I've got May 18th-26th off and I'm looking to take my ladyfriend somewhere. I'm looking for something new. We went to Spain last year and I've already been to a lot of the Caribbean and Alps nations (Austria, Switzerland, North Italy, Southern Germany).

Top choice now is Costa Rica however, I'm open to almost anywhere. A big plus would be a famous festival/event or some kind of nature phenomena happening only a during that time in May (i.e. Asheville in October, April cherry blossoms in DC, etc)

1/2/2013 10:05:40 PM

Why not April Cherry Blossoms in JAPAN? But seriously, I believe you'll be about 2 weeks late on that.

[Edited on January 2, 2013 at 10:39 PM. Reason : .]

1/2/2013 10:38:25 PM

I hear New Zealand is quite scenic.

1/2/2013 10:41:12 PM

i went to costa rica in june. it was awesome. even though it was the "rainy" season it rained maybe 3 of the 12 days we were there (sprinkled a little here and there, but only a few days were "rainy").

we didn't plan or book anything in advance except our plane tickets and i think we saved a lot of money that way. every hotel we just walked in and they gave us half off whatever the website said reservation rates were.

if you end up going there feel free to PM me and i can tell you about some awesome places we visited.

1/3/2013 1:00:19 AM

Ireland

1/3/2013 1:52:20 AM

Iceland

1/3/2013 5:00:37 AM

costa rica is awesome. go there.

1/3/2013 10:52:39 AM

Something close. You don't want to spend 3-4 days of your vacation traveling.

1/3/2013 10:58:59 AM

Went to Costa Rica 3 years ago (in Dec/Jan) and loved it.

1/3/2013 11:26:57 AM

How much money are you working with?

1/3/2013 11:39:36 AM

For late May, I'd probably go Canada/Alaska/Iceland/Norway/Ireland.

Definitely go somewhere with lots of sunlight.

Not the best time of year to go NZ/Chile

1/3/2013 4:11:47 PM

Visited Scotland last summer for a few days as part of a multi week trip and I would definitely recommend spending an extended period there....Backpacking/biking the highlands is now on my bucket list.

1/3/2013 4:24:39 PM

^^Ireland was another top choice. My lady-friend is Irish and would like to see the homeland. Problem with those other places is that she doesn't want to go somewhere too cold (i don't really care...I originally suggested scandinavia)

Quote :

"How much money are you working with?"

I'd like to keep the plane tickets under $1200. I'd go higher if my dollar at the vacation destination went a long way. I also don't want to spend 20+ hours on a plane since I'm only going for 8 nights. I'll save the Asia trip for 2014 when I can go for 2 weeks.

1/3/2013 7:08:49 PM

Well you definitely want to her happy, but Ireland is going to be similar temperature wise.

The Mediterranean like Greece/Mallorca/Croatia/Turkey would be great that time of year too.

1/3/2013 10:37:17 PM

iceland i hear is awesome

1/4/2013 12:30:45 PM

Cabo San Lucas is one of the nicest parts of Mexico. Not too hot in May either...

1/4/2013 9:24:04 PM

Quote :

"Ireland was another top choice. My lady-friend is Irish and would like to see the homeland."

Check out ireland and the UK but may 25 and 26 head to the isle of man for the iomtt.

http://www.iomtt.com/TT-2013/The-2013-TT.aspx
even if you aren't a racing fan, this is one the world's greatest displays of skill, speed, and balls.



I might even see you there

1/4/2013 10:33:40 PM

Im now looking at flying into Geneva ("cheap" place to fly into) then driving 4 hours south to enjoy the French and Italian Riviera

Anyone been? From what I read May and June are the best time to go due to weather and being much less crowded then July - August.

Greece and Turkey are also climbing up the list. Costa Rica is slowly moving down due to rainy season and ticket prices going up $150 in the last week

1/14/2013 8:33:04 PM

Look into rail if it is an option. Car rentals are crazy expensive in Europe.

1/14/2013 9:14:47 PM

So I'm probably booking a ticket tonight since tickets are ridiculously cheap

Roundtrip to Zurich from NYC are $643 with Air Berlin leaving/arriving at excellent times and only an 11 hour flight (vs. booking out of RDU which is $1300 round trip). A round trip ticket to NYC is $160 from RDU...lol. I love how that works.

Arrive in Zurich at 10 am Sat. Stay there that night.
Drive/train the 4 hrs through the Alps to the Italian Riveria (3 days).
Drive/train the 1.5 hour to the French Riveria (3 days)
Drive/train back the 5.5 hours to Zurich where we spend the last night
Flight back to NYC where we arrive at 7 pm and stay 1 night
Then back home on the Monday

1/14/2013 9:48:31 PM

Glacier national park or the dead sea.


neither will be there in 20 years.

1/15/2013 12:01:27 AM

Probably true but the Grand Prix race in Monaco is taking place the same time I'll be there. Won't see the actual race due to price but the qualifying stuff is free

[Edited on January 15, 2013 at 1:06 AM. Reason : Cannes film festival is at the same time too but not that interested in that.]

1/15/2013 12:39:48 AM

if you do end up going to costa rica check out costaricaexperts dot com. they hooked us up pretty good for our honeymoon

1/15/2013 2:45:07 PM

Just got from Costa Rica for Christmas. You can do some crazy things there that no insurance company would cover in the U.S. My favorite thing I did there was a waterfall tour that took all day. Went to 3 waterfalls. First one was fairly small, but had a rope swing about 10 feet up and you could get some major air off of it. Second one was medium size.

None of these videos are of me, but for reference.
Dominicalito waterfall:



This is the Uvita waterfall. The slide is about 30 feet. There is a jump off a 40 foot ledge to the right. Requires some sketch climbing to get out to it.


This is the Nauyaca Waterfall. Huge and amazing. 80 foot jump from the top ledge. Lots of 30-40 foot jumping in between, but you have to scale the waterfall (our guide free climbed through it to attach a rope to an anchor point to help us get up). Was NOT easy.



35 foot jump (this guy didnt do the higher ledge)


I can't find a video of the 80 foot jump. I admittedly pussed out. I was determined to do it, but after your adrenaline going up and down all day long, and seeing just how far up 80 feet was jumping into boiling water, I decided the 40 feet jumps were enough. I didnt feel too bad about it. The tour guide said only about 10% do it. And he said a group of marines that came from Iraq were running their mouths about doing it all day long, and they all pussed out as well So I was in good company.

[Edited on January 15, 2013 at 3:13 PM. Reason : .]

1/15/2013 3:12:02 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cAe3UVQpmk&feature=youtu.be

Nicaragua. I put this together from my vacation this past new years.

4/23/2013 8:30:04 AM