Anyone got any travel planned? 2018 version

[gayl]

Just got back from Australia & booked Singapore for November.

Waiting to hear Nemo's update on Budapest to Bucharest as I'm planning on doing that sometime this summer

 

[Cayman]

Planning stages for Asia, although the State Dept. warning for China has me a bit concerned. Will research and decide whether to visit PRC.

 

[Nemo2]

Waiting to hear Nemo's update on Budapest to Bucharest as I'm planning on doing that sometime this summer

Was in Budapest in 2014, won't be there this trip - leaving Toronto April 13, and will land in Bucharest on April 28, (Pullmantur repositioning cruise, and flight Lisbon-Bucharest in between)......

Most of our time in Romania will be spent in Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu and Timisoara, (plus side/day trips were applicable).

There are bound to be gut wrenchingly boring pics posted after the fact.

 

[Sunset]

Was in Budapest in 2014, won't be there this trip - leaving Toronto April 13, and will land in Bucharest on April 28, (Pullmantur repositioning cruise, and flight Lisbon-Bucharest in between)......

Most of our time in Romania will be spent in Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu and Timisoara, (plus side/day trips were applicable).

There are bound to be gut wrenchingly boring pics posted after the fact.

Great !! It will dispel the rumor that you simply watch Rick Steve's shows

 

[Nemo2]

Great !! It will dispel the rumor that you simply watch Rick Steve's shows

Now this is something that holds DW & me in constant amazement, (we borrowed a couple of his vids from the library)......this guy has built a freakin' empire by telling people where to eat in a myriad of cities, and people follow him around as if he's Forrest Gump!

 

[brett]

China, mid May. Booked it on a whim. 8 day quickie. Last time we were in China was 1983/4 so we are looking forward to seeing the incredible change.

 

[kcowan]

Flying to El Fuerte to begin a 5 day train trip through the Copper Canyon on March 5. Looking forward to enjoying this historic part of Mexico.

We just returned from the 6 day trip to The Copper Canyon. Departing from Las Mochis in Sinaloa, our first stop was El Fuerte. Definitely a desirable location, we stayed at the Pasada de Hidalgo, an amazing old Mexican hacienda.

Then we took the train up the canyon, staying at Hotel Mirador on the crest of the canyon, then proceeding on to The Mission and finally Creel. We saw the convergence of three canyons, one of which was 1.9 km deep. Many outlooks protruded out over the canyon, including one which featured a plexiglass floor. The others just had iron mesh.

We went with Superior Tours and would recommend this trip to anyone. Six days was only marginally enough as we could have spent 5 days in El Fuerte. An added benefit is that there is effectively no internet service and only occasional cell phone service so it is truly a vacation from regular life.

It is an easy trip from Mazatlan (5 hour drive) but 14 hours from PV. We flew AeroMexico through DF.
Picture of many overlook viewpoints

 

[audreyh1]

Now this is something that holds DW & me in constant amazement, (we borrowed a couple of his vids from the library)......this guy has built a freakin' empire by telling people where to eat in a myriad of cities, and people follow him around as if he's Forrest Gump!

It's totally understandable. He makes European travel accessible to most folks. This stuff is hard to figure this stuff out if you are a newbie.

Even I, experienced European traveler that I now am, reference his books and watch old videos to make sure I don't miss what would be important highlights to me. And his books save hours of online research.

I do a lot of online research anyway, but his stuff helps me cut through to the essentials quickly, figure out pretty quickly how long I need for visiting a location (I usually add a day or two) and I can usually find out quickly whether something is possible, or whether there is something I won't want to miss when I visit a certain location. And how doable day trips are from a given city. So I can do an initial sketch of a possible itinerary before delving into more detailed research.

When I visit places that he doesn't include, I'm usually doing quite a bit more work/research.

BTW - I don't usually stay at his recommended hotels or eat at his recommended restaurants - our tastes are a bit different.

But I do use his city walks often, and his information about highlights, as well as general transportation info, tourist office info, what is open when, possible day trips, etc. He even provides his own written tours for some buildings, and that can come in quite handy.

 

[brett]

We do review Rick Steves books. But the very last place we would choose to eat is in a restaurant recommended by him/

Why? Because it will inevitably be filled with NA tourists, books in hand and it will be crowded. We ask a local, go to a local restaurant. If we see a multilingual menu on the door we keep walking. If we walk in and all we hear is english, we go elsewhere.

Our general rule of thumb is at least two blocks off a main road or 3 blocks away from a tourist area. Preferably smaller, filled with locals.

What amazes us about places like Venice is that some people will travel thousands of miles just to go into a place like Harry's bar so they can see lots of expats, and pay $18-20USD for a cocktail that they probably would not order at home. Go figure.

 

[audreyh1]

We do review Rick Steves books. But the very last place we would choose to eat is in a restaurant recommended by him/

Why? Because it will inevitably be filled with NA tourists, books in hand and it will be crowded. We ask a local, go to a local restaurant. If we see a multilingual menu on the door we keep walking. If we walk in and all we hear is english, we go elsewhere.

Our general rule of thumb is at least two blocks off a main road or 3 blocks away from a tourist area. Preferably smaller, filled with locals.

What amazes us about places like Venice is that some people will travel thousands of miles just to go into a place like Harry's bar so they can see lots of expats, and pay $18-20USD for a cocktail that they probably would not order at home. Go figure.

Either I or DH (who thankfully is willing to do restaurant reviews) will usually pick places to eat. They rarely coincide with Rick Steves’ recommendations and often it’s because we aren’t staying in the same part of the city. We sometimes get recommendations from the hotel, but usually it’s based on reading online.

