Trying to plan a vacation this summer for me, my wife and two daughters- one's 15, the other's 2 (don't ask).

Flying from SNA to JFK... spending a couple of days in NY. Then it's JFK to LHR with a couple of days in London.

The question becomes... we'd like to spend another week in Europe- somewhere. We've done Ireland, Scotland and France before, so we're looking for suggestions.

So, please, if you will, make some recommendations.

I really appreciate the feedback.

So many choices so little time. Ryanair or Easyjet will get u pretty much anywhere u want to go.

Do you want to avoid crowds, save $, hit the beach?

You could try Prague or Budapest or Florence or Athens or ...

Sorry I'm really not that much help... Get a map, and a dart!

Tell us more about your interests and it will be much easier to help you narrow down your choices.

Do you want somewhere your 15-year-old would be fine wandering around by herself? I suspect she'd probably want to do so, so why not consider the possibilities with that in mind?

Seaside Denmark is pretty delightful. Lots of quaint towns, most tourists are european rather than US. I spent a few days on the island of Fano several years ago and loved it. I regret not getting up to Skaan (?) on the northern tip; supposed to be moderate climate and kind of an artists settlement.

Copenhagen is ok for a day or two, but no more. For something different, stay out in Dragor.

JP

Young beautiful women will be hit on mercilessly in any Med area. How about Scandinavia? Maybe a Fjord cruise? Stockholm is great fun and very interesting.

My kids, at any age, always loved Italy....could have been the food. But they were always happy in Italy and laughed a lot. Rome and Venice were special favorites.

Nobody can possible help you unless you give some indication of what your joint interests are and what roughly you're looking for.

eg touristy v untouristy, beach v town, tour or stay put, relax or frenetic. Is food an obsession or is Eastern Europe an option.

Also what are the exact dates so we can look at "events". Finally what budget area are you "frugal", "luxury" ..........?

Help us to help you.

[This message has been edited by uk1 (edited Feb 02, 2004).]

Since the OP lives in a waterfront city with many excellent nearby beaches, I would assume that a beach vacation would not be at the top of the list

..... but then again .... that might mean he loves waterfront cities and put it at the top of the list.

Isn't it better to ask rather than assume?

Hard to go wrong with Vienna, Prague, or Munich...maybe Budapest...

Wow... thanks so much to all for your responses! Some great ideas!

I guess what we're really looking for is a place to camp out for about 5 nights where we can do various day trips, etc., without the need to pack and unpack.

Golf is always great and we've played all over Ireland and Scotland. However, golf isn't a must. Really, we like just about everything and that's what makes it so difficult. Great food/wine is a natural. Budget is really not much of a concern.

My wife thinks Vienna and Switzerland sound great. Tuscany/Florence with the food, day trip possibilities and such also is a plus. We'd really like to stay away from France- no offense to anyone. Rome may be too hot. Athens will probably be a nightmare with the summer olympics.

I really liked the suggestion about a map and a dart! We tried drawing out of the hat and still can't decide.

We're planning a Med. cruise for the summer of '05 out of Barcelona combined with a few days on the French Riviera. So, the Med is somewhat out for this summer. The UK is probably out too.

No worries on the flights- using LHR as a jumping off point, the only thing I need to find is a point in Europe that has the availability to get us home. Likely directs would be Zurich, Frankfort, Rome, Brussels, Amsterdam. However, just about everyother city in Europe connects via BA at LHR.

Love your suggestions, keem em coming. We need to ticket this by Feb 21.

Thanks again.



[This message has been edited by jemctag (edited Feb 13, 2004).]

I don't think you mentioned which month in the summer you're going. If it's July/August, most places will be hot and packed with tourists.

I'll recommend Switzerland. It's cooler (at least up in the mountains) and few tourists (at least fewer American tourists). Or N Italy- Lake Como area.

Oh, yes, thanks for the reminder. We're going in July. Yeah, I know... peak tourist season, hot in some places. We're typically not the touristy types. We like to really get a feel and taste for an area in the way the locals' see it.

We're from a beach city, see the ocean every day. Beaches are not typically a draw for us. If we want hot and humid, we can always go to Florida, right?

Now that I think about it... I can save 360,000 ff miles and stay right here in So Cal. (don't think that'll go over big with the family though).

Again, thanks for your help.

Reading all what you like to do, Switzerland would definitely be the place to set your headquarters.

You would have the advantage when choosing the right city to roam into Germany, Italy France, Liechtenstein and Austria and be back every night at the same hotel.

I live half in Switzerland, half in ATL and I have very often guests staying. Some roam with the public transports, some with a rented car and are always tickled to death to be able to travel to so many places within one day.

If you nedd help, just holler.