Northwestern Spain.

What do you and your wife like to do? That’ll help us decide
What a wonderful gift.

quote:

Originally posted by irreverent:
What do you and your wife like to do? That’ll help us decide
What a wonderful gift.

This...and agreed, great gift from your son.

I lived in SE Asia and traveled extensively in Asia and Oceania. I’ve also done a fair bit of travel in Europe. Hands down my favorite place on Earth is the South Island of New Zealand. My second favorite...the North Island of NZ. My third would be Italy. Fourth would be tied for a few spots in Australia, especially Tazmania.

I have other worthy choices, but would want a better idea of what you and your wife want from the trip. We loved The Maldives, but it’s a long way to go for what amounts to a beautiful beach and great snorkeling/diving.

How long you would want to be gone is also important as you’ll burn 2-4 days in total travel and possibly need at least one “light” day as you adjust to the time change when you get there.

No matter where you go try not to “see it all.” Just relax and enjoy it.

I really enjoyed Fiji. We stayed in the Grand Pacific Hotel in Suva, the capital. Nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, but it was very affordable for our USD. Fiji has many influences; British, Indian, Chinese.

Go for a walk in the Colo-I-Suva Forest Reserve and go for a dip in the many natural pools.

Italy: Rome, the Vatican, and the major cities. Amalfi Coast
Israel along with the Dead Sea and Masada and Jordan (Petra)
Egypt and Nile Valley
Mediterranean Cruise
Germany River Cruise
Major Cities in Europe London, Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Brussels, Ireland, Scotland and more
India but only after the above
Closer to home - Alaska cruise with obligatory side trips

I have not personally done the Alaska Cruise but spent many years there. Not done the Germany River Cruise but have heard only positive things about them from people that went on them.

The Orient is interesting but would start with Europe first. South America only after the Orient.

Two most interesting places I'd like to go back to and spend more time Israel and Egypt. The wife wants to spend additional time visiting the Amalfi Coast and nearby cities.

The single most impressive building and museum; the Vatican

In no particular order:
• Lake Luzern Switzerland
• County Cork Ireland
• Northern Italy & Lake District (Como and Sirmione/Garda)
• Tuscany/Siena Italy
• Cotswolds UK
• Lake District UK
• East Coast of Taiwan - Taroko Gorge
• Bavaria
• New Zealand
• Guilin China River cruise

What an awesome gift from your Son!

It depends a lot on what you like. BK (before kids), Mrs slosig and I did two months in Europe. We started out with a round trip ticket to London, a one way to Milan, Italy a few days later, Eurail (sp?) passes, and a rental car for two weeks from Milan Airport. We had so much fun in Italy we extended the rental car for another week. From memory, we turned the car in after the third week, took the train to Bern, Switzerland for a week, then Paris for a week, Amsterdam for a week, flew to Dublin and stayed with a friend in Ireland, doing some touring about, then back to London and home. Two months was way too long, shlepping bags on and off the trains was a bit of a hassle, and we were too tired to enjoy the other spots as much. We sure loved Italy though, and were back with the kids this year during Spring break plus a bit. The Italian people were still the friendliest, warmest people, and if anything their English seemed better than the last trip. Before, we’d ask if they spoke English and they’d say “No”. When I asked “Spanish?” The response was “No.”. But once I made myself look like an idiot trying to speak Italian, out would come their English and it was pretty good. They even helped me with the Italian. This time, they pretty much dove right in. If I tried Italian, they’d help me get it right, but they were happy to roll in English.

I’d go back there in a heartbeat, even though wine doesn’t agree with me anymore. The people, the food, the history / places is more than reason enough for me to go back.

I've been to the Tuscany region of Italy twice and it's about the only place in the world I would endure a long plane ride to return to.

If someone else is paying? Tanzania or Kenya.

I've been to 115 countries so far and as many have already stated, it really depends on what you are looking to do and how long you will be there.
For me #1 New Zealand, #2 Hungry/Poland, #3 Italy.

I've spent the last 10 years in Africa, mostly East Africa, going back in January, and would only recommend if you are going on a guided safari. If you need suggestions, just let me know. The political climate is pretty unstable and getting worse, with some places that are down right no joke.

I note that I am not the only one who recommended New Zealand. Be advised that from the US it is at least a 15 hour flight, and not something you want to do twice close together. I recommend planning to spend about 3 weeks there to make the air time worthwhile. Put about 2 weeks in the South Island and 1 week in the North Island, and you'd have time to see the major attractions there. I did this in 2004 and my photos are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157632155088501/.

Flights to Australia are about the same length, so I'd plan for about 3 weeks for a tour there, as well. (Or combine both countries within that time frame. I did that in 2017 and photos are here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157632155088501/. )

If you don't have 3 weeks available, the river cruise in Europe I recommended is about 15 days, and very much worth it. I used Avalon Waterways (now part of Globus) but there are several other companies offering almost identical venues. You can see my pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157624729863909/.

