Holiday for my parents

helpmeplease

Hi, I am looking for a recommendation, or any advice at all!

I want to buy a holiday for my parents. They are in their early 50s and they have never been to a non-English speaking country before.

I would like to send them to a European city for a weekend.

My budget is around 400 or 500. I'm thinking maybe 200 for the flights, and another 200 or 300 for 2 or 3 nights in a hotel.

Price is not the main issue.

The main issue is that my parents are not well-travelled and they have no foreign language skills.

Where is the best place for them? I was thinking maybe Barcelona?

Basically I don't want to send them somewhere where they will be stressed out all the time, due to not being able to communicate, find their way around etc etc.

I'd be really grateful for any help.

Santa Claus

What about Rome, would they be interested in seeing the sights like the colliseum etc and the Vatican ?
Aer Lingus fly to the main airport in Rome and they have a sale on at the moment until the 13th.

Failing that, what about Paris ?

In_tuition

Budapest

Just trust me.

It's one of the finest cities in the world.

undo

I would say the OP's question is quite tricky and deserves some thought. Many of us here are well-traveled and will suggest places that they liked a lot without even realizing what kind of issues an inexperienced, somewhat older person might encounter. Here are a few pointers:

* Budapest is a beautiful city. There are tons of fabulous buildings and many have been very nicely restored. The hot spas are deadly. Young people will tend to have good English. All that said, it still is Eastern Europe and there are many subtle quirks that might trip up a novice traveler. Due to that last aspect, sadly, I would have to say - save Budapest for another time.

* Rome is a very touristy city. Even a novice traveler should survive just fine. A lot of history was made here and there are tons of things to see. As for my personal opinion, I would suggest you keep in mind it is also a very big, noisy and busy place. If your parents would rather have a more relaxed, quiet time, Rome might not be for them.

* Barcelona is very touristy as well and again, should not pose much of a problem. However, in my experience, Spain and France are the two countries where very little English is spoken. Sure, they will be able to visit the main attractions and will find a restaurant with an English menu. But they will be somewhat limited by the fact that if they turn off the main thoroughfares, suddenly nobody will understand them.

Please do not misunderstand any of the above as bashing the suggestions made so far. I just wanted to point out the potential pitfalls.

The two main tips I have are:

a) go with a Western European country as it will feel more familiar to your parents

and

b) pick a country where you know people speak good English

Going on these, I would suggest you look into Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Language education in these countries is unbelievable; you will be hard pressed to find someone there who does not have at least a decent command of English. And there are many cities worth visiting in these countries. Among my favorites are:

* Helsinki, Finland - not too big, can be explored at a leisurely pace in a weekend

* Oslo, Norway - not for the city itself but the museums on nearby Bygdoy Peninsula

* Amsterdam, Netherlands - my personal pick; a wicked place that has everything from the Rembrandt museum to street culture, beautiful canals criss-crossing the city just waiting to be explored on foot, bike or by boat; more nightlife than you could ever wish for, from classical concerts to the red light district that blends into the rest of the city in a unique way. There is great food to be had. Everyone speaks very good English. And should your parents feel homesick halfway through the trip, there are a couple of streets full of drunks Brits and Irish (these should normally to be avoided at all cost but might come in handy to cure homesickness .

Enii

Berlin

helpmeplease

Thank you so much for the replies.

Berlin: My GF is from Berlin, so I am in Berlin quite a lot. When my parents visit Berlin, it would make sense that they come with me sometime. I don't want to send them there on their own!

Undo has summed it up for, a relatively familiar city where the people speak English. I suggested Barcelona because I thought English would be widely spoken there (I've never been to Spain so I wasn't sure).

I would love to send them to Paris but having been there numerous times, I think my parents would struggle with the language difficulties. I have met quite a few unhelpful/downright rude Parisiens when I was there in the past.

Amsterdam seems perfect, I will have a look into it over the weekend.

If anyone has anything to add, I would be very grateful.

ardmacha

Amsterdam, Copenhagen.

An Ard Ri

Munich.

• Aer Lingus fly direct
• Everybody seems to speak english and is friendly
• Beautiful city
• Good food

undo

While it was not on my initial list, I second Munich. It is beautiful, the people are friendly and English is widely spoken (though not as widely as in the Netherlands). And if they manage to see Neuschwanstein castle, it will be a trip to remember for sure. My two top picks would now be Amsterdam and Munich (in that order).

tinkerbell

What a great present for your parents! You are very thoughtful to buy them such a lovely gift!

I have been to Stockholm before and it is a lovely city - would highly recommend it. I wrote a long review on it in 2005 so if you just do a search on this forum you should find it.

When are you planning on sending them? If it's before Christmas then I highly recommend Salzburg - Salzburg is gorgeous! I was there in June and even then they were selling all christmas decorations n stuff so I can only imagine how amazing it is around Christmas time - they have the most wonderful Christmas shops!

Seville is meant to be beautiful and Florence as well.

How about Lisbon? I've heard Lisbon is meant to be quite nice (haven't been there myself now).

P. Breathnach

I have managed to visit nearly all of the cities mentioned in this thread, so obviously I don't have the concerns that helpmeplease has expressed about her/his parents' inexperience. If they are really bothered about langauge, then I think the Netherlands and the Scandinavian countries are the easiest places for them to have a first experience of the non-English-speaking world. Oslo and Copenhagen (especially Oslo, in my opinion) have much to offer, but can be very expensive. So I would suggest Stockholm or Amsterdam. Of the two, I prefer Stockholm, but tastes differ.

There is another factor that might be considered. Inexperienced travellers can be preyed on by rip-off specialists or petty criminals such as pickpockets. Barcelona, for example, is reputed to have a very high incidence of pickpockets. In my experience, Prague is very bad for rip-offs such as taxi-drivers overcharging and restaurant staff padding bills. Visitors need to be alert and streetwise in many popular tourism desinations. I think that there are fewer such problems in Amsterdam or Stockholm.

The other cities can be put on a list for their future travels, once they have gained a little confidence and experience.

helpmeplease

Thanks everyone, I think I have settled on Amsterdam.

The help is very much appreciated.

spurious

Late vote for Krakow.
They all speak English there, well, anyone under 35 or so does.