Travel
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Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Where have you been?
Where have you been (honeymoon, family vacation) that was your favorite spot?
Also, do you prefer cruises, all inclusive, etc?
H and I want to do a nice vacation!
Re: Where have you been?
Our current favorite place is the Riviera Maya, Mexico- Tulum and Playa del Carmen. Non AI, we prefer small boutique hotels.
I would love to take another cruise and I was thiiiiiis close to having DH talked into trying one until the Costa accident. Now he says NEVER to a cruise, but I think he's being a bit overly dramatic.
I do not prefer cruises at all, and I've never been to an all-inclusive. (Me: I book all my own travel and have never used a travel agents. I also travel about 1/3 of the year for work.)
I've been to Portugal, Switzerland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, UK-London/Bath, and Italy. Within the US, I've been to Hawaii, Florida, Texas, California, Oregon, and Washington. I've been to other US states, but am ASSuming that your definition of a nice vacation doesn't include Ohio, Illinois, or Kansas? :-)
What do you like to do? Beach, shop, sightsee? For me, Hawaii, Portugal, and Italy were all fabulous mixes of beach, shopping, sightseeing, and cultural opportunities.
My favorite vacations were to India and Argentina.
I prefer neither cruises nor all-inclusives. I've stayed at AIs in Turkey and Panama and liked neither. I could only see myself on a cruise if it was a very small boat and to a destination that is better visited by sea (like, say, fjords).
Carmel, CA
I have never been on a cruise, and I've never been to an AI
We need more detail. Fly or drive, budget, how long, what are you into, what climate are you looking for, domestic or international, etc.
Our little Irish rose came to us on March 5, 2010
Don't drink the water.
Disclaimer: I am not an MD. Please don't PM me with pregnancy-related questions. Ask your doctor.
some of my personal faves:
london - my favorite city in the world, i've been by myself, with my mom, and with DH. every trip has been fantastic.
prague - this was our first vaca together, DH proposed on that trip. we went back as part of our honeymoon.
barcelona - we just went in november, after 2+ years without a real vacation. great mix of sightseeing, awesome food & wine, and wandering at our leisure. would love to go back when it's beach weather too.
rio - this was part family trip (ILs live there), part vaca. loved that we got to do sightseeing and beach time in one trip.
australia - i was working there and did two weeks in sydney, melbourne, and tasmania. stunning and beautiful. but it is a loooong trip so i'd only do this if you have 2.5-3 weeks.
closer to home, i've had a great time in newport, RI, the white mountains of NH, lake george, NY (in the adirondacks), and virginia wine country.
cruising isn't my/our thing. i get seasick and we like to do things on our time. i know some people love it, but it's not for me.
we like more active vacations so we haven't done an AI but if we wanted a more lounge-focused vacation, i would not rule it out.
we are foodies and art/architecture geeks, so a lot of our vacations are focused on what we want to see, eat, and drink.
I would say my favorite trip up to this point was Thailand and Cambodia. As far as a favorite place, we lived in Honolulu for a year and try to get back to Hawaii once a year, and we also try to get down to Napa/Sonoma once a year.
We've never done a cruise or AI. We like vacations with good food and drinks (beer or wine or mai tais, we're not picky!) and good hiking. When we were debating whether to go to Cook Islands what decided it for us when the fact that you can hike across the entire main island.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.
Mark Twain
My Travel Blog
In the last 6 years we have visited Hawaii three times (will be going again in March), Arizona, Mexico, France, and Germany. We've also been to Ohio and California, but those trips were to visit family.
I never thought we'd visited Hawaii so many times that quickly, but the first trip was our honeymoon, once was for our friends wedding, one trip was a free work related trip, and this March we'll be going to an island we haven't visited before just for a regular vacation.
We live in Washington so Hawaii is about the same distance any other warm beach vacation. For this vacation we wanted something relaxing, but we also enjoy the outdoors, so we will have a lot to do.
We like to travel internationally about every two years. We'll probably be going to South America (either Argentina or Peru) later this year.
I think a good place to start is figuring out what type of vacation you want, how much time you have, and what your budget is. Also, once you start traveling, the list of places you want to visit will continue to grow.
