as I said, I'm not big on sandals either, just giving a recommendation i've personally been to, and if you look it up you'll see it on the sandals website. Don't want it to scare anyone off cause it's amazing. It's annually on TripAdvisor's top All-Inclusives in the world.
Went to Sandals Montego Bay, I would have had a shit time if I didnt have my own walk out suite into my own private pool with 8 other units in the most exclusive part of the hotel. The normal Sandals Montego Bay goer is a motorcycle riding, cheap beer, cig smoking, weirdo.
Tulum in MX is pretty cool. Nothing like what you'd think vs Cancun type areas. Pretty chill and a lot of good local food. Belize seems awesome. I've been trying to get to some of the cayes, they seem pretty chill. Ambergris Caye seems like a good time. VI's are destroyed, which sucks. Was planning to go back to St John for the 3rd time this spring. I'll have to see how the recovery goes. Hopefully I can go and spend money.
Did Runaway Bay last year. Driving out of the airport in MB you go by the local resorts like 8 minutes from the airport. That must be sweet not having to deal with that hour or two drive.
Yep.. I mean.. I see how people absolutely HATE it. You have airplanes flying directly over multiple times per day, the crowd there isn't very upscale, etc. But what I booked it for, it was perfect. I sat on my walk out balcony with my chairs in the private pool and called my butler to bring ice cold beers (and Miami Vices for the wife) for like 4 or 5 days straight. It was bliss, but I didn't interact with any of the common folk, go to the bar area, other pools, etc etc.
Yeah. Usually I would be too. My vacations usually involve very little relaxation (Lima, East Asia, Middle East, etc) but it was a hectic year and man was it enjoyable. This video is obnoxiously long (not by me) but this was the room we had.
US Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico about to absolutely get fucked by Maria. Irma did solid damage and that was more of a glancing blow, this bitch is going to be a direct hit. I know they were already talking about Puerto Rico potentially being out of power for months after Irma, can't even imagine what it's going to be like after Maria gets through.
Just got back from a week in Paris (along with a work trip to Arras and a day trip to the Champagne region) and wanted to add on to this a bit. Big thanks to Fran Tarkenton for the suggestions above. - Stayed in the Latin Quarter for the first half of the trip and then by the Eiffel Tower for the second half. Loved the Latin Quarter, was meh on the area we stayed near the Eiffel Tower. - Walk Rue Mouffetard and visit the different shops. Everyone was incredibly nice and gave us wine, cheese, and bread on the cheap. Loved one of the wine shop owners so much we went back specifically to that shop to purchase a couple bottles to bring back. - The suggestion of Le Perchoir is completely on point. Depending on what time you get there, reservations would be wise since a small line had started forming when we were leaving. But get there early enough and they aren't necessary. Either way, can't speak to the actual food because we went to the rooftop and had some wine and cocktails and chatted with a couple locals. The view was fantastic and the little food-truck type set up had a great cheese and meat plate for relatively cheap so that was dinner. - Did all the tourist stuff like the Arc de Triomphe, Invalides/Napoleon's Tomb, Notre Dame, and the Louvre. I thought Napoleon's Tomb was pretty neat to see and the extra $5 for the headphone tour was worth it. Plus, in the rest of Invalides there was some really cool old school military stuff (think Crusades and jousting, along with world wars). Was underwhelmed by the Louvre as I didn't realize a lot of the art work is replicas. Also, their audio tour with the Nintendo DS is a pain in the ass and not very user friendly. Definitely check the times for this though and go on one of the nights where it is open later. The crowds are much, much smaller. - Visited the Opera and honestly, from an architectural perspective, this was my favorite. It was gorgeous all around and very impressive. You can look at pictures but they won't do it justice. - Really enjoyed buying some wine, bread, and cheese and sitting in front of the Eiffel Tower at sunset and night and watching the lights go off at the top of each hour. Also went up into the Eiffel Tour at night and it was a pretty neat view of the city. Had no idea there was a ferris wheel in the city! - Loved the city of Arras. I went out there for work but I loved the main square and how it was set up. Basically it was all destroyed in the World Wars but they built it up to look almost exactly what it looked like before the bombings. I wouldn't suggest making a specific trip to visit here but if you are in the area and have the time, I loved the city and how it felt a lot more slow moving. - The day trip to