Travel plans for 2026?

[Pauline]

Where are you going this year?

We are doing the same May/June trip that we did last year - driving to Germany and Switzerland. 10 nights in Baden-Baden staying in the town center in the apartment complex we stayed in on our first visit two years ago followed by 3 weeks in Lenk in the apartment we stayed in last September.

Maybe a week in Cornwall in April. This is an easy destination for us - a 3 hour drive.

Summer at home.

Still working on September-October. I think we will return to the northern Perigord where we were last October. Instead of staying near Brantome I think we will stay closer to Perigueux. I found an estate with 3 cottages that looks nice. I loved where we stayed in Brantome but I want to try a slightly different area.

La Chartreuse du Maine : Gîtes de prestige en Dordogne Périgord avec piscine chauffée

> Location de belles demeures de vacances en Dordogne Périgord. La Chartreuse du Maine, gîtes de caractère avec piscine chauffée près de Lascaux et Périgueux. Charme et tradition pour des vacances haut de gamme.

lachartreusedumaine.fr

 

[NoSpin]

Sounds good Pauline, that's a fine start! We were near Perigueux back in 2019. It is a beuatiful area. I like that you are spending some time close to home. My wife and I are thinking of spending more travel visiting the US rather than traveling abroad.

Christmas week we spent in old Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It is as close as you can get to a European town without crossing the pond.

We will do a local trip to New York State in late June. Our big trip will be to Sardinia the last 2 weeks of July. We stayed at a villa on the sea last April and now with friends we are staying at the same villa. In April it was too cold for the beach or the pool. This vacation will be just to chill out on the beach.

Since we will already have spent the money to get there, we are thinking about where to spend 1 or 2 more weeks. Currently we are considering Sicily. We have been all over Italy, but never Sicily. And since the Sardinia weeks will be mindless, a cultural and historical sites tour of Sicily will make sense. We are open to any all suggestions.

No plans yet for autumn. We had considered the Royal Scotsman train trip, but amazingly they are mostly booked already so I'm looking at 2027.

 

[Penn251]

In February/March we will be in Bologna for two weeks and Paris for a week. Ready to plan a Fall trip and will check this thread to get inspiration.

 

[BEERMAN]

Happy New Year all! I have simply been lurking and not contributing here the past year, just enjoying traveling abroad through others words and photos here. We did travel in 2025, spent time sailing again in the Caribbean, a few fun getaway trips up and down the US east coast mainly.

2026 will be an eventful year for us, my wife finally joins me in retirement in just 2 weeks!! Our daughter is getting married locally in the spring!! After this busy period, I guess we will have the opportunity to travel whenever we get the itch!

We are planning to travel back to Italy, will plan as soon as my wife's schedule is completely clear! We have been invited to a wedding in Majorca in the Fall...plan is to arrive days before the wedding and after we will hop around for a while, to where is to be determined.

No real specifics regarding travel details yet, but this is how we've always been... I don't think we've ever planned a trip more than a couple months out? I wonder...will retirement really get us to change this habit??

 

[italian excursion]

I love hearing what everyone is planning for their travel calendars. Of course I will be going to Italy both Spring and Fall but will do an add on country for at least one of those trips. It's not yet clear to me but there's a retreat I'm looking at on Holy Island in Scotland and I've got both Portugal and Croatia consider. Not feeling particularly motivated today, so will just sit with the question for a little while longer. Happy trails!

 

[Pauline]

Currently we are considering Sicily. We have been all over Italy, but never Sicily.

We did many trips to Italy before we went to Sicily. Sicily was fascinating - lots of great Ancient Roman and Greek sights. IMO it is a bit “wilder” than the rest of Italy so you’ll be ready for it after a good rest in Sardinia!

 

[Sluggh]

I'm mentally pingponging between Sofia and Kaohsiung in the spring. Hoping for a revelatory dream or omen to help me decide.

 

[BEERMAN]

I joined this site relatively recently 2022?, but I've written many trip reports on other forums. I just re-read our 2018 Iceland Ring Road circumnavigation. Iceland is another beautiful place we've put on our return bucket list, it was an amazing 2100 mile adventure!. If it doesn't break any timeline rules, I could put the 10 part report here

 

[artnbarb]

Our travel is slowing. Art's neuropathy affects his balance, and also causes him to walk very slowly, so no more walking or group tours. We're taking an quickie trip to New Orleans at the end of March, then our usual Sept/Oct trip to Umbria.

