Have you been to the Azores? Everyone I've talked to who has been has said how wonderful and unspoiled it is with cheap but great food, wonderful scenery, lots of hiking...

I haven't checked in awhile, but there are a lot of Portugese people in the Mass. area and I believe they have nonstops there from Logan.

No, I've not been to the Azores, but I am waitlisted for a trip there. I joined a travel group for people who have been to 100+ countries (I'm at 86 countries so just a provisional member). Their annual meeting is in the Azores this year. I signed up after that was announced so am now on a waitlist. I'd like to go, but I would only go as part of that trip since it won't add a country for me and I am prioritizing adding countries until I get to 100.

Aruba, so beautiful

Primland, Nemacolin, Blackberry Farm-all are resorts in eastern US. We have been to all three in the last couple of years. Availability might be difficult over spring break though. I also liked Enchantment in AZ. I was just thinking that travel might be easier and faster if you stay east. I can also recommend some CA properties if that’s of interest. Also look at Palmetto Bluff-haven’t been but they have tons of activities.

We've been to Sueb's mention, Little Palm Island, a couple times and loved it. Best for decompressing, not doing, I think.

I vote Chicago. We just flew over it last week.

Anyone been to the Canary Islands? Thinking of diving there.

Negril — book a couple of cottages at Rockhouse or Tensing Pen.

Portugal. 😊

I know this is out there, but can we do Egypt in a week?

@texanjana

You could! I was on a Nile cruise for a whole week as part of my trip, but there are shorter ones (not sure of the quality though). It’s just amazing to be on the river and to see the villages and all of the fruits and vegetables growing. The food was so fresh and delicious.

Not to miss: Giza (it’s right outside of Cairo), Luxor (temples of Luxor and Karnack), Abu Simbel (we flew there and back from Luxor on the same day), Valley of the Queens (Nerfertiti’s tomb is unreal), Valley of the Kings. I also visited several other sites like Dahshur, Saqqara and Memphis but I would say those are skippable with less time.

I am not sure if the GEM has opened yet in Cairo. If not, don’t miss the old museum there (King Tut death mask and other accoutrements are there until they are moved to the GEM). Cairo is a frenetic, huge and very polluted city. I would never, ever drive there. Lol

Our travel agent used Nubia Tours on the ground, and all of our guides/drivers were great. We stayed at 4S Nile Plaza in Cairo. It was fine and so inexpensive. Note that it will be hot-I went in February and the heat was in full force. Think linen, breathable clothing, long sleeves and pants, large hats and plenty of sunscreen.

OK, just came back and blew my lemonade out my nostrils -- Egypt? I picked Chicago because you could go in your pajamas and if you needed something else, pick up a hoodie at a museum.

Egypt with the war in Israel? I'm certainly not brave enough for that one...

LOL Barn, yeah I know, It kind of snowballed. DH wants to go to Nepal!

Annie, Always a personal choice. People were against Fez and Medellin, too.

From the NYT:

,,, the fact that Egypt borders Israel does not necessarily equate to danger throughout the country. Sudan, Egypt’s southern neighbor, has been at war for six months, which has not seriously disrupted Egyptian tourism. And the State Department, which assigns danger levels from Level 1 (“Exercise Normal Precautions”) to Level 4 (“Do Not Travel”), had labeled Egypt a Level 3 (“Reconsider Travel”) in 2020, long before the Israel-Hamas war. Jordan, your other destination, remains at Level 2, on a par with France and Peru.

So though it may be obvious to you that travel to Egypt is too dangerous right now, it is not obvious to the State Department

Egypt has so much to offer. I don’t think one week will do it justice. The Nile cruise from Aswan Dam is at least 4 days, maybe 5 IIRC and there is just so much more to do there - you could even add diving in the Red Sea, visit an oasis, night markets and must experience the whirling dervish, even if you’ve seen them before. Just so much to enjoy. However, March is a great time to go, so there’s that.

Well the real issue with Egypt is that, especially last minute for 5, it is stupid expensive to fly there and so it just does not make sense to go for ~a week especially when we ideally would want to stay longer and also see Petra in Jordan etc.

Finding our best bet for Europe is fly into London and then connect. Looking at a kind of whacky combo of Sardinia, Sicily and Malta. Anyone? : )

I have a friend who unfortunately broke her arm skiing in Andorra...maybe that's a place you've not been?

Puerto Rico? DH and I are headed to FL in April and we thought about adding a quick side trip to there in the meantime, but the dates didn't work for us sadly.

Wales? (since you mentioned flying to London).

Sicily is great.

SAS, tell me about Sicily. : )

As I am wont to do, I am now noticing how close Corsica is to Sardinia, and Tunisia is to ......

i’m a big fan of cruises. Can you leave a couple of days early? If so, how about a Lindblad Nat Geo cruise to the Galapagos?

Have you seen the Northern Lights? Maybe go somewhere with a good likelihood of seeing them.

Done Galapagos, not likely to repeat. Too late to book cruises I think.

I do want to see the No Lights, but it seems way too hit or miss and I also have read they are far less dramatic to the human then the camera. Part of the reason I moved my Iceland trip from winter to summer last year.

We did the eastern side of Sicily a few years ago. Highlights: Siracusa, Noto, guided hike on Etna. Its a foodie paradise. We did quite a bit of hiking. Taormina is gorgeous but wall to wall tourists. It's kind of a slow travel place, though. If you combine it with a bunch of other places in a week and just fly in and out I am not sure you'll be really impressed.

A trip to the Yucatan would be nice, to see Mayan ruins, or to Oaxaca to see Zapotec ruins. Those are two of my favorite places in Mexico, along with Guanajuato. Just make sure to avoid Semana Santa (March 24 - 30 this year), as that's when the most Mexicans take holidays.