the Champagne region was a good time. It turned out being a pricey day but still neat to see. As someone who loves wineries, breweries, and distilleries, this was right up my alley. Definitely suggest doing this. I plan on going back because a day was just not nearly enough. We took the bus out to Reims which is much cheaper than the train but you have to take a cab to and from the bus station to the city as the bus station is on the outskirts. Depending on the cost and who is traveling with you, it might be worth it to rent a car for 2 days and book a hotel there for the night and enjoy two days out there. Never been a big fan of champagne (mainly because I always drink shitty, cheap champagne) but really enjoyed it while there. Highly suggest a visit to Veuve Clicquot. Tattinger was just ok though the people were incredibly friendly after the tour. - Heard great things about Epernay (another city in the Champagne region) and really want to visit there. From what we were told was that Reims is more like Napa and Epernay is Sonoma. - The best place we ate was this very little hole-in-the-wall restaurant called La Petite Rose des Sables. It only has like 4-5 tables. It was amazing. It's this old French couple, who barely speak English, who really make you feel like you are having a home-cooked meal with friends and family. Everyone in the restaurant is chatting everyone else up. The food is pretty dang good (get the duck and thank me later) and it was just a blast of a meal. Not too expensive either. My girlfriend and I got a bottle of wine and two entrees for less than $40. Plus she gives you some booze when you walk in along with a shot of some booze as a meal cleanser (think the ice cream at the end of hibachi but in this case it is booze). The lady will give you a picture of her husband (the chef) and have you pick him out of an old picture from his time in the military. You guess correctly (which is pretty easy), she gives you a little gift. I received a ridiculously touristy France hat and the girlfriend got a Paris scarf. We chatted with the lady a bit longer and she loved us so she gave us a little pendant and a little snow globe of Paris. **EDIT: I should point out that you can't really make reservations here as they don't have a website that functions and last I checked the listed phone number doesn't work. You just have to walk up, wait outside and either hope a table opens up at that time or ask for reservations for the next day. - Also met with a couple from Australia who have lived in the US, Venezuela (the wife is from there), and Australia and they couldn't speak highly enough about visiting Vietnam so now that is on my list.
Should have been more clear, was talking about Puerto Rico who only saw the south side of Irma, which was the weakest section (still strong obviously) where they are going to take a full on, direct hit from Maria it looks like.
Yes, it seems PR is going to get a brutal blow. VI will get some lesser winds which is scary in and of it's self. Most residents are living in tents near their destroyed houses.
Leaving for Paris tomorrow and this appears to be decently close to where we're staying so I'll definitely try and eat there.
Like some on here, I was actually pleasantly surprised with how nice they were. I mean it's not like they went out of their way to help us but I don't really recall more than a time or two where they were rude to us. Though we did start most all convos with a "Bonjour. parlez vous anglais?"
Just five days with my wife. First time there so doing most of the big things but will definitely heed your advice and go to Louvre Friday evening to avoid the crowds.
I obviously can't speak on things that I didn't experience but if I could go back and replan the trip I think some of the key items I would make sure to do again (or do that I missed out on) would be: - Walking around Rue Mouffetard and getting the wine, cheese, and bread from local merchants - Enjoy some wine, beer, and cheese walking around the Luxemborg gardens - Dinner at the little restaurant - Watch the sunset in front of the Eiffel Tower (again with wine, beer, and cheese) - Do the day trip to Reims (Champagne country) - Enjoy the sunset at the rooftop bar of Le Perchoir - Visit the Opera
I went on a Friday evening and can confirm the crowds weren't bad at all. Seeing as you're married I doubt it's the case but if you're 25 or under you can get in for free from 6pm onwards on Fridays. I also second the recommendation to go to the Army Museum. I found it pretty interesting and it's a good contrast to the art galleries/other museums like the Louvre. A combined ticket that includes the church with Napoleon's tomb wasn't too expensive either iirc.
The PNW is going to get record snowfall again. Going to be a great year again to ski, I would wait until after New Years though.
Oh worrrd. What makes you say this? I'm not opposed, but would like to read up on it if you got a link or something.
