Lookin for advice on places to vacation

[Triple J]

Is the caramel valley north or south of SF? What about sausilito/tiburon? Out of those areas which do you guys think fit the bill? Niether of us have been to northern CA, just LA and San Diego.

There's a valley made of Caramel?!?!?!?! 

j/k

Carmel is south of SF. The whole area around there is really nice.

[mstevens]

Since you specified North America, you can't beat the area just south of Playa del Carmen on the Yucatan coast - Tulum, Akumal, that area.

Miles and miles of perfect beaches. Lots to do. Tons of nifty little hotels (as opposed to huge resorts) with attentive staff.

It's where I'd go for my next honeymoon after my wife and I split up, but I'm pretty sure that would mean I'd be dead at the time.

[Johnny OrganDonor]

I've heard lots of good things about Playa del Carmen but I'd want to spend more than a few days there.

Considering your budget, the Fairmont in San Fran might be out.  I'd still suggest staying in the heart of the city (especially Nob Hill) though.  It's one of the most beautiful and romantic cities in the world.  Tiburon or Sausalito are just a short ferry ride away from the city.

If you want to be out of the city, you should rent a convertible and head down or up the coast.  If you want quiet, my wife and I stayed at a cool place in South Big Sur a few years ago.  As I recall, it was pretty reasonable and in a spectacular cliff setting.  Here's a link....

http://raggedpointinn.com/index.html

The Best Western Cavalier near San Simeon was also nice if you're on a tight budget.

[muskrat]

Playa del Carmen is great and for that budget you can get there and have money left over for lots of fun.  Look into Las Palapas hotel (secluded and quiet).  There's tons of stuff to do there BUT if you don't want the beach I'd suggest Banff again and again and again.  Or there's Glacier National Park which is equally great.

[cyrus buelton]

Or there's Glacier National Park which is equally great.

Great choice here, but the flights and hotels will kill the budget in a heartbeat, unless they drive and camp.

If you go to glacier, you have to stay at the big lodge at Many Glacier.

Last I remember, it wasn't exactly cheap.

[Popeye the Sailor]

I'm an hour south of San Fran in the area you want to stay in.


Lemme know if you want anywhere checked out etc. May be able to loan you a bike or car, depending on things-just shoot me a PM when you get closer if you're coming out this way.

[cyrus buelton]

^^

he'll also make you buy him dinner.


Oh wait, the people I was with paid for both of us. That was an odd duo.

[badgalbetty]

Portland Oregon, greatest place in North America.Desert 1.5 hours east. Mountains(11,300 feet)  1 hour east. Pacific, 1 hour west. Columbia river gorge 20 mins east
Willamette valley wine country 30 mins south. Seattle 3 hours north. We have 5 star hotels hiking biking backpacking zoos parks running water ,great food art museums, theaters, voodoo donut,everything you could probably ever need in your life, plus shipyards, ports, steel mills, a dying lumber industry an Itl airport clean water and fresh air. Did I mention motorcycling here is awesome?
 
Portland, a great choice!

[red baron]

It's like bidding for the Olympics.

[djrashonal]

I'm an hour south of San Fran in the area you want to stay in.
Lemme know if you want anywhere checked out etc. May be able to loan you a bike or car, depending on things-just shoot me a PM when you get closer if you're coming out this way.

Thanks Mr I! Today is research day, so if you've got any additional ideas for the area that havent been mentioned please let me know  

Portland Oregon, greatest place in North America.Desert 1.5 hours east. Mountains(11,300 feet)  1 hour east. Pacific, 1 hour west. Columbia river gorge 20 mins east
Portland, a great choice!

Thanks for the info Erica   We're actually looking at living close to there in a couple years so we may visit for that, so I think we're gonna try to go somewhere different. But we'll definitely get in touch with you for some good places to go when we visit  


Thanks for the tips on Banff and GNP - I've been big into climbing so I was lucky to make it out to Banff a few summers ago, and GNP sounds awesome but I'd wanna go in the winter time for some Ice climbing  

I ran mexico by her but seeing as how we live so close to mexico, and she's mexican - she wants to go somewhere that has a little more/different culture.


As I said, today is research day so I'm going to check more into the weather and places in the delicious caramel valley, and maybe a bit more into Banff too (she's never been to Canada so it would be a cool experience for her) THanks for all the help and if anyone has any more ideas/suggestions/hookups/MUST SEE places    let me know  

and thanks again for all the help!

It's like bidding for the Olympics.

It would be pretty awesome if the Olympics went to Playa Del Carmen!

[DoubleEagle]

Kiawah Island , South Carolina.

It's about 25 miles south of Charleston.

It's only an Island due to the fact that you have to cross an inlet to get there .

Nothing commercial on the Island.

Not open to anyone but Residents , their guests and guests of the Hotel.

4 or 5 Golf Courses Championship Quality.

The Island is pretty much flat with most of the Island in it's natural state .

It's about 12 miles long and there are asphalt bike paths the entire length.

The Hotel has 3 Pools , or it did when I was there.

There was a market with shops w, old time Southern style Straw woven baskets for instance woven on site by the native ancestors of slaves.

Tall Dunes w, wild Sea Oats and very large uncrowded beaches.

You should check it out.

It's beautiful and secluded.

Dolph     

[Johnny OrganDonor]

Kiawah Island would be a nice place to honeymoon especially if you golf but I got a bit bored when we stayed there a few years ago (three or four days would be about right though.)
I live in Montana and Glacier is a nice area but I think it would be too much effort visit for just a few days and there are better places - there is no really easy access to the best of Montana.

You mentioned Vancouver.  If you're still interesed in that area, I'd suggest Victoria instead.  It's more "British" and I think it's a nicer and less hectic place to stay as a tourist.  The Empress Hotel is a classic luxury hotel above the harbor docks.  They serve a classy high tea there every afternoon if you're SO likes that sort of thing.  There are other nice hotels and B&Bs but Canadian travel is not as good a deal as it used to be since the Canadian dollar is about on par with the US dollar anymore.  Fly into Seattle, rent a car, take the ferry to Victoria.  You can rent scooters or motorcycles.  Your wife would enjoy the Bouchard Gardens if she's into flowers and stuff like that.  You can explore around Vancouver Island (there is some nice coastline on the west side.)  You could take a ferry to the San Juan Islands and rent bikes or kayaks.

Another option in Canada would be Lake Louise.  Someone mentioned Banff earlier but the town of Banff can over run by tourists.  I'd stay in Lake Louise or Jasper.  The Icefields Parkway is spectacular and offers some great access.  October would be a good time of year - might get some early snow. 

[herm]

Go to Zion NP. you will also be close to Arches NP, Mesa Verde NP, and a bunch of National Forests.

October is still prime fire season in CA (especially the south half) so i would personally avoid it if you are thinking of getting out into the parks and forests.

[cyrus buelton]

Hilton Head Island is a good alternative to Kiawah, but depends on the time of year.


It pretty much blows weather wise before June 15

[il d00d]

NO is a major cruise port - you might check into a four-day cruise to the if that is your speed.

Normally, a cruise would not be my first choice of vacation.   Your itinerary is locked in, and your primary source of entertainment is eating and sitting around drinking/looking at the ocean/gambling.  And eating. 
But, I think it is a good choice for honeymooners.  We got married in Mexico and stayed on for another week for our honeymoon - had our plans been even slightly more complicated, I think it would have been a bummer.  We needed a break.  A honeymoon requiring planning, after a wedding requiring a ton of planning is no vacation at all.

Good luck with the plans, and congratulations on the wedding