Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go to southern France, beautiful villages and towns with great food, May is early season so not expensive. You will easily be able to find nice simple BnBs for $200-250/night. Fly to Marseille Airport, I'd probably stay near Avignon and go to different areas each day. Couple days the Luberon towns, one day the Camargue beaches or the calanques in Cassis. One day in Avignon, one maybe wine country near Orange.

Example place to stay. There are many options in this price range around there. Good reviews on TripAdvisor and booking.com

https://www.couleurlavande.com/index-english

You’d need to add cost of car rental for a place like that though, right?

Yes, a small car rental at Marseille Airport is around $300 in May for a week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'd go to southern France, beautiful villages and towns with great food, May is early season so not expensive. You will easily be able to find nice simple BnBs for $200-250/night. Fly to Marseille Airport, I'd probably stay near Avignon and go to different areas each day. Couple days the Luberon towns, one day the Camargue beaches or the calanques in Cassis. One day in Avignon, one maybe wine country near Orange.

Example place to stay. There are many options in this price range around there. Good reviews on TripAdvisor and booking.com

https://www.couleurlavande.com/index-english

You’d need to add cost of car rental for a place like that though, right?

Anonymous wrote:I'd go to southern France, beautiful villages and towns with great food, May is early season so not expensive. You will easily be able to find nice simple BnBs for $200-250/night. Fly to Marseille Airport, I'd probably stay near Avignon and go to different areas each day. Couple days the Luberon towns, one day the Camargue beaches or the calanques in Cassis. One day in Avignon, one maybe wine country near Orange.

Example place to stay. There are many options in this price range around there. Good reviews on TripAdvisor and booking.com

https://www.couleurlavande.com/index-english

Due to budget, I'd recommend Portugal. 2-3 direct flights a day to Lisbon from Dulles, and you can go to another region within Portgual if you have sufficient time. Portugal is very budget-friendly.

I'd go to southern France, beautiful villages and towns with great food, May is early season so not expensive. You will easily be able to find nice simple BnBs for $200-250/night. Fly to Marseille Airport, I'd probably stay near Avignon and go to different areas each day. Couple days the Luberon towns, one day the Camargue beaches or the calanques in Cassis. One day in Avignon, one maybe wine country near Orange.

What about Sevilla? My sisters went there and loved it. I just checked and look like you can get hotels in May for about $200/night. And I think there is a fast train from Madrid that is not expensive.

I would check the other relevant tgread as it had warnings about places that are not good for female travelers

https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1248085.page

That’s a big ask for such a budget - yiu may need to look at southern and Eastern Europe.

Italy might be hard on that budget but may be possible. We loved Nerano/Amalfi Coast in Italy (closest airport Naples and then take regional train to Sorento then taxi along the winding steep coast). Locals are super friendly, great seafood and There are many airBNBs in the area - maybe if you split airNnB costs you can make it work.

10 Fabulous Cities In Europe For A Girls’ Getaway
https://www.trailingpages.com/fabulous-cities-in-europe-for-a-girls-getaway/

Budapest, Hungary

If you are hoping to book a trip to one of the cheaper cities in Europe, then look no further than the beautiful city of Budapest. Home to gorgeous architecture like the Fisherman’s Bastion and world-famous thermal spas, its hard not to love about this Hungarian capital and relaxed vibe.

Besides its affordability and lovely tourist attractions, Budapest is also incredibly safe and often lists as one the best places for solo travelling – so be assured that you and your girlfriends will feel right at home.

I want to take my sister on a trip to celebrate a milestone birthday and I hope to keep it to $5,000 or so for 6-7 days, not including flights. I will need to front the entire trip including some spending money for her so while I have some leeway on budget, I don't want a $10k trip. We can share a room (and even sharing a bed with her is not a big deal).

I want to go somewhere with excellent cuisine, beautiful natural landscapes, and where we can experience some history/culture, and do some relaxing as well. My sister can do some walking, but not a ton, so we would need to rent a car or use public transportation.

So far I've looked at Italy (maybe Tuscany but it seems like that could be tough with our budget), and a bit at Portugal/Spain.

Any suggestions on destinations and even specific places to stay or itineraries would be so appreciated!