If you got a free vacation trip option, which would you choose?

[CTyankee]

Here are some I dreamed up (with the help of a travel catalogue):

18 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	Cruising in the Mediterranean on a small private ship
	4 (22%)
	Skiing in the Swiss Alps
	0 (0%)
	Snorkeling in the Galapagos
	2 (11%)
	Learning Spanish in a months stay in Seville
	1 (6%)
	Paris with side trips around towns in France
	3 (17%)
	Hiking, cycling and kayaking around New Zealand's North Island
	2 (11%)
	China by train and riverboat
	1 (6%)
	Walking on the Camino de Santiago
	1 (6%)
	Exploring Madeira and studying it botanically
	1 (6%)
	Other (please list)
	3 (17%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[Lochloosa]

1. I would go with Paris for the food.

The Galapagos would be my second choice.

Most of the others would be out for physical reasons. (I can bob up and down in the Galapagos)

[CTyankee]

2. I chose Paris (it would be my option) because it's out of season there and would

not be crowded...

If not for the season, I would included cycling in the Cinque Terre...it's one part of Italy I have not explored...

[femmocrat]

3. My only travel dream is Paris.

I have wanted to go there since I was a teenager.

[CTyankee]

4. why not go in the off season?

You might be able to get a really good deal on those websites that show you airfare/hotel deals if you stay for five days or so. It sure wouldn't be crowded at all the sites you'd be visiting. The weather would suck, tho...I got a great deal on a 5 star hotel in Brussels a few years back. It was very nice, I must say (I'm one who would go to a very downscale hotel as long as it was clean and safe).

[femmocrat]

7. I will... someday.

[gvstn]

5. Australia

I'm not a beach lover but those skies make me want to live there.

[PoiBoy]

6. Spain is on our bucket list...

..so yeah...!!

[CTyankee]

13. well, the camino de santiago is on the list...northern spain...

[mnhtnbb]

34. I know someone who did the camino walk for 30 days. Fabulous trip. But you do need to be

in pretty good shape if you're going to walk.

Paris, Lyon, the Loire Valley, the caves of Les Eyzies in the Dordogne Valley, Aix-en-Provence and surrounding
area are all fabulous. We honeymooned in France--30 years ago--and spent a month driving around.

Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Lake Como, all wonderful areas of Italy.

We spent three days in St. Petersburg--stop on a Baltic Cruise--and I was overwhelmed by the number
of people. Traffic was HORRIBLE because--according to one of our bus tour guides--everyone wants to
show off they own a car rather than use their great public transportation. It took one bus an hour and 15 minutes
to go 3 blocks while we were there. So if you go, go off-season (we were there late May).

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

24. I've been to Spain and loved it

Torremolinos:

[a la izquierda]

43. Madrid, Barcelona, and Seville are fantastic.

I've not made it further west. Every time I go to Spain, it's torture to get me to leave. I love it.

[KamaAina]

8. No Hawai'i or other Polynesia?

[CTyankee]

15. no room...I was just going off the top of my head...

I didn't find Hawaii too interesting myself and it was overrun by tourists when I went there. If I had my choices one of them wouldn't be Hawaii. I don't know that much about Polynesia...

[PoiBoy]

20. Pssst....

...ssshhhhh...

[restorefreedom]

54. i already put india,

but i have always been interested in easter island

[Paper Roses]

9. Italy. Had plans to go before my husband died. Now, no $$$.

I dream of winning a contest that would take me to Italy. In our old age, by husband and I went to Europe 3 times. Once alone, 2 trips with kids. Our plan was for a trip to Italy one day. Now that he is gone, it will never happen. Living alone for 8 years has eaten away all savings. I will never be able to go but the dream remains. To everyone, If you can out it together, take the opportunity. The future is not always what you hope for.

[trueblue2007]

10. I would go to the UK. ENGLAND, SCOTLAND, IRELAND & WALES. I visited in 2001 and it was fantastic

[Paladin]

11. Cuba---ASAP, before it's just another tourist trap. (nt)

[JCMach1]

12. No contest, Paris... so much there, regardless of what you are interested in...

[bigwillq]

14. Galapagos (nt)

[elleng]

16. Florence, Marseilles, Cuba, St. Petersburg,

etc etc and so forth!

[CTyankee]

17. St. Petersburg in the depths of March, hmm...might be a tad frosty for me...

Florence and Marseilles and Cuba, OK!

[elleng]

19. Gotcha!

The White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg, Russia is an annual international arts festival during the season of the midnight sun.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Nights_Festival

[CTyankee]

23. Wow. Great article...

[elleng]

18. Oh, the Places We Tell You to Go:

Inside the Travel Section’s Special Issue

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/15/insider/oh-the-places-we-tell-you-to-go-inside-the-travel-sections-special-issue.html?

[CTyankee]

21. I love the reference to Malta...I've always been captivated by those islands like Malta

and Corsica...sounds interesting!

[Aerows]

22. I've always wanted to visit New Zealand

If I did, I'd probably try to hide so I didn't have to come back! That, or Australia.

[BlueJazz]

48. Hope you don't mind me suggesting this. If you go to either of those places, of course, the driving

...is a little confusing. Two things might help you adjust easier.
1. Before you go, try to find an area that you can practice driving on the other side of the road and making right/left turns (a lot of tourists get that wrong).

2. When you get there (this truly helps), pay a cabbie to drive you around for about 1/2 hour..about 30 bucks...and simply pay attention to what he/she does.

[discntnt_irny_srcsm]

25. Another visit to Spain and...

...on to Croatia and Greece.