My favorite places are Greece (honeymoon), Lebanon (my heritage), Italy, Australia, New Zealand
I don't like all inclusives but wouldn't rule it out again. It works well if traveling with my mom.
For a person that doesn't like all inclusives I do like cruising islands. I also like to spend a week on an island relaxing as well and exploring. But a cruise has it's place with me as well. It is such a worry free vacation. I don't have to plan a meal or entertainment. It's been great for last minute vacations with my husband and it's great traveling on a cruise with my mom where mobility is an issue.
DH and I have traveled pretty extensively throughout Europe and then we've done some Caribbean / Central America / South America trips and then a few tropical vacations as well (along with plenty of US travels). In the past six years, we've gone (internationally) to Iceland, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Greece, Turkey, Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Costa Rica, Argentina, the Dominican Republic, the Bahamas, French Polynesia, and then Canada. Domestically we've been all over Washington state (where I'm from), California (where we currently live), Arizona (where I lived for two years while dating), and we've done trips to places like Atlanta, Cape Cod, Virginia, Miami, New York City, Boston, Hawaii, etc.
Our favorite destinations are probably Greece, Turkey, Argentina, Costa Rica, and French Polynesia internationally; domestically we enjoy going to Hawaii and go about every 4-5 months (there is *really* cheap airfare out of Northern California); we love going up to Napa or Sonoma; and we spend a fair amount of time visiting New York City. Tell us more about your likes / interests, time of year you'd want to travel, how long you'd be gone for, what your budget is, and I'm sure you'll get tons of great suggestions.
To your questions regarding AI's and cruises - I know those options are really popular with many posters on these boards, but they're not (personally) the things I think DH would be interested in. We both have become foodies since we moved to SF so quality of the food at an AI (or on a cruise) would probably be an issue for us; also DH tends to shun or dislike anything large, organized, or that would be classified as overly "touristy" - I feel like you don't get a real good perspective on the country you're visiting if all you do is stay at the resort or float on a cruise ship. That being said, I know we're a little different so if that's your thing - give it a try! You'll never know if you love it until you try it, and DH and I certainly wouldn't turn down a free cruise or AI... it just isn't how we'd spend our vacation money.
Maui is my fave place so far.
DH and I have done different types of vacations.. we've been on a few cruises, stayed at AI's in Mexico and the Caribbean, gone to Vegas, Cape Cod, Key West, and we honeymooned in Fiji at a secluded resort.
All of our trips have been amazing, but we really love the relaxing on the beach vacations. We're planning another Caribbean AI vacation for April/May timeframe and can't wait to just relax on the beach and drink and eat as much as we want without worrying about cost. That said, we also really enjoy cruising as we love the boats, seeing several new islands in one trip, and how great the staff is.
Our HM in Fiji was perfect for our HM, and we'd love to do something like that again for an anniversary trip. For us, we like to book different types of vacations for different reasons. It depends on if we're just looking to get away and relax, or party, or we're celebrating something.
We're also looking into finally going to Europe which will be another different type of trip for us, and we can't wait to sight-see and shop. (well I can't wait to shop!)
It all depends on what type of vacation you're looking for, if you're looking for relaxing then I highly suggest an AI on the beach, if you're looking for more adventure then take a cruise that stops in ports with zip lining, river tubing, and snorkeling or check out Hawaii or Costa Rica.
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My favorite was Ireland.
Cruises have their place, but they're not my favorite. I don't do AIs.
My absolute favorite place is French Polynesia. I've been five times and hope to be adding in another trip soon! We went to the Seychelles this past fall and it ranks a close second. We didn't have the best of weather while we were there, even though it was dry season, so we're slightly biased.
Out of the Caribbean, my favorite place in Anguilla. The beaches are amazing! Otherwise, I've been to St. Maarten, Aruba, Jamaica (twice), St. John, and St. Thomas.
Out of Mexico, we really love the Zoetry in Los Cabos (AI) or Le Meridien in Cancun (non- AI). We've been to both Cancun and Los Cabos twice.
In Europe, my favorite country is Switzerland. I could move there this second! I particularly enjoyed Zurich and Luzern. We've also been to Germany (twice), Italy, France, Leichtenstein, Luxembourg, Belgium, London, and the Netherlands.
