I think you need to come to northern Michigan 
Sleeping Bear Dunes, Petoskey and Mackinac Island
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I really wanted to do a bike trip up there! BUT, I think it was during COVID and my husband decided he wanted to stay closer to home/drivable, so we did the Finger Lakes in NY. I’d still like to make it sometime.
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I love to travel and have been fortunate enough to do a fair amount. My most memorable trip was a 2 week safari to Tanzania that I took 20+ years ago (before husband and kids). A truly magical experience. It was not cheap but worth every penny (I used Thomson safaris - excellent but not quite as expensive as A&K or Butterfield and Robinson). In Europe we tend to visit Italy and France the most. We had an outstanding family trip to the Marche region in Italy 3 years ago - it was beautiful, affordable and off the beaten tourist path while featuring all the best about Italy - beautiful Adriatic beaches, vineyards and lovely hill towns. Domestically, we’ve enjoyed trips to Pacific Northwest - Olympic NP and Seattle and CA - Yosemite, San Diego, Carmel, SF.
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We rented a giant lighthouse replica on Chesapeake Bay last summer for a long weekend with our kids and their SO. Paid their travel costs. Paid for all the food (they tookturns cooking). For us, this was a lot of money.
The location was awesome although I was not thrilled w the condition of the private community’s beach; it was covered in litter and debris. But there were lizards and osprey and eagles and swimming ; the house was fabulous. We were close to a boat ramp and had a good time watching people put their boats in and out. Very memorable! Next year we are doing the same thing on Lake Superior’s North Shore. My clan likes water, doing nothing, and scrambling on rocks.
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To echo @deb922 I always promote this with sincerity but don’t snooze on Michigan in the summer or early fall.
We have done multiple trips that will please the person who likes nature, water, hiking/biking, small towns to wander, AMAZING food to eat and you can throw in a big city day or two if you like.
A trip up the Lake Michigan coast from Indiana all the way up the coast to Northport and then down to Traverse City would be a top recommendation. Give yourself a good week. Add on Detroit or Ann Arbor for urban variety.
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Our trip to Scotland was our best family trip ever. We had a quirky, but cheap room right near the main train station in Edinburgh. Older S was at St Andrew’s that semester and it was his & our spring break. We traveled by train to most places but did a day trip tour to the Highlands/Loch Ness. We also stayed in a small castle in Glascow the night before we left. On the way back we spent a day in Iceland. I wish we had longer, but 1 week was all we had.
I’m kicking around the idea for my 55th bday to do a solo trip to the German/Swiss Alps. I’d love to do not only a hiking tour, but one with a German speaking group - no English. Language barrier aside, H would HATE this, thus my idea for going solo. But I don’t know how he’ll react to that. We will see. It’s 2+ years away…
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We rent a place in Ocean City NJ after the season…the after Labor Day. Just relaxing.
I agree that San Diego is a terrific place to visit. But we have relatives there so we don’t have to factor in lodging.
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If it’s for your 25th wedding anniversary, you need somewhere romantic. I know it sounds cliche’, but if you haven’t been to Paris, that would be my suggestion. If you wanted someplace less expensive, then Quebec City would fit the bill.
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It was a family trip but several years ago we spent a few days in the Twin cities then a week at a cabin on a lake “up North “. We loved it.
Another place we loved was Vancouver.
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My sister in law camps with friends for 2 weeks every year at sleeping bear dunes, my oldest used to fly out for it starting when she was 10 (by herself). They book it the day bookings open. SIL is currently in Maine in a cabin with my husband, her sister, and 3 of my kids, they’ve been to Acadia twice and drove to Bangor yesterday. My kids were in Beaver Creek CO a couple of weeks ago with my sister and her kids and loved it (they love hiking and the outdoors).
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If considering Vietnam and are not worried about money, my D also mentioned that there are small, luxury river cruises that run along the Mekong River. I’m not talking about the mainstream river cruises like Viking - these are apparently upscale, boutique experiences with amazing food and accommodations and not a lot of passengers.
I’ve also seen some ads for ulta luxury train voyages through different parts of Europe & Asia with amazing food and wine.
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Our family likes to travel so it’s hard to select a favorite vacation trip. Two that stand out for me–my daughter and I walked 100+ miles of the Camino de Santiago and our whole family visited Russia. We were in St. Petersburg for the White Nights.
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I loved Vancouver so much that I’m trying to emigrate there!
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Based on D2’s recent trip, another vote for Vietnam. She took a reasonably priced tour that included a host of unique experiences.
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We did an el cheapo trip to Paris right before Covid. January in Paris is gray and gloomy so EVERYTHING was cheap then-- flights, hotel. The food prices don’t go down but there’s a wide range of excellent restaurants and bistros at every price level- or just picking up excellent bread and cheese for a quick lunch. It was not a “trip of a lifetime” type experience (no room service, no fancy wine, mid-range hotel in a small room with no view) but it was fabulous anyway!!!
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For us, the trip of a lifetime was the African safari (we did Kenya/Tanzania). There are many affordable tour groups (we have friends who, like someone mentioned upthread, used Thompson, and they were happy).
We also loved Alaska. TBH I didn’t love SE Asia, except Singapore. LOVED Singapore but it was HOT.
We also loved a central California trip (Paso Robles, Hearst Castle, Monterey and Carmel). US 1 was closed due to damage at that time so we couldn’t drive down to Big Sur, but did do the 12 mi drive and it was beautiful. We just returned from a family trip, spending half the time in an adorable inn in Mill Valley and going to Muir Woods, and then down to a ranch/resort in Carmel. That was great too!!
Last recommendation- Switzerland. We honeymooned there eons ago. LOVED it!
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How much money do you want to spend? And how do you like to travel.
I loved our African vacation, but it was quite costly. And we flew economy the whole way.
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A safari is never cheap - mine (through Thomson as I mentioned above) was about $6k (just me and not including air fare) 20 years ago.
Good question - we don’t have a “budget” but if I had to throw out a number I’d say I’m OK with up to $40K, for the right experience, multi-weeks, etc. I would be happier spending much less than $40K, and I might be OK spending more than $40K, depending on what we decide to do.
I am fine flying economy (but did upgrade on the long parts of flights to NZ), and I don’t need a 5 star hotel, but I’m generally not OK with motel 6 either. I’d rather save on flight costs and splurge on experiences. We tend to like active vacations, often with a group but sometimes on our own, and at least part of our “big” trip next year will likely be an active group trip.
My number 1 bucket list trip was going to NZ for a month - we did a 14 day bike trip on the South Island, and spent time on both the North and South Islands on either end of the bike trip. BUT, I wouldn’t say that was my favorite trip ever.
Our “idea of the week” this week is maybe going to Italy and doing a bike trip for a week, then meandering around on our own for a couple of weeks. We thought about St John, which is where we spent our honeymoon, and we thought about Alaska.
Sorry - I went above and beyond answering Thumper’s question…
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Whoa, that’s a bigger budget than I had assumed!
No need to spend that much for Grand Canyon, Banff, Mt. Tremblant in Canada, Nova Scotia to name some of the more memorable trips we’ve taken!!!
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