Where in the world for a week?
June 10, 2010 6:26 AM Subscribe
Was just told by my lovely SO that, as a tenth anniversary gift next year, he is taking me anywhere I'd like to go in the world for 7-10 days. (Courtesy of a LOT of banked United Airline miles.) Where in the world to go?
We both love to travel and have already covered France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Mexico, lots of Canada and the US, Costa Rica, St Lucia, and a decent amount of China. I've traveled through Germany and Austria and many of the Caribbean Islands, he's been to South Africa and Haiti.
-We live in Chicago and the major flight from here to there has to be a United Airlines flight.
-It will be late June, early July and I'm not a fan of intense heat. I like balmy and comfortable temps. So, close to the equator is less appealing to me.
-We're going to skip Africa for now as we have a couple of trips already planned to Ethiopia and (possibly) Kenya on our calendar in the next couple of years already. Sweden and Norway are out for now because he has family there and when we go there, we'll take our daughter with us.
-We enjoy hanging out with local people, avoiding touristy stuff, eating local food, taking local transport, etc. We backpacked through China in 2002 taking buses and trains, staying in the smaller towns where we were the only travelers and had a blast.
-We like trains, small boats, bicycling, etc.
-We're both educators and like interesting experiences, experiences that teach us something (not just hanging out in a deck chair
7-10 days is not a enormous amount of time, but I'll take it! Some places I've brainstormed include: Spain, Portugal, Istanbul, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Morocco, Argentina, Peru...?
Any ideas, HiveMind?
We both love to travel and have already covered France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Mexico, lots of Canada and the US, Costa Rica, St Lucia, and a decent amount of China. I've traveled through Germany and Austria and many of the Caribbean Islands, he's been to South Africa and Haiti.
-We live in Chicago and the major flight from here to there has to be a United Airlines flight.
-It will be late June, early July and I'm not a fan of intense heat. I like balmy and comfortable temps. So, close to the equator is less appealing to me.
-We're going to skip Africa for now as we have a couple of trips already planned to Ethiopia and (possibly) Kenya on our calendar in the next couple of years already. Sweden and Norway are out for now because he has family there and when we go there, we'll take our daughter with us.
-We enjoy hanging out with local people, avoiding touristy stuff, eating local food, taking local transport, etc. We backpacked through China in 2002 taking buses and trains, staying in the smaller towns where we were the only travelers and had a blast.
-We like trains, small boats, bicycling, etc.
-We're both educators and like interesting experiences, experiences that teach us something (not just hanging out in a deck chair
7-10 days is not a enormous amount of time, but I'll take it! Some places I've brainstormed include: Spain, Portugal, Istanbul, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Morocco, Argentina, Peru...?
Any ideas, HiveMind?
Wow, what an awesome trip.
A friend of mine spent a week in Iceland last fall and thought it was magical. If it were ME, though, I'd want to wander around South America, heat be damned.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:31 AM on June 10, 2010
A friend of mine spent a week in Iceland last fall and thought it was magical. If it were ME, though, I'd want to wander around South America, heat be damned.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 6:31 AM on June 10, 2010
Personally, I'd probably go to Chile. Iceland is a good time as well, though, and might fit your heat avoidance thing better.
posted by Grither at 6:33 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by Grither at 6:33 AM on June 10, 2010
Istanbul is potentially the most interesting of brainstorm choices, but how about Japan?
Direct flight from Chicago, comfortable in June/July, trains a-plenty, the possibility of getting out into more isolated areas. Very much not deckchair travel.
posted by holgate at 6:33 AM on June 10, 2010
Direct flight from Chicago, comfortable in June/July, trains a-plenty, the possibility of getting out into more isolated areas. Very much not deckchair travel.
posted by holgate at 6:33 AM on June 10, 2010
Best answer: We just got back from a cruise around the Mediterranean about 4 days ago, and our favorite country that we visited was Turkey, definitely. (In fact, we're currently thinking about how we can work out a trip to Istanbul for a little while to see everything there).
posted by DiamondGFX at 6:34 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by DiamondGFX at 6:34 AM on June 10, 2010
Visit the Black Sea by way of Odessa for a few days, and then make your way over to Russia. United appears to fly from O'hare to Odessa Int'l Airport.
