Travel advice please! Thank you.

[grace0418]

We're looking to go on vacation at the end of July and are hoping for suggestions from the cool and liberal folks here.

Here are our stipulations:

-We'd like to avoid right-wing fundies, tacky tourist traps, morans with mullets, Disney anything, and outlet malls.

-California is out. Not because we dislike it (we love it!) but because we're going there in September.

-The Seattle area is out. We love it there too but have a lot of family there we'd have to visit if we went. We want a private vacation.

-We live in Chicago, so pretty much anything in Wisconsin, Iowa, and Indiana is out.

-We can only go for about 6-9 days, so as much as we'd love to go to Australia or New Zealand, we probably can't go quite that far.

Other than that we're pretty open to any suggestions inside and, perhaps even moreso, outside the U.S. Any places you can recommend? We've been to England, France and Spain in recent years, but are not opposed to going again. Is July/August a bad time to go to Mexico/the Caribbean? What about South America? Or even the Pacific Islands?

Thanks everyone!

[XanaDUer]

1. Ireland.

I just got back. Clinton is admired there, Bush is not.

It's gorgeous, the people are great, but it is expensive. Dublin is a historian's dream. An English major's, too.

[Guy Fawkes]

10. I second Ireland.

[Swede]

2. Try Calgary.

Banff is down the road.

[babylonsister]

3. I'd avoid MX in the summer. Hotter than you'd probably

be comfortable with. My sister went to Portugal last year and LOVED it; have you been to Italy? Both future dreams of mine...

[grace0418]

4. When does hurricane season start?

Does it vary from place to place?

[wiggs]

5. Re Mexico

Depends on where you go.

We went to Oaxaca in July...very pleasant and nice weather...interesting town. Central highlands like Oaxaca (and San Miguel and Cuernavaca) are mild and nice during summer.

We also went to Puerta Vallarta...and personally, I love going to tropical places like that (and Costa Rica) and really feeling the humidity and seeing the thunderstorms. Makes me feel like I'm in a different place. And really, the heat is pretty tolerable...usually a breeze and the rain comes only for a short time in the late afternoon. We had a private pool too and spent time in there, where air temperature did not matter. Go on tours and do your moving around in the morning and evening.

If you want to go to Mexico, don't let the weather stop you.

[radwriter0555]

6. Think HawaiI! Great prices during the summer as folks head further abroad.

Always beautiful there.

How about a trip via gate one travel http://www.gate1travel.com
Excellent site, good prices, great service and accomodations; the side trips are reasonable and affordable and their packages are well priced.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

7. Well hey! If you're going to Cali in September

north or south?

[grace0418]

20. Bay area,

My husband has a conference in San Francisco. His job is letting me tag along (where I hope to spend my free time interviewing for jobs because I want to live in northern California soooooooo bad). Then we're going to spend a few days either in Napa, Half Moon Bay, Lake Tahoe, or Sonoma.

[Catchawave]

8. New York City!

Or if you're in a beachy mood, check out the southeastern beaches. My favorite is Ocakroke(sp?) and Hatteras Island in NC. The waves get smaller the further south you go. But if you must go south, go to Key West!

Also, I hear those Alaska Cruises are really nice in the summer months!

:bounce: Vacation!

[grace0418]

18. I love NYC!

We go there almost every year for a few days. It's just so much fun! I'm always tempted, but I suppose we should do something different. I sure could go for a slice of NY pizza- I live in Chicago but can't stand Chicago style pizza, can you believe it?

[katinmn]

9. Look at Iceland or Peurto Rico

Each are lovely in their own unique way and each are about a five orsix hour flight from the Midwest.

Iceland has the Blue Lagoon!

[Southsideirish]

11. Mountains of Mourne, Northern Ireland.

[qnr]

12. Try Maine, beautiful, fascinating state, and as a bonus, most Americans

think it's part of Canada or something, so you can convince yourself you're visting the USA and a foreign country simultaneously :)

[grace0418]

19. We were considering Maine! Can you tell us more

about it? Do you live there? It looks lovely and is one of the few states I haven't been in yet (we traveled a lot by motorhome when I was a child). Is it expensive? The flights aren't very cheap but if it's relatively affordable to sleep and eat there, it would be nice. What's the weather like in late July?

