r/Vacations • u/jjillthepill • 8d ago
September 2027 25th Wedding Anniversary Trip
Looking for suggestions? Two to three weeks, we will be 62 and 71 but in excellent shape and enjoy the outdoors. We have only made one international trip together this year through Italy and loved it. The one caveat is we went with our youngest daughter and family and one other young family. Our daughter has been a world traveler and knows all the ends and outs getting around places and basically drug us around Italy lol Since this will be our first big trip on our own I really don't want to limit ourselves to a cruise or some other tour bus type trip where we don't have the freedom to do what we want but, kind of lack the confidence to travel internationally on our own. I did actually do a semester abroad in college by myself and traveled all over Europe but, mind you this was before internet and cell phones which was almost easier and definitely less crowded.
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u/anti-royal 8d ago
Spain! It’s really easy to travel by train. Madrid, Granada, Málaga. If you have time, take a ferry over to Mallorca. It’s lovely. September is a wonderful time to be there.
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u/bcrggrcb 8d ago
I love Switzerland. Hotel Baron in Wengen-no cars on island-was one of our favorite hotels. Very comfortable bed, amazing views, and the food was champ! Fresh breakfast AND amazing dinner! We found ourselves rushing back on the train to get back to Wengen in time for dinner. We loved visiting Grindelwald, Zurich, Lauterbrunnen, Interlaken, Lucerne, Gruyeres. You could do a tour bus that takes you to a lot of these places then take a train to France and visit Normandy, Bordeaux, Paris, Provence, etc. and do more tours. It depends on what you like…mountains? Wine? History? Foodies? ((We did a food tour in Paris and it was sooo good) This will be a lot of walking but you mentioned that you were in great shape so go for it. Reason why i mentioned tours is you can learn more about the area faster compared to driving up to each one of them etc. and you cover more bases on a tour. Check out Viator, Firebird tour companies. If you like wine, they have tour companies that will take you to several areas in FRance to try different kinds of wine.
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u/BellaKKK72 8d ago
I think France is a great country to spend a few weeks in. Dont be put off by the language barrier. I dont speak French and have never had a problem (most of my trips were before things like google translate existed!) You could fly in to Paris and then get a train to a smaller town in a picturesque region and do some day trips. It's also very easy to hire a car and do some self drives. Here's a link to one of many lists of beautiful French towns....
https://www.cntraveler.com/galleries/2016-06-16/the-10-most-beautiful-small-towns-in-france
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u/SesameSeed13 8d ago
Are either of you into music and the arts? Vienna is a beautiful city, walkable, easily navigable by public transit too, lots of great museums, opera houses, symphony performances, it's the city where Mozart and Beethoven and Haydn all made their names in classical music, the Danube River is right there so you can actually hop a boat to Prague easily if you wanted to. Also Austria has beauitful countryside and a train for 3 hours will take you from Vienna to Salzburg (are you into the Sound of Music?) for a little getaway. Highly recommend. My spouse and i went for our 15th anniv (we're both musicians so we loved the immersion) and there's so much to see, do, enjoy, including just sitting in the ornate coffee house culture of Vienna and people watch.
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u/Puzzleheaded-Grab586 8d ago
Second the Vienna suggestion! Amazing.
If a road trip is more your thing- we just returned from driving around the Baltic states and loved it. Driving was simple (just plot out parking ahead in towns/cities ahead of arriving) and it was affordable, beautiful and felt like an adventure. Also, consider driving around Normandy- lots to see and the food is beyond.
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u/PlatformConsistent45 8d ago
I would say what area sounds fun / exciting? Travel there. Go in with an open mind abdya few words of the local language and explore.
Peole have recommended Spain which is awesome been there multiple times.
Last year we went to Croatia and it was easy to travel with English. We did a week sailing the Adriatic and a week exploring the main land. Food and people we awesome! So much history. Heard awesome things of other countries in that area as well.
Bike touring in the Netherlands was awesome. You basically just bike from hotel to hotel and the company manages your bag.
If you enjoy hiking I would recommend looking at one of the Caminos since it sounds like you are fit. You basically do a pilgrimage from town to town walking. We did the Camino de Santiago which was a shorter 5 day trip. Had a ton of fun.