Just thinking about it makes me feel happy inside. Consider yourself lucky--I have to go through a ton of red tape to travel internationally. U.S. passports are a thing of wonder. Enjoy your trip!
posted by litnerd at 6:56 AM on June 10, 2010
Just thinking about it makes me feel happy inside. Consider yourself lucky--I have to go through a ton of red tape to travel internationally. U.S. passports are a thing of wonder. Enjoy your trip!
posted by litnerd at 6:56 AM on June 10, 2010
As Meerkatty says, 7-10 days is a good timespan for Buenos Aires. 4-5 days in the city, 3-4 days on trips (Uruguay or Iguazu or Peninsula Valdes) would be an unforgettable trip.
posted by jontyjago at 6:57 AM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by jontyjago at 6:57 AM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Seconding Istanbul and Morocco, my favorites of your list. Both will be decently hot though, so look into that before making firm plans.
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:05 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by BusyBusyBusy at 7:05 AM on June 10, 2010
Best answer: TURKEY!!!!!! Istanbul, Cappadocia, the coast!
posted by emkelley at 7:09 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by emkelley at 7:09 AM on June 10, 2010
Go to a place that may be difficult to visit under normal circumstances; I would remove Spain, Portugal, Peru and Amsterdam off the bat as they are so easily accessible.
While Morocco, Istanbul and Argentina sound good, I would go even more exotic. I had a friend who just returned from S.E. Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Burma!!, Bali, Vietnam) and said it was a revelatory experience. Of course, there is more "roughing" involved so this may be age delimiting. A more metropolitan alternative would be Tokyo which seems fascinating to me. India is another alternative as is Moscow.
Enjoy the trip (green with envy)
posted by Hurst at 7:12 AM on June 10, 2010
While Morocco, Istanbul and Argentina sound good, I would go even more exotic. I had a friend who just returned from S.E. Asia (Malaysia, Thailand, Burma!!, Bali, Vietnam) and said it was a revelatory experience. Of course, there is more "roughing" involved so this may be age delimiting. A more metropolitan alternative would be Tokyo which seems fascinating to me. India is another alternative as is Moscow.
Enjoy the trip (green with envy)
posted by Hurst at 7:12 AM on June 10, 2010
Response by poster: These are all amazing suggestions. We thought about Australia/New Zealand, but a) wondered if the travel time would cut into the trip too much, and b) wanted to combine it with a family trip to Tahiti someday.
I know Turkey and Morocco would be hotter than I'd like, however we might be able to visit some people there, which makes it fall into the "maybe" category because few things are nicer than being shown a city by someone who has grown up there.
posted by jeanmari at 7:15 AM on June 10, 2010
I know Turkey and Morocco would be hotter than I'd like, however we might be able to visit some people there, which makes it fall into the "maybe" category because few things are nicer than being shown a city by someone who has grown up there.
posted by jeanmari at 7:15 AM on June 10, 2010
Response by poster: And I forgot to mention that husband gets to go to India for work, so there is a chance I can accompany him there sometime. On the "roughing it" scale, I'm not as keen on extreme camping anymore and would have to really work to get back in shape for rock climbing. But we've slept in local houses with dirt floors, have washed up in streams, ridden buses next to a crate of live chickens, etc.
posted by jeanmari at 7:19 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by jeanmari at 7:19 AM on June 10, 2010
The travel time to trip time ratio for Australia is pretty bad; I'd say that for when you have more time.
Nthing Iceland; it was my favorite trip in all my travels.
What about eastern Europe? The weather's pretty decent in the summer - I remember as it being pretty much on par with northern US, perhaps a bit cooler and sunnier. You can get away from touristy areas easily, but mostly everyone speaks English (in the Czech Republic and Hungary, at least; I'm not so sure about further east.) It doesn't look like there are any direct flights, though.
posted by punchtothehead at 7:34 AM on June 10, 2010
Nthing Iceland; it was my favorite trip in all my travels.
What about eastern Europe? The weather's pretty decent in the summer - I remember as it being pretty much on par with northern US, perhaps a bit cooler and sunnier. You can get away from touristy areas easily, but mostly everyone speaks English (in the Czech Republic and Hungary, at least; I'm not so sure about further east.) It doesn't look like there are any direct flights, though.
posted by punchtothehead at 7:34 AM on June 10, 2010
Best answer: We both love to travel and have already covered France, Switzerland, Great Britain, Mexico, lots of Canada and the US, Costa Rica, St Lucia, and a decent amount of China. I've traveled through Germany and Austria and many of the Caribbean Islands, he's been to South Africa and Haiti.
First: I want to be this well traveled in 10 years.
Spain, Portugal, Istanbul, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Morocco, Argentina, Peru...?
Here from you’re brainstorming list is places I’ve been and my impressions of them.
