Where should I go?

April 18, 2016 • 2:00 pm

This is an experiment in crowdsourcing a vacation trip, and, given my strong opinions about travel, may not work. I have some trips scheduled for fall, and even next year, but they’re all work-related. This summer: bupkes. I’d like to get away for about two weeks or so, and my criteria are these:

  • Not really far away, as when I travel a long distance, as to India, I want to stay at least a month.
  • Not expensive (i.e., not Scandinavia)
  • Not full of tourists, even though I’ll be one
  • Local cuisine must be decent
  • Things to see and do (I’m not a beach-y kind of person)

This may be a tall order, but if you can suggest and tout one place to go, I’d be mighty grateful. And if I wind up going there, you can have either an autographed hardcover of FvF, an audiobook of the same, or a paperback of WEIT. (Cats drawn in the books, of course.)

6a00d8341cae9a53ef014e5f516b90970c
The ethereal rice pudding (with trimmings, fruit and praline to be added) at my favorite Parisian restaurant, but I wouldn’t go to that city between the end of May and the middle of September. I find October optimal, as it’s cooler and the great cold-weather food begins to be on offer. By the way, you help yourself to the riz au lait from the bowl on the left, which holds about half a gallon. Dessert à volonté!

193 thoughts on “Where should I go?”

  1. Here’s my possibility: the Guanajuato region of Mexico. G. is a World Heritage city, chock full of 17th and 18th century architecture, and it still has a vibrant city center. G.’s narrow, curving, hilly streets and alleys lead from one architectural and cultural surprise to another. G. is a wonderful walking city.

    G.’s environs were the hotspot for the ‘Grito de Delores,’ the rising in 1810, fomented by Padre Miguel Hidalgo, that led to Mexican Independence. Nice museum devoted to ‘El Grito.’

    When I was there for two weeks about a decade ago, I enrolled in one of the many Spanish language academies: classes in the morning, followed by a walk into the city center for a leisurely ‘comida’ (say, 2-4pm) followed by wherever exploration drew me on a given day. In the evenings, always some good theatre and music.

    G. has a mountain climate, so the nights are cool even in midsummer. Great day trips (easy driving on good highways among the mountains and pastures) would be to San Miguel de Allende and to the ‘Dolores Hidalgo Cuña de la Independencia Nacional’

    Oh, how I wish I could do it all again!

  2. Troncones, Mexico located about 25-miles north of Zihuatanejo and Ixtapa on the Pacific coast. Quite beaches with a number of small rustic cafes and hotels. Short drive back to the larger towns for other needs. We like to stay at the Majahua Palms resort. Only recommended for a winter get-a-way. Summer are hot and humid.

  4. Maine. Down east.

    Spend some time sailing, have local lobster and mussels (god no, not clams).

    Hike Acadia trails. Bike the carriage roads.

    Swim – stop by the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory – Salisbury cove. Chat with the researchers – my father was the director in the 1960’s maybe I can arrange for you to have nice burger dinner at my sisters. Beautiful spot on Frenchman’s Bay in Salisbury Cove.

    Climb Mt Katahdin.

    It is an easy flight from ORD to BGR.

    Enjoy.
    George

  5. What about Brazil, Rio de Janeiro?
    I’m not saying it’s a good place to live, but it certainly could be a great place for vacations.

    Pros: The city is beautiful, the weather has been hot for more than four months – maybe to much. (I’d guess, more than 30ºC, on average this year. There are several great places for eating, such as steak houses or places with decent italian’s food or brazilians’s food. Very important, Brazil’s Currency has lost value in comparison with dollar (US$ 1 = R$ 3.6). I think a vacation around here wont’t be expensive for an American.

    Cons: The security could be a issue, it’s a much more violent place than U.S or any other developed country. I’d alvo avoid come here around the Olympic Games… The city will have much more tourists, so the it has the potential to be more violent. Second, there are claims that ISIS would attack the Olympic Games.

      1. Caipirinhas are very common around here! Garota de Ipanema is just one place that solds them..

        Did you guys know what happened in Rio? A recently opened bike path has broken, killing at least 2 civilians. The question that is on everyone mind is: How the project didn’t take into account the waves forces on bike path, since the bike path was made very near the sea? The bike path cost R$ 45 million and it didn’t need a very strong wave to crash it. It’s terrible, but this the kind of things that happen in brazil

        1. Wow. Sorry to hear that. And the Olympics thing isn’t going as well as it should have, either, for similar reasons: poor planning, poor construction. At least, that’s what it sounds like from the news bits I catch.