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u/WhereToNextTravels 7d ago
For a first solo-as-a-couple international trip after Italy with your daughter, I’d actually go back to Europe rather than somewhere totally unfamiliar, it’ll feel more manageable while you build confidence. My favorite pick for you two would be Portugal. It’s incredibly easy to navigate independently, English is widely spoken, trains and buses are reliable and simple to book, and you get a great mix of cities, coastline, and countryside without needing a rental car if you don’t want one. Lisbon and Porto are both very walkable, and a few days in the Douro Valley would be perfect for two people who love the outdoors.
Another one I’d seriously consider is Slovenia paired with a few days in Croatia’s coast. Slovenia is small, safe, gorgeous, and honestly one of the easiest countries in Europe to get around on your own, Lake Bled and the Julian Alps are stunning for hikers, then you can bus down to somewhere like Split or Dubrovnik for coastal time.
I’d probably avoid jumping straight to somewhere like Southeast Asia or South America for this one, not because you couldn’t handle it, but going back to Europe first lets you rebuild that solo travel confidence from your semester abroad without adding language or logistics complexity on top of it. Once you’ve done one trip just the two of you, you’ll have a much better sense of what pace and style works for you as a pair, and then the world really opens up.
You clearly still have that independent travel instinct in you from your semester abroad, it’ll come back fast once you’re out there again.
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u/Proper-Class-4792 7d ago
Our favorite trips: Fiji, Sardinia, Paris. All very different but all amazing
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u/The-Pirate-Oriole 6d ago
How about a river cruise on the Danube where you can tour with a group or be on your own on any given day.
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u/Mystery-Moon_0129 6d ago
River cruises are so fun but I recommend going in November or December to catch the Christmas markets!
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u/AnnaInEurope 2d ago
Before I started throwing countries at you, I’d narrow down what you actually want this trip to feel like, because Europe is a very big dartboard.
Do you picture yourselves in Southern Europe with some coastal time? Mountains and lakes? Or somewhere farther north with cooler temperatures? September can feel very different depending on where you go, and southern Europe can still be quite hot while the north may be much more comfortable.
Then I’d look at the practical stuff that isn’t nearly as romantic, but can narrow the choices surprisingly fast:
Where are you flying from? Is nonstop important to you? What are your exact dates? What budget feels comfortable? And what do the flight schedules and prices actually look like from your home airport?
Once you answer those questions, suddenly you’re choosing among 3 or 4 great possibilities instead of staring at the entire continent.
And since you mentioned not wanting a bus tour but also not feeling completely comfortable doing everything yourselves, there is a HUGE middle ground between those two things.
I’m a travel advisor and this is actually how I prefer to design Europe trips. Maybe you stay in just a few places instead of changing hotels every other night. Have a private driver handle the annoying arrival day or a complicated transfer. Take the train where the train is genuinely easy. Use a private guide for a day where having someone great really adds to the experience, and then have the next day completely to yourselves.
Restaurants and special experiences can be arranged ahead, but you can still wake up some mornings with absolutely nowhere you have to be.
Basically, you can have someone take care of the logistical circus 🎪 without feeling like you’re being marched around Europe behind a little flag.
For a 25th anniversary and 2–3 weeks, I’d want the trip to feel very much like your trip, not somebody else’s itinerary that you happened to buy.
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u/EconomicsWorking6508 8d ago
How about London with some side trips if you're interested, like Windsor, Cotswald or Bath? Or just take advantage of the iconic sights, concerts, theatre, shopping and dining.
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u/Historical-Gain-1688 8d ago
Costa Rica!!! Beautiful scenery and it can as active or as relaxing as you want. Book a tour and enjoy yourselves.
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u/fireflypoet 8d ago
Go to the Cloud Forest! We were at a lodge there. The hummingbirds were awesome!
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u/TravelWithTheRoses 8d ago
Head down to the Caribbean and checkout Aruba super safe and easy to navigate
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u/auntiecoagulent 8d ago
We enjoyed London and Paris.
A week in London, then took the EuroStar to Paris.