Family vacation suggestions?

And no, not of the Clark Griswold variety...

It's been a long time since we took a real trip and we're also looking to go away instead of doing the whole "dysfunctional family holidays" thing around the end-of-year era.

Given the time slot (winter in the northern hemisphere), we're looking for somewhere warmish to spend 10-14 days. We're mid-40s, not particularly rugged or athletic, and kids will be 18 and 15 at that time. We like a variety of things and would like to see a variety of sights, from natural to urban. Not big on theme/amusement parks.

We'd love to visit Australia/NZ, but with airfare alone running $10,000 that's out of the league.

Next choice might be Italy, but we're open to suggestions. Doesn't have to be overseas - just nowhere near the US east coast.

Thanks in advance - go!

I was gonna say Disney, but that's the east coast. How about Vegas? There's plenty of entertainment in Vegas geared towards teens and adults alike. Gaming, shows, etc etc. Plus, venture out into the desert and you get things like paint ball, dune buggies, and big guns.

How would you feel about Vieques?

My wife's family has a 2-bedroom concrete bunker/house there, I think they still rent it out. It's in a totally typical residential neighborhood, so you'll have roosters waking you up in the morning. It's right across from an old slaughterhouse (which was used as a prison for a while) so that's interesting. There's a gigantic barge that washed up on the beach below the house in a hurricane a few years ago. There are bars on the windows but somehow people have broken in there a few times, but not while people are staying there.

It's more charming than it sounds. Amazing snorkeling on the artificial reef barge and all over the island, a bioluminescent bay, very few tourists, some awesome food. It's gorgeous, but about as foreign and underdeveloped as it gets without needing a passport...not exactly Italy, in other words.

I never thought I would have liked it, but all inclusive resorts can be a great vacation, and there are some real deals out there.

I love Italy and go there often... though I've not been in the winter months when it's generally cooler and rainier.

But my kids both think Rome is one of the greatest places on earth and we also enjoyed staying in Sorrento and using that as a base to explore the Amalfi coast, Pompei, Herculanium, etc.

You could potentially fly into Rome, stay there for a week, train down to Sorrento, stay there for several days, and then train back to Rome to fly out. Not even any reason to rent a car (except to drive the Amalfi coast... and there is a Hertz rental place in Sorrento where you could rent one for a day or two to do that)

If you decide on Italy, PM me and I'll hook you up with more detailed info (apartments to rent in central Rome at a third the price of a hotel, Rome guides, a nice local hotel in Sorrento, train stuff, etc)

If you wanted to go a little further off the beaten path in southern Italy (Paestum, Matera, Bari, etc) I can help there as well, but I suspect the kids would not enjoy it as much.

Bill

paanta wrote: How would you feel about Vieques? My wife's family has a 2-bedroom concrete bunker/house there, I think they still rent it out. It's in a totally typical residential neighborhood, so you'll have roosters waking you up in the morning. It's right across from an old slaughterhouse (which was used as a prison for a while) so that's interesting. There's a gigantic barge that washed up on the beach below the house in a hurricane a few years ago. There are bars on the windows but somehow people have broken in there a few times, but not while people are staying there. It's more charming than it sounds. Amazing snorkeling on the artificial reef barge and all over the island, a bioluminescent bay, very few tourists, some awesome food. It's gorgeous, but about as foreign and underdeveloped as it gets without needing a passport...not exactly Italy, in other words.

Heck, I'm interested in this- where in Vieques is it?

We'll be in Puerto Rico this year, and have not decided if we will take a trip out to Vieques or Culebra, yet.

duke- what's the feeling WRT driving. Yea, I know this is a car board- but having just come back from Italy, I will never want to drive in Milan again, but landing at Malpensa and heading out to the country side is pretty nice. And the food/wine is awesome, for the adults. Costa Rica can be nice, too- but the roads are pretty slow to get around in.

It kind of depends on what you want to do- if hanging out on a beach is good for the day- I would not waste the money to get to Europe. If the kids enjoy some art, you might find some cheap late fall fares to various locations in Europe (I've seen some great late deals to Paris, for example).

So, what can you all handle doing together for a week?