Corsica and Sardinia. Both are beautiful and culturally unique. I’ve been wanting to go to Puglia, myself…

I was all set to do Malta and Sicily, send the kids home and DH and I continue on to Sardinia and Corsica. But I think it is just too chilly. Shoulder season .... May and June, Sept and Oct, is one thing, but mid March ... brr. And these are spots that are mainly about being outdoors (with the exception of a number of spots in Sicily)

And Cairo is too far to go without a flat bed flight and if we did that then that is just a waste to fly for 5 of us to go somewhere for a week-ish.

Given schedules we were able to expand the trip to 10 days. We decided half the time on the Canary Islands, half in Lisbon. The Canaries are warm, something different and a tad exotic. Diving, golf, just being warm! Lisbon I have been to, but not for years, and only a short trip on my way to an annual Barcleona conferences. And none of my family has been. And BBSTX --- oops Bestyears! --- had great pics!

Sounds wonderful!

The only trips I have finalized for the spring are long weekends planned by other people! I can't seem to get my head around planning a trip or even making a decision right now. I one more trip to plan for the summer and then I am locked in until the new year as my project is launching in fall.

While you are in BCN, slip over to Andorra if you haven’t already been. Looking for opportunities to chase that 💯 It is about a 2.5 hour drive (according to Rome2Rio) from Barcelona. And Algeria is a short, relatively cheap flight from BCN, if you want to add one more.

Let me know if you want a recommendation for a guide to Sagrada Familia. The one I had this summer was excellent. Both DD’s in-laws and I agreed she was one of the best we’ve ever had. She was through an agency, but gave DD’s MIL her card for private tours.

LOL, sorry BBSTX!

While you are in BCN, slip over to Andorra.

This is why 90% of my trips end up being 3 weeks.

I was wondering what pictures I had that would convince you to go to the Canary Islands. 🤔 I thought maybe it was the one of Manolo Blahnick’s boyhood home. 🙄

Before you go to Lisbon, download the app for the Gulbenkian Museum. It is small but I enjoyed it.

ETA: Like they aren’t listening to us or reading over our shoulders! I just got a VRBO ad for places in the Canary Islands!!! Anyone have a good DIY pattern for a tinfoil beanie? 😆

Anyone have a good DIY pattern for a tinfoil beanie? LOL

The worst is that DH gets ads for stuff *I* am looking at !?

Ok I am now confused. I meant Bestyear's Portugal pics. Jojo too, a few years back.

Were you in the canaries? Which one(s)?

I was in the Canaries (Gran Canaria and Tenerife) on a trans-Atlantic cruise almost 6 years ago. I am not a beach person. We mostly just walked around in town on Gran Canaria. On Tenerife, we took some godawful bus tour. I was in Portugal 5 years ago with Tauck tours. It was great! I don’t think I’ve posted pictures from either.

Aha. I wanted to go to La Palma, but everything was booked. Decided Gran Canaria was more our vibe then Tenerife. Seems like it had a few cute towns, beach, dive, golf, and star gazing?

I have not been to Lisbon since before kids!

My screensaver on my chromebook is a Lisbon street.

but the tile sidewalks will really get you.

I always wanted to go to Canary Islands.

Sounds like a wonderful plan.

Gorgeous, Salon

You said you have been to Barcelona, but have you been to Madrid?
When I was in Barcelona, we added Madrid to our trip. Loved it. We took an electric bike tour, a flamingo show, went to guitar bars, farmers market, museum, churches and more. The little cafes were a delight and so were the people.

Hi, yes, I have been to Madrid more than once, and with the family. I agree it is a great city!

Nice salon, but this is in Chicago:

I'm confused, did I miss something?

🤷‍♀️

I was trying to make fun of my Chicago suggestion - why would you choose Lisbon over the Chicago Starbucks? - which had been tongue in cheek in the first place. Although I actually love Chicago.

OHHH. I thought it was a photo of like, a hair salon!?

Been to Chicago many times, including for fun. Love the Art Institute, the Shedd, river cruises.Though I admit I like it a bit better in spring!

I’m sure you’ve been to Costa Rica…but we had such a fun family trip there a few years ago. We spent 1/2 the trip at the base of the Arenal volcano in the jungle. Hotel was tdf…called The Springs and was situated among all of these gorgeous natural springs and waterfalls. It has been featured on The Bachelor & Keeping up with the Kardashians 🙄🤣 but don’t hold that against it! It was lovely. The other half of the trip was on the pacific coast in a gorgeous town called Las Catalinas.

Yes, we've been but thanks for the suggestion just the same.

We are all booked.

Too lazy to read, where did you decide?

Macaronesia* and Lisbon.

* showing off a new word I just learned. So interesting!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macaronesia

No joke, just the other day I was trying to remember where Macronesia is. Then I forgot about it before I could get to the internet. It is a word I’ve learned somewhere along the way (maybe geography when we were studying Africa?), and then forgot what it related to. Thanks for the language and geography lesson today!

Fun fact --- it is not Macronesia, it is MacARONesia

People think it is the corollary to Micronesia, which makes sense, but it is actually not.

The name Macaronesia is derived from the Greek words meaning 'islands of the fortunate' (μακάρων νήσοι, makárōn nēsoi). The name was first used by ancient Greekgeographers to refer to any islands west of the Strait of Gibraltar. Macaronesia is occasionally misspelled Macronesia in false analogy with Micronesia, an unrelated group of archipelagos in the Pacific Ocean whose English name is also derived from Greek.

So interesting—thanks!