My wife and I really liked Live Aqua and the Hyatt Zilara. Got a swim up room at the Zilara and loved it.
We did our honeymoon here and it was incredible. Pretty small resort so very intimate. https://www.cocoshotel.com/index?fb...6Xuzacb-Gzu_HLr035bK6fQ1loQpToljqzzpzfRctJgVM
Good feedback. I live in Chicago and enjoy I would say neighborhoods that are walkable vs where the area I from (Kansas City) which is not. So totally good with taking ubers around town...just avoiding urban sprawl/highway driving to get from neighborhood to neighborhood. Charleston and SF are exactly what I am referencing....just I go to SF every year for work for the last 10 years and my wife and I already did this type of vacation in Charleston which I would agree is the #1 city for this type of trip. So how would people rate the restaurant/bar scene in those 3 cities - Vancouver, Portland, ME and Asheville? **I'm also considering flying direct to Seattle, renting a car to get to Vancouver. question then - has anyone done that drive? I've been to Seattle many times but not sure if its a scenic route that would justify a 3 hour drive across the border.
the other two are not anywhere close to Vancouver's stratosphere. Vancouver is an elite elite summer city, then add in its dining quality and its one of the best cities on the continent. Ive done that drive and sometimes the traffic at the border can be annoying. Also traffic getting through Vancouver's urban sprawl as well (normal for any city). there are some nice wineries north of seattle, also the san juan islands. But doing a small connecting flight from seatac to van is super easy and you get epic views of the cascades. (always cheaper on delta for me to layover in Seattle going there).
Haven't been to Asheville in a minute but it was starting to get filled with big money restaurants that were mostly mid It's very small too, Vancouver a real city
Probably going to Portland Maine this fall for the first time, doing a new England trip and visiting my hometown for the first time in..... 15 years or so
please report back on Portland. Heard wonderful things. Went to Mt. Desert Island last summer and hate that I didn't have time to experience Portland. Maybe next trip if you say it's great.
What Fran Tarkenton said, Vancouver is much more of a metropolis than the other two, a lot more options. If you like Asian cuisine, specifically Chinese, it's some of the best in North America. They have a Sunday Night Asian Market that is a helluva experience. I've driven Seattle-Vancouver probably 100 times, it's hit and miss. If you can cross Mon-Thursday mid-day, it can be easy. If you try Fri-Sunday, or around rush hour, you can get caught in one-two hour waits. It's taken me 5-6 hours before and it's a slog. Very scenic, though. Driving in Vancouver sucks, like driving in any big city. Their ubers are relatively cheap, though. I'd fly to Van if possible. Rent a car in Van and drive north to Squamish/Whistler if you want some scenery.
Any recommendations on where to stay or good tours to take in Istanbul? Would like to be walking distance to the touristy stuff but also have restaurants and bars close by. Two shitty caveats: 1) I only have two full days before flying to Antalya for the wedding so will jam as much as I can. 2) I have to do this trip solo - I’m the best man but we just had a kid. That makes me nervous to stray too far from the popular areas. Seems like there are a lot of street vendors / people hassling to be your “guide” so I’ll be wary of those but any other tips will be helpful.
We stayed at the Hagia Sofia mansions, a Hilton property. We like it but you'll hear the calls to prayer starting at 6 a.m. The best tour we did was the taste of two continents food tour.
Portland is great. My buddy has a lake house about an hour inland and we always spend a few days in Portland. Beautiful in the fall.
I stayed on the asian side in Kadikoy and enjoyed it. It's not noticeably touristy, seemed safe, and is close to tons of bars and restaurants. I got an Airbnb close to the ferry, which is the best value in Istanbul, and was able to get to the main attractions in 20-30 minutes. I've never been agitated by scammers more than I was near the touristy places in Istanbul. I understand wanting to be close to that stuff, but you're probably never going to feel at ease if you do that. And what's the point of vacationing somewhere if you don't feel relaxed? I think it's worth staying away from that so you can enjoy some time seeing the city without worrying about someone bothering you. Highly recommend a ferry ride at sunset if it's not cloudy. It was like 2-3 bucks per ferry ride when I was there a couple years ago.
I went to Europe last year and still need to do a writeup on it. Oslo, Bergen, small town in Norway called Al, Stockholm, Malmo, and Copenhagen. We spent a few days in each City and it felt perfect. We didn't have a plan last time we went which is against who I am as person, but it worked out great. Transportation (trains and planes) is seamless in Europe. We fly out to Stockholm in 11 days and I still haven't booked a hotel. 10 minutes ago I booked our flight home on the 25th out of Lisbon, Portugal. We are flying to Stockholm to see Taylor Swift that Friday night, then have zero plans other than flying out on the following Saturday (25th). No hotels booked. Nothing. Any suggestions on a country or two that we need to see between Stockholm and Lisbon? I would like to spend a few days at least in Spain.
We spent a couple weeks in Europe last year and I never did a write-up. I'll start it now and add to it as I remember more. Direct flight leaving FLL at 10pm to Oslo and flew premium/nicest class and it was worth it. So much space. We slept the entire time though, so maybe it wasn't? Landed in the morning Oslo - 3 nights . This was my favorite City of the ones we visited. All we really did was walk around and check out all the local sites. We stayed at the Grand Hotel Oslo and it was super nice. Probably nicest hotel I'll ever stay in. It was right across the street from their Parliament. Stockholm - 3 nights: We took a flight to Stockholm in the morning of day 4 and stayed on the water near City center. It sounded cool to be right on the water there, but it made it colder than it already was ~60's. I spent a few hours running around looking for hats and gloves and all the locals got a kick out of it because it's "summer" there. I found an Element store that had winter clothes on sale. Their City center is really cool. We were walking down the stairs and I felt like I had been there before. It reminded me of a Tony Hawk level. This pic is the best I can find on Google for now. It's from 2017. If anyone knows the level I'm thinking about, please share. Spoiler: Pic similar to Tony Hawk level I will update with better details later.
