emaij You mentioned Turkey. I went for 15 days in 2000. It had to be one of the best trips ever. I spent 5 days in Istanbul. Beautiful city and lots to see and do. Plus the food - delic!

We then headed down the Dardanelles to Gallipoli. Wandering thru the WWI battlefields and seeing the trenches was sobering (but beautiful). We even found some WWI era bullets still on the ground.

Antalya, on the coast, is also great. You can hire a boat to take you out and just lounge in the sun. But be sure to use LOTS of sunscreen. Some of my friends blistered after not being careful enough.

Cappadocia - with it's odd rock formations - is quite cool. I took a 4 am hot-air ballon ride and had a blast watching the sunrise and then enjoying a champagne breakfast.

Go for it!

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I Love New York

Great recommendations! Time is a concern for me. I want to hold off on safari and hard to get to places until I have some more time. Also, my travel companion is prone to seasickness so cruises are out.

Turkey is a strong possibility. What time of year were you there, Redhead?

Also possible of those recommended are New Zealand, Buzios, Easter Island and Cuzco to Machu Picchu.

[This message has been edited by emaij (edited 01-23-2002).]

[This message has been edited by emaij (edited 01-23-2002).]

Costa Rica was my favorite vacation paradise. Spend a day or two in San Jose, then rent a car and head down to Manuel Antonio, or anywhere else on the Pacific Coast for an increidble, relaxing, fun way to spend a week or two. And best of all, it's fairly inexpensive.

I agree with Turkey. It sounds like what you might be looking for. I've been three times; September once and early October twice. I've heard this is best for prices and the crowds are less. Many FF tickets have a break in miles in September (40,000 vs 60,000 from the US)

IMO, Turkey combines friendly people, incredible history and landscape, yummy food, decent beaches and very cheap prices.

My 10 days would be this:

1 - Fly to Istanbul and catch a flight to Dalaman where you take a taxi or bus to Olundeniz.

2,3&4 - Relax on the beach, take a boat trip, go to the discos at night, eat at Kum Tur every night, visit Fethiye one morning.

5&6 - Bus to Selcuk. See the museum in town, spend a whole day at Ephesus, Meryemana, the citadel and St John's Basilica.

7&8 - Bus to Pamukkale. Visit the Travertine pools (hopefully the water flow has been restored), visit the ruins and swim in the pool where Cleopatra relaxed.

9&10 - Fly to Cappadocia. Visit the villages, fairy chimneys and underground cities.

11 - Fly to Istanbul. Be sad you only had 10 days and plan your return.

If I had to pick one place to strike from the list of where I've been in Turkey it would be Istanbul. There is much to see and do there but didn't have the impact that the other places had.

Email me if you need hotel ideas for any of the mentioned places.


[This message has been edited by drtravels (edited 01-23-2002).]

The Galapagos Islands! We just returned this past Sunday, definately the best place we've ever been too. Our tour (thru A&K) included 3 nights in Quito and 7 nights in the Galapagos.

emaij I was in Turkey in June - very hot but great. Just drank bottled water constantly.

SRQ Guy Costa Rica is also great. I used to live there and the people are so friendly and the lifestyle is great. I would say Costa Rica is best from Oct-Apr.

Visit the east (Caribbean) coast, the central jungles, Arenal Vocano (definately must relax in the hot springs) and then down along the Pacific coast.

Depends on what you want.

drtravels I would have to diasgree about skipping Istanbul. I absolutely loved it and found the Aya Sofia inspiring. But I guess we can each have our own opinion, right. I would have to support your other ideas 100% though.


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I Love New York

That's ok - I'm a small city guy and you're from "the" city and what do you expect from a Yanks fan?

Happy travels

Ditto!! Or even just Tuscany and the Cinque Terre. I could spend 10 days there EASILY!

For the beach and diving, the Maldives without a doubt!

If you're not into the relaxing on a beach thing, I would have to say the two most memorable trips I have ever taken would be China/Japan and Israel/Egypt. We did these in 3 week so we could give each country about 10 days. China would probably be my recommendation. The great wall, the forbidden city, the art, and the food. It is absolutely unforgettable.
I will add one caveat: my trip was over 12 years ago and our tour guide took us around in Mao's old limousine (I Really don't know how we arranged that) so things might be different these days.

Oh no... I think the ladyfriend is vetoing Turkey because it's too far. That's really going to limit things. Costa Rica is probably the closest place that will deliver on some of my criteria.

For the record, I'm dying to go to Maldives, Galapagos, Mauritius, and on the trans-Siberian.

It sounds like you would enjoy Costa Rica. We went there summer 2000 and visited San Jose, Jaco Beach, and Manuel Antonio National Park.

I saw many recommendations for Turkey here and would have to agree. I thnk the flight was about 10 hours from NYC. It is such an interesting blend of western and eastern cultures.

BTW, should any one ever need a fabulous Turkish guide I would be happy to recommend the one I lucked in to finding on the web. He made all the difference in both IST and Ephesus and with pretrip planning.

When planning a trip I try to consider which places will be heating up tourist-wise and try to get there before the crowds. One of these places is Cambodia. Fantastic trip! And another one of these places is Zambia (we're going in July with Robin Pope). Botswana is another idea (we were there a few years ago and LOVED it). So far Cambodia and Southern Africa take the cake for us. Have fun!

ITALY!!!!! started in Venice and then Orvieto, Rome, Positano, Pompeii and Florence. I would do all ten days in Venice and the lakes region though - or half there and half on the coast in Sorrento or Positano. GREAT people food wine music romance!