Anyone got any travel planned?

[Lsbcal]

Bestwifeever, I'll keep that in mind. We were in Paris in September and it was pretty warm. DW remembered the cold May UK trip and had not considered packing sandals. It was difficult finding a pair of suitable sandals as prices were very high and the sandals we saw were not sturdy ones with good arch support. So she suffered ... not in silence though.

One learns this stuff sometimes the hard way.

 

[audreyh1]

Sounds like you had basically good weather Audrey. I've learned to prepare for weather that is in the extremes of the ranges rather then expecting averages i.e. to pay attention to the highest highs and lowest daily high numbers. That was after a bad weather experience in the UK in May. The temperatures during the day were in the ranges but at the very low end. DW has a health issue that is aggravated by cold weather so that is why we are traveling in August-September.

Last trip I just took my running type shoes plus sandals. The objective is to just have the sandals to pack. Worked OK in Italy but in the north I'm not so sure. I'm trying to get some shoes that are very breathable but still have some reasonable water shedding ability. In California we don't have rain in the summer but in Europe it happens a lot. My latest try is a pair of REI light weather hikers (to arrive soon) like these: https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/prod...mentConfirmation_Sterling&RRID=1524129&ev11=1
I'll have time to try them out around here in similar expected weather conditions.

Netherlands are pretty comfortable in August - although they can have their heat waves too. But a lot of places we visit farther south then that are already hot in June and September. Next time we visit Spain it's going to be in May or October. And it was so hot in Provence even in late September.

 

[explanade]

Bestwifeever, I'll keep that in mind. We were in Paris in September and it was pretty warm. DW remembered the cold May UK trip and had not considered packing sandals. It was difficult finding a pair of suitable sandals as prices were very high and the sandals we saw were not sturdy ones with good arch support. So she suffered ... not in silence though.

One learns this stuff sometimes the hard way.

I used these site to get an idea of the weather at the destination:

whereandwhen.net
Best Time To Go - Find the best times to go to the most traveled places on earth!
holiday-weather.com

Got my fingers crossed on late August, early September for Salzburg, Innsbruck and the Tyrol region to the west.

 

[Lsbcal]

Esplanade, maybe that site is good for many places but I think one should take into account the worst case possibilities. I see that site posts average weather expectations. This site shows ranges and comfort factors, etc. for the example of York, UK : https://weatherspark.com/averages/28791/Linton-on-Ouse-England-United-Kingdom

Had we looked carefully at that we would have avoided the May 2013 weather there. But sometimes it's a tradeoff between crowds and weather. Depends on individual preferences, schedules, etc.

 

[check6]

In mid August we are going to the Netherlands (Haarlem and Amsterdam) for 12 days and then to Munich, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Vienna for another 15 days. That's 6 hotels in 27 days which seems like a decent pace for us.

We were ready to leave after spending an hour walking through Halstatt and an hour boat ride around the lake last Sept. Town was over run with tourist especially Japanese. Their past time is posing for pictures with their friends or walking around with their cameras on a stick to the detriment of other tourists. Drove us nuts especially on the boat. We have seen the same in other European towns.

If you are renting a car, you might consider St. Gilgen/St. Wolfgang which is about 20 miles east of Salzburg. Stay at Hotel Park Billroth and ask for a corner room which overlooks Lake Wolfgang.

 

[explanade]

I'm thinking Hallstatt too.

 

[jabbahop]

In Jan will be escaping vermont cold to go biking in a town near puerto Vallarta Mx called Bucerias. I've never been to that part of Mexico but more than ready for some sun, warmth and hopefully some nice cycling in the countryside.

 

[Breedlove]

At the end of April Amsterdam for kings Day , a standing Gig At Melo Mellow and Susie's . It is always so much fun seeing all of the U S musicians on the aircraft going for the celebration . We have friends who own a B&B on Niewendijk in Amsterdam so our stay works out to 65.00 EU a night . Not big , but safe and clean. Kind of funny on KLM if you are carrying your guitar on board you immediately go to the front of the line . They place your guitar in a special bulkhead. Then Key West at the end of October FF. Ready to go !

 

[Lsbcal]

...
If you are renting a car, you might consider St. Gilgen/St. Wolfgang which is about 20 miles east of Salzburg. Stay at Hotel Park Billroth and ask for a corner room which overlooks Lake Wolfgang.

That room you had looks great. We are not renting a car on this trip. Maybe next trip with more of a stay in Germany.

I've heard that Hallstatt is getting a bit over done. We are there for 2 nights only at Hotel Gruner Baum which is the priciest place on our trip. We can look out on the lake and we have a balcony. My thinking is on the full 2nd day to take a hike and so be out of town. The bus tourists should be gone later in the day.

 

[explanade]

How will you get out to Hallstatt without a car?

Tourist bus will have room for luggage?

