Plan My Next Vacation: '11 Edition

A question for the LTH collective mind:

For the last couple of years we've done the See the USA in your Prius-o-let thing, and it's been a great way to take vacations with the kids and not start a trip by burning 4 grand and up on airfare.

But after Graceland, Mt. Rushmore and Colonial Williamsburg, I'm itching to see the world again.

So I'm curious what LTHers would suggest for a next destination. General desires are:

1) Interesting food, interesting culture, interesting history-- not just a beach.
2) Has to be nice in spring, since this is when this would happen, most likely.
3) Airfare will be multiplied by four, which is a very painful process. So how much it is per person matters (partly ameliorated, of course, if it's cheaper when you get there).
4) Has to be somewhere a 12 and a 9 year old would find interesting overall. <--NOTE THIS, VERY IMPORTANT
5) We don't have to have five star comforts, we like the musty-smelling pension kind of accommodations, but we're not staying in a yurt and eating sour yak milk for two weeks. On the other hand, not really dying to go to the kind of city, like Tokyo, where it costs $10 to change your mind.

My wildly disparate list of possibilities (many inspired by posts here) ranges from Rome and Prague to Mexico City to Istanbul or Vietnam. In other words, I have no frickin' clue what would be a good choice for us out of, to coin a phrase, a world of possibilities. (The one that's off the table, of course, is Spain.)

Anyone have a better idea than me?

Hi,

Iceland, plus it has the advantage of relatively low airfares and not too expensive once your are there. Interesting northern European-ish culture, lots of volcanos and natural springs.

Regards,

South Africa?

I was going to say Rome, then saw that it's already on your list. Great food, fun culture, plus your kids are at an age where they'll probably recognize & appreciate things like the Colosseum, Pantheon, aqueducts, catacombs, etc.

Just got back 4 days ago from eight days in Taormina (Sicily), Florence & Rome. Food was GREAT, not just good. Will post pics at some point. We made a point of taking advantage of local cuisine--gamberi (shrimp) in Sicily, bistecca alla Florentina in Florence, carciofi alla giudia (fried artichoke) and puntarelle insalata in Rome as examples, but the good news is that if your kids like pasta they could enjoy it at every meal if they so desired.

Ain't cheap, though. With a combination of the crappy dollar=Euro exchange (1.45:1) and not driving which required us to stay at in-demand hotels where walking to attractions was easy, hotels ran in the $225-$375/night range. Pensiones are cheaper, but not that much in the good areas. We totally enjoyed all three hotels we stayed in, not a bad one in the bunch.

At first glance, this might seem like the most boring suggestion ever, but what about Ireland? Airfare might be cheapest as it's the first major stop over the Atlantic, it has plenty to see from the kitsch (Blarney Stone) to the political (Belfast), it's picturesque -- but more than that -- relatively undiscovered in terms of food. Ireland has made some great strides over the last decade or so to return to its roots -- mainly fish and lamb. In that regard, there might be some genuine possibilities to find some culinary gems. Though, the weather in Spring might be an issue.

If it were me (and I don't have kids), Alsace, Sicily, and the Dalmatian Coast would be on my short lists.

This is an interesting topic, I'll have to think on it some more.

Well, there's the problem with Europe-- the Euro. $2-300 a day for an Italian hotel room... ouch. That's one of the reasons I was thinking about other parts of the world entirely.

Ireland's a great kid suggestion, but we did two weeks there (pre-kid time) long ago. And, well, it's the size of Indiana, in two weeks you can pretty much see all the high points. Given finite number of big trips like that in one lifetime...

South Africa's an interesting suggestion. My sister went there for work a year or two ago and had a fantastic time.

My instinctive reaction keeps being to go somewhere a little more exotic. Show them something that isn't so western. But I have to be able to sell it internally. I've been trying to sell Turkey for years, and the result is... we go to Ireland.

Mike,

We recently took a trip to the Great White North; in particular Toronto and Niagara Falls. Although Toronto was much more expensive than I thought it would be, there is so much to see and do there, including lots of ethnic diversity in the neighborhoods/food that it's well worth a trip. Niagara Falls was a nice overnight trip from Toronto, although we stayed two nights in the quaint little town of Niagara on the Lake. It's about a 20 minute scenic drive from NOTL to Niagara Falls proper. You drive along the Niagara River through wine country and you can stop to see the "Floral Clock" along the way.

One of these days I'll get around to posting about my trip, but in short we enjoyed ourselves in every way. Of course, we didn't have any kids (at least our own) to contend with.