You don't have to travel anywhere. Go ski Crystal and Mt Baker. You would really dig Glacier, the hippy ski bum town below baker
Here's a write-up on my solo 3-week trip last month. I didn't feel like writing up a day-over-day summary so it's mostly a list of random thoughts and recommendations. Spoiler Copenhagen - most things to see are within walking distance of each other, which is nice. - the "free" walking tour was well done compared to other cities. Would highly recommend on your first day. - the city lived up to its reputation for hot blondes and bicycles everywhere - weather is highly unpredictable and I didn't really pack appropriately. It can change from sunny to pouring rain, to sunny, in a 20 minute sequence. - went to the Copenhagen derby soccer match in Brøndby, a Copenhagen suburb. The game ended up being crazy. Brøndby took the lead in stoppage time and a group of FC Copenhagen fans started fighting with stewards and police, delaying the game for 20 minutes. The train ride back to the city centre was packed with angry FCK fans so luckily I blended in wearing a black sweater. - Overall, I'd have liked to stay longer than 2 full days, as the first day I was super tired from my flight and the last day I had to wake up super early to fly out. On the flip side it is expensive so it may have been for the best. Hvar - I underestimated how annoying it was to get to the islands. The Split airport is like 30 mins from where you board the ferries. I didn't do enough research on the ferries and foolishly assumed that a. they were offered more frequently than they are and b. the travel time was like 15 minutes because that's how long the other ferry ride I've taken in my life was (it's more like 1 hour). I also took the ferry to the wrong side of Hvar, which added an extra hour to the ferry ride, and had to catch a bus across the island. - that being said, once I was settled I had a good time. Salt water is a novelty for me, so having a couple beach days was welcomed. - As from way back in the thread, I recommend Luka's Lodge. It has a great communal atmosphere (they have an employee dedicated to taking you out), especially for a solo traveller, and facility wise was way better than I expected (AC, fridge in room, nice bathrooms). - I did find the nightlife somewhat overrated, but I knew that going in, and if you're into the EDM/clubbing type of scenes it's more so for you. When travelling solo I try not to get too overly drunk for obvious reasons and I can only take so many hours of EDM music with no lyrics and seizure inducing lights when not completely hammered. - Hvar isn't really known for sight seeing but I did check out the castle that overlooks the old town. Worth the climb and like $4 entrance fee just for the view alone. Paris - Stayed at St. Christopher's Gare du Nord, which was in a bit of a seedier area but had a cool bar where equal size groups of hostel people and local Parisians hung out in separate areas. - Wanted to go to a PSG game, but they were away. Ended up watching Neymar's debut at the hostel bar with a bunch of yelling locals. - Versailles was a shitshow to get to because of metro construction but the gardens were amazing and completely worth it. Despite having a ticket you still had to line up for two hours to get into the Palace. I stupidly left my ipod at the hostel and ended up sandwiched between two annoying families for a two hour wait pondering life in the hot sun. Overall I would go to the gardens multiple times again but seeing the inside of the Palace once is sufficient for my lifetime. - As mentioned in the post above I highly recommend the Army Museum. - The Louvre is worth a visit but after a while you begin to get museumed out and sick of craning your neck. As recommended to me in this thread, make a game plan of what you want to see before going. - The Eiffel tower is grand and obviously worth at least a walk-by. I didn't go up it because I'm scared of heights so nothing to add on that. - Notre Dame was cool but I found Sainte-Chapelle nicer. Budapest - Similar to Copenhagen in that there's some great stuff to see (churches, synagogue), but all within walking distance (minus the baths) of each other. - The Baths are definitely worth a visit. I ended up going to the main touristy one and spent a good 5 or 6 hours there (great place to nurse a hangover). - Their currency is stupid. I had none of it when I arrived at the airport and when I went to the ATM I forgot the exchange rate and just chose the middle option in the ATM. This turned out to be the equivalent of $800 CDN and spit me out a wad of bills as thick as a Hardy Boy's novel. Needless to say I used cash the rest of the trip. - I went on the pub crawl twice and had a great time both nights. Would recommend. The ruin bars are a cool novelty. Berlin - I did all of the heavy stuff on the same day (Holocaust Memorial, Jewish Museum, Topography of Terror) so you can limit being bummed out to just one day of the visit. - The German museum was much more interesting than I thought it'd be going in. The Berlin wall museum was cool in that it was very video heavy and interactive. Would recommend both. - Went to a Hertha Berlin soccer game. They're not a huge club but play