BootsnAll Travel Community

I'd like to start getting ideas for my trip next spring or summer. By then, I'll be able to take off a good amount of time (sadly, being an American, that's about 10-12 days). I'm looking to pick your brains for ideas!

Here are my parameters:
--I have a $500 travel credit from STA. :-) I will be using it toward my flight from Boston.
--I'm thinking of hitting up one of the major festivals in Europe.
--This will be my first major trip completely solo. Squeal/yikes!
--A cheaper location is not necessarily a requirement.
--I speak French, Italian and am quite bad at Spanish but can get by.
--Ideally, I would like a mix of cities, smaller towns and/or countryside/beach.

Places that interest me:
--Spain: San Fermines (The Sun Also Rises is my favorite book!), but it looks like I'm too late to book ALREADY!!
--Spain: La Tomatina
--The Balkans -- but I'd rather go there when I have time for all I want to see.
--Iceland: Airwaves festival or just partying in the midnight sun
--Hiking the Inca Trail
--Buenos Aires

Places that are definite nos (as I've already been there):
--USA
--Canada
--U.K., Ireland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic

Anything....I will take ANY suggestion....keep my wanderlust alive!!

Not on your list and this is a very unimaginative suggestion on my part, but I am a new fan of Oaxaca in Mexico. Easy as pie to meet other travelers, good food, cool architecture, relaxed atmosphere, cool handicrafts, a lot of fun. It might be raining in the summer though.

My suggestion would be to go to La Tomatina and tie in with places like Valencia (or a coastal place around there - NOTE DONT go to Benidorm) and/or Madrid - then you have the city, beach and festival and in 10 - 12 days that would be just about enough.

So you could fly in to Madrid for couple of days, head down in time for La tomatina and then hit the beach for a few days before heading back to fly our of Madrid

Mich

I've barely been to Mexico. I'd love to go to Oaxaca! Definitely a possibility. Thanks.

Michey, I have an exchange student friend from forever ago (maybe 10 years? yikes!!) from Valencia. I would absolutely hit up Barcelona, though, for the urban atmosphere.

La Tomatina sounds hilarious! :-) I've always wanted to do it since I heard of it.

As for European festivals, what about the Edinburgh Fringe? Haven't personally been, but heard it's great!

Probably at the top of my list for a 10-12 day vacay would be a Peru trip with the Inca Trail. Costa Rica has lots of beach and adventurish stuff too which would be fun too.

I'd suggest some places in Asia but I fear it's too far for your travel trip and you'll lose hours in flight.