Any Travel Plan for 2019?

[brett]

We were considering going to Israel after Oct. 24 holidays but our schedules are not good. So it will have to wait until next year, or perhaps in the Spring.

We will book our first two or three night lodging in Corfu and our night in a Gatwick hotel prior to flying back. Other than that we typically book everything on the fly two or three days in advance. If we firm up any air we will book a little more. If we decide to spend a few days in London we will Priceline bid those days or do Hotwire.

[grasshopper]

We are thinking of hiking the Italian Dolomites Sept 2020. Any experiences from others would be appreciated.

First thought for our next hike would have been Patagonia, but Ms G thinks she might be too cold.

[gayl]

I think I'm in my "go-go" years as I've already booked 6 trips over 365 days:
(Done) March - April: 3 days in Santiago then cruise to LA
July: Ft Lauderdale to Quebec cruise then train to Montreal for a few days
October: Cabo San Lucas Getaway
November: Melbourne to Auckland
March 2020: San Francisco to Vancouver rt

Planning on driving up the coast as I have to be 'home' sometimes for Koda. I'm planning on taking him on that car trip. He's already been on a car trip from SF to Boston so he 'should' be fine

[Teacher Terry]

G, is that a Maltese? We have 3 and they are all great travelers.

[Bamaman]

I have not even got our charge card statements in from our trip to Madrid-Granada-Barcelona and Paris with our 8 year old granddaughter. My wife's already planning taking her oldest daughter to London-Paris-Barcelona.
She has to make required distributions from her 401K, and her daughter's going to get the $ anyway. They may as well enjoy it together.

[ckelly78z]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bamaman . My wife's already planning taking her oldest daughter to London-Paris-Barcelona. She has to make required distributions from her 401K, and her daughter's going to get the $ anyway. They may as well enjoy it together.

That is the right attitude to have...my parents are 78, and I tell them all the time to enjoy their money, and don't leave me anything.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by audreyh1 Well, we did a big trip to southern Spain and Madrid (central) last year, and loved it. Both were great. In spite of it being a large city, I was very comfortable wandering around downtown Madrid, even at night, so we look forward to a return. Andalusia (southern Spain) was delightful. All public transportation (trains, buses, the occasional taxi). What did you want to know? This year we're renting a car for our week in Segovia, driving up from the Madrid airport. First time renting a car in Europe, but the route looks fairly straightforward highway driving, and we are staying in Paradores with ample parking. Normally we use public transportation, but the logistics for visiting Segovia and La Granja de San Idelfonso are too difficult for a multiple day trip like we plan.

Do the Paradores offer half-board options, like dinners?

I haven't looked at them much but I think many of them are located away from town centers, so to get dinner, you might have to drive.

They do look beautiful though seems expensive compared to comparable accommodations.

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by grasshopper We are thinking of hiking the Italian Dolomites Sept 2020. Any experiences from others would be appreciated. First thought for our next hike would have been Patagonia, but Ms G thinks she might be too cold.

I've been to Val Gardena once before, now going again in late August, a trip I just booked in the last couple of weeks.

Are you looking to do day hikes or multi-day hikes or trekking?

I'm not a big hiker myself but if you go in the summer and stay at one of the Val Gardena villages, you can be part of the Val Gardena Summer Active program, which has guided hikes and such.

They're either included with the hotels or there's a small supplement like no more than 50 Euro but a lot of them are free.

They have other activities like crafts and cooking classes as well. I think the guided hikes are mostly easy or medium difficulty and more for beginners who want to see scenery, not serious hikers who want to track and cover distance.

There are also refugios up in the mountains with rooms you can rent for the night, if you want to do a serious hike which takes several hours up and you want to sleep overnight before returning or continuing on elsewhere.

Also there is a Val Gardena Card in the summer, which gives you a week of bus travel and a pass for a couple of dozen cable cars for like 90 Euros for 7 days.

I think there's a 3-day option as well.

They have a number of 5-star hotels in the area with prices to match. It can be as expensive as Switzerland, maybe even moreso.

Area is also a big ski attraction too.

[audreyh1]

Quote:

Originally Posted by explanade Do the Paradores offer half-board options, like dinners? I haven't looked at them much but I think many of them are located away from town centers, so to get dinner, you might have to drive. They do look beautiful though seems expensive compared to comparable accommodations.

I believe they do offer half board. We tend to stick to the breakfast only included. The food is usually very good at the Parador. We've definitely enjoyed an occasional lunch there. And wouldn't mind dinner or tapas if we didn't want to go out - if we have a big lunch we usually don't want much dinner or have collected some goodies to snack on.

