I’m going to take a lazy approach to holiday inspiration by asking for opinions on where to go. I have a week or two to go on holiday in August, not a cycling holiday. August due to work stuff (not teacher or children).

Not into beaches or a lot of lying around, more thinking of going to a few places, seeing some interesting things, going somewhere different, a mix of city and rural and coming back having had a good time. Probably keen to avoid somewhere so blisteringly hot that it limits the amount that can be done in a day (may count out a couple in list below!).

For no reason other than I have not been to them before my starting point is:

Albania
Belarus
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Greece
Ireland
Kosovo
Liechtenstein
Malta
Moldova
Norway
Ukraine

For context in the past I have rafted in Sweden, canoed in Finland, walked in Slovakia, cycle toured to Kaliningrad and toured Montenegro in the rain in a crap car.

Any ideas or suggestions on these or other places to go appreciated. Very vague I know but a thread like this always seems to turn up a gem!

Italy ?

Do a few cities – Rome / Florence.
Up north for Lakes / Mountains.

Carinthia/Karnten – it’s the Austrian lake district. Lots of lakes to play in, lots of hills to walk in. The roads are pretty quiet so you can hire a bike if you’re missing riding.
It’s centrally located to visit the Lienz Dolomite mountains (stunning), the Hohe Tauern national park, the Karavanke mountain ridge is the border with Slovenia and the Julian Alps are a short drive away.

A couple of years ago my brother & family flew to Croatia, hired a car and travelled around Croatia and Montenegro (Kotor Bay is on my bucket list now) and generally chilled out staying 3-4 days in different locations for a couple of weeks.

A weekend in Bergamo or Venice followed by a trip to the Dolomites.

The Germany/France border is another good option. It can get hot but lots of forests to hide in. The Black Forest, Strasbourg, Freiburg, Colmar, Riquewihr, Vosges, Jura, Belfort, Besancon etc. You could easily lose two weeks there relaxing drinking nice win & beer with good food. The TdF has just been thru some of that area

There’s lots out there if you can find the inspiration to do something different.

Had a week in Kotor bay a while ago – stunning

Stayed at Perast – beautiful mountains and the sea!

Turkey is mint, but possibly too hot. Croatia and its islands always looks good (been to Dubrovnic which was nice but super touristy). Might be a bit too hip now though.

How much travel?
How do you want to travel?

££££ ???

One way is to say start in say Sicily or Seville and work backwards using trains etc…

Once hired a car in Sicily and spent 2 weeks in Sicily then a week driving to Rome (for example) and flew back from Rome but you could do the same with many of your destinations. Personally I’d avoid Albania …

Ukraine is actually pretty good and you don’t need a visa.
(Obviously keeping clear of the war zone but if you started at Kiev and worked West your fine)

I reckon you could easily spend a week between Kiev and Krakow then get a flight back from Poland (My SIL spent 2 weeks on a bike doing that) or you could work towards Kalingrad for a revisit?

I was in the Ukraine last year for work and it was actually better than expected.

How about Iceland???

I’m generally feeling pretty flexible about amount and type of travel. Suspect mixing it up a bit will suit us best – public transport some of the time and car hire where it makes it easier to hit more remote/interesting spots.

As for budget I suspect that would also be a mix to the extent we might take a hiking tent, stay in air bnbs some nights and stay somewhere spendy but interesting where it is worth it. I suspect budget won’t be an issue really.

I suppose I am always keen to go somewhere new hence that list. That said Germany/France border sounds good. The Ukraine definitely feels like it ticks that box. Interested in why not Albania – it might have been top of the list but I suspect it will be close to the top of the incredibly hot list!

I’ve been to Iceland in the Spring and would love a return visit but not this time.

Why not Albania?
Personal safety… (in more complex ways than the obvious).
Easy to be stranded somewhere…. nothing works ..so for instance you can’t rely of fuel being available… so you can quite easily get stranded .. travelling by road is dangerous all by itself…

Your unlikely to fall victim directly but indirectly you can find yourself in compromised circumstances very easily.

I spent half my working life in places classed as “inadvisable to travel” but I’d give Albania a wide berth.

A but tongue in cheek but I know the author and its far more factual than fiction

Interesting and I defer to your real world experience. I don’t think getting stranded would phase me too much (I’ve walked away from broken hire cars in the past) but certainly personal security risks sound enough to put me off.

Thanks.

We once:

– Got the Eurostar to Paris
– Got the TGV to Munich (sitting in the upstairs bar, watching France and Germany fly by)
– Overnight in Munich
– Train to Zagreb, via Austria and Slovenia, stunning scenery out the window
– Couple of days in Zagreb, stayed in private room in great hostel
– (Knackered, but atmospheric and chuggy) Train to Sarajevo; again, beautiful scenery in Croatia/Bosnia, like stepping back in time
– Couple of days in Sarajevo (brilliant, sad, wonderful). Again, private room in hostel
– (Knackered, but atmospheric and chuggy) Train to Mostar; see above
– Couple of days in Mostar (bridge, old town, trips out to countryside). Stayed in B&B.
– Drove to Dubrovnik (we were going to get the train, but ended up getting a lift with a couple who were in our B&B).
– Couple of days in Dubrovnik. Stayed in B&B in the old walled town (that was not cheap and a bit shit. Next time I’d stay in the modern city and travel to the old town, or pay (even) more for somewhere decent.
– Bus to Budva in Montenegro
– A few days beaching in Budva, staying in cheap apartment
– Fly home from Budva

It was great.
It was ace.

Canada? Vancouver Island is nice at this time of year

IHN, that sounds good to me. I guess it could easily be shortcut by flying to Munich.

Has anyone been to Moldova? I’m thinking that could be paired up with Ukraine.