This isn't your typical vacation recommendation, I realize, but I've been to El Salvador a number of times and have found it to be a really fantastic place to visit. There are mist forests (great ziplining tours), volcanos, world famous surfing, interesting historic sites, terrific food and really lovely and welcoming people. They are so grateful for the tourism dollars and always excited to meet Americans (we mostly encountered European families and business travelers) so I always felt very safe wherever we went.

The USD is the official currency and you couldn't ask for a more budget friendly place to visit - I was there in Jan/Feb of 2008 with Queijo and we splurged on a super luxury resort, I think it was $60 a night? If you tried really hard, you could feasibly spend $20 a head on dinner at an outrageously nice seafood place, but most meals are just a couple of bucks. You can hire a personal driver/guide for about $30 a day. Some pictures on Quiejo's blog from our trip (no kids with us, we traveled into some sketchy areas) http://www.cakeandcommerce.com/cake_and ... index.html.

If you are considering it and would like specific recommendations, please let me know!

Montreal and Quebec City? A taste of Europe for a lot less is how I often look at it.

Mexico - various locales, including Mexico City.

Vietnam would certainly be inexpensive once there, but airfare would be very costly.

Don't forget, Prague is not on the Euro yet. Good old crowns. On our recent visit we found it highly affordable (especially compared to Vienna.) I don't have kids, but it's my opinion there would be plenty there to amuse your boys. A boat trip on the Vltava would probably go over well too.

Montana.

Been there twice, once with kids.

Yucatan: pyramids, jungle, swimming in tropical water, food.

David Hammond wrote:Yucatan: pyramids, jungle, swimming in tropical water, food.

You could do two weeks spread around Central America...I'm sure you could champ through it somehow!*

*Did I mention that there is a bus system in CA that rivals domestic first class for a pittance?

Kids love Australia. You can sometimes catch decent airfares on Qantas if you monitor them.
Melbourne is an amazing restaurant town.

Mike G - My wife and I spent the summer in Paris with our two year old. At first glance, Paris doesn't seem like it would be kid friendly but it really was. Between the museums and parks, kids could easily spends days there without being bored. The food is also world class and you could find some decent deals there, especially picnics from the various markets. Many restaurants are kid friendly, especially if you go when they just open at 7:30pm. At dinner your 9 and 12 years olds would be treated like adults (my not yet two year old was often handed a full set of silverware at dinner - including knife - ha!), which is nice if they are restaurant go'ers and jr LTH'ers already.

Hotels are expensive but you can find deals via craigslist and some other French sites for apartments to rent. Because it's such a frequent vacation destination, there's a ton of resources on these topics.

Another thing to consider is that Paris is a good jumping off point for renting a car or traveling by rail. While we were there, we hit the Brittany region (St. Malo) which was really nice and much cheaper than Paris.

Best of luck.

On the other hand, not really dying to go to the kind of city, like Tokyo, where it costs $10 to change your mind.

My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Japan (May 2009), and it was much less expensive than its reputation would suggest. In general, most prices were close to what you would pay in the US. We primarily stayed in business hotels, all of which were less than 100 USD/night (although of course, the rooms were not much larger than the bed). Food spans the same range as you find here, so you have options from 5-100 USD person, and food is uniformly excellent. Local transportation and attractions cost pretty much the same as here. Even the plane ticket wasn't that bad. In fact, it cost us less to fly to Tokyo than it usually costs to fly to Calgary for the Christmas holidays.

Maybe more importantly, we really enjoyed the entire trip, and I wouldn't hesitate to go again if the opportunity presents itself. Japan seems to satisfy the other criteria on the list, so I think it's still worth considering.

I suggest Thailand. I do realize that it is quite pricey to get there but extremely affordable once there. My guess would be hotels are even cheaper now with the decline in tourism due to political unrest several months ago. We spent two weeks in Thailand - 3 or 4 days in Bangkok which is a fantastic city to eat and just stroll the streets. I highly recommend a cooking class! After that we flew to Chang Mei which is a much less intense but charming city to the north. We then had a tour guide drive us further north to visit a number of villages and temples and finished in the Golden Triangle where we stayed at a spa and rode elephants (yes, I realize that those two things do not go together). I have not explored southern Thailand which is much more beach resorts but I hear is wonderful as well. I think Thailand has lots of adventure (which may appeal to the kids) as well as fantastic eating - who can resist chili crabs on the river.

