It’s time once again for us to tap into the collective intelligence and resources of our loyal readers.
Gemma and I are leaving Barcelona in a few weeks, but we don’t know where we are going next. A few list-leading possibilities include the south of France, Italy, or Greece. Wherever we go, we’d like to stay for 3-4 weeks.
Also, being that it’s summer time, we’d like to be somewhere ‘summery’ (see beach).
Wherever we end up will be new to us, so any help you can offer is greatly appreciated. Specifically, we need to figure out:
- where to go
- where to stay when we get there
- what to do when we get there
If you know someone, or know someone who knows someone, maybe you can pass along a good word, or let us know how to contact that someone.
Thanks.
– Justin
Greece can get unbearably hot in the summer – we wound up taking a 4 or 5 hour nap every afternoon. (and we went to southeast asia in july and thought it was fine!). However, it’s a beautiful country so you might just want to wait until September when you can see more of it (unless you want to just sit on a beach with thousands of Europeans).
Why not check out the Alps or the Pyrenees?
Check out our web site for lots of pictures of Turkey and Greece.
http://www.ianandwendy.com
Good luck, have fun, keep travelling!
Nissyros in the Dodecanese, Greece.
It is a beautiful little island with lots of tumble down buildings which got deserted early in the twentieth century after and earthquake. Most of the inhabitants seem to have emigrated to America.
Here is a picture of the town he boats drops you off at:
http://tregeagle.com/b/nissyros
more info about how to get there…
http://www.thegreektravel.com/nissyros/index.html
Greece is having a bit of a national emergency at the moment due to lots of fires but the islands should be great…
happy traveling.
ruben
On the night of the full moon in August, some of the most famous archaeological sites of Greece are opened at night. A must would be the Acropolis or the Temple of Sounio.
http://gogreece.about.com/cs/arts/a/augustfullmoon.htm
If you looking for a quiet island Ithaki is my paradise on earth.
Mykonos never sleeps and is always worth visiting for a couple of days. Tzia is very fashionable this year. Santorini has the views. Kefalonia is where I fall in love every year….
Have fun.
Hi Folks,
Only just come by your website today and reading where you wanna go next. I’d suggest greece, to a small place called Gythio about 4 hours on the bus south of Athens. I was there last year visiting a friend who works on the coast protecting turtles! Its amazing! You can stay in the village of Gythio or camp at Meltemi (http://www.campingmeltemi.gr/index_english.htm) which I did. I’d suggest there because although Athens is wonderful and full of history, being out in the hills by the coast is pretty special and you get to sample real the real Greek!
If you decide to go let me know as I have a friend who is working out there all summer, he would help you out with camping, seeing turtles! wind surfing etc etc places to go…
Anyhow, im hungry – time to cook some lunch!
If you want any more info dont hestitate to contact me.
All the best,
Will
I heard that Newbury Park is lovely this time of year :) he-he-he
I highly recommend the extreme north of Portugal. More specifically Caminha, Valença and Vila Nova de Cerveira. Not only it’s “summery” region, Vila Nova de Cerveira holds The Art Biennial of Cerveira (http://www.bienaldecerveira.org/uk/home.php) one of the most important biennales of Portugal. Caminha Valença and Vila Nova de Cerveira are located on the left bank of Minho River, which establishes the border with Spain. Caminha also as a free connection to the open sea.
If you’re into camping you’ve got a camping site in Caminha witch is about 200 meters from the beach. (http://www.orbitur.com/en_Home1.html)
There is also a hotel in Caminha and one in Cerveira (actually it’s a “pousada” http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/pousadas/vn.cerveira/index.html).
I would recommend Cyrpus or Malta, although Islands and thus probably harder for you to get to, they are very nice places and have a unique feel to them. I have never been anywhere else (espically Malta) which feels more special.
I’ve never ventured into Greece so I can’t say this with much authority, but I’d expect Greece to be hot and a tad crowded in the mid summer. That may be true for lots of places though.
The north of italy (Rome and north of it) has some really charming areas. Tiny little towns with winding cobblestone streets abound lined with cafes… this sort of thing. And Venice is spectacular (emphasis on the “spectacle” part of that word because it really is an amazing feat of ingenuity to keep a whole city afloat.)
When I traveled Italy, I took a train to the far north of Milan and entered Switzerland from the south, crossing over the Italian alps. That was one of the most enjoyable parts of my 3month European adventure.
So that’s my vote- Italy and Switzerland.
Oh and by the way, I am absolutely loving this site. Really- great work.
Thanks for all the suggestions!
The general consensus seems to be that Italy and Greece will be hot and crowded during August, so perhaps we’ll postpone our visits to those places by a month or two.
Maybe we’ll go to Switzerland first.
hey you guys!
don’t forget that it is summery above barcelona in leret de mar, tosa,blanes, et all………it might be a good place to duck out until the crowds leave greece (and it cools off) and you’ll definately get the feeling of a “beach town” on the medeterain. i think if you go to greece, you’ll get tangled up with all the cruise tourists……..that would be a bummer!
Later,
Toni Goz
ps. i also like the italy/switzerland idea too
Toni: I forgot to mention that we will be doing some intra-Spain travel before heading off to another country.
Some of the places you suggested are on the list.
Definately Portugal!
Very easy to get there from Spain (Ryanair flyes super cheap from Madrid to Faro or Oporto, or you can drive, takes only 5-6 hours). You can start in algarve (bottom south) for the beach times you wanted (filled with spetacular grilled fish all the time), climb up to Lisbon-Cascais-Sintra and then Oporto and the north (as Pedro suggested).
Well, in the end prepare to still love each other the same way with a lot more pounds from all the good food :)
So California. It’s real nice this time of year and the beaches are great!
Shauna and Wong: We’re planning on visiting So. California for a few weeks in December :)