Google and you will find how to reach Bear Mountain and vicinity: https://www.nynjtc.org/content/where-you-can-go-bus-or-train. You would need to stay in a nearby town like Peeksill if you don't have camping equipment. Don't expect to find a histel there,

Shenandoah is not reachable by public transportataion. You might be able to join a hiking group, such as those organized by Sierra Club https://www.sierraclub.org/dc/calendar, the Capitol Hiking Club http://www.capitalhikingclub.org/Events.aspx?type=day+hikes, or the Potomac Applachian Trail Club: https://www.patc.net/PATC/On_The_Trails/Hike/PATC/PATC_Trails/Hike/Where_to_Hike.aspx?hkey=91f22c53-48aa-4c61-89ed-d5cb6bf657d7 People meet-up and share expenses. Shenanondoah has some easy hikes, but many involve strenuous changes in elevation (going up and later down 300-400 meters). Shenandoah can be done as a long day trip.

I also think that Lucerne would be a good option. Transport in Switzerland is expensive but very, very good. If looking for somewhere more rural, I'd opt for somewhere in the Bernese Oberland but it sounds like Lucerne meets your desire to be able to access lakes and mountains while being close to a town. If you look at a transport map (trains, buses, ferries) of Switzerland you'll see that there are many places to visit from Lucerne. I don't think there's any need to fly rather than take the train. You should be aware though that Lucerne in June will be very busy as it's an incredibly popular place. I recommend the guided walk by the tourist office. sbb.ch/en will give you transport timetables and costs.

@thesmallerexplorer

We're looking to travel to India in Feb with our nearly 3 and 5 year old. We only have two weeks.

Then 4 destinations only. Five tops.

it's very hard to do this when you've no real idea of distances etc.

Dr Google will give you distances. What Dr G can't do (very well) is travel time. Basically land transport in India is incredibly slow. For intercity travel make your judgements based on 50 kmh. More importantly, train timetables give you the travel time.

1) Delhi

Etc.

No chance. Too many places in too few days.

There are far more entertaining things for (western) children in the cities that in rural areas - that holds true across the planet. So, more time in places like Delhi and Jaipur.

Agra (1 day for Taj Mahal)

There is more, much more to Agra than the Taj. And make sure you're not there on a Friday.

Amer Ele rehab camp

Visit http://wildlifesos.org/short-visit-to-the-elephant-conservation-and-care-center/ from Agra.

Ramthambhore NP (2 days - is it worth going? chance of seeing tigers?)

Who can say what your chances are. Safaris are not "cheap".

Udaipur(4 days - any recommendations for here? Or is this too long?)

Way too many days.

Jaisalmer (3 days desert camping/exploring)

Too far to go if all you are doing is desert stuff - you can do that from Jodhpur.

I'd also love to get up to Rishikesh and Jodphur but not sure how to cram that in!

Jodhpur in place of Jaisalmer. I love Rishikesh but you don't have time.

Plus I'd like to do at least one yoga class.

Yoga is everywhere in India.

2) Kochi/Fort Cochin (2 days)-Backwaters (3 days)-Kovalam (3 days)-Periyar NP (2 days - is this worth it?)-Western Ghats (3 days Are the Mannar tea plantations good? what about the two tiger reserves here - Anamali and Parambikulam?)-Kochi and home. We thought maybe doing it this way round might ease us in easier?

Southern India is a different country to the north, and much easier to deal with for first timers. The tea and spice plantations are great, unless you compare them with Sri Lanka. Munnar town isn't overly appealing.

https://www.indiaunbound.com.au/itineraries/kerala-family-holiday/

https://www.indiaunbound.com.au/tag/family-travel-in-india/

(For example - I'm not suggesting you take a private tour for the family - but this gives you a sense of what's possible and practicable by someone who has been there, done that. You might want to trawl that site for ideas).

Here I'd like to go further up and in to Hampi - worth it?! How?! Is it doable? What should we cut out?

You seriously don't have time for that. You'd have to recast your itinerary wholly to make it genuinely viable.

We'll be travelling independently though will book everything in advance. Quite fancy some train action, but I suspect we may well hire a private car as well.

Well, you'll have to do both. For example, there is no direct train between say, Udaipur and Jodhpur; or Udaipur and Jaisalmer. The train runs along the coast in Kerala, but not into the mountains (for obvious reasons).

That would be Mount Emei with surrounding area, Leshan (乐山市) in the first place. Mount Emei is the gateway to one of the most interesting Chinese natural - heritage complexes. This is also UNESCO World Heritage site and the real place to experience Chinese Buddhism in its genuine and complete form. Anyway, you should be warned that the city itself does not resembles as Pingle and Liujiang in appearance because as a gateway to such an important sacred mountain it has become rather populous and mainly modern city. In reality, it is the mountain natural - heritage complex that makes it so famous and not the city itself. In any case, this mountainous complex is by far more attractive than both Pingle and Liujiang.

