Travel Plan 2023

[lajolla]

I’m so jealous! We haven’t skied since COVID hit in early ‘20. Shutdowns and ortho injuries have derailed us and this is the best snow year in a LONG time. Enjoy!

Fall is our favorite time for Yosemite, too. We found an outstanding VRBO rental inside the park for our last trip. This was the view from the deck - sunrise and full moon rise directly behind Half Dome.

This is our 4th year doing a 2 plus week ski road trip. We have the Ikon Pass so we have been hitting resorts all over the west to try them out. We were in West Yellowstone Montana in March of 2020 just before Covid shut everything down.

We also love Yosemite in the fall and haven't been since 2019.

 

[Chuckanut]

With the exception of 2 covid years, we have left for 9-10 weeks every winter since retiring.

We shut off the water, drain the toilets, turn the water heater down. We shut the water off even if we are only gone for a few days.

We have a neighbor or a friend check on the house every few days.

+1

I drain turn off the water, flush the toilets, turn off the water heater and then drain the pipes whenever I leave the house for more than a few days. Water is a major cause of expensive damage to homes. Even in the summer, when frozen pipes are not possible, I turn off the water and drain the pipes. If my few plants die, they die.

 

[Sunset]

We do shut off the water when we go on trips.

I once had a neighbor who had his BIL check on his house every couple of days in Winter. When they got back they found the pipes had frozen, because his BIL had come in with his Winter jacket on, stood in the hallway, saw everything was fine and left.
He couldn't feel the cold because he didn't take off his jacket

 

[NoEZmoney]

European Vacay -- Forget the Drive, Take the Trains

I didn't read through all the posts as I'm late for a shopping appt with DW (ugh!) Anyways... we have been to Europe quite a bit (although not in the last 2 yrs Thanks Covid!) so we can appreciate the not wanting to drive as it can get tiring. We've done the RyanAir / EasyJect / etc cheap fares but airport to and from with transfers, delays, security, cancellations--- again--- lots of down time and hassle.

But we love trains and for the most part they are quite affordable, comfortable, and quick. You avoid the to / from airport hassle and in most cases you depart from a city center and arrive at a city center which is where we want to be most of the time. Many countries have added high-speed trains to the schedule and there's even been a resurgence in "overnight trains" to reduce carbon footprint of airlines. EU travel association has been reducing the number of jet slots to areas that are served by high-speed trains to reach greenhouse gas / carbon goals by 2025.

France you have TGV / SCNF. Italy has TrenItalia and Italo (private which although a tad pricier is aimed at more American tastes for quality and service.) There are trains from Czech Republic that are super affordable and have high quality. And there's Renfe in Spain and Comboios de Portugal for Portugal. When planning a trip.. just pull up train co's websites and see the routes for service.

https://www.rome2rio.com/ is a great search app that gives you comparisons between driving, bus, trains, planes and combinations thereof.

BIG TIP: Most if not all train services offer discounts for Seniors so be sure to enter your age status when searching fares. You might consider discount passes but plan carefully as it can be better to just buy tickets individually (and in advance) to save $$$ (Euros).

Good luck.

This guy has a great website -- I highly recommend it:

https://www.seat61.com/

 

[explanade]

I've ridden a lot of trains in Europe.

I've also rented cars a lot there as well.

There are some routes where a TGV will get you somewhere faster than if you drove, without any changes, which are a hassle to deal with if you're toting luggage.

But those are rare. You will almost always save time driving, not to mention not being bound to train schedules.

I've done 4-5 hour train rides. I certainly wouldn't want to do a drive that long. But after covid, I'm more leery about long train rides.

I will use trains right after I land in Europe. For instance, fly into Madrid and take the HSR to Seville, because flights to Seville from the US involve more connections and longer trip times.

Also you shouldn't drive after a long overseas flight.

 

[NW-Bound]

We rode a lot of trains to go between major cities. It can be as fast as air travel even for distances up to 300-400 miles because you don't have to travel to/from the airports to the city centers.

I am checking out transportation between Malmo/Stockholm/Oslo, and a train ride between train central stations is 4-1/2 hr, compared to flight time of 1-1/4 hr. But by the time you add travel to/from airports, plus time waiting to board/disembark and security checks, a train ride wins big.

When still working, 20 years ago we have traveled by overnight train to save time. We have not done night train in a long time.

 

[explanade]

Weird, I was checking Stockholm to Copenhagen train, just to ride across that bridge.

