I'm beginning to plan for a vacation I'm taking in April. I will have max 10 days and want to go somewhere fun with me girlfriend. The most important thing is to earn lots of points. OK.. that's secondary to having good fun. Please let me know the most amazing trip you have taken in the past few years. Anything in Europe, Asia, Central & South America and beyond is fair game.

You really need to narrow it down as to whether you want to kick back on a beach or do a city and all the sights.

Try a round-the-world trip. Its a good value and really a once in a lifetime experience. Not to mention pick up bunches of miles.

Northwest has one as well as other airlines. Just call the international reservation number for your carrier and ask for the RTW (Round The World) desk.

Round the world sounds awesome but in 10 days? I don't think it's enough. I don't think it's adequate for Cathay Pacific's All Asia Pass either (and no points).

I've been thinking of going to the south of Turkey and hanging out at the beaches, doing the Inca Trail, training thru France & Italy, or checking out Costa Rica.

My traveling companion is not the most hard-core traveler in the world so we probably have to limit the number of flights.

I'd love to go somewhere really beautiful, not overly industrialized, with really interesting culture, friendly people, and some feeling of adventure. I'm not really into "kicking back" on a beach for more than an hour unless there is winsdurfing, sailing, or some other sport happening.

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

[QUOTE]Originally posted by emaij:
[I've been thinking of going to the south of Turkey and hanging out at the beaches, doing the Inca Trail, ...

My traveling companion is not the most hard-core traveler in the world so we probably have to limit the number of flights [ENDQUOTE].

I don't know if you are just referring to the flying, but the Inca Trail is pretty hard-core. You need to be in VERY good shape. However, you don't need to for Machu Pichu so much. The best vacation I ever took was Cuzco and the Sacred Valley and the train from Cuzco to Machu Pichu. Ten days would be about right if you wanted to drive or take bus around the valley for a few days, or you could take two or three days to go to Lake Titicaca. Try to fly into Bolivia and not Per� if you do that and want to limit the flights.

This would give you a sense of a adventure without being totally hard core.

Doakes

Tuscany, Rome, Pompeii, Sorrento and Capri.

Egypt, with your own personal tour guide. You'll never forget it. We travelled there in 1999 on award tickets.

The Egyptians were building pyramids and other structures 6000 years ago for certain, and some experts believe the Sphinx is 12,000 years old. You will enter temples and tombs with the original paint still intact on the walls...please don't touch!

Egyptian tour guides are not just college students or part-timers, they have college degrees in tour guiding. We arranged in advance with Tal Tours of New York to provide a guide for a week, and that worked out super. Our guides (generally a driver and one of two guides) met us at the Cairo airport, led us right past the lines at the Sphinx and showed us important things inside that other folks didn't notice, told us the best places to take photos and took us there, put us on the train to Luxor and met us at the train station when we returned, and explained present-day Egyptian cultural issues.

Our family (2 adults and a teenager) has been fortunate to do quite a bit of travelling over the years, and we can get by in several languages. All three of us, including the teen-ager who hates history, agree that Egypt was our best vacation ever.

------------------
Middle_Seat

Bali, via a cheap ticket to Singapore..
Paradise!

Some more info to narrow the choices...

Where I've been and don't really want to go back right now: Hong Kong, China, Mexico, Bali, Thailand, Netherlands, Egypt, Cyprus, Spain, England, Jamaica, St. Lucia, Dominican Republic, Bahamas, St. Barts, Japan, Canada, Denmark.

Where I would return right now: Italy, France, Israel, Brazil.

Places on my gotta go list: Turkey, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Greece, Morocco, Polynesia, Costa Rica, Russia, Tanzania, Kenya, and the other 150 countries out there.

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

Go on a cruise of the South Pacific on the Paul Gaughan cruise ship. I haven't been on it, but a trusted acquaintance (who has been everywhere) said it was A+. You can get a ton of Gold Points too!!

www.rssc.com

I vote for a safari in Kenya. i have been many, many places & that still sticks out in my mind as spectacular. The scenery is incredible,the people are wonderful, the accomodations luxe. All in all a magical time. There's also something very romantic about bieng there.

New Zealand

Just been there 3 weeks ago for the first time, I'm in love with the place. And note I've been only to Auckland, there's much more to see.

Go for Buzios in Brazil. It�s about 180km a way from Rio.There are 23 beaches which are very beautiful and there are not so many tourists except from high season. Ver ynice city...

Tim

My 2 best ones:

Beach/Sun
Mauritius: the nicest people i ever met. It's expensive to go and stay, but it's worth. You never feel like the "robbed turist".

Alternative
Take the transibirien train: experience Moscow, the baikal (a russian nature paradise), the beauty of the mongol steps, the amazing chinese world.All that with people from all over the world in the train or just russians/chinese, depending the moment.

The world is great because everybody is different: ban the uniformisation and globalization!!

Well...I'm going to Easter Island in March. I'm pretty excited about it!
My next trip after that will be to visit the Ice Hotel in Sweden.
Either the Ice Hotel in Sweden or Santorini, Greece would be 2 very romantic spots!