Relatively close to Mount Emei is Leshan, the gateway for one of the most famous single attractions, Leshan Giant Buddha, definitely the tallest pre-modern statue in the world. Again, be warned, that at actual time, the statue of Buddha is in the process of general reconstruction and only a part of head is visible to the visitors of this incredible monument. The rest of the statue is covered with scaffolding.

One of the best details regarding Mount Emei is logistics. The truth is that this city is so easy to reach by both high speed and conventional trains and also by buses directly from Chengdu. Have in mind that conventional trains and high speed trains use different stations within the urban tissue of Mount Emei City. Mount Emei is also very well connected with Leshan with frequent buses that take roughly an hour between two cities. Leshan is also connected with Chendu by the same line of high speed train, i.e. arriving from Chengdu, you will first pass through Leshan on your route to Mount Emei.

The suggestion for Matagalpa is a really good one. That's in the north, off the regular tourist trail in Nicaragua, and the mountains there are the greenest part of the country. Also near there in the mountains is Jinotega, but not sure about internet speed in Jinotega. I loved visiting the Somoto canyon up by the Honduras border too.

When is your spring break? Is it Easter week? If so you'll want to avoid the Nicaragua beaches, which get just crazy Easter week.

Landscape: The Annapurna Circuit let's you walk (or ride) through subtropical jungle, up into high alpine areas and then down into a real desert, while the EBC Trek has even better mountain scenery but then only two to three days in forrests and all the rest is high alpine scenery.
Similar with culture: In the beginning and the end of the AC you will visit areas where various different "tribes" (not sure if that's politically correct - sorry if not) live while in the Khumbu you'll mainly find Sharpas and culturally similar "tribes".
Both have excellent lodges. Both will be similarly crowded. Both can be done without a guide, both will cost you about 50 dollars in permits and then about 30 dollars average per day for food and lodging (maybe EBC a LITTLE BIT more).
However EBC will require you to pay about 250 to 300 dollar for flights, or you start with a jeep ride to Bupsa, which takes 1,5 to get there vs. 6 to 7 hours to get to Besisahar, the AC trailhead.
The AC has a road running alongside most of it, complete with buses, Jeeps, cars, tractors, trucks and motorbikes, which makes the crowd of tourists you meet there very different to the crowd of tourists you might meet on other traks in Nepal. On my trek a few month ago i realized that a large portion of visitors chooses to go all the way up to Manang in Jeeps and doesn't actually want to engage in any sporty activity like trekking. There were even groups that traveled to Manang by jeep and then continued on all the way to Muktinath on mules, crossing the pass riding. All were altitude sick and it was a very pitiful sight.
The roads on the one side up to Manang and on the other side down the Kali Ghandaki valley can be avoided in parts using the so called NATT trails established in the early 2010s, however some of them are meanwhile also replaced by smaller dirt roads. Last fall we walked from Dharapani to Muktinath, and the first 2 days were almost entirely on the dusty, smelly, load, annoying and sad road. From Dikur Pokhari it gets better. The road bit between Muktinath and Jomsom is now even blacktopped. In the Kalo Gandaki Gorge a large part of the road can be avoided, but also not all of it. We saw several poor trekkers making there way through the dusstorms the jeeps created.
In the Khumbu there is no road. Period.
If you want to know about other aspects of the treks, please ask.
By the way, the best trek in the Khumbu region in my opinion is Gokyo, because of Gokyo valley being much prettier than the valley EBC is in. The view of Everest from Gokyo Ri is at least as good as the view from Kala Pathar. Again - in my opinion.

10-12 days on that you, then you can really slow down. Train from Oslo to Bodø is about 20 hours give or take, so if you get off it a couple of places along the route, then you can travel by daytime, and also get to see places along the route.

The railway goes on a single track from Bodø to Trondheim. From Trondheim you can take Østerdalen or Gudbrandsdalen south if I remember correctly (you might need to take the bus some of the way to travel through Østerdalen), but everyone just use Gudbrandsdalen. So it's the same route.

One thing you could do, since you already have traveled north on the rail in Norway, is to head into Sweden on your way south. From Narvik is one of few places in Norway where the train crosses over Sweden, so maybe just go the fastest way trough Sweden and home? Sweden is flat and pine forest all the way - not much to look at from the train in general, but there are some beautiful places here and there.

