August Vacation

You have given us very little to go on. "..relaxing vacation ..in an area that's not crowded" is not a whole lot of information. Frankly, at this late date, one month only before you plan to leave, I think you will have to take what you can get. August is high season in Europe, after all. Since you haven't yet booked a flight, wherever you can fly to at a rate you can afford, on such short notice, is where you should go. After you have done that, come back here and and ask some questions. By the way, what is "a few weeks"? Two, three, two and a half?

We live in Africa so we have easy access to get to Europe. We had some last minute changes and so we are now trying to plan last minute, which is not ideal for us, given its August as you mentioned, and that we are planners. We have 20 days for vacation, and were thinking about possibly a beach vacation or a vacation where we could take some cooking classes and explore. We took a 14 day Rick Steves tour earlier this year, which we loved. However, for this vacation we are looking for a more relaxed pace. I heard Croatia was good option, and possibly Portugal.

You might enjoy a stay on Lake Constance - the huge lake that borders Germany, Switzerland and Austria. There are beaches, all kinds of watersports, areas to bike and hike, and several interesting lakeside towns and places to visit (Lindau, Insel Mainau, Meersburg, Konstanz among them.) Ferries regularly criss-cross the lake. And you're not far from the Black Forest, or from Zurich if you long for the big city.

There are simple, inexpensive apartments for rent in the area like this one -

www.accommodation.de/14376.htm

and you can find a sampling of other places from this commercial webpage:

www.accommodation.de/List.asp?BLNr=1&Region=Lake+Constance

We stayed in a small town called Moos, near Radolfzell, for one week and would have enjoyed more time there.

If you live in Africa why did you put down you live in Texas??

Well, living in Africa may give you easier access to flights to a European country when you are booking at short notice, but it doesn't help much when it comes to hotel rooms, cooking classes, etc., most of which were probably reserved early in the year. I still say to see what is available, wherever, and then make plans. Maybe Portugal would be best, but you will have to check into it yourself. The very vagueness of your query is daunting.

Russ, thanks for the constructive feedback, appreciate it.

I think I would look around at some of the Scandinavian countries. They won't be so over run with tourists, nice long evenings, relaxing beaches and you should be able to find a cottage or apt. to rent. Or try Wales, nice and green and probably not over run either. Or northern Germany, in one of the smaller towns seldom mentioned on these boards. Andreas in Frankfurt always has good ideas along these lines.

Thanks Jo, thats very helpful.

I have to second Wales. The Snowdonia area is just what you seem to be looking for. The other area I'd suggest you check out is the far highlands of Scotland. Though this year might not be best for that due to the Homecoming 2009 events.

Did I miss something? Where did Jean mention Texas?

Jean's original post was Jean, Texas. She has since edited it to read "Malabo" after telling us she actually lives in Africa.

Hello Jean. You said you want a relaxing vacation in August. I recommend : NORWAY. I was there in 2007. Norway is the most tranquil country in Europe that I was in. And scenic. The people in Norway are generally calm and jovial. I recommend : read parts of the travel guide books "Rick Steves' SCANDINAVIA" , and "ROUGH GUIDE to NORWAY".