But apparently you don't see much of the bridge from the train.

Was also checking Stockholm to Helsinki. It's like 16-17 hours vs. a 1-hour flight.

I don't know if there are great views or not on that ferry but there must be better things to do on land with the 15 hours difference.

 

[NoEZmoney]

I do agree with you regarding driving vs train and new Covid subvariants are a consideration. Fortunately we keep our vaccinations up-to-date and are careful (even pre covid). Fellow plane passengers would look at us funny pre-Covid when we'd wipe down our seat-backs, trays, seatbelt buckles and arm rests. Had one passenger say "Isn't that a bit extreme?" And I told her that when I worked with epidemiologists, I'd see how swabs taken from public door handles would grow all sorts of nasties in Petri dishes, so for us the effort was worth it. Not going to let some dried nasal residue ruin our vacay. The guy with his kids next to us asked if he could have some wipes from us.

Back to the auto vs train point -- I hated parking. All the places we drove to were parking hassles, even the hotels and B&B's that boasted "car-park or garage nearby". In Perpignan, FR -- the "garage" was an ancient stone barn that was crammed full of small cars. DW had to exit car before I drove in and I retracted passenger-side rearview so I could park. A squeeze for me getting in and out. In Caen, FR the parking garage was a tight-as-heck labyrinth just jammed to the gills with cars. And the car-parks would be a considerable walk back to hotel or B&B. Remember the quaint villages and hilltop towns just have lousy parking in most cases, especially in high season.

Cars are necessary in some areas if you plan lots of excursions but for us it's a mixed-bag of Train-Plane, and automobiles. Your experiences will vary.

I have to chuckle when I see someone wanting to move to Europe and inquire about bringing their XLT Ford Pickup or Ford Excursion, mega-SUV, etc. Me and several others advise them to reconsider and if having a huuge vehicle is a must for their enjoyment of Europe that maybe they should reflect on what it is about Europe they really hope to experience? If they complain about fuel prices in USA, AND after EU conversion and import costs -- they'll stroke out in EU. LoL!

Good Luck

 

[explanade]

Yes that's true about parking.

Many of these destinations are medieval cities, not designed for cars. Plus densely-crowded cities which attract a lot of tourists aren't going to have enough parking. Or only have expensive parking, which would be true in large American cities as well.

It does affect the places where you can stay. I filter for parking when I search on booking.com or Airbnb or other sites, which could mean they have private parking or they are near garages where yo pay or they would have you park at night on the streets when some cities won't meter.

I used to often go mainly to bigger cities, where public transportation is great and you wouldn't want a car, you could walk or take the subway/bus everywhere for all the destinations.

But then you go to smaller towns and see the beauty of the countryside and cars become more useful, even though these villages have even less ability to accommodate cars.

Some of them, you have to park outside medieval walls and hike to your lodging which are like a mile away from parking. A good example is Siena, which has strict ZTL or bans against non-resident cars in the center. But you want cars to drive to nearby towns in the Val d'Orcia or Chianti, because these are very scenic areas.

There are buses but they limit how much places you could hit in a given amount of time.

I agree with you that larger vehicles like SUVs are poorly suited for some very narrow roads you encounter.

But they are becoming popular over there, or at least the CUVs or compact crossover utility vehicles.

Lot of parking spaces not only are narrow but they have height limits, like 1.90 meters.

 

[tulak]

Weird, I was checking Stockholm to Copenhagen train, just to ride across that bridge.

But apparently you don't see much of the bridge from the train.

Was also checking Stockholm to Helsinki. It's like 16-17 hours vs. a 1-hour flight.

I don't know if there are great views or not on that ferry but there must be better things to do on land with the 15 hours difference.

Last year I flew from Helsinki to Copenhagen. It was about an hour flight. I wanted to go overland, but with a ferry between Finland and Sweden and the distance from Stockholm to Copenhagen, it didn't make sense.

Btw, for those that might be interested, Rick Steves has been holding a virtual Festival of Europe 2023, focusing on various countries in Europe. It started last week and goes on through the end of the month. I completely forgot about it and will probably join a session or two to see what's discussed.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/festival-of-europe

 

[imnontrad]

Two weeks ago, I paid for back to back ocean cruises going to Bermuda, several Caribbean islands, Panama and return ~25 days for $2,500. Right after that, I fly to San Antonio for an international walking event (Volksmarch/IML)
Then staying put until May when I may travel back to Ohio and then come back home hitting many other states to/from.
In July, I am hoping to head to The Netherlands for another walking event, then bum around eastern Europe or else may do a walking adventure in Mont Blanc. Then I head to Africa for a group Kenya Tanzania trip in August.
I have a meeting in Texas in October and then another walk in Virginia the following week. So I may turn this into another road trip and go up through Maine and then back home via Canada.
I was hoping to also go on a group trip to Argentina and Easter Island in November but I am on the waitlist. Maybe Peru instead.

