DH and I have travel vouchers on Virgin Atlantic that need to be used by 4/23/23. We’re trying to figure out where to go. First choice would be leaving as close to 4/23 as possible to some place warm (in the 70s). Would like to fly into a city, spend a couple of days there, and then move to a more rural area, preferably with great hiking opportunities. Good food and wine a plus. Renting a car would be fine. Must be a direct flight on Virgin out of Boston and no more than a 10 hour flight. Second choice would be a ski-focused trip in January or February. I welcome any ideas you may have. Thank you in advance!
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Does Virgin Atlantic fly to Spain?
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I think your non-stop destinations to warm climates in April are limited to Lagos and Tel Aviv, if I am reading the Virgin Atlantic app correctly.
I would fly to Milano in Jan/Feb and enjoy a great ski trip.
- First choice is one of my two remaining bucket list ski resorts - Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomites. 5 hour drive.
- Within a couple of hours of the Milano airports, I have snowboarded in Courmayeur and it was a very memorable time. A little shack on the mountain had the best polenta I’ve ever eaten. Just a little farther and a great addition, would be to add Chamonix on the French side of Mont Blanc.
- Also, within a couple of hours of Milano, you might consider Cervinia, which is the other side of the Matterhorn and maybe hit Zermatt (been there - wonderful) on the Swiss side and possibly Saas Fee (snowboarded there and loved the experience).
- 3.5 hours drive straight west of Milano is Val d’Isere on the French side which I also enjoyed.
Milano really is convenient to some of the best European resorts.
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Deleted. I missed the direct flight criteria.
I just googled. 5 of the 7 I suggested are on this Top 12 list in Europe. You can read a little blurb on each. You can’t go wrong with food and wine in Italy, France and perhaps some fondue in Switzerland.
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I can’t comment on the skiing (the only time I’ve skiied in Europe was in Chamonix, which was lovely, but we usually ski in the Canadian Rockies).
I’m not sure Lagos is what you have in mind for a warm weather vacation, but Israel is a great place to visit and April is probably great from a weather standpoint. Tel Aviv is exciting and cosmopolitan – night life for those who like that and buzzy tech world. Jerusalem is an extraordinary place to take a tour with an archeologically trained guide. Years ago, we did a hike (maybe for two or three days) in the Negev desert with a guide from Tefen (Society for the Preservation of Nature, I think) who was a former elite paratrooper. Amazingly saw signs of life through his eyes in what otherwise seemed barren. I think we also hiked to the caves in Ein Gedi where David was hiding from Saul and to Jericho. Lots of history all over the country. Beaches including Eilat: https://theculturetrip.com/middle-east/israel/articles/the-best-seaside-towns-to-visit-in-israel/. The Dead Sea.
One caveat: Lots of folks travel to Israel for Passover, so things are booked and expensive around then. You want to avoid that week (4/5-4/13 in 2023).
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Doesn’t appear to but maybe I should consider flying out of NY. We live in CT so in between Boston and NY. Though NY more of a hassle and my brother is just outside Boston so we leave our car there and take the train to Logan.
Thanks. Never would’ve considered this. Will do more research. Any safety concerns?
Thx. Is skiing and lodging very expensive at all these? What about crowds? Best time to go?
I second Israel. March/April weather is perfect. As far as safety concerns, you will likely feel far safer there than you do here in the U.S., as far as not carrying around a constant low level worry about being a victim of a mass shooting (or maybe that’s just me…).
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More questions 
Of the places you’ve been, what other activities are close? I’m an ok skier (rest of family v good) but even they would probably only ski 3 or 4 times while we were there. May end up going for a couple weeks and if so wondering what other things we could do.
If you are thinking Tel Aviv, you could also visit Jordan (literally the safest place to visit in the Mid East). April is lovely weather there, warm but not too hot.
In Jordan you could visit:
Dead Sea and The Jordan River (both of those share border with Israel)
You could also visit
Madaba mosaics
Mt. Nebo
Petra (ancient city built by Nabeteans, most well known by Americans as the resting place of the Last Crusader in the Indiana Jones movie)
Wadi Rum (desert used to films many different movies, also great star watching overnight)
Jerash (largest collection of Greco Roman ruins in the world, often called Pompeii of the East)
Aqaba (on the Red Sea, fantastic diving and snorkeling)
Nothing is all that far in Jordan (about 5 1/2 hours is the longest drive between any of those sites, and many are quite close to one another)
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Friend of mine just got back from a two week trip to Jordan and Israel. Very liberal adventurous couple. They enjoyed the trip, met up with their son and found it very interesting. However, there were places they went where they felt very insecure and not safe. On one trip (may have been from Israel to Jordan) their passports were confiscated then returned on the other side. Made them VERY uneasy. While they found it interesting they said they could not in good faith recommend it nor would they ever return. This was just a few weeks ago in early June.
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Won’t be in the 70’s but sometimes that a little too warm for hiking anyway. Fly to London, see the sights there for a few days. Then hiking the Cotswold Way or along the south coast of England. The early spring flowers will be in bloom.
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Europe’s ski season is shorter than the America’s Rockies, so I would go late Jan/early Feb. Can be crowded like the I-70 resorts close to Denver (Breckenridge, etc) and Park City. Won’t be like America’s more isolated resorts Big Sky, Sun Valley, western Colorado, etc. That said, you are in Europe, so it is as much about the old world charm as it is the skiing.
It was expensive when I last went, but prices are falling rapidly in US$ terms, because the Euro is now on par with the US$.
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If you have two weeks, there is plenty to do aside from skiing. Since, it is low tourist season in Europe, you won’t have the jam-packed summer crowds in the cities, museums, cathedrals, wineries, etc…
Cortina d’Ampezzo is only a two hour drive from Venice.
For all of them, you can go to the beautiful Italian lakes, Florence, Siena, Bologna, Rome, Amalfi Coast, Naples, etc… Go farther into France, Switzerland or any other country by car or train. Distances aren’t far.
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This does not meet your preferred temps, but mid-late April is perfect for tulip season in The Netherlands. Plus April 27 is King’s Day and a very fun experience. Amsterdam will be in full swing celebration with dining and street artists galore. Other cities will be less crowded if that’s not your thing.
If you arrive at the end of your travel window, you could kick off with several days in Holland, including time In Amsterdam. Then with another week plus available you could take the train south to other areas of interest.
Does your return flight need to be from the same city of arrival?
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@taverngirl, I don’t think there are significant safety concerns. I’ve been to Israel many times (last time in 2019) and it does not feel scary or unsafe. In earlier times, I’ve been to the West Bank but I don’t think I’d be crazy about doing that now. I was supposed to go to Amman for a board meeting of an NGO in March 2020 and from there I was going to hike in Petra. This was canceled by Covid, but I would not have had a problem going there.
They take border control very, very seriously so I would stay away from going across borders. But, it is special country to visit.
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I’m following this thread with interest, because we are thinking about the same thing. We’ll be losing our beloved Delta diamond status at the end of the year, and the only way to get it back is through their “Reclaim my status” program, where we’ll have to fly 31,250 miles in three months. If we can get first class/business tickets for a decent price, we can fly far less.
So basically I’m looking for places we can fly from Seattle that would entail a lot of mileage, fly on Delta or one of their Global partners (Virgin, Air France, KLM) in Mar-May.
I think Tel Aviv is an amazing destination. I have not yet floated in the Dead Sea or visited Masada. But we’re hoping for cheap tickets, and business would cost a boatload. I would have zero safety concerns there. Hotels look pricey.
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Two RT trips to Hawaii each month? Or mix and match with 1-2 overseas trips? 