Spain:
Amazing food, awesome people, great art. When I went we went to Madrid, Marbella, and Sevilla. Madrid seems like it would have had an awesome nightlife, but I was with family and we weren’t leaning that way. It has the Prado, which is fantastic. Goya’s painting’s are even more terrifying in real life. Marbella included a side trip to Gibraltar. I would avoid Gibraltar based on your description of what you like. It’s tourist trappy. Sevilla is a quiet romantic gorgeous town, some nice museums. Went to one cool history museum in Sevilla that had perfume that was excavated from Roman times and still smelled good. They let you smell it in a box with holes.
Czech Republic:
Ohman, ohman, ohman. Prague was AWESOME. There’s a ton of history. Great ghost stories attached to all of the old old buildings, big open squares and marionettes. I remember people being shy in a friendly way. There just a ton of exploring to do in that city and it’s a good city for walking. I’m putting all the cards on the table, Charles Bridge, Old Town (which has the Astronomical Clock), the story of the golem comes from here, Prague Castle, the Lennon wall. Here’s the full list. Every single old building has a bunch of fantastic stories attached to it. Even the clock has a crazy history attached to it.
Amsterdam:
Bikes everywhere! Laid back, canals, cats, art, history. To me felt like kind of a standard Western European metropolis(which is great!), but might be old hat for you guys.
Istanbul:
(Sorry if this is a little “HEY LET’S GO RIDE BIKES”).
Just went here last September and I would totally go back. I had just enough time to do the main touristy stuff with one excursion off to the Asian side. The public transportation is easy to figure out. Dealing with the trolleys and the ferries is totally JV public transportation, which you guys should have down since you’re living in Chicago. Buses might be Varsity we didn’t dabble that much. But there’s tons to explore and it’s a huge mishmash of cultures. The city is huge, you have the old town with the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque. There’s bazaars and mosques everywhere and you will just be walking around getting lost and then ANCIENT RUIN FROM 1000 years ago that people just live near and ignore like that’s normal. There’s great people watching places all over the place. If you want to meet locals definitely make a trip to the Asian side. I loved it. The Eyewitness Travel book is especially good for this city. My friends and I were touristed out and went to go see a Turkish movie on the Asian side and had to figure out how to buy a ticket in guidebook Turkish using a handbook and number writing and a super nice movie theater ticket seller who worked with us far longer than she needed to. Language-wise Taksim and Sultanhamet people will mostly speak English with you, but the Asian side that drops off pretty quickly. If you do decide to go here and want to be off the beaten path do NOT get a hotel in Sultanhamet this is the big tourist area near the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. People don’t really live here, also it’s a prime zone for aggressive hosts trying to funnel tourists into restaurants.
I’d say if you want to just pick one city for the 7-10 days do Istanbul. Because the city has been around so long and is so big that there’s tons to explore, and there’s tons of little cultural pools and eddies to explore within the city, which sound slike it might appeal to you. There’s the modern area where people live, the asian side which I think is to Istanbul as Jersey City is to NYC, the old area, Balat, the Bazaar areas, dude’s fishing off the Galata bridge at night with mosques all lit up, fresh figs, fresh walnuts, TONS of history museums, the hand of John the Baptist in a gauntlet just for good measure. Plus there’s a ton of history you can read up on before you go, the city goes back to 660 BC. Part of the reason there’s so many cool buildings is that it has changed hands so many times, so it’s a nice real world info dump of power struggles and history in that part of the world. And if you decide you’re done with the city you can easily take day trips up the Bosphorus to other locales.
posted by edbles at 7:41 AM on June 10, 2010
First: I want to be this well traveled in 10 years.
Spain, Portugal, Istanbul, Czech Republic, Amsterdam, Morocco, Argentina, Peru...?
Here from you’re brainstorming list is places I’ve been and my impressions of them.
Spain:
Amazing food, awesome people, great art. When I went we went to Madrid, Marbella, and Sevilla. Madrid seems like it would have had an awesome nightlife, but I was with family and we weren’t leaning that way. It has the Prado, which is fantastic. Goya’s painting’s are even more terrifying in real life. Marbella included a side trip to Gibraltar. I would avoid Gibraltar based on your description of what you like. It’s tourist trappy. Sevilla is a quiet romantic gorgeous town, some nice museums. Went to one cool history museum in Sevilla that had perfume that was excavated from Roman times and still smelled good. They let you smell it in a box with holes.
