My Sister and Brother-in-Law spend 9 months a year in Europe.
He retired as a Naval Aviator then worked two more jobs before retiring for good. My Sister also always worked after their kids were grown.
They have a very good income but still try to live inexpensively.
This year they will spend 3 months in Belgrade then 6 in Hungary. In previous years they vacationed in most of the European countries such as France, Germany, etc. They now use the less expensive countries as a base and then do a lot of free traveling by train. They travel free because of their age.
They say the friendliest people in Europe are the Poles. The best food is in Serbia. The most beautiful country is Hungary.
Those places would work for me.
You can’t beat the prices in Poland, you can eat like a king there for little money.
Krakow is an awesome city, and it’s close to the Tatra Mountains.
I’m hoping to spend next year’s Christmas and New Year’s in Zakopane.
The country the attracts me is Slovenia. It is one of those countries that comes up in the articles as the best places to retire. If you get outside of the main city/capital it is inexpensive. Yet, it is sandwiched in between Italy, Austria, Croatia and Hungary. However, it is much cheaper. It is also part of the EU. So you can travel freely between other EU countries.
I looked up the price for a ski area on the Slovenia/Italy border in the Julian Alps. $29/day. Roughly 1/4 of the price here in the US.
Plus Melania Trump is from there. So, all the woman most look like models.