 

[audreyh1]

We enjoyed our 3 nights in Hallstatt. By 5pm the tourists are mostly gone and it's nice. We really enjoyed one of the restaurants there. One day we did the mine tour with Bronze Age displays and enjoyed a boat ride on the lake. Plenty of time to explore the town. The next day we took a bus over to the neighboring town that had a gondola ride way up into the alps and enjoyed an ice cave tour plus hiking up near the peaks. It was a sunny clear day and we had great views from the top of the world. There were also some hikes on one side of town.

 

[Lsbcal]

How will you get out to Hallstatt without a car?

Tourist bus will have room for luggage?

Train + boat. See the Rick Steves Austria book for more detail.

 

[audreyh1]

How will you get out to Hallstatt without a car?

Tourist bus will have room for luggage?

Train and ferry combo - it was easy and very scenic.

 

[shortstop14]

Heading off to Berlin for Christmas, then Prague for New Years. Ten days each place, then going to London for three weeks. Stopping for a couple of weeks in Chicago on the way home to the Pacific Northwest.

Going from cold to colder, but that's part of the fun of winter travel. No driving on this trip, should all be walking and public transport.

 

[kitesurfer2]

trying to plan a trip to Mexico...

 

[braumeister]

Heading off to Berlin for Christmas, then Prague for New Years. Ten days each place, then going to London for three weeks. Stopping for a couple of weeks in Chicago on the way home to the Pacific Northwest.

Going from cold to colder, but that's part of the fun of winter travel. No driving on this trip, should all be walking and public transport.

Off-season travel in Europe has always been enjoyable for me (and certainly cheaper and less crowded). In fact, one of my most memorable trips was ten days in Iceland in January, a long time ago. It was a business trip, but I had a very good time.

 

[Sunset]

Going to FL for a week and then hop on a Western Caribbean Cruise for 7 days. Going to see some of the Mayan Ruins in Belize and (mexico ?) on excursions.
Will probably sign up for the Cruise ship tour, as I read trip advisor reports of people taking cheap shore tours, and when it worked it was great, but when it failed it was bad to horrible or didn't even get to go.

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

I usually take a ~6 week trip during April and May, the hottest time of the year in my part of Thailand. Next year will be 2 spring trips. First is 2 weeks in Australia in March, the beginning of the Fall in Sydney, Melbourne and nearby. Never been down under, this should be fun.

Second trip is 3 weeks in Portugal starting late April. Never been there either. From Portugal fly to Paris for a week, then home. I had 2 & 3 night layovers in Paris on my Oct trip to the US this year. Given the number of airlines serving Bangkok and Europe, I can easily imagine wanting to arrive or depart with a Paris layover for any trip to Europe.

 

[Nemo2]

Second trip is 3 weeks in Portugal starting late April.

Make sure to include Porto on your itinerary.

 

[ItDontMeanAThing]

Make sure to include Porto on your itinerary.

Wouldn't miss it.

 

[Bamaman]

Heading off to Berlin for Christmas, then Prague for New Years. Ten days each place, then going to London for three weeks. Stopping for a couple of weeks in Chicago on the way home to the Pacific Northwest.

Going from cold to colder, but that's part of the fun of winter travel. No driving on this trip, should all be walking and public transport.

My last 2 trips to Europe returned through Orlando. Sure beats Chicago in the winter.

 

[Bamaman]

In mid August we are going to the Netherlands (Haarlem and Amsterdam) for 12 days and then to Munich, Salzburg, Hallstatt and Vienna for another 15 days. That's 6 hotels in 27 days which seems like a decent pace for us.

We've not been to these countries before so this should be very entertaining and hopefully enlightening.

You've picked a very good itinerary. I assume you're flying Amsterdam-Munich?

I've been to Hallstadt 1x, but many times to the other cities. These are some of the great cities of the world.

I've got a great 79 Euro B&B in Vienna city center we first stayed in 18 years ago. PM me if interested.

 

[Nemo2]

Just got back from ten days in Kampala. Great weather and people. Long flights!

Just noticed your post, and it reminded me of a layover I had in Entebbe in 1969, (when the Wizard of Id(i) was in power); there was a large billboard to the effect that It is illegal to take photographs of planes of the Royal Ugandan Air Force, (or somesuch)..........I'm sure there were other, newer, aircraft, but the ones visible looked as if they belonged to (Peter Sellers') "The Duchy of Grand Fenwick".

I didn't take a pic.

 

[Nemo2]

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/very-small-networth-when-er-84557-6.html#post1815739
Figured this, #116, (and subsequent/related posts in this offshoot), are more apropos in the travel thread.

As a possible alternative to the Civitavecchia transatlantic, we're also looking at perhaps flying into Paris, taking the train to Bern, (although I have been through Switzerland many decades ago I've never been to Bern, and would appreciate feedback on whether it's worth a visit), and from Bern working our way to Barcelona to catch the Rhapsody of The Seas on November 05, 2017.

Everything, as is our modus operandi, is subject to change on a whim, or upon the discovery of new information.

 

[explanade]

Only did a day trip to Bern from Luzern on a drizzly day.

Pretty compact, scenic center.

Beyond that I remember some nice views from the train approaching it from the east.

I don't know what's around Bern but Luzern has some nice sights close by, like Pilatus.