Stockholm is fantastic. If you usually sleep on planes in economy then maybe you shouldn’t spend money on the premium class, I would say it’s worth it if you can afford it. You could fly from Stockholm to Barcelona and train around Spain for ~10 days before heading to Portugal. But, you’re already in Europe so you could fly to a lot of places from Stockholm. What else is on your list in terms of cities and countries?
If you’re at all into food Id go San Sebastian. you’d fly into Bilbao and its like a 45 min drive. Not sure if there is a direct flight there from Stockholm but there should be to Lisbon.
Portland is just fantastic, great food scene. Make sure you eat at Scales. Independent Ice Co. is a great spot to grab drinks. Can give more recs as needed
In Greece and saw this replayed at least 5 times consecutively on the news. So damn funny. Watch the one guy retreat inside like a guilty child. Apparently it's a tradition in Corfu to smash clay vases/pots on Easter weekend (their Easter is tomorrow) That's the mayor of Corfu throwing it Also, Greeks don't fuck around for Easter. I'm in a house on the outskirts of a small town and can hear the choir singing from a half mile away... It's almost midnight. Kinda cool, kind of annoying.
Headed to Bern, Switzerland Friday. Have some food plans but not much else. Will head to Grindelwald for some hiking (2yo in tow, we’ll see). Would entertain recs. My wife bought a Rimowa 4 wheel carry on in London last December for $1000. It’s great but I wouldn’t spend half that. I picked up a Samsonite for her mom as a retirement gift and it’s essentially the same thing for $200. She’s got Briggs and Reilly for work and they’re tanks but also very expensive and on the heavier side. Team 4 wheel from here on out. They’re just so much more comfortable to use 90% of the time.
The hike to the lake is beautiful if you can get the 2 year old on board to do it. Took about an hour I recall. The view from the lookout by where the hike starts is stunning. We took a few foldable cups, wine and some snacks and had a picnic by the lake.
We’re considering just buying a child carrier backpack when we get over there and giving it away before we come home. We’ve got a nice one here at home but we’d have to check luggage which sucks balls/is ripe for disaster when flying standby. On the other hand we might just ditch the cheighl with her GPs and go ourselves. Can’t wait, it’s gonna be a real nice trip.
I’m always on team leave the kid especially at that age. You should be excited it’s absolutely beautiful. However, it is crazy expensive. Getting to Grindelwald is expensive to get to no matter how you do it.
Yeah we kinda lucked out as the GPs are in Bern for another 4 weeks so we got a place to stay. It’s gonna be tight in the 2br but it’s free. No complaints about that.
There's some cheap boutique hotels just off Taksim Square... That's where I'd recommend, because you're in the middle of everything and it's very cost friendly. Also, sidenote, Istanbul has -- imo -- the best street food in the world. Make sure you watch Bourdain's episode when he went there like 15 years ago. Those street mussels only sold at night are incredible. Also, make sure you get Kumpirs in Ortakoy. They're like middle eastern baked potatoes and so damned good.
Vancouver. Four nights is a good trip there. If you want you can rent a car and drive up to Whistler too. Lots of great food and breweries. Watch out for pirates tho
Anyone have any restaurant recommendations in Palermo or the area around there? Wife and I are staying in Mondello for a few days this summer and we'll be there for her birthday, so looking for somewhere nice to celebrate.
L'angolo di Mondello Trattoria da Franco * been here once and food was fantastic Ristorante Primafila Di Dionisio Munaco' *this is our go to spot when we’re on vacation. Food is always excellent. Vista Mare Drink and Restaurant * very good food, the view on roof as the sun is setting is one of the most romantic spots you could ask for. if you need more lmk
Thanks a lot. Any other recommendations you have especially in Mondello would be appreciated. We're only going to be there for three days after 9 days with family so we're probably only going to leave Mondello once. The other two days we'll be mostly sitting on the beach and hopefully going to dinner in walking distance/a short drive away. Those two places west of the airport look great so we'll have to decide if we want to go over there or go into Palermo during our one day away.
No idea how it is these days but one of my favorite bars in the world is in Inverness. It's called The Malt Room and is (or at least was) owned by a younger guy who got tired of the grind, enjoyed scotch, and decided to open a bar focused on scotch. Great scotch and cocktail options and really friendly.
Booked the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale with an ocean view. Flights: Delta: Got comfort+ the way there, and 1st class the way back. Can't remember the last time I booked 1st class but it wasn't that much more than comfort + GPT to FLL 6:14AM arrives 11:37AM 4hr 23 min. Pumped to have a full day left when I get in. FLL to GPT 6:30AM arrives GPT at 9:40AM. 4hr 10 min. Getting up early to come back going to suckkkkk Now I need recommendations for restaurants in Miami/Fort Lauderdale/Palm Beach for lunch and dinner.
I am sure there are plenty of them on your path but I really enjoyed the Glenkinchie Distillery (near Edinburgh) and the Talisker Distillery (on Skye). Even if you don't do a full tour, you can go in and get a tasting. Talisker is also gorgeous as your out on Skye.
Talisker is on the list for sure, I appreciate the info. Really looking forward to the trip, and hoping we can mostly kind of avoid Scottish weather.