Regarding cruise ships, we were in Kotor, Montenegro recently. It is a stunningly beautiful area, but the old town itself is quiet small and their roads and other infrastructure cannot handle the 3 huge cruise ships that now visit there each day. We learned to go into the town at night, after the cruise folks had gone back to the ship. It also affected the type of stores and the quality of items sold in the town. Our next trip we will make sure to avoid the same scenario.
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gift link
Tourism’s Next Battlefront: Water
As climate change brings water shortages to vacation hot spots, we look at Greece’s tourism-dependent islands, where residents sometimes compete with visitors for a dwindling supply.
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/travel/greece-water-shortages.html?unlocked_article_code=1.NE4._1gx.jq22eYx3eoCI&smid=url-share
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We’ve had good luck with Macs Adventures. I think there are different levels of doing the Mont Blanc, because someone posted a bit with ladders on one of their facebook pages which looked terrifying!
You can’t go wrong with Spain though. We used Rick Steves book a lot. Spent three weeks there in the spring including a three day Mac walking holiday in the Ronda area.
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We were in Kotor last week - was a stop on our cruise. We got into town early and climbed up to the fortress. As we walked through town, there was hardly anyone around and the town was wonderful. By the time, we finished the hike up and came down (11am), it was mobbed!! We could barely make our way out of there!
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I have not, but a friend I travel with has. She made all plans, including reservations in mountain huts, so carried a pack with everything. Had a great time and photos were stunning.
Having said that, she also said that had she known about options where you hiked down into towns, vs staying in communal mtn huts, and had your pack transported so you only needed a daypack, she’d have enjoyed it even more.
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Thanks to @ChoatieMom for the reminder we have this thread.
I’m dragging my feet on planning a May trip to Italy. My husband is encouraging me to plan and book. His feeling is we are healthy and should go while we can.
So far this year we have a camping trip booked for early spring, another booked for mid June near Mammoth,Ca. A lake trip in early Aug with the family.
Anyone have suggestions for eastern Sicily and Puglia.
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@mom2and
We are taking a Viking Ocean cruise in November. Going Athens to Barcelona.
Wondering about your excursions in Italy. I think we are going to Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily.
Did you do private excursions? Any optional excursions?
Anyone else who wants to chime in on some of our stops on this cruise? I’m very excited.
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So far this year our plans include
2 weeks in Hawaii (Maui and Kauai)
A week at Lake Tahoe with a couple of days after that at Yosemite
10-ish day bike trip to Switzerland and France
We will likely also go to Charleston, SC at some point, with a couple of other stops along the way, and do some local but overnight bike trips closer to home
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Are there any travel planning companies that don’t plan every last detail and are flexible enough to tailor trips based on personal preferences? I did most of the family trip research and planning over the last 40 years. I’m tired of it.
We tried travel agents, who unfortunately suggested only limited (usually higher end) hotels & restaurants.
We tried a tour “group” which really was not our thing. 10 minutes to stop at some incredible scenery and return to the bus.
R. Steves tours usually come highly recommended. I’ve read the itineraries, which usually include group events, and some down time, but also costly for what is included (imho).
Our trips tend to be on-the-go, but flexible enough that if it rains, we switch city exploration for museums, for example. We far prefer the local bakery or pub over fine dining. Local inns favored over hotels. We (I) usually spent hours on forums to research transportation, non-tourist events local parks, etc.
Friends have their friends or family members who plan trips, and they either pay for part of the planner’s trip, or simply tag along. I’m SOOO jealous.
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We will be visiting S in his new location (Chicago) at the end of this month. I also have a Chicago trip (just me) planned in May.
In March we will be joining D,SIL, and GD for a week in Maui. I have never been to Hawaii, so I’m very excited about that.
In April, H and I are going to Puerto Vallarta with S.
I really don’t like traveling in the summer as I like it here, but something will likely come up. We will see about the fall. I have some ideas.
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@kjofkw have you heard of Nordic Visitor? I haven’t used them but a good friend of mine did to plan a self-driving trip in Iceland last summer. She said they were wonderful and took care of all the details. I would definitely consider using them for a trip to Northern Europe.
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In Puglia, Lecce is a lovely small city (southernmost of the “bigger” cities) and worth the visit or stay. So charming! You will need a car to get to most of the places in the area. Otranto in a nice town further south. Lots of homes for rent - DM’ed with a rec.
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Gate 1 travel offers independent travel packages where they arrange accommodations, maybe a rental car or rail ticket. You explore in your own.
I’m not sure if that’s what you are looking for.
Years ago I booked a vacation with Expedia. It was flights and accommodations. We booked our own tours and explored on our own.
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Just booked tickets DC to NYC on Amtrak for March. They were only $24+ apiece after SR discount! I was happily surprised at how reasonable they are. It seems a better and easier way to get from one place to another, “greener” too.
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My D lives in DC and we live just outside of Philly. She does not have a car and has traveled back and forth via Amtrak quite a bit the last few years. The fares vary a lot depending on day and time, but she is a savvy planner and I would say on average it costs her $35 one way, which is great. Last year Amtrak was running a $10 nighttime special, which was terrific for her because she often goes back to DC on Monday evenings after working remotely from our house that day. We have always driven to DC when we go to see her, but the last time we took Amtrak and will look to do it more to relieve the stress of driving in traffic, foul weather, or at night. Another great thing about using Amtrak on the Northeast Corridor is that you can make reservations and then change/cancel without penalty. She often makes 2 or 3 reservations for different days or times until she sees how her plans shake out and what the weather is, etc. To your point @HImom, people often overlook Amtrak as a viable option to travel between cities on the East Coast. Not nearly as great as the trains in Japan and other places, but still worth consideration.
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Thank you! Will look into the house rentals. We will have a car in Puglia. Thinking no car in Sicily.
I’ve only done one trip like what I think you have in mind. It was for a week in Jordan back in 2013. We had a list of what we wanted to see (the usual stuff, but we also wanted to pick up our son who was doing a junior year abroad towards the end of the tour.) I really like the way the tour was done. We had a driver who took us everywhere and helped us by tickets to things, and had pre-arranged things like camel rides at Wadi Rum, but for the most part we had free rein. We spent an entire day on our own at Petra for example. It was great, but I don’t know of anything similar for Europe. (The closest I can think of is working with one of the companies that organize walks. They carry your luggage from town to town, while you walk and if you are a speedy enough walker (or schedule a down day) you can explore places on your own.
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That is exactly what our friends on the many month vacay decided.
We have this thread for vacation/travel clothing.
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One thing that really helps me while traveling is using the wheelchair service that the airlines offer at no extra charge (though we always tip the person pushing if they will accept a tip—Japan pushers always refuse as have a few others). Having a wheelchair get us from ticket counter to gate and then another from gate to next gate and from gate to baggage claim allows me to conserve my stamina and batteries for my medical equipment so I can use it on the plane and when I need it to walk about.
It helps my husband as well because the pusher always knows the layout of the airports so we don’t have to figure it out. They can also advise us where to get our next transit as needed (the shuttle to the car rental, Lyft, hotel shuttle, sky train or whatever).
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