Here is one important step in my opinion: Take the ferry from Bodø to Moskenes, not to Svolvær or Stamsund. See the time table here for the correct Ferry: http://ruteinfo.thn.no/no/default.aspx?rnr=86 (To = Til, From = Fra)

Lofoten is the kobe-steak of Norway, do it right. Start from the outside and travel inwards. From Å/Moskenes/Reine to Svolvær.

In Moskenes you can rent a car for a OK price: http://www.rentacar-moskenes.no/
Or you can take the bus: https://177nordland.no/a/bussrute-aa-leknes-svolvaer-narvik-linje-300-4133 (Download the first PDF, Vinter (Winter))

But trust me on this. If you were to invest money in something in this journey, it would be a rental car in Lofoten, to get to all those remote locations. Just trust me on that one! I see they have a service to pick it up in Leknes, ask if they can pick it up in Svolvær instead - I am sure they can be flexible, as it's off season. That means you get to see Henningsvær for example - stunning place!

When you get to Svolvær, and is ready to move on, and as I understand it, you want to start heading back home, you have some options.

• Hurtigruten to Bodø, train or plane from Bodø to Oslo
• Hurtigbåten to Bodø, train or plane from Bodø to Oslo
• Bus to Harstad/Evenes Lufthavn, plane to Oslo
• Bus to Narvik and train to Sweden, and south in Sweden and down into Europe

The train in Norway is scenic - and for the southbound journey you can also order sleeping wagons, since you saw everything going north. But the bus to Narvik means driving Lofast, a new and incredible scenic road that is the gate to Lofoten. I think you would love that as well. You just have to decide for yourself I think.

Trains in Norway are operated by www.nsb.no - they are changing name to Wy right now, so don't be alarmed if the name is different.

I don't know if you don't like flying, you are traveling green or what not. But in case there is an cost issue, I should really tip you that Norwegian airlines are having a sale right now. For example Rome-Bodø-Rome for about 300 euros a person. Just ordered a small travel myself today.

I hope I understood your questions correctly. Feel free to ask if there is anything else :)

PS! Remember this is above the arctic circle, and it's fall. Be sure to bring different clothes. The average temperature in September in Bodø is around 10C, but you can get days with up to 20C and nights down to 1C, or even snow in the mountains. (Because of there is no cold in the ground, it will melt quickly that time of year) And this is by the Norwegian Sea - windy conditions is normal. I would recommend long wool underwear and jacket/pants that is wind resistant, and perhaps also a bit water resistant. Being in Lofoten, walking along the shore with big waves and a bit of wind is just really nice, as you as you are not cold.

How much time do you have? It's roughly 3000 Miles (5000km) from coast to coast and you can do the trip in a week each way but see very little in depth. Natural lakes is not that helpful---there are lots of lakes all over the US, but a great many are a result of flood control dams--how particular are you. There also are the great lakes, which will vary in cleanliness and water temperature.

What is incredible to you? Big western landscapes like the Grand Canyon---unfortunately the classic southwestern parks don't have natural lakes around them. Do you want mountains? Some of the lower ones in the Appalachian chain are as rugged and dramatic in their own way as taller ones further West. During your time frame, you can experience outdoor music festivals (larger cities with a first rate orchestra like Chicago, Cleveland and Boston) have outdoor venues that present a wide range of music in the summer. There are state and county fairs which celebrate rural values and usually include food, amusement rides, animals, competitions, etc.---those should be easy to find and probably best done in the Great Lakes & Plains states.

Dow mean an RV or a camper van? Are you bringing camping equipment? A car and relatively inexpensive franchise hotels may turn out to be the cheapest option. RVs are impractical in cities and not fun if you're climbing up mountains (high center of gravity, much length). they also use enormous amounts of fuel and have mileage charges.they also annoy everyone else on the road esp. driving up or down terrain with large grade changes because other people cannot see around you. Campervans are more difficult to find and may be more practical, but frankly a sedan may work quite well.

July/August is peak tourist season--you will need to plan ahead for national park accommodation camping or otherwise. You may find that some places that are not on the tourist trail are booked out on weekends because of weddings.

You need to invest in a Rand McNally Road Atlas---old school yes, but more useful for trip planning than Goodgle maps (often misleading in terms of actual time form one place to another and awkward in giving you a useful big picture. Get the large one, not the tabloid size. look for where the national parks are. Don't ignore state parks either. Avoid the third string places that are marketed to foreigners because they aren't very interesting to us and only make sense if "you're in the neighborhood": Memphis, Texas Hill Country/Austin/San Antonio, Route 66. Every region is interesting in its own way, including the ones that don't market heavily--it depends on your interests and what you want to experience.