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Yes, airfare from NYC to the Azores is very reasonable, and non-stop flights to Helsinki are affordable as well, which is why those two seemingly random places are high on our list. For the latter choice, we would fly into Helsinki, spend 3 or so days there, then take the 2 hour ferry to Tallinn and spend a few days there before returning to Helsinki the last night before our return flight.
And we'd absolutely LOVE to visit Scotland and particularly the Highlands. But I have read that midges are a terrible problem in August in the islands and in the most beautiful places of the mainland, and I think that would ruin the experience for us. So I have been saving Scotland for sometime when we can visit in Spring or Fall, which likely means after my daughter is out of school.
Generally midges are found in moorland and in swampy areas. They're less common near salt water, plus the wind generally takes care of them. They're fairly easily avoided with insect repellent. For better or worse, you'd also probably be wearing long-sleeved garments in Argyll and Mull in August.
On the other hand, my first visit to Finland (Helsinki and the coast to the east) in August was celebrated as a feast day by several million Finnish mosquitoes.
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Generally midges are found in moorland and in swampy areas. They're less common near salt water, plus the wind generally takes care of them. They're fairly easily avoided with insect repellent. For better or worse, you'd also probably be wearing long-sleeved garments in Argyll and Mull in August.
On the other hand, my first visit to Finland (Helsinki and the coast to the east) in August was celebrated as a feast day by several million Finnish mosquitoes.
Oh yes... August = BUGS in many places (I tend to forget, since my home domicile is ONLY nice during August, when one must stay home to prepare for winter. roof repair, putting up 7 cords of firewood, harvesting and canning produce and fruit, wild berries, Salmon, county fairs... and very few bugs )
Drop on by and help with chores (We have an international guest home with a great view and LOTS of wild and domestic berries).
11yo girl seems like a dude ranch / exploring via horse for a week would be very nice. (Friends in Maine board horses for a local Dude Ranch, but I will bet there are some great horse adventures in PEI and NB and NS).
Immersed in Anne of Green Gables could foster the imagination for a great trip to that region. My spouse LOVED that adventure. (not as a child, but acted like a child with much glee!)
Upper Peninsula MI, Door County, WI, Apostle Islands, Duluth / Thunder Bay are other August adventures (complete with bugs).
We took an August and did many USA State Fairs. That was fun (and tiring).
If and when you visit Scotland our experience as noted below.
My wife and I vacationed in Scotland and Ireland mid May until mid June, 2019, some things we learned from our 31 day trip.
1. Do Scotland first IF you plan to rent a car. Why ??? the roads are better ie wider then in Ireland. You will get used to driving on the wrong side of the road. If you rent a car with a stick shift you will get used to changing gears with your left hand very weird experience had not driven a stick shift in 30 years. They do have automatic transmission but you will pay a premium for it may want to consider it.
2. Make sure you bring your GPS with you, using google maps was not as helpful as our gps particularly at the MANY roundabouts you will encounter. The Garmin gps indicated which turn to make when entering a roundabout with many have 4 options as to where to turn. They have roundabout every mile or so even on major highways you will encounter them. Many times 3 lanes of traffic are entering the roundabout at the same time. No one uses blinkers or gives you any indication where they are going soooooo much fun!! Try to plan your stops to the N and M roads they are so much better and easier to drive.
3.Signage in Ireland was VERY POOR without the gps we would have not found many places we visited. BUT make sure you look at where the gps is taking you, sometimes it took us down 1 lane roads that were really 2way roads. Nothing like a big truck heading towards you with no place to go!!
4. I only got beeped at 2 times BUT they will ride your tail very quickly when going too slow. They have many small narrow roads with 60 mph speed limits which I did not feel comfortable doing. I would wait until a place they could pass and put my 4 way emergency lights on and they would pass. Some roads had places you could pull over which was very helpful.
5.Beware of others using the road such as groups on bicycles who would ride 2-3 bikes across taking up the lane. Coming around a blind corner with no shoulder and seeing this was soo much fun. People walking in the road. Sheep are EVERYWHERE including walking in the road or along the road not to mention sheep dogs going after them.
6. We only brought enough clothes for 8 days. We used laundry facilities in town not at the hotel, where we dropped off the clothes and within 24 hours we picked it up. Saved us a lot of time and was was very reasonable priced about $15.
7. On and off bus tours in the cities give you a great overview. We used Park and ride buses in Edinburgh which saved trying to find parking and driving in this ancient city. For 4 pounds per person you can ride all day with many buses and routes to choose from. Be prepared to walk a LOT up and down BIG hills.
8. The OPW Heritage pass in Ireland and the Explorer Pass in Scotland helped you bypass the long lines Stirling and Edinburgh Castles.
9. Distance on google maps are short BUT because of the roads you need to add extra time to your destination.
10. Castles both ruins and finished/furnished, Cathedrals/Churches and distilleries are in EVERY Town so plan accordingly.
11. It rains a lot going from a beautiful day to pouring rain so bring rain gear and layers.
12. Locals do not wear baseball hats...gee I wonder why??
13. Souvenir T Shirts for places you visit do not exist!!!!
14. Woolen shops are EVERYWHERE!!!!!!
15. Locals are wonderful and very helpful.
16. Leave time to get through the customs lines in Dublin airport. We had Global Entry and it took us 2 hours to make it through the process. Our plane was delayed for 1 hour because folks did not make it through on time, yea they actually waited for the passengers.
