Advice For Where To Go

Early September is going to be hot and crowded most places south of the Alps with notable Roman ruins.

However, one outlier is northern Spain aka Green Spain, very different to the rest of the country, imagine Ireland mixed with the Alps, a nature lovers paradise. From the verdant and wild coastline of Galicia to the Picos de Europa National Park, this area is the last place in western Europe where bears and wolves still roam free.

You may find surprising that Northern Spain also has some of the best and less touristed Roman ruins in Europe, many of them UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Of the top of my head, the intact Roman walls of Lugo, the ancient Roman lighthouse of La Coruña (the only fully preserved and functioning Roman lighthouse that has survived to this day), the Roman legionary fort of Aquis Querquennis, Las Médulas ancient Roman gold mine to name a few.

Early September is a good time to visit northern Spain, not too hot and not to rainy.

Well, since your daughter has already expressing interest in Italy, if it were me, I would stick with Italy. For that time period, both Italy and Spain will be hot but you and your daughter are likely used to the heat being from Sacramento and LA. Both countries will be crowded, especially in the cities. I have been on two trips to Italy but both trips were really some time ago (Springtime) before the ramped up European travel hit Americans. So, Naples and the Amalfi area were not too crowded. On that trip to Rome, Naples and Amalfi, I broke the city aspect of the trip up with an island day visit from Sorrento. The island of Ischia was wonderful and not crowded. Enjoyed an entire day at the thermal spa, Negombo. Rome and Pompei, of course, has the ruins your daughter seeks.

Spain is also a good choice, so long as you don’t mind heat. You could start in Madrid for a few days, hit Barcelona by train for a couple of days (even though you have been there, your daughter would likely want to see it), and then hit Andalusia for the remainder of your trip. Or, just stay up North. I’ve not been there and can’t help with Roman ruins in Spain.

Hard choice.

Ha, I knew Carlos would chime in for Northern Spain.

Beat you to it Linda lol! 😉

I have been to Italy in September and the heat was not so bad.

Italy is my favorite country to visit. It has much of Ancient Rome as well as the Renaissance(particularly in Florence and Tuscany) and of course, Venice, which is like no place on earth.

The Naples area is great and you could spend 4-5 days there easily. Take in Pompeii, Sorrento, Capri and the Amalfi Coast. Recommend staying in Sorrento.

Sicily never appealed to me that much.

Spain is good, consider visiting Madrid, Segovia, Toledo, Cordoba, Seville, and Granada.

Switzerland is very scenic, but one of the most expensive countries in Europe.

Greece and the Greek islands are great, consider taking a cruise as well as some days in Athens.

Fulfill her desire to explore Roman ruins.

Stick with Italy where archeology permeates

Rome, Florence and Venice. Use trains.

Thanks for the replies so far. The idea of that part of Spain is intriguing and may interest her. Thanks Carlos! She speaks Spanish too, which is a plus. I don’t think she’s particularly interested in cities because she’s in one all the time. She mentioned Italy, but I want to give her other options as well. I’m not sure that being somewhere hot and crowded is the experience she really wants.

My husband and I will be going to Switzerland, rescheduling from our cancelled 2020 trip. I’ve long been interested in Sicily, but although I’ve driven throughout Europe and the UK driving there concerns me. We don’t want to take a tour anywhere.

Keep the suggestions coming please.

What a great problem to encounter!
Ah, so tempting to recommend a variety of destinations, but am think taking a deeper dive into researching Italy by posting your question into the Italy forum. Keep peeling back the layers of opportunities for Italy and ask many questions to help create a wonderful itinerary to explore with your daughter.

Thanks Steven. I intentionally posted under General Europe with the thought of getting ideas in other countries as well. I don’t know that she has her heart set on Italy. If she does I will come up with a plan for that. I’ve spent 6 weeks from Rome going north. I do know that I will not make Rome the first destination if we do go there. Our first trip at the same time of year it was hot, hot, hot, in a way our hot and dry climate doesn’t get. It was so chaotic and noisy it was an assault to our senses, or as I like to call it, New York City on steroids. If Rome factors in we would finish up there.

I can't talk enough about our trip to Sorrento in April. It's was crowded even then but worth it. We spent 4 of our 12 days exploring the ruins and history behind the Vesuvius blast 2000 years ago. I did write a trip report if you're interested.

Thanks Allen, I did read your wonderful trip report after you posted it.

Maybe I should just offer her a few options and let her decide, but not try to talk her out of anything. I’ve been wanting to go to Sorrento for years and we actually dropped it from our itinerary in 2010 when our 4 week Italy trip became a 3 week trip with a week in Bavaria when my hubby expressed a strong desire to go to Oktoberfest. He rarely requests anything specific, so when he does I make sure we do it. My other 3 week trip, with a friend, was supposed to include it but she had been there before and wanted to go to new places. Of course we ended up at many places I had previously been to. 🤔 The most important thing to me is that my daughter has a great time and not be disappointed. She has had to deal with a lot of stressful things in her adult life and I just want this to be a special experience for the two of us. What I wouldn’t have given to have a trip with my own mom, who passed away when she was far too young and never fulfilled her travel dream. I carry her unused passport with me when I travel.

Andrea,

I can't contribute much advice on locations, but I wanted to pop in and say how much it warms my heart for you to want to share this experience with her.

I have been incredibly blessed to have been able to have my Mom as my travel buddy to come along on many adventures through the years. They are all memories I cherish now and know I will treasure even more in years to come.

I am so excited for you and your daughter! I would ask her what 3 memories she would like to have with you (instead of what she wants to see) and build the itinerary around that. She might surprise you!

Enjoy your adventure!

PQ

Hi Andrea,

My suggestion would be as follows:

Milan
Lake Como
Verona for Roman ruins
The Dolomites for nature
Venice

You can decide how many days for each but as you know most of us eschew one night stands. I think this would be doable in 14 days.

What a really great problem to have to solve!!!