Looking for destination ideas

You may get more pertinent responses if you tell us what European cities you can fly into relatively inexpensively from your particular NC origin. We've got to do something to narrow it down; there are endless possibilities.

How many nights do you plan to spend on the ground in Europe?

We have all done Ireland, London, Paris, the Netherlands, Norway in a Nutshell, Denmark. Looking to expand to some of the less traditional stops. Flying out of DC. Obviously not looking for specifics on airfares but on destinations to look into. Only mentioned airfare to eliminate the more remote, harder to reach (more expensive) areas. Plan on spending 10 days in country.

The summer is the perfect time to visit Northern Spain, which is often referred to as "Green Spain". It's quite the contrast compared to the south of the country, and looks more like Ireland mixed in with the Alps. From medieval villages, to the picturesque wine regions, the emerald waters of Bay of Biscay, the culinary delights of the Basque country, the Celtic culture of Galicia, and finally the towering jagged peaks of the Picos de Europa; Northern Spain has something for everyone and is less touristy than the rest of the country.

I love the Balkans, especially Slovenia and Croatia. Croatia has very touristy parts (e.g. Dubrovnik) but parts of it are not so touristy. Slovenia is even less so. Ljubljana, the capital city, is delightful. (You can fly into Venice to get to Ljubljana pretty easily.)

Italy is very touristy and well known but also quite lovely - with a many lovely experiences and things to see and do.

Another idea could be traveling around Poland for a few weeks. It's quite the interesting country, with a lot of central European charm, medieval castles and towns, wild Baltic Coast, imposing Tatra Mountains, and most importantly, great food and beer! I've noticed that Poland as a country is really underappreciated with North American travelers, outside of the typical "3 days in Krakow".

If you would still like to visit Prague, you could also potentially combine Northern Czechia and Southern Poland and do a bit of a loop: starting at Prague, heading up to Wrocław, turning east to Kraków, and then travel south-west to Olomouc, then ending up back in Prague. Doing this route by car would allow one the greatest freedom to stop in the smaller towns and enjoy the natural scenery in the countryside along the way.

If you're looking for something truly different, try Turkey. Turkish Air has great rates on airfares to Istanbul from IAD/ Dulles Airport to boot.

Ten days isn't long, so I'd place a premium on places that are fairly convenient to get to and offer a lot of sightseeing opportunities within a fairly small area. From DC you have lots of options for one-stop flights, so that may not be too much of a limiting factor. I flew to Budapest last year and could have opted for Kiev instead.

The fewer hotel-change days you have, the more you can actually see. So this might be a time for a two-city trip (e.g., Budapest + Vienna; Ljubljana/Slovenia + Zagreb and maybe Plitvice Lakes, but that would mean 3 different hotels).

Or perhaps a regional trip (Barcelona and Catalunya; Dolomites (hiking) + Verona/Vicenza/Padua). Northern Spain has already been suggested and is excellent, weather-wise, though you'll have to limit how much of that territory you tackle with just ten days; transportation through that area tends to be quite slow. Normandy/Brittany has similar weather and lots of lovely towns.

Or take advantage of the comparatively low costs in many of the former Iron Curtain countries and plan private transportation to see highlights of a country like Romania or Montenegro. I'd suggest Poland, which I loved, but it is a huge country and better suited to a longer trip.

Thank you everyone. The amount of options is overwhelming at times so having your suggestions gives me some focus for researching. I wish we had more than 10 days but while we are retired the kids are still stuck with limited vacation days.