One month, one location

What time of year?

Paris + Vannes, (Brittany)? or Tours? (I have not been there but follow the RS guide Vero and her blog and she lives here) or Arles? or Aix-en-Provence?

London + Bath or York or Alnwick or maybe somewhere in the Lake or Peak District?

Are you thinking of renting a car? That opens up Orkney and Shetland with any larger UK cities that have flights there such as Edinburgh, London, Glasgow, Aberdeen (although I can't see myself spending a month there unless I was able to get out of town, lol)

I'm spending 3 weeks in Paris in a couple of months and I've already run out of "room" in my schedule, hahaha. The good thing about a month in one place is that I don't feel bad if I just want to stay in my hotel room and read or something.

I know you've done lots of tours - any locations where you just thought I did NOT have enough time there?

Its a depender. Its got to be a culture you are interested in. Its got to be a location where you have a support network. Or at least one or two locals that can help open experiences for you. It can be a smaller city where you live all tge city has to offer ... which will be limited. Or a large city like Paris where your part of town is your life and the rest of the city is extra when needed or desired.

Come here and I can help, but only if the culture interests you.

Are they contiguous trips, I.e, do they need to be in the same vicinity, or can all three be completely separate?
In Italy, I’d look at Marche but basically anywhere.
In Spain, the towns of Caceres and Cuenca were both places I could spend a month.
For a smaller city, I’d be looking at Thessaloniki.

Okay, first can I say, Lane, that this sounds absolutely wonderful! If you need a roommate, please get in touch. 😊

Seriously, it sounds like an absolute dream vacation, and you have just inspired me. I've been thinking about doing something like this for a while, although I just had the idea of spending two to three months in a country (probably England or Germany) and then picking a few bases. That said, I really like the idea of not getting out and doing day trips all over the place, but just absorbing the culture and the environment.

I do have some questions. Do you want the city, town and rural area all to be in the same country, or does it matter? Is public transportation a necessity? I'm assuming it is as I know you usually don't drive when you're traveling, so you would probably want something nearby. Also, have thought of the time periods for your trips?

But to the matters at hand. My first choice would probably be a small town in England or Scotland, just because it would be the easiest in terms of language, and also I think the most relaxing. And when I read your description, It makes me think of towns in North Yorkshire like Helmsley, which kind of sits out in the middle of nowhere, but there's some beautiful places around it. I really liked Helmsley as it was quite lovely, and there are some even smaller villages nearby if you wanted to check those out.

Of course, there's also Italy, which has gardens galore, and you could certainly find a place like Turin or some other wonderful small town in Italy. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite small town in Germany; Gengenbach, which sits in the the Black Forest and is just an absolute charmer, complete with half-timbered houses, lovely cobblestone streets, and is the epitome of a quaint German village. but it's also relatively unknown except by the Germans, so you won't run into a lot of American tourists, although I don't know if that is a worry to you or not. And it has the advantage of being close to the French border, so if you wanted a little bit of a change, you could go over and see Strasbourg and travel around.

Must go but I'll be back—I look forward to reviewing this thread as it continues.

ETA: Just saw valadelphia's post and agree (at least with Caceres as I am not familiar with the 2nd town). Caceres was really lovely.

Okay, Lane, this is super interesting. I also have three big trips for 2026 and will do at least one long-term stay trip in 2027 so I’m following this and curious:) I will tell you that my short list - and I’m totally open to ideas and changes - is Trieste, Vienna, Crete and then maybe my cities with the biggest “known quantity” factor for me - Paris and London.

Is Antibes a small city at about 76,000? I spent a week there and loved it - easy access to other cities, charming city, nice pedestrian zones, on the gorgeous water…

Thanks for your responses so far. Here are some answers to your questions:

What time of year?

Probably not summer, unless it's a secluded mountain village. I don't want to be anywhere hot and crowded. But I'm open to doing these trips any time of the year that seems suitable. A big city is probably preferable in spring or fall or possibly winter. Other places probably not winter.

Are you thinking of renting a car?

I prefer not to, though for a really isolated rural setting, it might work best to have a car.

Its got to be a culture you are interested in.

Clearly. For my city stay I'll be looking for a place with lots of classical music venues and a time of year when opera and symphony are in season. Art museums are also high on my list for city culture. For the less urban settings, culture is a village pub in the evening, a cafe, a coffee shop where I can sit for hours writing and reading and watching the world happen.

Are they contiguous trips?

Two of them might be back-to-back, but that absolutely doesn't mean they need to be near each other.

Do you want the city, town and rural area all to be in the same country, or does it matter?

Doesn't matter. I'd probably prefer three different countries. And maybe at least one country I've never visited. In fact, I'm not tied to all three of them being in Europe. Cities I'm considering include Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town, and Buenos Aires, plus quite a few in Europe, of course.

Is public transportation a necessity?

It would obviously be better if I could get to where I'm going by public transportation, but I could try to get close and then hire a driver if necessary.

And thanks for all the suggestions so far. I'm starting a list with Marche, Caceres, Cuenca, Helmsley, Gengenbach, and Antibes.

One month one location ...I wish I could be more disciplined in my traveling style instead of easily being diverted into visiting and exploring other surrounding areas. To carry out the "one month one location" goal, it has to be an area you feel connected to vis-a-vis the language, history , culture, geography, and other such salient variables. I would have no problems at all choosing an area, the only problem is sticking to it.

My choices would be France, ie "deep in the heart of" eg, cities/towns like Grenoble, Dijon, the Aube River area east of Troyes, the western side of Lorraine, Orleans, the villages in these areas, Clermont-Ferrand, and so.

Choice 2....the small towns of North Germany and towns in the eastern part, especially that of Brandenburg and the Uckermark region. Admittedly, it is a stretch geographically from the Schleswig region to that of Brandenburg. If you're into landscapes or engage in bike riding, numerous such trails in the greater Potsdam area. I am fortunate pre-pandemic to have seen of these outlying villages, very esoteric.

These are my 2 suggestions for you to consider, definitely advantages in picking them.

Classical music venues is asking for a city not a village. For that topic you might look at two very different experiences. Places like Vienna and Milan its my impression that the classical music venues have become more international (nice way of saying tourist) and less of local citizen participation event. But a place like Vienna or Milan would be pretty sweet for a month and nothing wrong with enjoying what they offer on the subject.

Then there is Eastern Europe where the venue still does remain significant at the proletariat level. I am thinking Bucharest, Sofia, Odesa, Lviv, Kyiv (okay the last three are a bit tricky right now, but very possible), maybe Warsaw (not sure), but certainly Budapest. Season is usually September through May. When the opera house is open in the Summer you know you have hit on location with greater focus on tourism. We started opening the opera here during the summer a few years back.

If you grew up in a large US city then you know that a city can be viewed as a collection of villages. That’s very true in Budapest, and I presume most other European cities. In that way you get the benefits of much to do but you can still retreat to the village pub in the evening.

Sounds like you also need to find locations with good public transportation.

The biggest fear is what do you do if you move in for a month and on day 6 you realize you really don’t like the place? LOL. Survive. I think for your best success once you have some ideas is to begin one-on-one conversations with some locals. Drill down deep about where in the location to live, what to do, customs, costs, the good, the bad the ugly. With that you are certain to have great success.