Holiday Withdrawal Symptoms......Tell me where you're going?

DUKE

PompeyPete wrote: »

Duke. You haven't really mentioned much about your Nepal trip, other than you kept your foot on the brake while enjoying the outstanding scenery on those scary roads.

Was the tour good vfm? Did Travelbird keep to their proposed itinerary, and would you recommend Travelbird?

I'd definitely recommend TB Pete. Whenever I emailed them asking them my many, many, various questions they always replied & almost immediately. VFM too, I've never known anyone to beat their prices either, most similar tours are twice the price if not more.

We had night flights with Etihad & they were good, at least we slept. Hotels were small & suited us fine, good location, clean comfy bed, hot shower, good food, & great staff. They stuck to their itinerary & offered more :eek: I did however feel rather templed out.

Enjoyed Kathmandu & shuffling across the road to stop the traffic, worried that any moment the buildings would collapse on me.

Loved Chitwan, we had elephants in the garden. Also loved walking around the village, especially when 2 very tiny people insisted upon trying to lift Mr Duke on to their elephant :rotfl: & all for 200 Ruppee.

Lumbini was like the wild wild west, more temples, but we got back on a very fast rickshaw & it was soooo exciting. The hotel was surrounded by market stalls & just a few shops. But I wouldn't have missed it as I've only ever seen places like that on TV.

Pokhara was really lovely. although we never got time to do the lake.

We did actually give the itinerary a bit of a miss in places to do our own thing, which was easy to do. The group thing I wasn't keen on, although there was only 6 of us, & a driver & guide. But one girl was really slow & that got on my nerves as I'm more of a maniac. We took something away from each place & I had no complaints at all. Apart from damaged luggage which I'm hoping that Etihad will sort out soon. Bet you wish you'd never asked now

trixie73

MasterPoo wrote: »

Trixie, how long are you away for? Is this your first time at that time of the year? If not what has the weather been like on your previous visits?

We are going for a week so we will be there for new years eve
We have been twice before for new years, the first time the weather was glorious sunshine all week, the second time we had a couple of cloudy days but still much better than here . we both came back with lovely tans.

duchy

Never did do a proper follow up - My trip to Chicago and Michigan wasn't without travel drama. Flew Ryanair STN to GOT and stayed through airbnb on the beautiful Hotell Barken Viking which is an 110 year old ship converted into a hotel and moored in the centre of Gothenburg. Perfect for a short break especially as Gothenburg flights are really cheap.

Next morning I caught the airport bus (really close to the hotel) to the airport - and then my flight from Gothenburg to Stockholm was delayed - and wasn't even going to leave Gothenburg until after my Stockholm to Chicago flight had departed .The radar had failed at Stockhom airport and it basically knocked out most flights so instead of a nice civilized 18.30 arrival into Chicago with a night in a hotel before catching my flight to Michigan the next morning - I ended up flying to Copenhagen (hotels were full everywhere)sleeping at the airport then flying back to Heathrow and onto Chicago arriving at lunchtime the next day.
I missed my flight to Kalamazoo of course and AA told me on the phone there was no award availability on the lter flights. A bit of best British accent and a little eyelash fluttering took care of that at AA's ticket desk at Chicago which was a relief as the alternative was an Amtrak from central Chicago instead.

If you ever find yourself in Battle Creek Mi Claras on the River is a beautifully restored Victorian railway station turned into a restaurant with really nice inside and outdoor dining- and Firekeepers Casino was fun too- I was even winning for a while !!

Red Roof Inn do indeed refund you a your night's stay if the stay is not up to standard as advertised. Hotel room was fine - clean and big with fridge and microwave but front desk service was wonderful the first night and absolutely rubbish the second -including rude staff and a receptionist who managed to tell me I wasn't a guest whilst serving me with a sack of ice on her head as she had a headache !!! Eventually got it all straightened out - and a quick email mentioning the room issue, the odd receptionist and her rude co-worker the next morning got a swift and satisfactory reply. Real shame as the staff the first night were fantastic - far better than I'd expect in a hotel of this grade.

