Most memorable non-Disney vacation

[SteveH]

As much fun as Disneyland & WDW were, we've had a lot less stress and more fun in our visits to the Hawaiian Islands, specifically Maui in the past two years. Waking up to this....

 

[NannyBeBe]

One that I will never forget was going to California to see the giant sequoias. To stand next to such beauty and magnificence is jaw-dropping. And while there, a young doe came up to me and ate out of my hand. That was over 60 years ago.

 

[AnnaS]

Italy

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Our most memorable was flying into San Franciso for 3 days, followed by a 10 night/ one-way cruise to Alaska where we had 5 port stops. The cruise ended in Vancouver, where we spent 3 nights, before flying home. It's was definitely our best vacation, but also the most expensive.

FWIW, all Alaska cruises aren't created equally. I've been on many vacations that were superior to the second cruise I took there.

 

[CarolynFH]

I have two. The first was a tour of Greece that was supposed to be with 16 other people. Due to a strike by air traffic controllers in Athens, the other 16 people couldn't make it. So DH and I were the only two and had, in essence, a private tour with our tour manager and a van driver who excelled in bringing us to places where the Greeks eat. Wonderful food!

The other was a visit to Alaska, again with a group. First a train ride to Denali and several days there, including a bus tour to the end of the road in Kantishna. Then a 58-passenger cruise boat that could sail where the large ones couldn't go. We watched whales bubble net feeding and bears catching salmon. The photos from that trip have been our desktop background for over a year now, and we're still not tired of seeing them.

 

[Magical2017]

For our older son's graduation we went to Iceland last summer. It was amazing. His favorite was the Zodiac boat tour and exploring an ice cave/walking across a glacier. The Icelandic people are so friendly, too.

 

[bsmcneil]

I'm mostly a nature person. But if you all have different energy, a great trip to NYC is always awesome. But my most memorable? Southwest (Arches, Zion, etc) and Hawaii

 

[kyton]

I’m currently in Egypt and it has been mind-blowingly awesome!

 

[nycdisneygal]

We did Edinburgh, York and London for my daughter's high school grad trip (and she turned 18 on the trip too - got to legally have a beer!). Other than that we liked Hawaii and Italy is always nice. We loved our japan trip and want to go back - that included Disney though. haha

 

[hertamaniac]

Most memorable does not equal most enjoyable. So memorable has to go to this past month on our cruise to Mexico. I've been to these ports many times before, but this time was different.

I went to the small shop that I was just at this past September where I purchased a few purses to bring home. This time, I acted as a negotiator for my elderly mother, and she purchased 3 more purses and a few longer silver necklaces. The haggling was downright fun and we walked out of the shop almost giddy. And then we stopped at a "pharmacy" and further negotiated to get some OTC meds at insane pricing.

We also had a great truly authentic Mexican meal at another port outside of the main area. We also got a $35/hour massage on the beach and had chopped fresh mango on a stick.

 

[loves to dive]

Depends on if you want domestic or international and how long the trip will be, your budget and what your daughter's interests are. To answer the initial question as to what my personal most memorable vacation was I have a few.

When I was a teenager in the 70s Daddy had 6 weeks vacation, 4 of the six of us kids and my parents piled into the family VW van and went from Albuquerque where we lived across to southern California and up the coast, back down through Nevada on the way home. We camped the entire trip. This was when you could pitch a tent anywhere, literally on the side of the road if you wanted. We had a big two room tent that Mama, Daddy, one of my brother's and myself slept in and my two oldest brother's had little pup tents they pitched beside us. We camped in the dessert, on the beach and in a few state parks.

When I graduated high school all my brother's had moved out and Mama and Daddy lived in Saudi Arabia. I lived there a while then came back to finish out high school. I went back over there and we went from there to Rome for 4 nights, then to Switzerland where we rented a car and drove all around the country for a month. We had no reservations anywhere except the hotel in Rome and the initial hotel in Switzerland. Otherwise we had no destinations in mind, just took off and went where the road took up, stopping wherever we thought it was interesting. Sometimes just for a night, sometimes for a two or three. We were actually supposed to stay a week longer than we did but you can't go from the dessert to all those flowers and cooler weather and last for more than a month. It was in August but there was snow on lots of the peaks of the mountains.