Yes, Paradores are more expensive. The older buildings have a nice ambiance. DH absolutely loves staying at them so we're happy to shell out the bucks. And even go for upgraded rooms. It's the experience for us.

It depends on the destination for Parador location. While it's true that some Paradores are a bit out of town, others are at the heart of town or close. Last year the two we stayed in were either at the heart of the town in a palace, or at the edge of town at the beach, and within easy walking distance of town. The Parador at Toledo (we didn't stay there) was across the river from the city at a nice view spot. A nice location away from the crazy bustle of central Toledo, but you'd probably want a car. However, buses did pass by, so you didn't really have to drive into the city center. The heart of Toledo is medieval jumble nuts - up and down steep cobblestone narrow roads - not for driving!

This time we are getting a rental car, even though one of the two Paradores we are visiting is downtown. It's mainly because getting from Madrid airport (or downtown Madrid) involves a commuter train from the airport (or downtown) to Charmartin station, then a high speed train to the Segovia AVE which is well out of town, then a bus or taxi to downtown. Then reverse. Maybe OK for a long day trip, but a hassle if you are traveling with all your luggage. Plus we have to transfer to a nearby town for the second Parador anyway - and bus or taxi is the only public option.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montecfo Heading to Curacao and Bonaire Tuesday for a 2-week trip. Just got back from Isla Mujeres 2 weeks ago. More time to travel now that I an retired (for 4 weeks)!

Would love to hear thoughts on Curacao and Bonaire after you’re back. We’re spending 3 months in the ABC Islands this winter.

[Scuba]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett Air fares are low. Finally booked six weeks Sept/Oct in Europe. Fly into Athens and back from London. Very loose schedule other than the hard air travel dates. Preceded by a week in the Toronto area. Start in Corfu and the Ionian Islands, then over to Athens and more islands, to Crete. Then either two weeks or so in Cyprus or we will fly to Morocco for two weeks if we want a change of scenery. Maybe pick up a last minute cruise. We are very pragmatic....we fill in the blanks later. Decided to pass on Israel this year since it is not high on out bucket lists.

If you haven’t been to Naxos or Milos, we loved them both. September is the perfect time for the Cyclades. Enjoy your trip!

[brett]

We visited Naxos last time. Love it. Will look into Milos. Thanks. Just starting to work out a very rough travel plan and to integrate it with the common ferry routes.

[brett]

Has anyone spent time in the Meteora/Ioannini areas of Greece?

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett Has anyone spent time in the Meteora/Ioannini areas of Greece?

Was in Meteora on an R&R with my late wife in the mid 1980s......(met a blind monk who received his medications from the Greek community on the Danforth).....

Here's a pic of her parents taking the cable car, (which appeared to be made from an old safe), from one of the monasteries....we walked down.

[NW-Bound]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nemo2 ... Here's a pic of her parents taking the cable car, (which appeared to be made from an old safe), from one of the monasteries....we walked down.

They did not have anything heavier to use?

[Nemo2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by NW-Bound They did not have anything heavier to use?

Heavy, and cramped.....they weren't very tall people.

Here she is helping them out of it:

[fosterscik]

Quote:

Originally Posted by brett Has anyone spent time in the Meteora/Ioannini areas of Greece?

We were in Meteora this year in mid March for two days/three nights and really enjoyed our visit. We rented a car to leave Athens and drove there (stopping for 1 night on the way to see Delphi). We stayed at the Dellas Boutique Hotel, Kalambaka. Pretty inexpensive with a great breakfast.

We took two of the hikes up to the Monasteries - very nice but not very strenuous. We also hiked from the "top" to the hidden monastery along some vertigo inducing cliff edges. The restaurant food was less inspiring. We didn't discover any great food (perhaps we made bad choices?) and were pretty much limited to the usual barbecue fare at local tavernas.

I strongly recommend the area, it's much less touristy than many other parts of Greece.

[euro]

3 week road trip on the West Coast of England and Scotland in September. Can't wait - a little leery of driving on the "wrong" side of the road, but hope I'll manage....

[explanade]

Quote:

Originally Posted by euro 3 week road trip on the West Coast of England and Scotland in September. Can't wait - a little leery of driving on the "wrong" side of the road, but hope I'll manage....

Why the west coast instead of the east coast?

Is it suppose to be more scenic?

[Tiger8693]

Heading to Key West July 11th for a week. Man, it's going to be hot! I think most of the day time will be spent in Sloppy Joes, night time.... maybe sleeping.

Later in the year, going to NYC over Thanksgiving with niece and her SO. She graduated NYU Dental and goes back every chance she gets.