So, I have this recurring desire to get somewhere and stay there

I'm with you. Right now, I'm enjoying re-visiting favorite places and staying awhile. This is leading me back to Nice for the 3rd time next year with no plans other than to relax and enjoy a gorgeous place. I like to see a few new things if easy to get to, but I love the familiarity, like hanging in my second home.

I am at exactly the opposite end. My next trip #9 or 10 I will have about 9 weeks on the ground. We normally get one of those unmentionable's and move every 2 - 3 days and love it. No set itinerary - we have been know to show up at the train station and pick the next train leaving.

This next trip we are traveling with a service animal and are planning on staying a week - ish at each location. It's killing me! I look at the route and think - oh we could stop there for a couple nights...

Fortunately I have a year to plan!

We'll see how it goes...

50/50; I finally bought accommodations in my favorite place. Now I do about a week someplace new followed by 2 weeks in my favorite place. My problem is sort of the opposite of Christi. When I plan I am worried about spending too much time someplace else and not enough time in the favorite place.

After a fair amount of on-the-go traveling, we're finding that we're really enjoying staying in place for longer periods. We've done one week, two week and three week stays in one destination along the way. We've also done three to six week visits, staying within an area, such as Southern France. I find that we get a much different feel for a place that way. We especially enjoy being in apartments for the longer stays, so we're out in the neighborhood several times a day while marketing and such. Just thinking about it makes me want to return!

I don't think I could spend more than a week or so by a lake or in a small town, no matter how beautiful. But a month in Paris or London would be terrific. We've had stays of nearly two weeks in those cities and still hate to leave. Friends of ours spent a month in Paris recently and enjoyed it, though by the end they were ready to come home.

Having neglected overseas travel through most of my adult life, I'm trying to make up for lost time. That leads to some faster-paced trips than I'd like, but better to go than to sit home and just think about it!

personally I have never understood this idea of being on the move constantly.you can never get a chance to see or enjoy any place properly.slow down and spend a week or two in one place.
In my ypiumg days 40 years ago I travelled all over Europe by bicycle or by train staying in various places for no more than 2 or 3 nights.Now that I am a great deal older the joy of immersing myself in one place is a joy and you can really get to know a place.

I much prefer to go and settle in for a while. Sometimes the same places - for me, Venice, Munich, western and southwestern Germany, Mürren, Luxembourg, Rome, Basel, Salzburg, and Venice (so good it goes in twice); sometimes new, usually some of each.

I often stay at the same hotels/B&Bs/AirBnB, or similar ones.

I've never stayed in Thun. Do you know a good place?

I know people that are still working (not retired) and have stressful jobs frequently want to go somewhere and relax. However, if you are retired and I assume, like me, you can relax at home all you want, then you want to get out there and see the World.

I have been to 70 countries and see a lot of wonderful places, some beautiful because of nature, others wonders of history and culture. Both are on my list of things to do before life ends.

If you love nature more than history, then you would love places like Alaska, Hawaii, Norway, Iceland, the Grand Canyon, some great falls in the World (there are several) as well as the great barrier reef in Australia, Cape Horn and cruising around South America. The Alps are filled with wonderful places to see.

Then you have places like the Acropolis in Athens, Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, the Pyramids and Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Unique places like Jerusalem, Kyoto, the Sistine Chapel and Coliseum in Rome. The wonderful unique city of Venice or St. Petersburg.

There is so much to mention that I probably shouldn't have tried, but for me, I want to see as much as possible, stuck in one place is not enough, no matter how wonderful it may be.

We are just completing the kind of stay you are describing, except it has been a month in the Dolomites, not near water. We had been to this location 4 times in the prior 4 summers and longed for an extended stay. Even though we are retired, it has been the best vacation ever! No car, strictly public transportation and lots of mountain time. We really feel we know this community and the entire area quite well now, and will probably do this again in two years.

We've also done 4-week trips where we only stay 4 places, and that was pretty darned good, too. There are many places where a 2-or-3-or-4 night stay is sufficient, but I get tired of the moving about.

Like James E., we may gravitate to more of the something-old-something-new in future trips of any length. I like that idea a lot when I think of travel from the U.S. to Europe.

Every other year we rent a house in the Mission Beach area of San Diego for 2 weeks. The only set schedule for me is my morning stroll on the beach and my 3 pm stroll to my favorite watering hole. When we travel to Europe it's generally a 2-3 week trip, where we stay no longer than 4 nights per location.

Hi,

After 45 years of traveling in Europe, I still " want to keep going to find new places an experiences," such as in Germany, Poland France, Finland, including numerous places for revisiting. Staying in place for an extended time, ie, staying put for 2 weeks, I did that with regard to Berlin in 2009 at a Pension, and in the late 1990s in Arras and northern France. As usual, I wish it had been a few more days in addition to the two weeks actually spent there. It's best to arrive at some sort of balance where you can pace yourself in tracking down your priorities. I have no problems setting the travel goals for a two week trip or a two month trip, just pace yourself accordingly, stick to the priorities, and be flexible.

http://www.independenttraveler.com/travel-tips/none/the-art-of-slow-travel

I prefer longer trips than shorter trips, and fewer rather than more stops on each. It cuts down the transportation cost, travel time, check in/out time, and unpack/pack time (YUK!) Not to mention that lengthy stays enhance the experience. Time to get off the beaten path, enjoy three hour meals, wait for that perfect photo light/moment ...