in the old Olympic Stadium that Hitler built so going to a game is the same as going to a historic site. Was cool walking around the grounds before the match and reading all the information boards they have up. - I stayed at Wombats hostel and again, like others, would highly recommend. It's in a nicer area, close to sites/metro, and the rooftop bar is awesome for meeting people/hanging out. - Everyone raves about Berlin's nightlife but I got bad luck in that: a. the hostel was relatively empty. A lot of big groups were staying and did their own thing or nothing at all. I would have tagged along if people were down to go to out but that wasn't the case so mostly just chilled at the hostel bar. b. the one night I went on the pub crawl the crowd sucked (not a single, single attractive girl on the crawl) and you had to spend 3 hours at empty bars (outside of the pub crawl participants) before getting to the club. - It may have been for the best because if I stood in line for 2 hours at the Berghain or a similar club and got turned away I would have died a little inside. - Berlin is an interesting city, in that it seems very North American (reminded me of Toronto especially with the TV tower looking like the CN tower) and is still very new since re-unification wasn't all that long ago. Brussels - I really only decided to visit here because it was my flight back. However, it was a better tourist city than I expected and I enjoyed my site-seeing (the Cathedral, the Royal Palace, the three Art Galleries). - I had an unexpectedly awesome time on the pub crawl, which drives home that pub crawls mainly hinge on there being a fun group that night. - Food was expensive in the old town, which was made worse by the areas surrounding the old town being run down with not many food options. Other Thoughts - As you can probably tell my trip was disjoined geography wise. This was because I wanted to be in Paris and Berlin on weekends to see soccer games, while also getting a little too carried away trying to see a bit of everywhere. - Flying in Europe has its definitive pros (usually a cheaper price, travel time if long distances) but having to trek to the city outskirts to be two hours early to a flight gets annoying. If I ever go on a longer than one month trip I will train everywhere and pick destinations within a 2/3 hour train ride from each other. - Some people romanticize travelling solo. I'm firmly in the pros and cons camp. It's great for sight seeing and doing whatever you want when you want it, but at times sucks i.e. waiting at the airport, going for food. Night life can be better alone but it's more of a toss-up since you're mostly dependent on what others are doing in the first place. That being said having to travel solo should never stop anyone from going on a trip, especially seeing as it's difficult to plan long trips with friends once you're all working. On to the next one.
I posted it a few pages back but week before last stayed at this place in South Lake Tahoe for a week and it was incredible. http://www.tahoesouthvacationrentals.com/1639 Obviously there was no snow but I hiked every morning. Awesome place and absolutely beautiful views. Was about 500 feet above the bottom of the Heavenly ski lifts. Depending on how many people you have in your group it may be worthwhile. Took this photo from my bedroom
Cool, thanks for the recs. I'll definitely check it out. I was more talking about just escaping the winter for some sunshine, too
Cool write-up, you were definitely all over the place, but I've been there too. Agree with a lot of what you said, I think Croatia's party scene in general is EDM/club type stuff---as well as most of Eastern Europe. Traveling solo is definitely pros/cons. I've had some times like you've mentioned as well, mainly meeting new people and constantly introducing yourself at each new spot can get exhausting. When you want a chill night, can be difficult to do by yourself, too. I've had better experiences, but it's more out of necessity since most of my friends are married/don't travel--so it's either go solo or don't go at all. Like you said, it should never be a reason to NOT go on a trip. Still should've tried Berghain man!
Cotton500 i did the same thing at the atm in Prague. Had no idea what the conversion rate was and lost a zero somewhere in the calculation and ended up pulling out around $4-500. I panicked for a bit, but then my friend and I decided split it between the two of us and we blew through Prague like kings for the next four days. 10/10 would choose Prague to ball out in again.
Yeah I was glad I was in Hvar when it was still slower season as im not a huge edm guy but had a great time
Same thing happened to me in April. It was my last night in Prague and I was out on a pub crawl. Was having a blast and decided that buying a few bottles of champagne was a prudent decision. Of course the club didn't accept card so I went to the ATM. I ended up withdrawing something like $450 USD. I believe I got about 65 cents on the dollar when exchanging it into Euros later on in my trip.
I forgot to mention that literally the first thing I saw in Berlin outside of the airport was a Neo Nazi march. Not the best way to be introduced to a city.
