Anyone got any travel planned? 2018 version

[Freedom56]

Banff and Jasper in Calgary?

It's amazing how expensive hotels in Banff are.

I was pricing hotels in Banff a year or two ago. There were hotels wanting like $700 and they didn't even look that special.

It was the 150th anniversary so the national parks were free and the CAD exchange rate was low. So it seems the hotels raised their prices to match.

I just checked a couple of Road Scholar trips, one going through Banff and Jasper and another going through Switzerland.

Both were the same amount of days but the one in Canada was more expensive for the land portion.

I would never guess that the Canadian rockies are more popular than the Swiss Alps to command those kinds of hotel prices.

We travel to Switzerland every year and I can tell you that it is very expensive. My wife is Swiss. When we married in 1993 the exchange rate was 1.9 CHF to the dollar. Now you need 1.07 USD to buy 1 CHF. Dining out in Switzerland is no bargain and the food is not that great either. Cities such as Geveva and Montreux are expensive. You can't compare hotels in Canada with Swtzerland. Keep in mind minimum wage is about $25 USD per hour.

 

[NavAir]

Lots of small trips to the beach in FL and my FIL's in AZ. Big one is a train trip from Vancouver to Calgary this fall...

 

[explanade]

Oh I know Switzerland is expensive.

That's my point, Banff hotels are ridiculously overpriced.

 

[DrRoy]

Looking for suggestions on sleep aids. 14 hr flight from SFO to Sydney leaving at 11:10pm. Need to sleep on plane but I'm usually to excited to sleep / mind starts racing. Thought a pill might help

OTC - melatonin or benadryl. Some folks swear by a cocktail, that really isn't quality sleep for me.
Prescription - benzos such as zolpidem. A buddy swears by muscle relaxers like flexeril. They tend to leave me groggy.
Alternative - eat 50mg of an Indicia edible about an hour before bedtime.

For me, melatonin has only a very mild if any effect. Benadryl is not bad. Doxylamine succinate is more effective.

 

[audreyh1]

Oh I know Switzerland is expensive.

That's my point, Banff hotels are ridiculously overpriced.

At least the Canadian dollar is weaker now. The fancy hotel settings (like Lake Louise) are so spectacular, maybe just go for the best?

It’s so gorgeous there.

 

[Freedom56]

At least the Canadian dollar is weaker now. The fancy hotel settings (like Lake Louise) are so spectacular, maybe just go for the best?

It’s so gorgeous there.

It depends on the time of year also. Lake Louise hotel prices go up starting in June. Hotels like the Fairmont Chateau or Post Hotel charge premium prices if you don't have a corporate rate. This what we are dealing with in Alaska for our June trip. Not to mention hotels in Alaska are not that great. Certainly nothing like what you will find in Lake Louise. I have been using my former employers corporate rates to get discounts on rental cars and hotels whenever possible. I get a pension from them so my travel perks did not go away. As for Switzerland, we stay with my my in-laws. They expect us to visit at least once a year and sometimes more often. They have a large home and we have our own room and even leave our things there (clothes, bikes, car, skis, computers). We use Geneva Switzerland as hub for traveling to other places in Europe by plane or train. These days with Easyjet, we fly more than take the train.

 

[brokrken]

The DW and I are looking at a trip in July to the Baltics. We are looking at Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Helsinki. We only have 9 nights, so we won't do all of them, but some combination of 2 or 3 would work. Has anyone done a similar trip or can give input or suggestions on which of those cities you liked more and why?


Thanks for the help!

 

[Nemo2]

The DW and I are looking at a trip in July to the Baltics. We are looking at Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Helsinki.

We recently booked a repositioning cruise for April 2019 - Ft. Lauderdale - Copenhagen, so will also be interested in suggestions.

We'll likely fly directly from Copenhagen to Helsinki, then catch one of the ferries.

 

[folivier]

Nothing planned for this year, DMIL is keeping my wife busy caring for her and I have an ongoing medical issue. But we will get away to the mountains in the motorhome sometime during the summer.
But next year we'll spend about 6 months on our Alaska journey.

 

[bizlady]

Banff and Jasper in Calgary?

It's amazing how expensive hotels in Banff are.

I was pricing hotels in Banff a year or two ago. There were hotels wanting like $700 and they didn't even look that special.

It was the 150th anniversary so the national parks were free and the CAD exchange rate was low. So it seems the hotels raised their prices to match.

I just checked a couple of Road Scholar trips, one going through Banff and Jasper and another going through Switzerland.

