Given the following parameters, where should I take my better half for our 10th anniversary in October?

(1) Time: 7 days (likely traveling Saturday to Saturday);
(2) Preference for an active vacation, whether physically demanding (hiking, fishing, etc) or sight seeing (museums, etc);
(3) Leaving kids with grandma;
(4) No Caribbean (hurricane risk);
(5) No "rainy seasons" (e.g. Costa Rica);
(6) Preference for somewhere new for each of us (so probably not UK, Paris, or South America);
(7) Good restaurants a plus;
(8) Not thrilled about state department travel advisories, but not a deal breaker.

Talk to me, Goose! TIA

Does it have to be international?

AggieFanatic09 said:

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Does it have to be international?

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No. Hawaii definitely a consideration.

Adam Ag 98 said:

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Sonora resort off Vancouver. All inclusive (sans off resort activities which are 5 star and priced accordingly, but worth it).

$500 per person each way from Vancouver Airport to the resort via sea plane or helicopter.

All of it worth every f'ing penny. The scenery, foodie all you can eat food, and top shelf booze smoke the prices of most resorts.

Very few guests at a time so the staff know your names after a day or two and vice versa.

Best relaxation vacation of my life.

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Intriguing, but I should have added preference for warmer weather.

Hawaii. With only 7 days, going any further will eat into your vacation time, as well as increase jet lag.

With your parameters hmmm...I would probably choose Hawaii too...especially if you have never been. Kauai or Maui are what I would choose.

Although - the Portland, OR area is a favorite of mine...might be kind of chilly in the fall. You can going hiking everywhere and then head to Cannon Beach one day and then the mountains are to the east.
I liked the idea from the poster who mentioned Vancouver, too.

Sounds like it will be an amazing 10th Anniversary!

Hawaii is a definite!! We did Kahuai( spelling) and Maui. The first island was much

more enjoyable to us, but we like both. We did hiking, sailing, and beaches in Kahuai.

It was a blast!!

Many thanks everyone!

breezecustomtravel said:

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With your parameters hmmm...I would probably choose Hawaii too...especially if you have never been. Kauai or Maui are what I would choose.

Although - the Portland, OR area is a favorite of mine...might be kind of chilly in the fall. You can going hiking everywhere and then head to Cannon Beach one day and then the mountains are to the east.
I liked the idea from the poster who mentioned Vancouver, too.

Sounds like it will be an amazing 10th Anniversary!

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We did a 9 day tour of Oregon for our 30th anniversary this past summer. AWESOME with plenty of outdoor stuff to do.

i'd consider a road trip from seattle down to san Francisco along the pacific coast. lots of beautiful scenery and you can stop whenever you see something that interests you.

rent a nice car to make it more enjoyable.

Within Caribbean but outside hurricane belt: Aruba, Bonaire and or Curacao aka the ABC Islands. Great snorkeling and diving in B&C, first class beach and resort options in A.

If Hawaii is on the table definitely do that if you haven't been. You will find a reason to eventually not go as kids get older.

Good stuff in here. Any advice on a place to stay on Kauai?

Bend, Oregon, and the surrounding area.

Kauai. North Shore.

TXTransplant said:

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Schall 02 said:

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Good stuff in here. Any advice on a place to stay on Kauai?

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Grand Hyatt Kauai. It's a stunning hotel.

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Great hotel. But it's south shore. North shore >>>>>> south shore

Schall 02 said:

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Also:

(9) Not Mexico.

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I understood that with (8)

Sardinia,
Venice (it's less touristed in October), 2-3 days then grab a 2 hours train to Tuscany
Greek Mediterranean
Barcelona
Split/Dubrovnik, Croatia
Israel is really nice that time of year
Thailand


Just a few off the top of my head in the month of October.

Missed the Costa Rica caveat

+1 on Croatia, wife and I did a weeklong catamaran around islands, with a stay in Split on both ends. We loved it.

7 days isn't enough... but close for this trip. You'll really need to take 7 work days. Leave Thursday/arrive Friday then spend the next 7 days.

May I suggest doing a catamaran charter in Croatia or Greece?

We did it for our honeymoon (7 days from Split, Croatia to Dubrovnik) - got paired with 3 other Australian couples who we ended up connecting with quite well. You have your own cabin and bathroom, breakfast and lunch prepared daily by the chef on-board. Moored on islands you will never get to experience on a "cruise" - one island we stopped was no bigger than 50 acres and had 1 restaurant - catch of the day and everything (wine, cheese, bread, vegetables) was made on the island.

Not as expensive as you'd think. Our week, with 2 of us, was about $2,700 - that includes the food on board (which wasn't some continental breakfast - eggs, fruit, juice, coffee, tea, yogurt, toast) - bless her heart, the chef even did Mexican on our last day and my wife is hispanic - it was really good!

AA now has flights directly to Dubrovnik from DFW. And direct flights to Athens from Chicago.

We're doing a Greece yacht this summer with 4 other couples - should be the trip of a lifetime.

Do you mind sharing the upcoming yacht tour's info/company?

We went to Greece in 2007. It was our first trip overseas and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

East Coast: Nantucket/Martha's Vineyard/Boston
West Coast: Bay Area/Wine Country

We're doing this one on the 52' cat

https://www.yachtgetaways.com/sailing-greece-cyclades/

We did this for our honeymoon...

https://www.yachtgetaways.com/croatia-southern-explorer/

Budapest? You can see a lot in 7 days. Very walkable and cheap.

Budapest is a great trip

blue70 said:

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Budapest? You can see a lot in 7 days. Very walkable and cheap.

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Not worth it for only 7 days with jet lag.

You can do Budapest in 7 days. It is not Mars! We did it and were fine !

I appreciate all of this. The trip will depart Austin on a Saturday and have to be back there by the following Saturday. I'm thinking that's too rushed for Europe.

Nah. Just have to limit where you go.

7 days in Italy? That'll do.

florence + lake como

Europe can be done but recommend direct flights if possible on a 7-day time budget.