Deciding when and where for next vacation

[Anonymous]

DD will be 8th grade and DD 10th. We typically holiday over summer and spring, home in December the past few years.

I'm trying to figure out if we should flip and do a Dec getaway and stay next spring home. We're also a bit lower on funds than typically unfortunately.

We've been to Hawaii, St Lucia + couple other islands, Costa Rica, Italy, Fr, Germany, Japan, China, Mexico and QC. All over US from SF SD OR NM TN Chicago Boston NYC, New Orleans and throughout FL.

The bucket list we have now incl Brazil (to see a soccer game), Iceland, Cape Town, Sicily + S Italy, maybe somewhere scenic in CO or Belize?

Any places that would work for Dec or late March trip that is scenic and doesn't break the bank you suggest? We usually avoid Dec travel because of the masses. We like to stay and catch up on appts, get rest and just chill. Also tends to be more $$ in Dec. But as the kids are older now wondering if we stick around to catch up over spring instead?

We are not campers but enjoy a blend of city and outdoors. We are not London/Florence folks, like rafting/water activities - beaches/sailing. We also like interesting stuff you find in Chicago/NYC. Kids love animals, history and astronomy/physics/space stuff. Our favorite times spent in places we can blend many different activities/sights incl Palm Springs CA, Santa Fe, OR coast.

[Anonymous]

Iceland can be more affordable given the generally lower cost of tickets on Iceland Air, but it is going to be very dark and cold in December (although there is a chance you could see the aurora), and still cold in March but not as dark. Relatively easy to get to. Iceland seems like a contender with those big caveats. Also, you could make it a relatively short trip. You only need a few days, which would save money.

Given what you enjoy, maybe Brazil is a contender as well. It's southern hemi so would be summer there in December. But make sure you can see a game while there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Iceland can be more affordable given the generally lower cost of tickets on Iceland Air, but it is going to be very dark and cold in December (although there is a chance you could see the aurora), and still cold in March but not as dark. Relatively easy to get to. Iceland seems like a contender with those big caveats. Also, you could make it a relatively short trip. You only need a few days, which would save money.

Given what you enjoy, maybe Brazil is a contender as well. It's southern hemi so would be summer there in December. But make sure you can see a game while there.

Are you trying to torture OP? The average high temp in Iceland in December is the mid 30s and the sun sets at 3:15!

[Anonymous]

I would not recommend Iceland in Nov/ Dec/ Jan. There's just not enough daylight to enjoy things properly, even if you're ok with the low temps. Also, many roads/ interesting sites close when the weather requires it. You'd have to be ok with staying in Reykjavik, which is a pretty small city.

[Anonymous]

Don't forget to consider when you will start looking at colleges for your now 10th grader (11th grader in a year). They suck up time and $$.

[Anonymous]

Spring break is a better time to travel if you are picking one time of year to travel. Spring breaks vary pretty widely across the country, so while it might be crowded that week it's not as bad as the week after Christmas. The week following Christmas is the most expensive and the busiest and can be the hardest to book things.

[Anonymous]

December is expensive unless you go early December.

[Anonymous]

I would not do South Africa in just a week. It would take you a couple of days to just get over the jetlag. If you want warm weather, I would do Belize or Brazil, or even Peru or Chile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Spring break is a better time to travel if you are picking one time of year to travel. Spring breaks vary pretty widely across the country, so while it might be crowded that week it's not as bad as the week after Christmas. The week following Christmas is the most expensive and the busiest and can be the hardest to book things.

This. The week after Christmas is a disaster and so expensive. If you're in FCPS and get the week before Christmas off, that could be much better and cheaper.

Spring break is really great for Southern Arizona and similar. One year we did Southern Arizona (based in Tucson with day trips) and did horseback riding, a mine tour, the Bisbee 1000 step challenge, Kartchner Caverns, Sonoran Desert Museum, Old Tucson (old movie studios but they do stuntman shows and have various kitchy tourist attractions in a beautiful setting), hiking, Pima Air & Space Museum. Didn't get to the Titan Missal Museum which was also on the list. This will be waaay cheaper than Europe. There are probably other places in the southwest that would work for this. New Orleans is another place where you can really build a great spring break trip, with the WW2 museum, mardi gras museum, French Quarter, swamp tour, historic plantation tour, aquarium, etc.

Another idea is to go to someplace like Spain and do the smaller cities -- Madrid is expensive so get out of Madrid as fast as possible, but Spain is filled with small cities that have tremendous history from the Roman years or medieval, and the hotels are much, much cheaper. Train tickets also pretty cheap in Spain and my kids adore the ease and novelty of European train travel. And Spain also has really developed hiking and biking trails, so you can figure out some active places to go as well. But the plane tickets will be expensive (especially if you don't want to fly a red-eye in economy). And Spain over spring break you could probably get some soccer tickets.

I might also look at Panama or Belize, where the weather will be warm for spring break and there is great snorkeling and other active water activities, along with some interesting historical stuff. The flghts are pretty cheap and there is a whole range of price points for lodging. I was just looking at some of the "luxury" resorts in Belize and was surprised how much cheaper they are than the luxury resorts in Mexico or Costa Rica or Puerto Rico.

[Anonymous]

Of your bucket list, Belize is an easy trip and relatively inexpensive compared to some other places. It will be nice weather and you can do a ton of interesting activities: snorkel, go spelunking (Belize has soooo many caves!), visit Mayan ruins, etc. You could spend 5 days in the interior, where the ruins and caves are, and then spend 5 days on one of the cayes off the coast, snorkeling, kayaking, etc. Obviously modify the number of days as you will, given the time you have.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone! OP here.

Yeah, Iceland while on our list isn't for Dec so maybe Belize then in Spring? We've done a lot of CR though and love so unsure if we do Belize if similar experience wise in same part of world?

CO would be where we would focus but yes we love SW. we've done New Orleans and Santa Fe and Phoenix/Sedona. We like variety. We like beauty.

We tend to do Europe in a June with more time and yes, we really love train travel throughout the would for sure! It's really the US that sucks for this unfortunately!

[Anonymous]

I would look at which of the destinations you are thinking of would have the best weather when you want to go and go there.

[Anonymous]

Galapagos sounds ideal for your family!

[Anonymous]

Colombia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Galapagos sounds ideal for your family!

Galapagos is pretty expensive and she said they are on a budget this year. And honestly I know everyone raves about Galapagos and it is cool but there’s better snorkeling on the meso American reef and definitely prettier landscapes lots of other places.