Czech Republic:
Ohman, ohman, ohman. Prague was AWESOME. There’s a ton of history. Great ghost stories attached to all of the old old buildings, big open squares and marionettes. I remember people being shy in a friendly way. There just a ton of exploring to do in that city and it’s a good city for walking. I’m putting all the cards on the table, Charles Bridge, Old Town (which has the Astronomical Clock), the story of the golem comes from here, Prague Castle, the Lennon wall. Here’s the full list. Every single old building has a bunch of fantastic stories attached to it. Even the clock has a crazy history attached to it.
Amsterdam:
Bikes everywhere! Laid back, canals, cats, art, history. To me felt like kind of a standard Western European metropolis(which is great!), but might be old hat for you guys.
Istanbul:
(Sorry if this is a little “HEY LET’S GO RIDE BIKES”).
Just went here last September and I would totally go back. I had just enough time to do the main touristy stuff with one excursion off to the Asian side. The public transportation is easy to figure out. Dealing with the trolleys and the ferries is totally JV public transportation, which you guys should have down since you’re living in Chicago. Buses might be Varsity we didn’t dabble that much. But there’s tons to explore and it’s a huge mishmash of cultures. The city is huge, you have the old town with the Hagia Sophia, Blue Mosque. There’s bazaars and mosques everywhere and you will just be walking around getting lost and then ANCIENT RUIN FROM 1000 years ago that people just live near and ignore like that’s normal. There’s great people watching places all over the place. If you want to meet locals definitely make a trip to the Asian side. I loved it. The Eyewitness Travel book is especially good for this city. My friends and I were touristed out and went to go see a Turkish movie on the Asian side and had to figure out how to buy a ticket in guidebook Turkish using a handbook and number writing and a super nice movie theater ticket seller who worked with us far longer than she needed to. Language-wise Taksim and Sultanhamet people will mostly speak English with you, but the Asian side that drops off pretty quickly. If you do decide to go here and want to be off the beaten path do NOT get a hotel in Sultanhamet this is the big tourist area near the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque. People don’t really live here, also it’s a prime zone for aggressive hosts trying to funnel tourists into restaurants.
I’d say if you want to just pick one city for the 7-10 days do Istanbul. Because the city has been around so long and is so big that there’s tons to explore, and there’s tons of little cultural pools and eddies to explore within the city, which sound slike it might appeal to you. There’s the modern area where people live, the asian side which I think is to Istanbul as Jersey City is to NYC, the old area, Balat, the Bazaar areas, dude’s fishing off the Galata bridge at night with mosques all lit up, fresh figs, fresh walnuts, TONS of history museums, the hand of John the Baptist in a gauntlet just for good measure. Plus there’s a ton of history you can read up on before you go, the city goes back to 660 BC. Part of the reason there’s so many cool buildings is that it has changed hands so many times, so it’s a nice real world info dump of power struggles and history in that part of the world. And if you decide you’re done with the city you can easily take day trips up the Bosphorus to other locales.
posted by edbles at 7:41 AM on June 10, 2010
Best answer: Full list for prague. Architecture list for Istanbul.
posted by edbles at 7:43 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by edbles at 7:43 AM on June 10, 2010
The best trip I ever took was to Ireland. In 10 days, we stayed a few nights each in Dublin, Galway, Cork, and the Aran Islands. Magical.
posted by decathecting at 8:41 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by decathecting at 8:41 AM on June 10, 2010
With that much time and at that time of year, I'd totally go to Russia. A few days in Moscow and a few days in St. Petersburg and maybe a couple days somewhere in between.
posted by Jahaza at 9:35 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by Jahaza at 9:35 AM on June 10, 2010
No one mentioned Italy? It may be a cliche, but we LOVED Tuscany.
posted by Lone_Wolf at 9:37 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by Lone_Wolf at 9:37 AM on June 10, 2010
I have always always ALWAYS wanted to visit the south of Spain.
posted by Night_owl at 10:09 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by Night_owl at 10:09 AM on June 10, 2010
Venice or Tibet as both may disappear in the next several years.
posted by leafwoman at 10:19 AM on June 10, 2010
posted by leafwoman at 10:19 AM on June 10, 2010
South America, heat be damned
Um, in the Southern Hemisphere, June and July are the middle of winter - June 22 is their Winter Solstice. For instance, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, today (June 10) the high is arounf 60F and the low is 47F.
posted by I am the Walrus at 11:15 AM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Um, in the Southern Hemisphere, June and July are the middle of winter - June 22 is their Winter Solstice. For instance, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, today (June 10) the high is arounf 60F and the low is 47F.