Zomby woof wrote: I never thought I would have liked it, but all inclusive resorts can be a great vacation, and there are some real deals out there.

Same can be said of cruises. And you wake up in different places....

wcelliot wrote: But my kids both think Rome is one of the greatest places on earth and we also enjoyed staying in Sorrento and using that as a base to explore the Amalfi coast, Pompei, Herculanium, etc. If you decide on Italy, PM me and I'll hook you up with more detailed info (apartments to rent in central Rome at a third the price of a hotel, Rome guides, a nice local hotel in Sorrento, train stuff, etc)

Well, I was thinking fly into Rome, stay 4 days, train to Florence, stay 3 days, train to Venice, stay 3 days, fly out of Venice. Maybe a random day in between to get out into the countryside. I will definitely be looking into apartment rentals rather than hotels wherever possible.

However, that trail leads north, not south. Amalfi coast sounds nice in winter...? I'll shoot you a PM in a bit and thanks for the great info.

alfadriver wrote: duke- what's the feeling WRT driving. Yea, I know this is a car board- but having just come back from Italy, I will never want to drive in Milan again, but landing at Malpensa and heading out to the country side is pretty nice. And the food/wine is awesome, for the adults. It kind of depends on what you want to do- if hanging out on a beach is good for the day- I would not waste the money to get to Europe. If the kids enjoy some art, you might find some cheap late fall fares to various locations in Europe (I've seen some great late deals to Paris, for example). So, what can you all handle doing together for a week?

I figured we would go by train where possible, but maybe rent a car for a day or two (see above). I rented a car for a week-plus in England and had no trouble. That's what insurance waivers are for... but in urban Italy I would not be getting a car for most of the trip.

We're not big beach-sitters, but exploring a Mediterranean coastal town sounds like fun. Basic sightseeing, but not a hectic, too-crammed pace. Some built in down time is important.

Thanks, everybody! Keep it coming, please.

Your northern schedule is way too ambitious... you don't want to spend your time on transportation.... not to mention the wrong time of the year.

Plenty of stuff down south (including climbing the volcano) that the kids would like... and the opportunity for downtime.

You might also want to go to fodors.com and look at the winter Italy travel discussions on the forum there... again, my visits are always summer (though I really want to do a Christmas in Rome...) so ymmv...

alfadriver wrote: Heck, I'm interested in this- where in Vieques is it? We'll be in Puerto Rico this year, and have not decided if we will take a trip out to Vieques or Culebra, yet.

Here. I haven't been there in years, but it's gorgeous. I hear it's gotten quite a bit more tourist friendly now that the Navy is gone and they don't hate mainland Americans (last time I was there was '02 or '03). If you're interested, drop me a line at grendel@gmail.com and I'll get you photos/contact info.

In reply to paanta:

Cool- we have stayed in Esperanza 3 times for a couple of days. I'll check with the Mrs to see if we want to think about it.

Duke Your itinerary is almost identical to our honeymoon. It can work, but seems brief. Also- like wc says- northern Italy is cold in the winter. We talked to a few "locals" in Venice- and they DO get snow.

For cold- I'd agree with Rome and to the south.

Also- look into the walking tours that are between a lot of towns- I'll have to check for the website my wife found, but even in the Piedmont region, you can walk from town to town, vineyard to vineyard. Looked pretty sweet.

Again- keep an eye out for cheap winter fares- they do come up!

Cruises are super fun - something for everyone. It depends on the kids, too... some of the stuff isn't "cool" but if they're the kind of kids who just dive in and have campy fun, they'll love it. Definitely sign up for plenty of activities and side trips, but also try to plan a day of rest.

Maybe a Mediterranean cruise? European standards for cruises are a bit less customer-servicey but still great.

alfadriver wrote:

Zomby woof wrote: I never thought I would have liked it, but all inclusive resorts can be a great vacation, and there are some real deals out there.

Same can be said of cruises. And you wake up in different places....

I don't have to go on a cruise to wake up different places

Not a chance you'd get me on a boat in the middle of all that water.

My favorite place in Italy was Assisi. It is one of the most peaceful places on earth.