17. Do not bother with the Ring of Kerry or as we called it the Ring of Terror!! Instead do the Dingle Peninsula and the A2 road to Northern Ireland, and the costal highway between Galway and Westport. The Ring of Kerry road was narrow, changed suddenly to one lane bridges with no warning with MANY tour buses driving like it was a 4 lane highway. The Killarney National Park is definitely worth seeing but not the entire Ring of Kerry. If you do decide to do the Ring consider doing via a bus tour. If a rainy day you will not see much.
18. Scotland has no toll roads but Ireland does make sure you have some local $$.
19. Pots of tea and scones were wonderful, coffee not so much as well as full Irish breakfast....baked beans in the morning???
20. Hotels require you to place your door entry card to turn on the power in the room. They have a slot as soon as you walk in to insert the card....make sure you get TWO cards so if you need to leave the room the other person is not sitting in the dark. They also use the card to get onto and operate the elevator. Hair dryers are in the desk drawer sometimes not near a mirror....lol. Each showers we encountered operated in its own unique way!! They do not believe in washcloths..... Make sure your hotel has parking some did not and we had to walk several blocks and pay for parking. Sometimes they had underground parking which was nice BUT it was like driving through your patio door into your basement....yea that tight. We had a Volkswagen Golf not a big car and it was VERY challenging,!
21. Make sure you have adequate rental car insurance including the tires! My 3 credit cards did not cover Ireland.
22. We had no problem getting gas with a credit card the stations we stopped at you did not pay at the pump, you had to go in and pay the cashier. As in the USA you sign a receipt for the transaction. Your card never leaves your sight, they bring the machine to you. No pins numbers needed at all.
23. On motor ways the left lane is the slow lane, the right is the passing lane. The speed limit signs just have a number on them nothing else given in the USA which states “speed limit” on the sign. On the motorway they do not post the speed limit on the motorway they only are posted as you come onto the motorway and are trying to merge!!
24. We purchased a SIM card for my iPhone once we got in the country. Sometimes we had google maps and the Garmin running at the same time, the Garmin was so much better. Google maps would say go east on the road, we had no idea what direction we were going, especially when in a roundabout! Where the Garmin gave you a blue line to follow.
25. The Dublin airport is a $50-60 euro taxi ride one way so plan accordingly. We stayed at The Schoolhouse Hotel in Dublin to give you an idea. We considered the bus from the airport but given we were up for 20 hours, had 2 rolling duffel bags and 2 carry on bags and the hotel was several blocks from the bus stop we took a cab.
Overall we had a great time and really enjoyed ourselves. They were both wonderful countries with spotless thriving towns, and amazing green country side.
Absolutely, and this is why we're strongly considering the Azores as well as Helsinki and Tallinn. We've taken her to Sweden, Italy, Greece, and Norway in years prior and had great vacations.
What specifically attracts you to the Azores, though, as opposed to other European destinations? It didn't strike me as a place that had much in the way of attractions for kids.
Thanks Cal! For Colorado we are really only considering going to the SW part of the state, such as Mesa Verde, Durango, Ouray, etc. RMNP looks beautiful but I understand that it is terribly crowded and congested in August.
If you keep to that area, you will be fine, that’s the San Juan’s, amazingly beautiful, not real crowded except maybe for Ouray. You can base yourself in small towns like Salida & Montrose. Don’t forget Black Canyon of the Gunnisons NP & to take Million $ Hwy from Ouray to Durango. There was also some beautiful backroad that dumped us out by Telluride. That’s a trip you’ll love.
BTW, we never encountered midges, but a favorite memory in Scotland was driving a one-lane dirt road behind a flock of sheep in the Scottish Highlands, while listening to a song in Scottish Gaelic on the car radio. Those are the travel memories that your child will never forget!
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What specifically attracts you to the Azores, though, as opposed to other European destinations? It didn't strike me as a place that had much in the way of attractions for kids.
The Canary Islands are more orientated towards the family holiday resorts.
Consider Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. PEI is a beautiful place we have been visiting since 1985. We have been to all 50 states, most of Canada, Italy, Ireland, and Scotland, but still find time to get back to PEI we love it. Why….friendly locals, amazing seafood ie lobster, muscles, oysters, cod, not crowded even in the summer. Endless red sand beaches and cliffs, amazing folk music, green potato fields, bike and walking trails the entire length of the island, warm water via the Gulf Steam to swim in the ocean. Anne of Green Gables if you have kids. Best time to visit is June to September. You can get onto the island via a 8 mile long bridge or a 2 hour ferry from Nova Scotia. The largest city is Charlottetown about 50 k population with an island population of 170k. But get out and explore the countryside it’s amazing. The US to Canada exchange rate is also very favorable to us in the USA. You can fly direct to Halifax Nova Scotia from NYC and drive about 4 hours to the island. Let us know if you need more information.
What specifically attracts you to the Azores, though, as opposed to other European destinations? It didn't strike me as a place that had much in the way of attractions for kids.
It's a safe, naturally beautiful place that has inexpensive non-stop flights from NYC where we live. And my wife and I previously visited mainland Portugal and loved it.
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It's a safe, naturally beautiful place that has inexpensive non-stop flights from NYC where we live. And my wife and I previously visited mainland Portugal and loved it.
Lisbon is a great city, and the Algarve is a popular tourist destination.
i wonder what the child would describe as her favorite parts of traveling, and her favorite places, and what she actually likes about it. From her point of view. Has that been expressed and shared?
Last edited by Tzaphkiel; 10-11-2023 at 07:39 AM..
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