For whatever reason, my daughter got it into her head that we should come back (with her and her husband) on a transatlantic cruise from Rome to Tampa, then spend a few days in Florida with them. They have no idea what they'll do or where they'll travel before the cruise, but we'll all meet up on board. I think she's making an effort to spend more time with us now that they've moved to Florida, and for that I'm very, very grateful! Honestly, I' ve had my fill of TA cruises, but to spend more time with them, as well as have a relaxing return to the states, makes it all worthwhile.

 

[Jim Zurer]

I am just finishing up the details for our Spring trip to Italy....flying into Rome on April 28 and staying in Rome for five nights. We will head south after that....5 nights in Terracina on the Lazio coast, 5 nights in Salerno, 3 nights in Santa Maria di Castellabate on the Cilento coast, five nights in Chieti (Abruzzo), and five nights in L'Aquila. We fly back from Rome on May 26.

I am also hoping that we might pull off another cross-country drive this summer...visiting kids in California and making stops to see friends and sightsee on the way out and back.

 

[wco81]

Australia in a couple of weeks, just recently bought tickets in April to London and in August to Geneva.

The airfare to London was cheaper than the destination I wanted to go to, either Portugal or Spain, so I will probably book separate tickets.

 

[Doug Phillips]

We are taking one of our granddaughters to Paris for a week in May. That's all, so far.

 

[chachalaca]

With aging parents everything is always prefaced with "hopefully". Hopefully, we'll be at the Ice Igloo Hotel in Alta, Norway in a few weeks! We've never been to Scandinavia, but spending the night in an ice room has been on my bucket list for years.

 

[CityScrolls]

It's nice to read everyone's travel plans.

We usually chose to travel far during winter: to seek sunny weather and escape the grey skies. This February we're finally heading to southern Thailand, but I'll do my best to avoid the hotspots and, as always, keep a healthy balance between beautiful sights and local experiences.

For the rest of the year, we're not sure yet - we'll be spontaneous and stay within Europe.

 

[katiecem]

I like reading everyone's travel plans. I also like putting mine down in writing because it make it seem more real. We got back from Mexico two weeks ago. 17 days until a short road trip within the state. 20 days until a week in Portland, OR. 81 days until 5 weeks in the UK. Some vague ideas about what's next after that (like Christmas Markets in Germany and Austria).

 

[Fioridave]

Where are you going this year?

We are doing the same May/June trip that we did last year - driving to Germany and Switzerland. 10 nights in Baden-Baden staying in the town center in the apartment complex we stayed in on our first visit two years ago followed by 3 weeks in Lenk in the apartment we stayed in last September.

Maybe a week in Cornwall in April. This is an easy destination for us - a 3 hour drive.

Summer at home.

Still working on September-October. I think we will return to the northern Perigord where we were last October. Instead of staying near Brantome I think we will stay closer to Perigueux. I found an estate with 3 cottages that looks nice. I loved where we stayed in Brantome but I want to try a slightly different area.

La Chartreuse du Maine : Gîtes de prestige en Dordogne Périgord avec piscine chauffée

> Location de belles demeures de vacances en Dordogne Périgord. La Chartreuse du Maine, gîtes de caractère avec piscine chauffée près de Lascaux et Périgueux. Charme et tradition pour des vacances haut de gamme.

lachartreusedumaine.fr

We are doing Venice, Bologna, Modena, and Mantua in April and London on October. Bothe are return trips. We tend to do Italy, London, Somewhere Else, rinse and repeat. Love the first two and wemhave found a lot of great Somewhere Else’s. Most recently Poland, which also merited a repeat.

 

[NoSpin]

With aging parents everything is always prefaced with "hopefully". Hopefully, we'll be at the Ice Igloo Hotel in Alta, Norway in a few weeks! We've never been to Scandinavia, but spending the night in an ice room has been on my bucket list for years.

I can relate with an aging parent. For many years I did not want to venture more than a 1 day car drive from my mother's house. As an only child I was the only person to look after her.

I think you will love the ice hotel. We visited the one near Quebec City twice. Both times were at Christmas time and the hotel didn't open until the first week of January, but several rooms were available to view. Fortunately for us, the ice bar was open. The block of ice glasses were free to take home as long as you kept them below freezing!