posted by I am the Walrus at 11:15 AM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
Africa is a big continent. Maybe Mozambique or Zimbabwe or Uganda or Rwanda? Also, being close to the equator might not be an issue--for example, I know in Ethiopia (where I realize you don't want to go now), late June and July are cool, rainy months.
posted by bluedaisy at 12:58 PM on June 10, 2010
posted by bluedaisy at 12:58 PM on June 10, 2010
Coastal Northern Brazil - Recife, Fortaleza, Salvador, Bahia. United flies to Rio and Sao Paulo.
posted by mdonley at 2:48 PM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mdonley at 2:48 PM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
If it is still possible to get visas for Tibet, you should definitely do it now. It is changing fast and the Chinese are a little protective of visas for travel there. We were there 3 years ago for a week (all they would allow). It was truly life changing for my wife, son and me. Unbelievable people, geography, art, and very interesting, sometimes challenging food (though conventional Chinese and western food were available in Lhasa and other larger towns.) We had never used a guide before, being adventurous and experienced. However, the visa required we reserve one before entry (from the China side). If you do go, try to go through Nepal where you can pick up a land cruiser and a driver for the 4-wheel drive into Tibet and over to Lhasa. It's a great adventure and you may have less hassle from the Chinese if you pick up your visa in Nepal. Good luck! Have fun! Learn lots and teach lots! Namaste.
posted by txmon at 3:09 PM on June 10, 2010
posted by txmon at 3:09 PM on June 10, 2010
I was actually going to recommend against Japan. It is already getting kind of awful-sticky here, and once you get into late June early July it will either be raining almost every day or sticky and hot, or an unpleasant mix of the two. Tokyo tends to be even more hot and humid than everywhere else in Japan. Save Japan for Late October/Early November.
I haven't been to Istanbul yet, but everyone I know who has gone there has absolutely loved it.
posted by that girl at 5:15 PM on June 10, 2010
I haven't been to Istanbul yet, but everyone I know who has gone there has absolutely loved it.
posted by that girl at 5:15 PM on June 10, 2010
St Petersburg! The Hermitage, white nights, caviar, and architecture...
posted by mozhet at 7:42 PM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by mozhet at 7:42 PM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]
This is kind of a different way of approaching it, but assuming that you are not Native Americans, have you ever travelled to any of the countries and towns that your family emigrated from? An anniversary seems like an appropriate time to explore family origins.
posted by TedW at 3:56 AM on June 12, 2010
posted by TedW at 3:56 AM on June 12, 2010
Best answer: I echo the calls for Istanbul, just got back - I fell in love with Turkey and would go back in a hearbeat...it was fun, affordable, varied, and the people were incredibly nice.
And if you do go, I second emkelley's recommendation to include a few days in Cappadocia, which is just spectacular ... you can hike, bike or horseback ride in some spectacular landscape dotted with local farms, visit centuries-old cave churches with remarkably well-preserved medieval frescoes, take tours of vast underground cities, take an early morning balloon ride over badlands-like other-worldly topography, go to a Whirling Dervish ceremony in one of the Silk Route Caravanserais. We stayed in a cave hotel in Goreme and we just walking around town - locals would just invite us in their homes for tea.
If you decide on Turkey some of my bookmarks might be useful - I've made a few notes on places we stayed. I was in Turkey for 9 days, 5 in Istanbul, 2 in Cappadocia (too short!), 1 in Pamukkale, and 1 in Ephesus / Selcuk. Feel free to contact me by email if you wanted to discuss anything.
posted by madamjujujive at 1:28 PM on June 19, 2010
And if you do go, I second emkelley's recommendation to include a few days in Cappadocia, which is just spectacular ... you can hike, bike or horseback ride in some spectacular landscape dotted with local farms, visit centuries-old cave churches with remarkably well-preserved medieval frescoes, take tours of vast underground cities, take an early morning balloon ride over badlands-like other-worldly topography, go to a Whirling Dervish ceremony in one of the Silk Route Caravanserais. We stayed in a cave hotel in Goreme and we just walking around town - locals would just invite us in their homes for tea.
If you decide on Turkey some of my bookmarks might be useful - I've made a few notes on places we stayed. I was in Turkey for 9 days, 5 in Istanbul, 2 in Cappadocia (too short!), 1 in Pamukkale, and 1 in Ephesus / Selcuk. Feel free to contact me by email if you wanted to discuss anything.
posted by madamjujujive at 1:28 PM on June 19, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by meerkatty at 6:30 AM on June 10, 2010 [1 favorite]