I realized I have enough credit card points to get free flights and to cover most or all hotels for 11-12 days in Europe in mid-late August and kind of badly need to get away given several months of being severely overworked and just generally feeling overwhelmed. But I'm not sure where to go and part of being a little overwhelmed is not being able to decide.
I'm an avid photographer; love walkable and picturesque towns and cities; love medieval city centers, epic churches, and art museums; rely on trains and buses; budget is low-end hotels (Scandinavia and Switzerland way too expensive). Not a foodie or a club fiend or anything. I speak German and French and some Italian (and a tiny bit of Spanish) but can probably do OK anywhere.
I've traveled a fair bit around Europe and have really loved (and would be open to revisiting) Vienna, Berlin, Dresden, Budapest, Edinburgh, London, Lisbon, Trieste, Venice, Bologna, Siena, Lucca, Paris, Cambridge, Chania, Helsinki, Naxos, Ermoupoli, Seville, Granada, Turin.
I worry even northern Italy will be too hot, or else I'd go there... but that's the kind of thing I really need is just picking a base or two and doing some day trips to smaller cities/towns. But I don't do very well in the heat/humidity and it looks like most of northern Italy is in mid-upper 80s normally in August, never mind heat waves. But I can't quite get Italy and the idea of visiting places like Padua, Vicenza, Udine, Perugia, Arezzo, Pisa, etc. out of my head so I'm having trouble thinking of anywhere else. But maybe something like that somewhere a bit cooler, like France or Germany.
I'm just not sure where to head... the more affordable flights would be to Western Europe... anything further east than Austria would be too expensive. If anybody has a recommendation, I'm quite open.
This feels like going to a grocery when you're too hungry.