I’m jealous… I love travel planning (and travel) and this year’s summer vacay is just going to be a road trip to Oregon. Nothing wrong with Oregon but …
Last summer we had a fantastic month in Europe with all 3 kids (18, 13, and 10 at the time). Our possible last hurrah with the oldest before she went off to college. We flew into Dubrovnik and were in Croatia, Montenegro (day trip), Slovenia (Lake Bled), Salzburg, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Edinburgh, York, and then flew out of London. Loved everywhere, but highly recommend Croatia especially.
btw on smart phones - you can pay for a month at a time for international plans. I think we paid something like $70 for unlimited texting and limited talk and data on my phone (dh got his covered by work).
washugrad, Sounds like an awesome trip you had with your family! I, too, have heard Croatia is spectacular.
This will probably be our last cruise for awhile. While we are both still active, we will probably plan to stay longer in each larger city we visit. What we liked about Viking Ocean Cruises: new ships, great value, all-verandah staterooms, only 900 passengers (versus thousands), only 1 at-sea day on our itinerary, no kiddie programs, and NO CASINO!
If you have not yet done a river cruise, I highly recommend it. We went with Uniworld and could not have been more pleased in all aspects.
We went on a similar itinerary last September. If you are going on an organized tour in St Petersburg they will usually provide a visa for you, if not make sure you get one. If the tour has your visa you cannot be separated from your group. Make sure you follow all the rules in the Russian venues. The ladies at peterhof have fans and little sticks, etc. they’ll give you a light smack if you get to close to anything. We were told to drink only bottled water in Russia. If you have a smart phone make sure you have an international data plan and know how not to run up a huge bill. Make sure you have appropriate clothing for the weather- it might be colder than what you’re used to in a US summer.
^^Venice. I have been to Italy about 4 times previously but this was my first visit to Venice. Lots to look at - St. Marks. the Palace of the Doge, the museums. Venice is one of those places like the Grand Canyon that turns out to look exactly like all the pictures you’ve been seeing your whole life.
The Museo Del Prado in Madrid was pretty impressive too.
Ugh, I want to get out of the country for a vacation this summer. H is an overly cautious person and wants to stay in the US.
I want to visit places I have not been. I have been to several winter destination trips more than once. So I am not totally averse. But I prefer going someplace I have not visited. I have limited time, being in my 60’s. You never know what is in store.
So H has only been abroad with me. So if I have been there, so has he, haha. Most of the places mentioned above, I have been. But if it is new to me, it is new to him
Any tips or suggestions for Croatia or Austria? Haven’t been to either.
morrismm, Dubrovnik in Croatia has been on my bucket list for years. I thought this would be the year I’d make it there but I was outvoted by the family. We’ll be spending 4 weeks traveling to London, Italy and Barcelona.
@jshain, in addition to the tips from here on CC, I’ve also been visiting Rick Steve’s forum.
@morrismm If you can’t convince your husband to go to Europe or elsewhere this summer, can you talk him into Canada? Have you done Montreal/Quebec City at all?
I am seriously considering a 2-week trip to Italy in late October 2016. Have some places picked out on booking.com but nothing booked yet. A week in Rome, a few nights in Florence, and maybe a couple nights in Orvieto.
I’ve been to Florence, and Tuscany, but never been to Rome or Venice.
I still may not make it to Venice this time, we’ll see… still making tentative plans in my head. I may do a day trip by high-speed train from Florence, but I hate being rushed.
I always travel with the idea that I will go back if I really like a place, and things are left unseen…
Your cruise sounds fantastic, @jshain . Do report back!
I’ve only been to southern Europe because I usually travel in spring or fall, and living in the Chicago area, I can’t stand the thought of going someplace colder than where I live…
And we have a little cabin up in Wisconsin, and it’s so nice in Wisconsin in the summer…
Impromptu trip to Copenhagen is coming up. DH says that’s what this empty nest phase is about. I love to plan trips, yet there is something refreshing about just going.
Recent trip to Italy included Matera and Puglia. It was one of our favorites.
@BeeDAre, we went to Rome last year in the beginning of November. If you do a search, there is a lengthy thread on Rome. And as usual, lots of great posts with great information.
Our weather was perfect, 70 with no rain. We were very lucky. Venice was in the 50’s if I’m remembering right. We picked November because October is busy in Italy. And other than deer season, (we don’t hunt), the weather in Northern Michigan is pretty terrible.
We took the train to Venice from Rome. It is a great way to go. I personally felt a day was fine. Not for everyone but we were happy.
I think we have found a workable solution to the GPS/internet/call home connectivity issue when traveling internationally. T-Mobile has monthly (no contract) plans for unlimited text and data and reasonable calling rates (.20/minute incoming and outgoing). They have options for certain amounts of high speed data - after which you get throttled down in speed but never cut off or charged overage fees. Messaging between any of the 140 approved countries is unlimited and free. We have two lines, each with 6 gig of high speed data (the unused portion rolls over to the next month). The cost is $80/month.
We use MagicJack (both the app and the actual device). All calls to the US are free. If we need to call elsewhere we use Skype or MagicJack (with funds on deposit). Calls run a few pennies per minute.
So far connectivity in Northern Europe has been great. GPS works well. It’s been a godsend to have Google Maps at hand when trying to navigate a metro system which has no English instructions.
Our plan is to use the hotspot function while in port during cruises. Cruise ship web connections are very expensive and SLOW.
Since T-Moble has horrible coverage at home we will stay with Verizon as our regular carrier. But swapping to one of the T-Mobile plans works well for us. So for the travel time we are paying for two cell plans but it is worth it.
I haven’t read all the posts yet. I am in Europe now. Posting from Amsterdam. It has been cold but we are enjoying ourselves. We were expecting no crowds but it is packed. The tulips are amazing. Everything I imagined and more. I have little on a bucket list but Holland in the spring was on my short list.
Tip- besides having the chip ask your bank for a pin sign. The machines in the train stration only take a credit card if it has a chip and you have a pin.
On to France tomorrow.
London and Paris at the end of the month and beginning of June to celebrate our 40th and DH’s 70th. Meeting friends in Paris so it will be fun to tour some together. Will check into the pin for ccards.
