Big holiday to celebrate anniversary

[Wishimaywishimight]

DH and I will be married 20 years next year (all going well!) and would like to do a BIG holiday to celebrate. Just starting to think about it now so will have lots of time for research.

Budget, I reckon, will be around €7,000 for 2 weeks (or slightly longer if we can manage it).

No interest in skiing or cruising!

We have been to the Caribbean - Barbados and Aruba and loved both.

Also been to Malaysia and Borneo - loved both but probably won't go back.

Love Europe but have seen lots of it and would like to go further afield this time.

Toying with the idea of safari but they seem to be over budget. Perhaps Vietnam/Cambodia? Perhaps Sri Lanka?

Any suggestions / recommendations?

For context, we are both in our 50s, in good health (so no restrictions re walking etc).

We went to Japan as a big holiday last year - 3 weeks. It's an easy country to travel round, very interesting, hotels at any price point are clean and safe, you can eat well very reasonably. Attractions tend to be quite reasonably priced.

We absolutely loved it. It's so different from anywhere else.

Vietnam and Cambodia would be cheaper but Japan isn't super expensive (once you've got there - we spent a lot on business class flights).

@BigDahliaFan Many thanks for that. I had not even considered Japan but have now added it to my 'research' list!

There's a couple of good threads on here about it. We used Trailfinders to do us an itinerary, but you could easily do it yourself.

I'd definitely go to Japan for a holiday like this, not been but I'd love to go!

€7,000 isn't very much for a "big" holiday, especially if you want to be away for 2 weeks. It can easily cost £4,000 just for a week in Europe in September, and that's nowhere bear the top end.
I was going to say safari in South Africa but, to do it properly, that would be minimum £10,000 for a week.
If your budget is absolutely fixed, I would look for something very luxurious for fewer days.
Sir Lanka is fabulous, by the way, but I have no idea re prices.

Hawaii?

@BeaRF75 Perhaps however we are staying in a 4 star for 8 days in Portugal in September and it's costing €2,400 and we did Malaysia / Borneo a number of years ago (maybe 5 or 6) for 15 nights (in 3 x 5 star hotels) for around €5,500 so I'm hoping €7,000 will be enough although we can increase if we find something we really want to do.

@Junction7 Hawaii has now been added to the list!

We dud Costa Rica last year for our big anniversary and it was phenomenal. We did a group tour of various places - Caribbean side, central and then to pacific side. Then travelled down to Osa peninsula.

Vietnam is good for a 2 week trip.
What month of the year?

British Columbia/Alberta. Either fly into Calgary and explore the Rockies around Banff or fly into Vancouver and go to Whistler and Vancouver Island. The Rocky Mountaineer train goes between both but not sure that will be within budget!

Was coming on to say Costa Rica as have heard amazing things. Watched a documentary saying they stepped down their army and the crime rate is minimal. Also extremely green with fantastic nature. I want to go there!!

We visited Banff and Lake Louise and spent around £7000 including flights for 10 days. So that might be an option. We stayed in good hotels (including the Chateau at LL). Would be a great trip for a celebration. I think the train would put you over budget.

Otherwise, I think Japan would be great but budget might be tight - when I looked at flights recently they were coming up at £1000pp return so that would use up a lot of your budget. Japan is reasonable for food/drink but transport and accommodation can be expensive - there is cheap accommodation available and like a PP said it’s clean but might not be what you’re after for an anniversary trip.

Other suggestions - Sri Lanka, India, South Korea, Peru, Thailand, Mexico. You have so many options - what is it you’re really looking for?

What time of year are you planning on - that would be a major factor?

@SquishyGloopyBum I have actually heard Costa Rica is fabulous so that's going on the list also!

@dinhoecotour Our anniversary is September so would aim to go around then however if where we decide upon is best visited at another time of year then we can be flexible.

@ChilliPB Canada / The Rockies would be of interest to me but any time I have mentioned it DH is not that excited for some reason. I want to find somewhere we are both excited about.

As to what we are looking for - well, I can't say either of us have a fixed idea other than to see a part of the world we haven't yet explored, somewhere with perhaps UNESCO heritage sights to visit. We are happy to do lots of walking, love being in cities but also being more remote, trying out local restaurants etc.

It's all a bit vague (as you can tell) at the moment 😊