I've also been to Fiji and Mauritius, as well as Hawaii (Lanai, Kauai, Maui, Oahu). Fiji is a great place for all-inclusive or semi-all-inclusive vacations! I also really like Lanai. It's just different and I like that!
Our wedding on Wilson Island!
I don't know if I have one favorite place-- but here are some places I've enjoyed:
Beach-- nicest sand has to be Sarasota, FL. Seriously. For just fun, I love Key West and St Thomas.
Foodie-- San Sebastian, Spain. Such great food in and around Basque country.
Most Historically Interesting-- Egypt
Natural Beauty-- Grand Canyon (North Rim)
Great places to just watch the world go by: Provincetown, MA; Verona, IT, Radda in Chianti, IT; Austin, TX.
Great World Capitals (something for everyone): Paris, London, Florence.
Places I skip going back to: Istanbul, Miami, Monaco, Munich, Vegas
Gosh, I have been to a lot of places over my life. My favorite though is definitely Australia. But I spent two summers studying there so they were really unique and once in a lifetime kinds of trips. If you have the time, I definitely recommend Australia and NZ.
Some other really amazing trips: Hawaii, Turkey, Italy, Greece. We did a cruise around Italy and Greece, which was amazing. Greece I was totally captivated by, particulary Santorini.
In the US: all over, did a cross country tour out west a few years ago that I loved. Went to the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, Mt. Rushmore, San Fran, Napa and a few other places.
Grand Canyon is also another favorite of mine. We flew into Vegas for a couple of nights, drove to the Grand Canyon then to AZ for a cousin's wedding. Fantastic trip.
For our honeymoon we went to Punta Cana and did an AI. I really liked them as well. It's so nice to not have to worry about paying for food and drinks.
We are also planning a trip, so I'm looking forward to reading all these responses! We're not sure where to go either. We are looking at Costa Rica, Aurba or Europe. Have fun deciding!!!
Our fave spot is Hawaii, specifically Kauai and Maui. We love it there for the gorgeous scenery, beaches, fun outdoor activities/adventure, and it just feels special to us, like our "2nd home".
Second fave would be California - SF, Napa/Sonoma, and along the Pacific Coast.
I do not prefer AI resorts over non-AI, I like to get out and try different restaurants and foods. I do like cruises but it's not my preferred travel. Just hitting up a great location and staying at a nice hotel is my preferred vacay. Oh and with a beach nearby
Top 3 trips with MH were Maldives, Italy (Venice, Florence/Tuscany, Rome), and Paris. I do not like all inclusives and have never been on a cruise.
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I have done one cruise (and probably won't again for a long time) and never done an AI (doesn't appeal at all).
My favorite places:
Iceland - 100% favorite place in the world so beautiful
Berlin - probably my favorite city, I love the history and that the city is always changing - the juxtaposition of new and old is fascinating (also been to Hamburg and Frankfurt)
Porto, Portugal - beautiful city, loved the port wine houses (also went to Lisbon)
Spain - Barcelona, Rioja and San Sebastian - amazing food and culture (also been to Madrid and Toledo)
Italy - Cinque Terre and Florence - great food, beautiful places, art, history, etc (also went to Venice)
Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina - again great food and wine, loved the architecture and the shopping and low prices (also went to Colonia, Uruguay which I really liked)
Honduras - Roatan and Copan - great beaches on Roatan, charming little city in Copan, Mayan ruins, great food, low prices
Prague - great beer, history, art, architecture, low prices
Switzerland - so incredibly beautiful, diversity of culture (French, German, Italian) and great wine and cheese
South Africa - Cape Town, safari in Kruger, and Wild Coast - so beautiful, low prices once you get there, huge diversity in landscape, culture and things to do, great food and wine
Other places I have been and really enjoyed: Hawaii, Vancouver, Jamaica, Nicaragua, New Orleans, NYC, Seattle (lived there), Portland, Chicago (lived there), San Francisco (live there now), Denver/Boulder, Santa Fe/Albequerque, Dublin, Austin/San Antonio, Miami, Louisville/Lexington, Kansas City and St. Louis
I've also been to Costa Rica, but that was my least favorite trip