Heck, I avoid the large US chains when I am in the US! A big advantage of visiting Europe for us is that the local cuisine is usually excellent, so we really enjoy eating local. And if we need a break for some reason, we seek out non-local ethnic rather than US.

We tend to figure out what the local specialties are and then where are the best places to try them. That guides us more than anything.

Unfortunately this reminds me of visiting Carcassone at a nice restaurant known for the regional specialty cassoulet which I was eager to try, having made it at home a few times (with premade duck confit). It was even recommended by our small hotel and had great reviews. But it wasn’t nearly a good as my own! Dry and not as flavorful.

But usually we have a great dining experience. Often unexpected, lots of surprises, but end up totally enjoying the meal and restaurant.

My mouth still waters when I think of Vinitus in Barcelona! We ate there twice and I was regretting not going a third time before we left!

 

[Nemo2]

I'm typing this kinda on the fly, so (I guess like pretty much all my posts), the t's haven't been dotted, nor the i's crossed.

I, and now 'we', are somewhat less concerned about visiting the so called 'must see' list items, and more interested in getting a 'feel' for the cities we visit.

Serendipity vs Itinerary, I guess....I've always been more of an "I wonder what's over there" person, than a "The next item on our agenda is..."

Not to say that we don't 'see the sights', just that we want to experience more than the 'sights'.

I have mentioned public transport from time to time, and recall, (Sofia being the latest example), being on a crowded bus and conversing with perhaps one or two people who speak some English, (or who speak it well), while others who don't speak it at all are chiming in with tips/suggestions using the English speakers as interpreters.

For us, we then come away with a feeling of having been a small (even minute) part of a city, rather than just 'unconnected observers'.

Ah..it's probably all in my head.

(And, of course, the fact that food/restaurants don't even appear on our radar puts us in a whole 'nother category.)

 

[gayl]

I don't mind getting lost or spending a few hours playing whatever with locals in the park, but then I don't have timelines

And I'm not a museum person

 

[sengsational]

Most of our time in Romania will be spent in Brasov, Sighisoara, Sibiu and Timisoara, (plus side/day trips were applicable)

I'm toying with the idea of doing a cross-country adventure from Sighetu Marmatiei to Vama Veche in July. Definitely a "what's over there" kind of trip vs having any plans beyond where we start and end.

 

[Nemo2]

I'm toying with the idea of doing a cross-country adventure from Sighetu Marmatiei to Vama Veche in July. Definitely a "what's over there" kind of trip vs having any plans beyond where we start and end.

We'd better get our trip over before it gets too busy ......If you need any tips/hints, we've found Kami's blog to be helpful......you have to 'join' to post (I believe) but it's no biggee:

https://www.mywanderlust.pl/

 

[gayl]

So my basic plan is: fly to Budapest (week lodging) train to Bucharest stopping along way maybe (no planned lodging) fly back to Budapest & back to SFO.

 

[Nemo2]

So my basic plan is: fly to Budapest (week lodging) train to Bucharest stopping along way maybe (no planned lodging) fly back to Budapest & back to SFO.

From what we've heard, (and it's only what we've heard because we haven't yet been there), Bucharest isn't as interesting as some of the smaller Romanian towns/cities, (which is why we're ending up there for just a couple days before we fly to Munich).

May I suggest, as I did above, that you join Kami's blog, (DW has a Facebook page that she uses for to & fros...there's quite a bit of activity).......Kami and other blog members mainly focus on that region, and are more than willing to share information and provide tips.

 

[gayl]

Thank you for the link .... I'm ending there for an easy flight back to Budapest to get back to SFO. But her blog has me wanting to go to the Ukraine. So I might try to figure out how to Loop that in. Not sure if I should fly from Bucharest over, or if I should continue on the train. The good thing about having it all loosley planned is that I can change it on a whim. The only thing I have to do is wind up back in Budapest for the flight back to the States

 

[gayl]

My grandparents are from Kiev .... hence the reason to go there

 

[Nemo2]

But her blog has me wanting to go to the Ukraine.

There are a number of places we've added to the 'list' thanks to suggestions found there....guess I'll have to plan on living longer!

 

[brett]

Nemo...don't know if you have heard but Norweigan Air is apparently commencing service to Canada. Should give AC, Westjet a poke where it is needed!

 

[Nemo2]

Nemo...don't know if you have heard but Norweigan Air is apparently commencing service to Canada. Should give AC, Westjet a poke where it is needed!

Great......we flew them Bergen to Krakow last year...very pleased with them.

 

[gayl]

Does anyone know if train #15 still goes from Lyiv to Budapest?

 

[sengsational]

You got me curious, so I looked it up.

To travel from Ukraine to Hungary by train, buy your ticket at a train station. There are no online tickets available. However it is possible to buy first an online ticket from Ukraine to the border station of Chop , online via one of the booking links. Then buy a second ticket from Chop (Ukraine) to Zahony (Hungary) across the border locally at the station. There are several daily trains crossing the border between Chop and Zahony. One of these conveys the sleeping cars from Kyiv and Lviv to Budapest.

 

[jonat]

I already have my 2019 travel partially booked - a Rhine and Moselle river cruise (Tauck), a week in a Paris apartment and some sort of private tour of wine regions of France. The cruise replaces one DW and I had booked last year (Uniworld) that was cancelled at the last minute. In 2018 we're doing Italy (Overseas Adventure Travel) and Portugal/Spain (Variety, plus a week in Granada.)

 

[ChiliPepr]

I just had a quick weekend to Dublin Ireland to watch Ireland v Scotland in a rugby 6 nations match. Great weekend and better Guinness!