I mentioned that I went to St. Petersburg months ago but never got around to posting something about it here. We had a 6 and a half hour stop which isn't anywhere near enough time to see the city. Some quick notes before I get into the tour itself. If you are doing a stop as part of a cruise, Russia requires you to go through customs as you enter and exit the country and they make you do it individually instead of as a group. It is quite time consuming. Therefore, I highly recommend doing everything you can to be one of the first people off the ship to maximize your time in Russia. We went in Summer and the weather in Russia changes every 20 minutes. It goes from 85 degrees and hot to 50 degrees and chilly and back to hot multiple times in a day. I recommend wearing jeans and a light long sleeve shirt with a windbreaker that you can take off when it gets hot. As for the people, its amazing how proud they are. St. Petersburg looks like a city stuck in the 80s. Everything is old and crumbling. Ex. their trams are all 60+ years old and look like they are held together with tape and bubblegum. The day before we were in Latvia and even their trams were brand new. Our tour guide was pointing out an old looking apartment building that looked exactly like the buildings in Bratislava during that scene in Eurotrip and was talking about how beautiful they were. She is well traveled and has been to the US and other modern countries so she knew what is out there, but because it was part of her home, she white knighted it better than dblplay1212 ever could. They are also very proud of their military history. Their biggest holiday is Victory Day which commemorates winning some war 100 years ago. (sorry I don't remember which one, the tour was in June.) Side note, I asked about Russian hacking in our election and she thought I was joking. The people know nothing about it. Also, they still have to ration a bunch of things like cheese and what not. The average salary for people is 12k per year and most people live in an apartment with their parents until they pass away because they can't afford the $400 a month rent on their own. Their whole country is a house of cards that is hanging by a thread and the people are too proud to realize it. We did our tour with www.Muse-tours.com and had Irina as our tour guide. They charge $260 per person, but you don't have to take your wallet out the rest of the day unless you want to buy some souvenirs. I couldn't recommend her enough. She is a really nice girl who speaks fluent English and is a major art/history buff. She picks you up right from the port and drops you off at the end of the tour. She also takes care of everything prior to your arrival so there was very little waiting to get into places and no waiting at all for tickets because she had bought them all in advance. From the second she picked us up to the second she dropped us off, she didn't stop talking. Whether it was info on what we were seeing or about the area we were driving through, she knew everything. Our first stop was a tour of a local church. It was really cool because we got to see how the locals practice their faith and the church itself had a lot of great statues and such. Next we went to the Peterhof Summer Palace. That place is insane. Gold everywhere, amazing rooms and art, and the most ridiculous garden I have ever seen. Every day at 11:00 am there is a full blown show with fountains and music to start the day. Obviously Irina knew about the show and finished our tour of the palace just at the right time to go get a premium spot to watch the show. Next, we walked around the gardens. No joke, we saw about 30% of the garden and we walked around for over an hour. Side note, beware of the trick fountains. The king who built the palace loved trolling people, and all over the garden there are places where water will shoot out of the floor and soak anyone in the area. 15 years ago I would have been all about running through the fountains and getting wet, but now that I am an adult, I was trying to stay dry. Side note, going back to a country on the brink of economic collapse, they brag about how they spent millions of dollars rebuilding the Peterhof palace and how everything was rebuilt in the exact same way that it was originally built. Despite all of this, they stopped rebuilding at like 60% of completion. There are a ton of rooms that are blocked off from view because they claim it wasn't worth rebuilding but its obvious that the real answer is that they don't have the money. Next we had lunch at a local meat pie place and it was excellent. After that we did some souvenir shopping before heading to the Hermitage museum. This is a massive museum like the Louve that takes a full day to do, but we only had 2 and a half hours. It is also built like a maze with very poor signage directing people where to go. X While we didn't see everything, we saw all the major exhibits and Irina again knew everything about everything. We spoke to a bunch of people on our cruise who spent 4+ hours in the museum and didn't see half of what we did because they were so lost. We finished our day by going to the Church of the Spilled Blood. This is a church that was built on the spot of where a former Russian Czar was killed by a roadside bomb. They literally built the church around the spot on the ground and while the blood was obviously cleaned off the stone, it is still there for people to see. The church is no longer an active church and is a full time museum. It was really cool to see and I highly recommend it. After that, it was time to head back to the boat where Irina gave us some chocolate and post cards with pictures of the places we visited that she took. Our tour was a lot of fun and if you are going to St. Petersburg, you need to hire a tour guide and IMO you can't do much better than Irina. Russia is a really unique place and at some point you should try and visit before they become our overlords.
Want to go to Russia so damn bad. At the very top of my bucket list is to take the Trans-Siberian railway from Beijing to Moscow, stopping in Mongolia/Siberia/etc. Would need 3-4 weeks though
I'm going to Russia for the world cup next year and planning St Petersburg, Moscow, and maybe 1-2 other locations. How long would you think would be a good amount of time for St. Petersburg? 3 days? Also, what did you hear about Moscow?
didn't really talk much about moscow other than Irina saying St. Peterburg is the better tourist destination. If you are going to be going to games while in St. Petersburg, I would say 3 days is probably the right amount so you have enough time to see everything and go to the games you plan to attend.
It'll depend on if the draw in December what games we'll go to. What did you think of Latvia? I assume you went to Riga? I've been to Tallinn and enjoyed it, but is it just more of the same? I'm thinking we'll have a week or so to look at other locations besides St. pete and Moscow and was considering a couple places, Riga, Moldova (I have a friend living there), or Georgia/Armenia.
I thought Riga was boring as shit. Nothing really to do outside of walk the town and go to the farmers market. Its an easy skip imo.
Leaving for a trip to London and Munich tonight. At the last second we decided to do a day trip to Paris as well. Never been to Europe so I am very excited.