[CTyankee]

26. that's a deal...I'll pack my travel bag...ready to go in a couple of hours...

hah! Wish I could run off like that...fat chance of that happening...but I do detest winter and I got them blues...

[Odin2005]

56. All the pictures of Croatia's Adriatic coast are gorgeous.

I'd love to visit Split, gorgeous beach town and home to the palace of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

[progressoid]

27. Wahoo, Nebraska.

Oh wait, I've been there.

[Enrique]

45. is it as exciting as it sounds?

[Skittles]

28. Australia

yes indeed

[Randomthought]

29. The Western Isles

My next dream vacation is Scotland.

[MuseRider]

30. I chose the Mediterranean

because I would love to see it. I would love to do so on a small ship, I am not a fan of cruises. With a small ship you could most likely stop to snorkel and scuba dive. Living in Kansas if given the chance to hit the ocean anywhere I take it. I have not been diving for 10 years, we used to do it at least once a year and I miss it so much.

Those are my reasons. I would go anywhere actually but have little time to travel anymore. Retired and no time to travel, what a plan I had. I did just this afternoon get an invite to get mail from Elderhostel. I will be looking into that.

[CTyankee]

31. a lot of this is from an elderhostel trip brochure...I've been on 5 elderhostel tours and

they have been great. I highly rcommend them...and always a great bunch of people.

I'm going on a trip with another cheaper company to Sicily but it sounds great...in late April, early May...

[edgineered]

32. Wo yao qu Zhonggua. nt

[47of74]

33. Paris, especially if the vacation was 1/2 there...

...and 1/2 in London.

[PasadenaTrudy]

35. Iceland n/t

[Tanuki]

36. I want to go to Madagascar....lemurs and chameleons galore, baobob trees....

[davidpdx]

37. A tour of the countries in Asia that I haven't yet seen

Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand (I've only been to Pucket), Singapore, and Hong Kong (I've been to mainland China a few times).

[sakabatou]

38. To Georgia to visit my girlfriend

[mackerel]

39. I'd love to go to Tasmania, Hobart specifically, it's supposed to

be a foodie hang out. New Zealand is known to have the nicest most generous people. I worked with a woman who traveled around the world and she said people in New Zealand will put you up for the night.

[shenmue]

40. London

[Tikki]

41. Going to Australia to see a 'footy' game live.

GO HAWTHORN HAWKS



Tikki

[DFW]

42. The wildlife of the Serengeti

Although Namibia is supposed to be cool, too. I'd also like to go back to the Seychelles some day, and New Zealand is definitely on the to do list. Belize, Costa Rica and Brazil, too.

For those who chose Paris, it IS a very special city, but I'm there once a week for work, so it's way too familiar for me to consider it for a vacation. If you've never been there, that's another story.

Other MUST see cities relatively near me (I live in Düsseldorf) are Barcelona, Prague, Copenhagen, Haarlem, Luzern and Granada.

[a la izquierda]

44. Paris...

with a layover for a few days in Reykjavik.

[CTyankee]

47. I will never set foot in Austria due to their continued lying about their role in WW2

and their anti-Semitism. If you saw the movie "The Woman in Gold" you know about the Klimt painting that the Austrian government fought to hold onto even tho they knew the Nazis had stolen it and it was left in their national museum in Vienna. It took a Supreme Court decision to finally get it back to the rightful heir
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Austria_v._Altmann

[Trailrider1951]

49. I'd take the train around the western US and Canada

I would start at my home here near Austin, TX and take the Southbound Texas Eagle out to Los Angeles. https://www.amtrak.com/texas-eagle-train

I'd stay a few days and ride the Pacific Surfliner south to San Diego and back.
https://www.amtrak.com/pacific-surfliner-train

Then I would catch the Coast Starlight north-bound to Seattle.
https://www.amtrak.com/coast-starlight-train

I would stay in the Seattle area for a week or more and visit with my son and his family. Then, on to Vancouver, BC, Canada. https://www.amtrak.com/cascades-train

Explore Vancouver for a couple of days, then on to Jasper, AB, Canada. I would stay a few days, rent a car and explore Banff and Lake Louise as well. Then westward to Prince Rupert to do some whale and grizzly bear photography.
http://www.viarail.ca/en/explore-our-destinations/trains/rockies-and-pacific

Next, I would catch a ferry from Prince Rupert to Anchorage. http://www.ferrytravel.com/

Explore Anchorage and surrounding area, then take the train to Denali. http://alaskatrain.com/service/alaska-railroad.html

I would stay 3 or 4 days in Denali, then catch the train back to Anchorage. I could either fly or ferry out of Anchorage to Seattle, and then catch the Coast Starlight train south to Sacramento. A couple of hours layover, then catch the east-bound California Zephyr.
https://www.amtrak.com/california-zephyr-train

I would get off in Glenwood Springs and spend 2 or 3 days there exploring the bike trails with a rented bicycle and then soaking in the warm mineral water pool. Then on to Galesburg IL where I catch the shuttle van south to Springfield IL, where I then board the southbound Texas Eagle for home.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

[CTyankee]

51. what a trip! Hope you can do it someday!

[Iggo]

50. Spain. (n/t)

[Mendocino]

52. Nahanni River NWT

A 2 week descent of the South Nahanni River would be awesome.

[restorefreedom]

53. india and nepal.

and maybe mongolia

[Odin2005]

55. PARIS!!! Nice central location for exploring Westen Europe.

[CTyankee]

57. and there you go!

[Initech]

58. I want to go to Bora Bora and stay on one of those huts over the ocean.

Caribbean is also on my bucket list, and going to Spain and seeing an FC Barcelona game.