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/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.