Even shorter was the Baltic cruise I did in 2008: https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157606977706995/.

I happen to love architecture and most enjoy tours that enable me to visit a lot of different places and structures. I am especially enamored with churches and cathedrals (although I've never been on a tour that specialized in those).

If you like WWII locations, I took a 9-day cruise of the Seine River in France that offered a 1-day excursion to the Normandy beaches, plus some lovely port calls going from and to Paris. https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157654100280263/.

I'm not trying to bore you or brag about my travels--I've been fortunate enough to be able to afford the time and money to make many trips (although there are some folks here who are much more widely traveled). I offer my comments and links to my pictures as a way to give you an idea of what is available out there.

flashguy

Hong Kong
Denmark

I would love to go Iceland, Israel and the Greek Islands. Maybe one day...

Australia. Great weather, people speak English ( English mf do you speak it? ), exchange rate is favorable, food is excellent, pubs out the yin yang.

Completely depends on what your goal is for the trip.
For pure natural beauty, New Zealand is my choice.
If the interest is more historical, Italy blew me away. Rome, Pompei,Tuscany. We also got off into the weeds by visiting some of my wife's family in rural central Italy. Very cool.
Been to both twice and would return to either tomorrow.
Both times in ND we did a "farm stay" for a night with sheep ranches. The experience was really interesting. The people were amazing.

It all depends on what you like. Germany, Taiwan, and Japan for me personally.

Try for the hardest place in the world to visit - Bhutan. Every other place you can get to when you get around to it.

These are all great ideas. I didn’t want to narrow down on what we like or how we like to travel, because that would limit what was out there to see, and what you all have experienced. For this trip thinking outside tha box and our travel norms could be a nice change. That is why I was asking you all to add why you picked the locations you have. Thank you all for your time in responding. Keep them coming. I will let you all know where we decide.

I spent a lot of time in Germany, still have family there. roughly 12 years in all.

Had 2 bad experiences, maybe SAD is better description. When my Father in law was sick and dying. He died while we were there.

The second time my MIL was sick, she died while we were there. Have not been back in going on 20 years. No real desire to go back. It has changed so much, and not for the better, that I would rather keep my memories than go back. Only have limited family left there anyway. My wife is not interested in going back either. She keeps in touch with her best girl friend from school via telephone and says that is enough.

Being fluent in German, while in the army I had a lot of interesting experiences involving interpreter duties. Etc. Even translated in a court martial for a US soldier who had assaulted a German civilian.

And conducted an investigation into a damage claim by a US soldier (E6, in my outfit) which was a pure fraud. Long sad story.

Anyway, Neither of us have any desire to go back.

Of course I am 80, wife is 82 so there is that.

Of course the country has been overrun with "immigrants" thanx to Merkle and Company. Which is a further reason for not going there. The German police were ordered not to publish crimes against German women by the "immigrants". I guess in order not to incite the Germans against the "immigrants"

I would go back to Australia. Sydney especially. It takes awhile and some coin to get there...which is why I would put that at the top of the list if given a free ride there.

That's quite generous and thoughtful of your son, he must be doing well and as parents, you both must be proud. I recently took my parents on a tour of Europe for their 50th anniversary, trains/planes and a few chartered vans, I travel a bunch so, I played tour guide/porter/sounding board. I would first figure-out how long you want to be away...week, 2-weeks, 3-4 weeks. Do you want to stay in one place or, bounce around. 2-weeks aways is just about right, if you're able to add a week or, more, go for it. Do you stay in one country or, group a handful together.

I've been to Italy 3x in the last 5-years so, it has a special place for me. If you can spend a week in a vila or, agritorismo somewhere around Florence/Siena/Lucca...you'll have an unforgettable trip. Personally I like to bounce around, but, that means living out of a suitcase for some time. Figure out the general area you want to go, figure the sights you want to visit or, things you want to eat, and plan around those. Ideally you want your flights to be 'open-jaw', meaning fly into one location but, fly-out of another; it's more expensive but, you don't backtrack and few travel itineraries can be scheduled into a big loop.

If multi-country, you can do a combination tour of a couple of countries. S.Europe: Italy, France, Spain. N.Europe: Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Paris and London. Asia: Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong/Macau, Seoul, and Tokyo. South Pacific: Tahiti, Auckland, Christchurch, Sydney, Melbourne. Africa: S.Africa, Botswana, Tanzania and Kenya.

Since you're still in the initial planning stages, you should consider getting a travel credit card, the more premium cards will now credit you back for signing up for Global Entry, which is the second thing to consider as you go down the trip planning route. Both subjects have been covered in this forum.