[qnr]

37. Not sure about the weather this year, as we're temporarily in OK.

Normally it's quite nice, and the prices are reasonable. I'd recommend that you ask on the Maine forum though, since I'm old and senile and would just end up confusing things :)

Maine Forum

[LynneSin]

13. Go to Costa Rica - even good stuff for kids

First, it's the off season in Costa Rica, also known as the Rainy Season. But we went during the off season and bascially we had a major rain storm around sunset and the rest of the day was great. We went over Labor Day weekend (well, was there for 8 days) spent a few days in San Jose (the Capital) and then flew out to Tamorindo, which is in the NW of Costa Rica. There are plenty of Rain Forests & Volcanos to visit. Plus, we ended up hanging out with a bunch of Germans & Dutch.

[JVS]

14. Quebec city!

Or Montreal if you're more into the sex, drugs + techno thing

[Bluebear]

15. Are you drivers? Maine to Quebec City to Montreal.

Oh la la, ayuh!

[JVS]

16. Don't forget to fritter away the last of your vacation funds at...

Montreal's casino!

[JVS]

17. Do you like beer?

Might I suggest a trip to Bavaria, the Czech republic and Austria

[grace0418]

21. These are great suggestions! More! More!

It's making me so excited and they're all such good suggestions. Thank you so much!

[fleabert]

22. yellowstone, san antonio, ixtapa MX, yucatan peninsula, toledo

Toledo Spain, not OH.

these are my favorite places, excluding your exclusions. toronto is nice too, niagra is close by, and I loved living in buffalo.

if you decide on any of these places, I can give more details. they are all fantastic.

[grace0418]

25. Thank you. I may just be tapping you for more info.

These all sound great. Although the idea of being in Texas scares me, even if it is San Antonio. How sad is that?

[fleabert]

27. not sad at all. I am from there and feel the same way,

san antonio is very laid back though, and austin is so close (the liberal heart of texas, and home of the yellow dogs!) you can spend a day at the missions, on the riverwalk, at the alamo, in the hill country, at La Villita, etc... and people are so laid back that if politics come up, it usually just isn't that charged.

[Jamison]

23. Provincetown, MA

This place off Cape Cod is an awesome place to hang out. They have a pretty big GLBT population there, so you won't find any FReepers or fundies around. Summer there is fun and beach temperatures are nice.

[grace0418]

24. That's great! My husband was asking about

places where there is a large GLBT population because we figured those places would be more fun and relaxed and would scare away the freepers.

[Jamison]

26. Here's some info on Provincetown...

You can't go wrong with this place if you're looking for a good vacation, you'll have a blast. Here's the town's tourism page that has a lot of info on events & things to do there.

http://www.provincetown.com/

[grace0418]

30. You rock thanks!

[oasis]

28. The island of Kauai in Hawaii. Waterfalls, canyons, picturesque valleys

and beautiful foliage away from the tourist trodden Wakiki Beach.

All this, and you're still in the good ol' USA.

[JackDragna]

29. New Orleans

It's one of the great cities of America. Great restaurants, neat history and friendly people.

[grace0418]

31. We should start a DU travel group!

You all have been so helpful, it would be nice if we had a travel group where all of us could go for non-freeper vacation ideas! Thanks again everyone.

[tjwmason]

32. Italy

Get some more of Europe under your belt. After my beloved England, it is the most beautiful country on the continent.

It's a wonderful place if you want to split between a typical sun holiday, and also some sight-seeing. You could be sunning yourself on a beach at one moment - and looking round a Palazzo built at the height of the renaissance barely an hour later.

[grace0418]

34. I love Italy, and my husband has never been there. But because of

the whole Pope thing airfares to and accommodations all around Italy (not just Rome) are crazy expensive. Plus our trip will most likely bleed into the first week of August when Italy is more populated by tourists than Italians.

But I agree with you, Italy is incredibly gorgeous. There is a tour you can take where you ride around Tuscany on Vespas and visit all the places where various Italian delicacies and wines are made. I'm not big on tours but that sounded pretty awesome to me. Now I'm really hungry.

[RebelOne]

33. How about Jamaica or Barbados?

I've been to both islands. They are beautiful.

I just returned from a trip to Gatlinburg a few weeks ago. Lots of stuff for families to do there. Of course, you have outlet malls, but that's one of the reasons I went.

[warrens]

35. Montreal, Martha's Vineyard, a cabin in Maine?

I'm taking my daughter up to Montreal from Chicago in August. Then later in the month, I'm going to the Vancouver area, although that's more business than pleasure.

[EstimatedProphet]

36. Amsterdam

'Nuff said