I have a month! - tell me what to do

useless

My boyf has got approval from work to take a month off over Christmas and the New Year - so I thought it would be fun to come on here and get your suggestions for where to go!

So, where where! I'm sooooooooo excited about it. My last holiday was to Thailand and we loved it.

But typically, the holiday was hampered by Thailand protests which meant all our hotel bookings and internal flights were lost and we ended up doing a bit of a backpacker job and randomly getting on a bus to somewhere else in the country.

Anyway - my long list is Vietnam, Cambodia (for Angkor Wat), Southern Thailand (though after last time it might be a bit of a risk in terns of flights), Japan (have been before but not to the main tourist bits like Tokyo/Kyoto and boyf han't been), Australia, oh and Peru!

There are bound to be other places I haven't thought of instead, open to suggestions!

In terms of money saving, given that we are going over Christmas which I think is the busy and expensive period, I think I'm going to need some tips especially for flights and probably need to get our skates on.

Anyway, sorry for the long post, am excited!

sturll

At that time of year id be headed for USA and Canada. Start in Vegas for a few mild days, then head up to Lake Tahoe for some snowboarding, then up to Canada for a nice train ride across the country - It will be amazing at Christmas. A few days in Toronto before heading down for NYE in New york, then a quick internal down to Florida for Miami/Keys for a weeks wind down.

That's what i'd do.

genuinegal

Would you not consider a month exploring Italy from north to south? I think from my own opinion, heading to the US can be expensive (flights alone). You can get cheap flights from any UK airport with easyjet to Milan then purchase a month's train pass (which is excellent value for money) and make your way down towards Florence, Rome, Sorrento, etc. I highly recommend it because i've done it myself and it was an amazing experience. Obviously what with the time of the year, it wont have great weather, but accommodation will be cheap and it will be easier to access all the sights without having to queue.

I've been to Thailand myself - absolutely amazing i agree

sturll

genuinegal wrote: »

Would you not consider a month exploring Italy from north to south? I think from my own opinion, heading to the US can be expensive (flights alone). You can get cheap flights from any UK airport with easyjet to Milan then purchase a month's train pass (which is excellent value for money) and make your way down towards Florence, Rome, Sorrento, etc. I highly recommend it because i've done it myself and it was an amazing experience. Obviously what with the time of the year, it wont have great weather, but accommodation will be cheap and it will be easier to access all the sights without having to queue.

I've been to Thailand myself - absolutely amazing i agree

You would get a flight to the US at that time a year for less than any other long haul destination. I have had rtn flights to the US in December for a little over £200, and that was only last December. So maybe be a little more this year.

imo Italy is a beautiful country and is my favourite European destination. But i would say it is overwhelmingly a summer destination - Except for perhaps Northern Italy.

useless

thanks for all your suggestions - it's always interesting to hear what people would do and makes me think about all the different possibilities!

I guess what I'm looking for is adventure, and culture, and something different to Europe. And some tips on narrowing down my choices to particular countries or areas or better alternatives - e.g. Malaysia?

bandraoi

South America?

old_motters

With that much time and sufficient cash, I'd do a Round the World...

San Fransicso or LA
followed by Hawaii
followed by Tokyo
followed by Sydney
and a stopover in Singapore on the way home

Picking your carrier alliance would be important...Oneworld (AA, BA, Qantas etc) or is generally considered to the best.

Doshwaster

An around the world trip is a great idea. Certainly something to mark off on the "Travel Things to do list". You could have no end of fun planning possible routes.

Alternatively, I would just get a flight to Bangkok or KL and wander around SE Asia for a month.

Drive across the USA?

So many options! I wish I could do an extended trip somewhere. I haven't had more than 2 weeks paid time off for over 10 years.

useless

thanks all! not too sure it will be paid time off for me, may have to quit job, but given circumstances (lost about 30 days annual leave, work unpaid through every weekend and evening in 2 years) it has to be done!

useless

round the world sounds good too!

trying not to get big city overload though, best bit about thailand was outside bangkok, but maybe that's just bangkok for you...

Bob_the_Saver

Make sure you look at Air Asia and Tiger Airways, both good low-cost airlines.