  6. I vote for Galapagos – one week is enough and it’s the best place I’ve ever gone by far. Second choice is western Ireland. My cousin has a B&B and it’s beautiful there, though the food is not so special. Italy would be the place for food. Also, please note the popularity of this post and the number of comments. This is obviously not one of your more interesting posts, but it is highly commented on because many people feel they have something worthwhile to contribute. When it comes to science posts, even when they are very interesting and greatly appreciated, very few people feel they have anything worthwhile to contribute, so the number of comments is much lower. My only point is that I don’t think traffic and comment numbers are a good way to judge the “value” of a post. Please keep up the science posts as well. They really are greatly appreciated.

    1. Also, New Orleans, for fantastic food, music, culture, architecture, history, etc. I love New Orleans so much. It is the most European of all American cities. It is truly unique and wonderful.

  7. Vancouver, BC, if you want to be urban.

    Rural: upstate NY? Lake Placid or Keene and that sort of area is nice. (Hard to get to other than driving from somewhere big though.)

  8. South Fork, Colorado as in South Fork of the Rio Grande river.

    In the U.S.,

    Less expensive than the rest of Colorado,

    Tourists, yes but small town so can’t fit many in the actual town. They live in summer homes or stay in cute little lodges with cabins.

    Food decent in town or over Wolf Creek Pass in Pagosa Springs,

    And the mountains, fishing (Gold Medal Waters), history, Creede to name a few outstanding attractions make South Fork one of the best kept secrets of great places to go in the summer.

    So neat we call South Fork home now!

  9. Thanks to all for the suggestions, which I’m pondering. I have been to the Galapagos (lectured on a Lindblad cruise; free trip!, and Iceland is too expensive and you have to eat FISH! But many of these places aren’t known to me, so there’s a lot to cheew on here.

    Thanks again! Keep making suggestions if you’re still reading here. And I hope some of the suggestions are useful for others.

  10. If you want to get away in the wilderness for a few days but want good noms and good company, book yourself on a backcountry tour with one of the Eastern California pack stations. There are several well-recommended ones in the Mammoth Lakes/Bishop areas, though I have to put in a plug for the Rock Creek Pack Station, which is run by a friend of mine.

    Were I not too disabled to ride a horse, this would be my ideal vacation getaway. The areas visited by the packing trips are geologically diverse, there’s lots of cool wildlife and interesting micro-environments, and mules haul your gear while a willing horse hauls yourself. High country summer temperatures run in the 80s or less, and the heat is dry.

    Plus, there’s a LOT of backcountry, and different pack outfits have permits in different sections of it, so you really are getting away from the tourists who swarm the Mammoth area.

  11. I’d want to go to Chicago. Having lived there, NYC (da Bronx) and Los Angeles, Chicago was my favorite, and virtually every weekend, there was at least one ethnic festival, showcasing culture, dress, music, and food. Some weekends there were two, and I bet there was even one or more with three. They included Greek, Lebanese, Polish, Italian, and so on. Chicago still had ethnic neighborhoods, back then. It was the mid-1980s. And that’s not to mention whatever else the “2nd City” offers up to the world, like comedy clubs and, if you’re looking to spend money, the Magnificent Mile.

    Of course, sight-seeing in your home town doesn’t seem exciting, unless maybe you’re showing an out-of-town guest around, but pretending you are the out-of-town explorer could open up new views and even great, new noms.

    And, if you just want to go sailing, I can ask my best friend and her husband to take you out. It’s wonderful. And he’s an award-winning champion sail captain, right there in Chicago.

  12. Scanning back through missed posts and I came across this one, and thought of Peter Sarsted’s classic.
    What are the rumblings for Naples? Well, there certainly seems to be magma moving around below there, but that has happened before this century, so no particularly urgent reason to see it before it gets blown away. But it remains a city living on borrowed time.

  13. Asheville and Davidson NC. Very mild summer because of the elevation. Great and adventuresome restaurants.

Comments are closed.