Hubby and I are scuba divers (not so much now that we have a dog and aren't spring chickens) and we took a once in a life time dive trip to Palau. We were on a live aboard (think bare bones cruise for divers) that was a small yacht that held maybe 15 passengers then maybe 7 crew. We got the sort of penthouse cabin which had it's own balcony and more room than a normal dive boat room. Great diving, great crew and boat. We stayed an additional two days after the week long dive trip and one of our dive masters took us all around the island and showed up non tourist spots. Best dive trip we have ever had.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

Costa Rica, Greece, Iceland (all land based trips, renting a car and staying in a variety of places). We've also had several amazing trips to the western US seeing many of the National Parks - my summer favorites are in Washington / Oregon - Cascades, Olympic, Mt. Rainer, Crater Lake. I would personally skip that right now. With the staffing cuts they're making, I would be too nervous about building a trip around seeing national parks, and then facing potential park closures or worse.

 

[CynBeth]

We have been fortunate to go on so many wonderful trips over the years but our top ones have to be Alaskan cruise, Hawaii, a 2 week London and Paris trip (we also visited the Harry Potter WB Studios and for the Paris portion 2 nights at Disneyland Paris), and a Mediterranean Cruise where we started in Barcelona flew in a few days early and ports were in France and Italy and it ended at Civitavecchia outside of Rome. After the cruise we spent time in Venice and Rome.

 

[cabanafrau]

I guess when I really think about it our most memorable vacations don't have much to do with the destinations, the planning or where it ranks on a bucket list. The best memories are actually just the stray little moments that just happen along the way. Some of the best are those which left us crying with laughter, some of which have catchphrases that live in family legend.

 

[Simba's Mom]

By far, our most memorable trip was our 2 week trip to Alaska, including 3 days in Kodiak Island, where we took a private float plane tour out to Katmai National Park, where we saw bears and the tide came in and separated us from the plane, 3 days at Denali-bus tours and walking around (back when I could walk!). We rented a car, arranged it all ourselves, Seward, Soldatna, incredible trip.

 

[MICKIMINI]

We drove an RV from NH up to Niagra Falls and across I90 to the Mt Rushmore, on to Yellowstone, over to Idaho and down past Great Salt Lake. Over to Zion, Glen Canyon Dam (can't remember which was first), Grand Canyon South Rim, Grand Canyon North Rim, Santa Fe and back to NH. We stopped at many, many other historical sites, museums and fun places (Corn Palace in SD). Gas was $1 a gallon (1998).

It took three weeks and was a wonderful trip with our son who was 10 at the time. DH did all the driving thankfully!!

 

[jimmymc]

There are a lot to choose from, but probably a 2 week tour around Europe I did a few years after college. In 17 days, I covered:

• Kyiv
• Chernobyl
• Krakow
• Auschwitz
• Paris (while France were on their World Cup winning run)
• Disneyland Paris
• London
• 3 West End shows

It'll be pretty hard to recreate that trip anytime soon, but I would definitely suggest a tour of 3-4 cities around Europe. And don't just do the biggest cities like London or Berlin; mix in a few smaller, more scenic places.

 

[Deb]

Mediterranean Cruise. Venice and Athens included

 

[ncc1701]

So many choices but it depends on your family interest.
I've done England and Scotland multiple times. I am a 2nd generation Scottish American and have always been interested in British history. So many things to visit.
DH & I have done San Diego &, Huntington Beach California, both of which we loved.
Heard great things about Hawaii but we haven't gotten there yet.
We also love the Jersey Shore ( Ocean City & south)
as we have both been going to them since childhood.

 

[irlandaise]

What was your most memorable vacation? My DD is graduating in 2 years, and I want to start planning a trip for her graduation. I'm having trouble thinking of anything besides Disney

Are there any parts of the world that are particularly meaningful for your family? On the day that my father would have been 100 years of age, I visited his hometown in Ireland. I've been to a lot of other parts of the world (England, western Europe, Kenya, Japan, Thailand, etc.), but that trip was certainly one of my most memorable.