Two free weeks, where would you go?

My preference for that time of year would be to head farther north to see the Northern Lights and midnight sun..... Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland, even the Baltic states would be on my list of possibilities.....Northern Italy should be nice in the summer.....You might find a beach somewhere on one of the Italian lakes.....

"Hubby sort of wants some beach time, I...rather focus on some great sites, a few small towns, and yes, one or two beach days.. we know we want to narrow it down to max of 2-3 places, preferably reasonably close to each other... we both would love to do more Germany and Switzerland,and some Italy..." Massive Lake Constance has beaches and is dotted with attractive towns like Lindau, where Switzerland and Austria are at your feet. You're also very close to the Black Forest and Bavaria, and French Alsace is only a bit further.

Russ is right. Lake Constance is enormous and it is beautiful there. We stopped for lunch and a little walk around town (I can't remember the name of it) as we were driving from the Black Forest to Fuessen. Some day we will go back. You could rent a car in Hanover and drive to Colmar (just over a 5 hour drive) stopping in Heidelberg on the way. Explore the Alsace area of France, then go through the Black Forest, Lake Constance, and on to Bavaria and maybe Salzburg. The drive back to Hanover would take you through some other interesting places.

Pat, you devil you! Partying until 2 a.m.?lol We loved the Greek islands and have been talking about going back next year. Just think, we could meet up with you all and maybe party into the wee hours of the morning like the old days???? :-) Have you done much of Spain yet? What about Italy and getting down to Cinque Terre for the few days of beach time? Your hubby sounds like mine!

Hi Eli, no we haven't done Spain at all,, and hubby wants to,, I am the one holding back a bit on it,, I don't know why,, it just doesn't grab me. I will spend some time doing some research,, maybe that will entice me a bit. Eli, would love to meet up for a drink or two in Greece,, course nowadays I turn into a pumkin way before midnight,, LOL.. who knows though ,, maybe our table of rowdy middleagers could close down some cute taverna!

Russ and Andrea,, thanks for the tip about Lake Constance,, will look that up.. And the Alsace idea is a very good one too,, a bit of France a bit of Germany , the Alps not too far off,, see the problem is there are so many places to go. Really have to sit down and figure this all out.

Swan,, we live North enough,, we try to go somewhere warmer then home in the summer, now you from California with your eternal sunshine I can see the attraction to the North. Thanks for the ideas though,, never know things may change . Northern Italy does appeal though,, have you done it yet? I picture a week somewhere around Lake Como and it looks lovely!

i love holland and belgium. you would be close. but italy and france are my real favorites. but now that i think of it, i love victoria too. maybe next june/july i will have tea thinking of you in europe. have fun, be safe.

Pat, I think what is missing from that two week trip is company...like mine for example :-) Wherever you decide to go, I know you will a great time. Does your 14 year old get along with her cousins in Germany? Have they met before?

Eli,, the girls( her german cousins) were born in Germany but moved to Canada when they were 4 and 6,, and only moved back to Germany about 1.5 yrs ago. While they lived here the girls were very close, more like sisters since my poor dd has only brothers! They skype regurlarily and can't wait to reunion.

Jeff, yes, it really is nice here,, and I have lived here all my life,, but, its not Europe,, so not the same sense of history that I love about Europe. We always joked my grandmothers( she lived just outside Paris) garden shack was older then the oldest building in Western Canada,, and the joke was,, we were serious.

Bodensee, then south into Switzerland, east to Austria, south to the northern part of Italy, and over to Croatia (beaches).

FYI Bodensee is also known by the name Lake Constance. See the earlier posts recommending it.

Yes, I know it was already recommended by you. That is why I suggested it as a starting place. Pat seemed interested in the idea, and I was just trying to suggest where else they could go from there, to include Italy and a beach spot.

No worries...I just thought there might be some confusion if she didn't realize that they are they same place.

Thanks ,, I would never have known they were the same place,, I was wondering were Bodensee was!

On my European maps, the lake is "Bodensee" and the largest town on it is "Konstanz". It might help your online research to know both terms. (From one PNW'er to another.) It's a nice entry point into Switzerland as well as a wonderful destination in its own right.