xooz

A couple of things come to mind:
- Banff area: Fly to YYC, hang there, then maybe take train to YVR and return from there
- Do the Avios to Ireland thing.. spend a few days there then book cheap flight to Budapest or Vienna. Bike the Danube, see the sights and return from there

gfunkdave

ICELAND ICELAND ICELAND

Absolutely amazing country, plenty of active stuff, and only a 5 hour flight from NYC.

lhrsfo

I'd second Iceland - totally unforgettable for all the right reasons

pinniped

Doesn't Iceland Air allow stopovers on regular discounted-Y tickets? (I know they used to...it was kind of their "thing".) Since Iceland isn't a two-week destination, you might be able to pair it with a trip onward to one of those Eastern European destinations that interest you.

Only drawback is that I don't think there's an easy Avios path there. EI to DUB and then backtrack??? In any case, it'd still be a cool trip even if you bought the tix with cash.

exilencfc

Yeah but one day in Bratislava is plenty for most people.

Croatia is very hot in the summer but it shouldn't be too bad on the coast. My brother went last year and liked it so much he's going back this. He got rather sunburnt but that was his fault for drinking too much and going to sleep on the beach.

If you do want to come to Europe you could see 4 or even 5 places in a fortnight and have fun riding trains in between them - well I think it's fun anyway. There's an overnight train from Copenhagen to Prague which might be a nice way to link Scandinavia and central Europe.

gfunkdave

IcelandAir still does the stopover thing.

I disagree that Iceland isn't a two week trip. I spent 10 days there and there was still plenty more to see/do. Yes, a lot of it is very rural/nature oriented stuff (hiking trips, backcountry sightseeing, little villages), but it seems that's the kind of thing the OP is looking for. You could easily rent a car and spend two weeks driving around the island. We did it in 7 days and felt a little rushed.

aBroadAbroad

I vote for Scandinavia. We did it many years ago on planes, trains and automobiles, as well as several ferries. We had a fantastic time... one of our best trips ever...

Our itin looked something along the lines of Stockholm 3nt - train to Oslo 2nt- car throughout fjord lands with several 1-2nt stops along the way - Bergen 2nt - ferry to Stavanger - train to Kristiansand 1nt - ferry to Skagen 4nts - car to Fredrikshavn - train to Copenhagen 2nts

Even with nearly three weeks, it didn't seem nearly enough

Boraxo

In addition to the suggestions below I would also consider a bike trip in France. There are a dozen companies that will provide bikes and luggage transfers with varying degrees of luxury and service depending on your budget. The weather should not be too hot, and easy to use Avios via LHR.

+1 If you want an active vacation you could consider biking or hiking around Ireland. Plenty of interesting places to visit. And not too far from BOS though with Avios you'd probably have to transfer @LHR.

+1 We were planning to do Scandinavia this year (sans children) but opted for Japan instead. There are plenty of things to do outdoors here and also easy to use Avios via LHR (though a bit late to be booking now).

Your temperature parameters rule out a # of options that would be fun for your children like Greece, Turkey, Eastern Europe, Hawaii, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Africa - all are likely to exceed 85F in August. You are pretty much going to be limited to Northern Europe or Canada, unless you head to the southern hemisphere where you risk running into winter weather.

wrp96

Alaska is so much more than the small bit you see from cruiseships. Tons of active things to see and do, especially in August. None of which require you to be part of a 21 countries in 10 days tour group.