 

[NW-Bound]

A nice thing about driving the backroads of Europe is that I get to see and visit small towns and villages that I find charming. It takes time, hence I have to go for at least 1 month to make it worthwhile.

I contemplated driving the length of Norway from Oslo along the coast up to Skarsvag, but it would take more time than I have for the upcoming trip. I guess I will have to take a fjord cruise instead.

The driving distance of Oslo/Skarsvag (2,600 miles roundtrip) is still short compared to my US RV trips to Cape Breton and Fairbanks (10,000 miles each). So, I may come back to Norway on a future trip to do it (will have to talk my wife into coming along).

When I was in the Dolomites, over dinner talked to two Irish guys who stayed at the same hotel. When learning that I drove over from Lyon, they shook their heads and said most Europeans would not drive that far. But I guess they don't find European villages that exotic to bother.

 

[explanade]

I've seen some amazing roads in the fjords.

The one time I went, I didn't drive but you could see the possibilities, winding roads climbing up and down the fjords.

That's assuming you have good clear weather of course.


Suppose to rain the least, on average, in June. I went in May and it didn't rain a lot but the skies were never crystal clear, just hazy at best.

But with the prices in Norway, I shudder to think what parking would be like.

 

[braumeister]

I contemplated driving the length of Norway from Oslo along the coast up to Skarsvag, but it would take more time than I have for the upcoming trip. I guess I will have to take a fjord cruise instead.

That would be a killer of a trip, and I would not even contemplate it.

Take the Hurtigruten coastal ship instead; you'll love it.

We used that from Bergen to Kirkenes, then flew back to Oslo. Next time I would really like to do the round trip, because they stop at different ports on the northbound and southbound legs.

 

[Chuckanut]

Btw, for those that might be interested, Rick Steves has been holding a virtual Festival of Europe 2023, focusing on various countries in Europe. It started last week and goes on through the end of the month. I completely forgot about it and will probably join a session or two to see what's discussed.

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/festival-of-europe

I noticed that on Jan 16 he is doing his yearly historical tour of how his business started and eventually how it became what it is today. Europe Through the Gutter is what he calls it. While some of the stories are probably embellished, it's quite interesting and will offer a number of good laughs.

His stories about his tour member's [-]sleeping[/-] night in the Munich beer festival tent, the advantages of driving around in a VW van full of mostly young women (local guys were always very happy to help out when he had a car problem), and how the established Big Name tour companies taught him what NOT to do are all great.

 

[explanade]

He also canceled all his 2020 tours and then refunded all the money that people had deposited and he paid all his employees, no layoffs.

This was at a time when many airlines and cruise companies were slow-rolling the refunds or only giving credits.

 

[Chuckanut]

He also canceled all his 2020 tours and then refunded all the money that people had deposited and he paid all his employees, no layoffs.

This was at a time when many airlines and cruise companies were slow-rolling the refunds or only giving credits.

Very true. I was one of them. No hassles. No pressure to take a voucher. Just my money back on a timely basis.

He bought an apartment building years ago as an investment, and then let a group offering shelter for battered women use it for 10 years. IIRC, at the end of the 10 years he gave them the building.

 

[NW-Bound]

That would be a killer of a trip, and I would not even contemplate it.

Take the Hurtigruten coastal ship instead; you'll love it.

We used that from Bergen to Kirkenes, then flew back to Oslo. Next time I would really like to do the round trip, because they stop at different ports on the northbound and southbound legs.

A few spot checks on Google Street View show that the roads are quite good, compared to the Alaskan roads I drove on.

But I think I will take a fjord cruise first. The view from the water is probably nicer than standing on the rim looking down.

Will see after the cruise if I still want to drive in a future trip.

 

[explanade]

We flew from Oslo to Bergen and then booked some day trips, self-guided trips that included train and ferry rides up to nearby fjords.

Then flew on to Alesund and did another day trip, going to Geiranger. Mostly traveled by coach, then got on one ferry (the whole bus did) and then took a boat to Geiranger. But for the return trip the coach took us and went on a winding road up.

