We are young, (22/23) , we have been together for 5 years, he recently proposed, and it's almost his birthday. I decided I wanted to make his birthday present really special this year, and what's better than a vacation?!
we have both traveled together, but not a lot. We recently went on a 7 day cruise to the Bahamas. The Bahamas is all we have done out of the States so far, but we've made a dent on our US map. We spend a lot of time in Maine, Vermont, and New Hampshire. We have started working our way south, Florida being the most recent.
Length 10 days (give or take)
Budget 3000 max, would prefer less. (This only includes airfare, hotel, and rental cars--unless taxi's are available where we go.)
Climate When we stayed in the Bahamas, we didn't love it. It was too hot, too touristy, too sandy. We would prefer a mild climate, but prefer not too cold.
Interests We love being around animals, seeing historical sights, being in the country side, going to the bars, meeting new people, hiking, and sight seeing. ( We don't like cities, the more rural, the better.) We like horseback riding, biking, fishing, swimming, offroading, ATV riding, Jetskiing, canoeing, boat riding in general, but I can't stress the sight-seeing enough.
food Don't care at all, provided I'm not eating bugs.
Countries I have narrowed it down to Italy, Germany, Ireland, Japan.
Questions What are the best times of year to travel to these places? For example, If I chose Ireland, when is the climate the most Ideal to spend a lot of time outside? Same with Japan. I really want to see the Japan countryside. I was considering Germany because I was born there, and I wanted to take him to my roots. Ireland because we are both half Irish, Italy because Rome and Venice have so much beautiful history, and Japan because we love the culture and food a lot. Which place would we have the most fun at? I really want to make this a special vacation. We're only going to get engaged once!