Sept - November 2013? Travel ideas - need suggestions

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I have been checking around on LL for a 5 night package some time between Sept and November of 2013 and found these. Having never been to any of these places before, any comments, suggestions, etc,. would be appreciated!

Vulcan Island off the coast of Sicily
Mallorca, Spain
Santorini, Greece
Mykonos, Greece
Naxos, Greece
Dubrovnik, Coatia

These are totally different from where we usually travel and thought at least one of them would be good for 5 nights during the time period above.

thanks
D

[danielboldea]

What do you like to do when vacationing? That should help narrow it down...or add a few more destinations to the list and totally complicate your vacation research

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We like to do most anything except lie around on a beach.
Like interesting towns, architecture, scenery, places to eat - I think all of the ones I listed would cover these things. We usually do Central or South America and want to do something a bit different for our 5 night fall trip in 2013.
So if anyone has been to any of these places.......... I only did further research on them to see what the weather would be like in the Sept-Nov period and it looks like a range between 58-75 so not too bad weather wise. All places have good reviews as far as I can tell.

I talked to one of the Italian doctors I work with and she has been to all these places and said Sept-Nov would be nice in all of them. Will wait and see what the hubby says or see which one is easiest to get to and has the lowest airfares - maybe that will be the deciding factor

[danielboldea]

My choice would be Mallorca....and Dubrovnik would be my second choice.

With all the strikes going on sporadically in Greece, I wouldn't risk an international vacation that might end up in total lock down.

If you are not beach/pool people (we aren't either) I think 5 nights would be a tad too much for just Dubrovnik.

I would suggest planning a stopover for a minimum of 2 days in Barcelona on your way to Mallorca, if you decide to go. You won't regret it!

I will follow up with some info when I get a chance.

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I can only do 5 nights in the fall ;-( We do our bigger trip in March (2 weeks)
I was playing around with airfares and yikes are they high to European destinations even in the fall which is supposed to be off season. I only checked american and united so far but the fares were killers and it is not easy getting to the Greek island places - no flights to the islands themselves - lots of connections ;-(

I am so used to airfares to C & S american - I did not realize that flights to Europe from the east coast are so high - even economy is high. United gave me a fare of 3000 for economy to Croatia!
I did not think of Dubrovnik as a beach/pool destination - I thought the city would be interesting and have a nice old town area?

[danielboldea]

I think you should add Portugal and Prague (plenty of LL properties to choose from - amazing city!) to the list! You would absolutely love it!

Tickets look like they are around $1,000 from Philadelphia to Lisbon. It would be five days well spent!

Regarding Dubrovnik, 2-3 days is enough for visiting just the one city. If you venture out to Zadar and Split, you would need 5 days.

[kyshel]

Denise, I think you'll have issues with any southern EU city that is a cruise port, as far as airfares go--up thru all of October--maybe even November.
Still too early to book fares starting Sept 2013. The buckets haven't been adjusted yet. I'd start looking at every sale--get signed up on all majors that fly to your preferred destination. Daniel--I always thought Mallorca was primarily a beach/resort island--maybe I've missed something!
What about Prague, Denise? Have you been there?
Maybe even the Bratislava, Slovakia/Vienna combo on LL? Budapest is an outstanding option, too!
What about combining Dubrovnik and Split or a secondary city?
I'm constantly surprised by all the info here in the lounge!

[omegaet]

If you are thinking about Majorca, then you might consider one of the smaller towns, such as Pollenca, which is on the north side of the island. For us, the south side of Majorca gets way too crowded much of the season (although Sep & Nov are off season) with cruise ships stopping in Palma and a number of budget package trips jammed into many of the hotels.

Depending on your budget, you might look at a property such as:

Son Brull Hotel & Spa in Pollenca, Spain - YouTube

Portugal might be a good choice for you, especially if you can fly out of Newark on a TAP flight into Lisbon. Depending on the quantity of miles in your United MileagePlus program, you could probably nail down r/t for 60K (there is award availability showing in 09/2013).

[danielboldea]

"Daniel--I always thought Mallorca was primarily a beach/resort island--maybe I've missed something!"

Kyshel,
That is what I thought until some friends of mine that live on the Island set me straight. There is quite a bit of architecture, like Bellver Castle, Palma Cathedral; quaint towns and amazing vistas (Serra de Tramutana, Formentor, Sa Colobra, Escorca). It doesn't take much to "fill" 5 days.

My "choice" of Mallorca was also because of the suggested short trip, of five days and limited to the options presented. With Mallorca being on the west side of the continent (less travel time), it made sense to me.

I totally agree regarding Prague! Amazing! We stayed at the Nosticova (a previous LL offering), though great, I would prefer staying at the sister property Alchymist Grand Hotel & Spa in Prague, Czech Republic - Hotel Travel Deals | Luxury Link . Great location and value for money! (next to the US Embassy) I would probably choose early fall for Prague rather than later.

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With only being able to do 5 nights the options are limited.
No where near enough miles for award travel (only have around 28,000 and these days that gets you nothing - only get my miles through flying and don't do that enough to really rack up the miles)
A friend mentioned it may be less expensive to fly to the UK and then get a local flight from there to one of the destinations, however, having never spent time in Europe I am not sure if this would be a good alternative? My only Europe experience was Paris for 5 nights in 2001.