You need a nanny for the kids on the trip. I volunteer!

Can't do much about the exchange rate. We did London 3 days, Chunnel train to Paris, overnight train to Florence. 4 days in Florence/Tuscany, train to Rome, 4 days in Rome. Rome back to Chicago. We didn't spend any time in Paris, just changed trains. There is plenty for the kids to see, they'll love the trains. You don't have to spend $250 a night for hotels.

BJY wrote:

On the other hand, not really dying to go to the kind of city, like Tokyo, where it costs $10 to change your mind.

My wife and I spent 2 weeks in Japan (May 2009), and it was much less expensive than its reputation would suggest. In general, most prices were close to what you would pay in the US. We primarily stayed in business hotels, all of which were less than 100 USD/night (although of course, the rooms were not much larger than the bed). Food spans the same range as you find here, so you have options from 5-100 USD person, and food is uniformly excellent. Local transportation and attractions cost pretty much the same as here. Even the plane ticket wasn't that bad. In fact, it cost us less to fly to Tokyo than it usually costs to fly to Calgary for the Christmas holidays.

Maybe more importantly, we really enjoyed the entire trip, and I wouldn't hesitate to go again if the opportunity presents itself. Japan seems to satisfy the other criteria on the list, so I think it's still worth considering.

I was going to say Tokyo/Japan too. It isn't any more expensive than many major cities. Sure you can spend $100 on a melon, $200 on a taxi from the airport or $400 for sushi, but you don't have to. Lots of inexpensive food that is exceptional. Tokyo is interesting both for being Japanese and for being, well, Tokyo.

Saw the suggestion upthread re: Ireland, and incidentally, it reminded me of somewhere on my own "I want to go there" list: Scotland. I've never been, but I was very much inspired by a recent NY Times travel article that featured the Isle of Skye and its food:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/travel/15choice.html

Thanks to all so far for the great suggestions.

Paris I went to quite a bit in the 80s/90s; likewise, have been to the Yucatan twice, admittedly it was great, but I'd like to see other parts of Mexico next. That's probably the most likely, but I want to check out other possibilities. El Salvador is an interesting idea.

Thailand is one I've thought about for a long time, the hitch is that the kids really don't dig the food. They like Vietnamese food better. But I suppose they can't get rickets from living on rice alone for just two weeks

Now you have me intrigued about Japan being more reasonable and accessible. Anyway, thanks, keep the input coming. I really am curious, especially about places people have done with kids.

Mike G wrote:Now you have me intrigued about Japan being more reasonable and accessible. Anyway, thanks, keep the input coming. I really am curious, especially about places people have done with kids.

http://www.bento.com/
Even though the dollar vs yen still stinks, with a little planning you can make it affordable.
A good online travel resource for Japan - http://www.japan-guide.com/

singapore - basically a great introduction into asia for kids. it is like asia, but clean, people are polite, safe. you have fantastic food. you have a china town, a little india, an arab town, each with things to see and food to eat. you have 3 of the best zoos in the world, (zoo, night safari, bird park) and one of the best botanical gardens. definatly, for kids, for food, sing.

Mike
I've gotta go along with the other posters on Central America. Its close, airfares aren't bad and once you're there you really don't need much money.
Guatemala is extremely beautiful, lots of volcanoes, lakes, pyramids and fantastic markets. Stay in the old colonial town of Antiqua from there do day trips to panajachel on Lake Atitlan , or Monterico on the Pacific coast.
The last three winters I've been going down to Nicaragua (think Costa Rica w/o all the North Americans!). Go to historical colonial cities of Leon or Granada. A good place to go with the boys would be Isla Ometepe, two volcanoes rising out Lake Nicaragua or take a boat ride down the Rio San Juan to the old Spanish fort at El Castillo.

You guys are making me want to hop a plane and go directly to Central America.

You guys are making me want to hop a plane and go directly to Central America.

Looking at Delta Airlines site. Leave Chicago 5:55am change planes in Atlanta , arrive Guatemala City 11:30am !

I wouldn't particularly consider Prague a cheap destination, but then that's me.

One other thought: given airfares and other considerations, we recently ended up going to Vancouver and had a great time. I'm thinking your boys might find it an intriguing place, it's a smallish city and so easy to get around, and though it can be expensive, it need not be. Just a thought.

Or, while on the Great White North theme, there's always Montreal. An absolute winner in almost every way. Again, you CAN spend a lot but you don't need to. And, rumor has it, they speak a foreign language there... Geo?