Yes, staynsavor.

It is so expensive to fly to Europe that we always want to maximize our time there by seeing as much as possible. Also, there are so many places we want to see. We'll never get to them all, but we don't feel like we have the luxury of staying in one place for extended periods.

That said, we rarely spend less than 3 days in a place, with 4-6 being more usual (and we gave Paris 8 nights--still wasn't enough). We usually have some time for wandering and savouring in addition to seeing what we want to see. Usually, we visit 4 places over a 3 week span, with the occasional day trip or overnight stop (e.g. in Bergen, before Norway in a Nutshell, or in Avesbury before our early morning visit to Stonehenge).

We also spend 10 days in the Okanagan (interior of British Columbia, Canada) every summer, and that is our sleep in, walks along the creek, leisurely lunches, and afternoons at the beach time. That's enough for me. I'm not much of a sit around sort of person. I prefer to be on the go (within reason).

Rob - We've only been to Europe once, basing ourselves in Amsterdam and Haarlem for a week and a half and then taking a late fall RS 21 day tour. Our first inclination was to return to Paris but we both loved our time in Amsterdam and the Netherlands so much that we decided to go back to Amsterdam first and have arranged a five week stay this winter to explore more of the country at a less hectic pace. I loved traveling during fall with cooler temps and less other tourists to contend with and expect to have a marvelous time through the Christmas and New Year's holidays. I know Amsterdam can be crowded Christmas week and most likely a nightmare on New Years Eve since they are supposed to have freakin' awesome fireworks throughout the city. We will base in a canal apartment in Amsterdam and make day trips to multiple places as well as visit with friends for a few days - maybe over New Years to escape the crush. We are thrilled to be returning!
Paris and London are in the plans for next year and we will plan for at least two weeks in each city.

I realize that without a car most daytrips in southern Bavaria from
Tegernsee would require a trip into Munich

Gosh, I never realized that, so I've been clear across that area, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen via Walchensee, Kochelsee, and Bad Tölz to the Inn river at Oberaudorf and from there to Prien, Reit im Winkl, and Berchtesgaden several times without using a car or going through Munich. RVO runs an extensive system of buses in that area, usually going where the trains don't go. The buses use the same roads as you would with a car. It takes a little more planning than jumping in your car, but the driver gets to see more of the scenery, and it sure cost less than renting a car.

I enjoy visiting some places again, but always incorporate new ones as well. I'd be bored spitless to stay in one place a week or more....while others like a comforting routine and are in high clover shuffling to the same location for a coffee at exactly 08:15 each morn day after day after day.

We've done both styles of traveling, being on the go and covering a lot of ground and staying put for up to a month+ at a time with lots of day trips and a few overnight trips from a home base. I prefer the latter.

This summer we are going to 3 places: one hill town it Italy for 10 days (new experience for us), one city in France (been there before) for a wedding for 4 days and then three weeks on a lake in Germany (new lake and region for us). While we're really looking forward to all three experiences, the one I'm most looking forward to is exploring the southwest of Germany from this lakefront home base.

I really appreciate having been able to see a lot of Europe on the go on several earlier trips and now choosing a region to explore in more detail. Home exchanging has given us this opportunity over the years. We started when our kids were teenagers and to this day they enjoy joining us in Europe when they can. I hope you'll be able to make some of your dreams a reality soon!

The only place I've done that was my one experience with a home swap in Paris for 2-1/2 weeks. Had it been possible, I would have stayed there for a lot longer and been sad to leave because I love Paris so much. Overall my swapping experience did not encourage me to try again. When I'm paying for a hotel every night, I want to see as much as possible. I can veg at home.

"The idea of AT BEST spending 2 nights and then having to move to yet ANOTHER city and ANOTHER hotel sounds terribly stressful. How can you really get to be a "temporary local" as RS describes it if you come and go like a speed demon? That's impossible. You're just another fly-by-night tourist." I have no pretensions of being a "temporary local"...I try to be a very respectful and happy tourist. Call me "just another fly-by-night tourist" then, as that's how I roll. Europe is big...much to see and do.

For some of us moving is not the chore it seems to be for others. We love the excitement of a new place to explore, new things to see & do and new food & wine to try!

I'm with Bruce - so much to see...

Spending two or three nights in a town and then taking the train 2 to 5 hrs to the next place I don't find taxing since I stay near the train station, where I don't have to rely on public transport or, worse still, a taxi to arrive at the Hbf on time. Walking 2 mins with luggage in tow to the station is much better...no stress at all. I did this on this last trip...Düsseldorf, Linz, Minden, Dresden, Munich, Frankfurt were all 2-3 night stays. No need to unpack entirely, only what is necessary. The key, however, is to know what you're doing and be organised to leave in the morning.

My trips are still driven by available vacation time, which means I'm always going at a faster pace than I'd prefer.

My dream is to get a boat, sail it to Europe, spend some months in the region, then sail home - about once a year. That's not going to happen until I retire.

Brad,
I was on a bike ride with a guy that lived on his sailboat. He had sailed his boat from Norfolk, VA through the Panama Canal to Australia. He wrote a book about it and posted it on the internet. I don't have the link, but you may be able to find it if you are interested.