Both were the same amount of days but the one in Canada was more expensive for the land portion.

I would never guess that the Canadian rockies are more popular than the Swiss Alps to command those kinds of hotel prices.

Absolutely Banff and Jasper. It's a 40th anniversary trip for us, so we did splurge on some nice places along the way when we booked our reservations.

And if anyone knows of a good Gondola ride near Lake Louise, we sure good use the suggestion!

 

[Meadbh]

Absolutely Banff and Jasper. It's a 40th anniversary trip for us, so we did splurge on some nice places along the way when we booked our reservations.

And if anyone knows of a good Gondola ride near Lake Louise, we sure good use the suggestion!

There is a gondola at Lake Louise, but I haven’t travelled on it.
Lake Louise Gondola - Home

I have gone on the gondola at Banff, which was excellent...
https://www.banffjaspercollection.com/attractions/banff-gondola/

and the Jasper Skytram...
Jasper SkyTram | The Best Views in Jasper, Alberta

and the Sea to Sky Gondola, which was my favourite.
https://www.seatoskygondola.com

As the operator said in Jasper, his job has a lot of ups and downs!

 

[Scuba]

We are going to Greece for over 6 weeks, and stopping for a few days in Amsterdam on our way home. Really looking forward to it. Greece is a tough trip to plan because it is so big and it is hard/time-consuming to get from place to place within Greece, but it’s coming together. Going from late Aug. to early Oct.

 

[Winemaker]

When DW and I rented a VRBO place in before ElectionDay 2016 in Destin FL. We really enjoy the area, and stayed a week. Temps in the 70-80's during the day, there were only 10 cars in 3 floor parking garage. Condo was about 20-30 stories high, we had beach, restaurants, shopping to ourselves. We had a great time, will go back again and again and again.....

 

[burtomm]

I am looking for advice on some good cities/attractions to visit that is within a 600-mile radius of Houston, Texas. We would like to go on a short driving trip. We enjoy historic sites and places with natural beauty. Any ideas?

 

[REWahoo]

How about the San Antonio Missions National Historical Park? A World Heritage site with 300+ years of history.

 

[audreyh1]

I am looking for advice on some good cities/attractions to visit that is within a 600-mile radius of Houston, Texas. We would like to go on a short driving trip. We enjoy historic sites and places with natural beauty. Any ideas?

The hill country - may be a bit early for the wildflower display. End of March, early April is better.

Is Big Bend National park outside 600 miles? Probably.

 

[braumeister]

600-mile radius … short driving trip

I like the way Texans think.

 

[REWahoo]

I like the way Texans think.

Born of necessity.

Postcard from the 1930's:

 

[Accidental Retiree]

Born of necessity.

Postcard from the 1930's:

Huh, I remember that trip.

 

[Accidental Retiree]

We’re currently in Springdale, Utah, fixin, to head into Zion NP in a bit.

The scenery here is way beyond my vocabulary.

 

[karen1972]

Just got back from Vegas who is going through a freeze. We spent some money on the buffets but else didn't spend a dime, went through a list of "free" things to do in Vegas. Some of them don't exist anymore like the lucky cat got moved to Hawaii, but in all we just enjoyed wandering the strip, it was the year of the dog and lots of great displays in the atriums.

I can say that all my walking/hiking led to a much better trip as we were able to put in over 8 miles the first day and still put in another 4 the second.. needed a little alleeve for the knee but not bad.

I think I still enjoy the Paris buffet the best, it was a great breakfast as I love crepes.

 

[MBAustin]

Working now on details for a 10-11 day trip to Yellowstone/Glacier in late June with the (20-something) kids. Will fly in/out of Bozeman. Have booked 2 nights of "glamping" near Yellowstone and 3 nights at Glacier Lodge. Want to spend one night in Idaho during the trip so I can cross that off my 50 states list along with Montana.

Suggestions for other sights and activities welcome!

 

[Teacher Terry]

The Grand Tetons is right next door to YS so don't miss them. While really beautiful the park is small so we only spent 2 days there. We spent 4 in YS and still missed a lot. Enjoy)

 

[audreyh1]

Sounds like they are going to be staying on the North side of Yellowstone, so it's a bit farther to get to Grand Teton NP.

Personally - Grand Teton NP is by far my favorite in that area.

 

[Teacher Terry]

Audrey, it really was stunning. We took a boat ride around the lake which was great. We missed Glacier on that trip not realizing how close we were. Plan to go back.