Amtrak was clean and prompt- I'd definitely use them again - and Chicago was 80 degrees of sunshine and fantastic to wander around. I saw a show out at the Paramount theatre in the 'burbs Gorgeous theatre with incredible decorations . I stayed in my first proper airbnb that night and it was great . Hosts were lovely and interesting people , room was good and they even gave me a ride to the station to get back to central Chicago the next morning.

Uber in Chicago was great - no issues and the flight back to Stockholm with SAS had edible food - but the service with BA Stockholm to Heathrow was better !!

Things I learned.....set up Uber apps ahead of time, all Scandanavian airports have clean and ventilated smoking rooms airside (except Copenhagen which has an outside balcony for smokers right in the middle of duty free) and AA at the airport will always sort out problems with missed flights ( this I actually knew from when I missed a New York to Heathrow before in the past and they rebooked me with no fuss or charge). Ex-Euro flights are not without risk and it pays to build in delay time -but again it always works out in the end.

Next trip Vilinus or Las Vegas

BarryBlue

MasterPoo wrote: »

Lets see?

Theres only one way to find out and thats to try it out once!

What you have to bear in mind, however, is that cruising can be addictive. Once you do one, it's very likely you will be hooked and looking for the next one. P&O are good for a first one as they are aimed at the British market and are not just floating granny-farms like Fred Olsen, Saga etc.

There are some standard itineraries that may suit first-timers. The 7-day cruises to the Norwegian fjords are a good place to start. For the sun, Med and Canaries are fine but will usually be 12-14 days. The Baltic is probably the most spectacular within Europe.

lady1964 wrote: »

The Lagos in Portugal is pronounced Lagosh or Lagoosh, in case you're wondering, it's about an hours' drive along the coast from Faro, it's a small-ish town with a marina and gorgeous beaches, this will be our 5th visit.

Lagos in Portugal is lovely, and a great base for seeing the Algarve if you hire a car as we always do. I presume the Nigerian one was named after it, especially as the Portuguese one still has the old slave market, now closed.;) I know which Lagos I would prefer.:)

DUKE

So Pete, how was Nicaragua apart from the weather? I'm still quite keen to go, but of course when it's cooler. Could you recommend places to go to please?

We had similar in Nepal. Although I was quite cool in Kathmandu, which of course was a shock as I expected to feel the heat in the city. But then Chitwan got hotter, & Lumbini got worse!!! :eek:

DUKE

Floating granny farms BarryBlue? :eek: That would be me then

I go away to avoid Brits, I don't mind the odd one or two well behaved type, but that's as much as I'm prepared to deal with. New experiences & local people is what I like best, it's even better if we can't speak each others language as you still somehow manage to have that nodding, smiling, pointing convo.

PompeyPete

DUKE wrote: »

So Pete, how was Nicaragua apart from the weather? I'm still quite keen to go, but of course when it's cooler. Could you recommend places to go to please?

I'll start a Nicaragua thread next week. As for the heat and humidity I don't think it varies much throughout the year, ie it's oppressive throughout, and there ain't a lot of escape from it.

Best bet for you, as you enjoyed Travelbird for your Nepal trip, then have a look at their Nicaragua tour itinerary. It'll definitely be more comfortable than our DIY trip, which although we enjoyed, ain't for everyone.:)

Andypandyboy

We have done a Canaries and Morrocco cruise this year, we are off to Italy in late July and have Prague booked for October. Looking to fit in a canal boat weekend in late August if possible too.

As we like to plan ahead I am looking at Florida for next July; a few days in Orlando, a week on a Carribbean cruise and a week on Marco Island. Then we will build around that, probably a long weekend in Estoril at Easter, and then our October break is still up for debate.

Just saw a fantastic cruise bargain, which unfortunately we can't take advantage of; 19 days Aus and Singapore next April for just over £2000pp with Royal Caribbean. Roll on retirement!!

MasterPoo

Andypandyboy wrote: »

Roll on retirement!!

How long until retirement??

Loving your planned holidays, sounds fun!

Which caribbean islands will you be visiting?

holidaysforme

I'm starting to think about next year's holidays already and it's only June:D