a Europe thing) you should post on the Europe board.

Thank you, mclaurie. Actually Country Walkers does all over the world, including Vermont in the US! But that's a good suggestion, posting on the Europe board as well.