It stopped at the top for a second, at the Ørnesvingen Utkikkspunkt (viewpoint):

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Ø...80f4e4ef733a1e0d!8m2!3d62.1262992!4d7.1668859

It was definitely a different view than the water. The cruise was nice but you could see the fjord in both directions, only it was the afternoon so you had to look towards the sun in one of the directions.

I think from Geiranger itself you can pay to go on a touristic train which will go up to the same viewpoint or some other high vantage point over the water.

 

[bmcgonig]

We rode a lot of trains to go between major cities. It can be as fast as air travel even for distances up to 300-400 miles because you don't have to travel to/from the airports to the city centers.

I am checking out transportation between Malmo/Stockholm/Oslo, and a train ride between train central stations is 4-1/2 hr, compared to flight time of 1-1/4 hr. But by the time you add travel to/from airports, plus time waiting to board/disembark and security checks, a train ride wins big.

When still working, 20 years ago we have traveled by overnight train to save time. We have not done night train in a long time.

Plus for me there’s something joyous and childlike about traveling on European trains. It’s actually quite relaxing whereas flying is always stressful.

 

[1242Vintage]

Heading to Cancun with brother and SIL in a couple weeks. Cancun is our easy getaway when we want to get out of town and check out for a week or so.

Have reservations for a trip to Dominican Republic later this Spring.

My biggest travel is to Cleveland Ohio to pack up and move daughter to Boston. That’s coming up next month. Not a good time of year to road-trip in a truck full of her worldly possessions.

And have a bunch of bike races later this year. Those are long weekend Road-trips to Utah, Idaho, Oregon, San Diego. If my training and conditioning hold out, maybe a 10 day trip this Summer to British Columbia for a weeklong stage race.

 

[Bamaman]

We've been on three Repositioning Cruises--two of which were to Europe. By all means take one if you (1) need to rest and (2) have the time. They're also fantastic bargains in travel.

One of those was on Holland America where the average passenger was about 85 years old. We prefer other cruise brands.

I've been traveling to Europe for 52 years and we go once or twice a year. We prefer either the cruises of Eastern Mediterranean or The Baltics and Scandanavia. Mixing a cruise with a week or two of ground travel on front end or back end works very well.

We flew to London in June and spent a long weekend. Then we flew to Athens and got on a RCCL cruise around the Greek Isles, stopping at Montenegro and Croatia--ending in Italy.

My college roommate got on a cruise around the world this week on an ultra luxurious ship. Cost? I think it was around $88K per person for 5 months. Ouch!

 

[explanade]

Wow 5 months at sea?

And to pay to be out there?

 

[foxcreek9]

A nice thing about driving the backroads of Europe is that I get to see and visit small towns and villages that I find charming. It takes time, hence I have to go for at least 1 month to make it worthwhile.

I contemplated driving the length of Norway from Oslo along the coast up to Skarsvag, but it would take more time than I have for the upcoming trip. I guess I will have to take a fjord cruise instead.

The driving distance of Oslo/Skarsvag (2,600 miles roundtrip) is still short compared to my US RV trips to Cape Breton and Fairbanks (10,000 miles each). So, I may come back to Norway on a future trip to do it (will have to talk my wife into coming along).

When I was in the Dolomites, over dinner talked to two Irish guys who stayed at the same hotel. When learning that I drove over from Lyon, they shook their heads and said most Europeans would not drive that far. But I guess they don't find European villages that exotic to bother.

Last summer we flew to Bergen and drove to Stavanger, Lysbotn, Rjukan, Fon, ending in Oslo, then flew home. I met my GGF’s youngest sister’s granddaughters I found through Ancestry. The roads were great when compared to here but my Norwegian cousins said the locals are constantly complaining about he roads. A lot of the mountain roads are about 1 1/2 cars wide and a little nerve wracking at times.

We drove up and down this beauty too

 

[explanade]

Last summer we flew to Bergen and drove to Stavanger, Lysbotn, Rjukan, Fon, ending in Oslo, then flew home. I met my GGF’s youngest sister’s granddaughters I found through Ancestry. The roads were great when compared to here but my Norwegian cousins said the locals are constantly complaining about he roads. A lot of the mountain roads are about 1 1/2 cars wide and a little nerve wracking at times.

We drove up and down this beauty too

Where is that?

Stavanger is the one with the Troll's Tongue which takes 4-5 hours to hike up?