Holiday Destinations!

[grantk]

Hi Stan 101 (or anyone else that can offer assistance),

My wife and I are currently planning our first o/s trip to Thailand. As this is our first time out of this country, we are a little anxious and decided to check out everything through a travel agent.

We got a price for 8 nights in Phuket (some place 20 minutes north of patong - get away from crowds but still have access), and 4 nights in Phi Phi Don.

I was completely surprised when the total came in at $4600 for 2 people. This price was for accommodation, flights, taxes and all transfers.

In my mind, Thailand was going to be cheaper than that. I could stay for 10 nights in the Whitsundays for that price.

From your post regarding pricing and activities, something is not right here.

Are we getting gypped? Would $AUD1.5K (BAH43.5K) be enough for spending money food etc?

I was last in Phuket before the Tsunami so things may have changed a bit, but Koh Phi Phi was amazing so I would recommend going there.
However I prefer the other side of Thailand around Koh Samui better than Phuket. Probably just as expensive though. I agree with other that 8 days is probably a bit long for one spot in Thailand and there are so many great places there to go. Spend a few days in Bankok and do your shopping there. Bangkok is a love or hate place, but it is much cheaper and there is something there for every taste (literally every taste!!)

PS you must get a foot massage!

PPS I prefer Vietnam to Thailand as it has less of a touristy feel, although give me snowboarding in the Austrian alps any day!

 

[Smurf1976]

I'm planning a trip to USA for a few weeks and going pretty soon (nothing is booked yet however).

Bearing in mind that I've never been there before, and that I'm more interested in seeing the sights etc than sitting beside pools or getting sunburnt on the beach, I've come up with the following cities to visit thus far.

LA
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Orlando (Florida)
Washington
New York

Plan is to see the sights, do the touristy stuff etc in and around those cities and also going to/via Yosemite national park, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Disney World (Florida), Kennedy Space Centre and somehow getting to Niagra Falls as well.

Now, what have I left off that is worth going out of the way to see? This trip is intended to be a bit of fun and see some things I haven't seen before. The list thus far is just what I've come up with through a bit of research online.

Transport. Planning to fly Las Vegas to Orlando then fly again to Washington. Train to New York. Transport between the other places not worked out yet.

Cities = yes. Natural attractions = yes. Monuments, touristy "must see" things etc = yes. Theme parks = OK within reason. Art galleries etc = see one or two maybe but not too many. Sitting beside the pool all day = no thanks.

Any thoughts or advice? No kids on this trip only adults, but definitely doing to Disney World etc anyway.

Also, any comments about which airline to fly with from Australia etc?

 

[So_Cynical]

I'm planning a trip to USA for a few weeks and going pretty soon (nothing is booked yet however).

Bearing in mind that I've never been there before, and that I'm more interested in seeing the sights etc than sitting beside pools or getting sunburnt on the beach, I've come up with the following cities to visit thus far.

LA
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Orlando (Florida)
Washington
New York

Plan is to see the sights, do the touristy stuff etc in and around those cities and also going to/via Yosemite national park, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Disney World (Florida), Kennedy Space Centre and somehow getting to Niagra Falls as well.

I haven't done any but have done the research, there are some great train trips that can be taken in the US, pretty much anywhere you want to go to can be reached by train with some trains travelling through some spectacular country side.

http://www.americabyrail.com/

have a look thru the routes.

http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer/Page/1237405732511/1237405732511

Enjoy your trip smurf

 

[johenmo]

I'm planning a trip to USA for a few weeks and going pretty soon (nothing is booked yet however).

Bearing in mind that I've never been there before, and that I'm more interested in seeing the sights etc than sitting beside pools or getting sunburnt on the beach, I've come up with the following cities to visit thus far.

LA
San Francisco
Las Vegas
Orlando (Florida)
Washington
New York

Plan is to see the sights, do the touristy stuff etc in and around those cities and also going to/via Yosemite national park, Grand Canyon, Death Valley, Disney World (Florida), Kennedy Space Centre and somehow getting to Niagra Falls as well.

Now, what have I left off that is worth going out of the way to see? This trip is intended to be a bit of fun and see some things I haven't seen before. The list thus far is just what I've come up with through a bit of research online.

Transport. Planning to fly Las Vegas to Orlando then fly again to Washington. Train to New York. Transport between the other places not worked out yet.

Cities = yes. Natural attractions = yes. Monuments, touristy "must see" things etc = yes. Theme parks = OK within reason. Art galleries etc = see one or two maybe but not too many. Sitting beside the pool all day = no thanks.

Any thoughts or advice? No kids on this trip only adults, but definitely doing to Disney World etc anyway.

Also, any comments about which airline to fly with from Australia etc?

Airlines - avoid Continental or whoever they merged with. Have flown to NA with Qantas/Air NZ/United. Prob Air NZ is the best. Inside US - allow yourself plenty of time when booking in (have used up the 2 hours quite a few times) and accept that flights get delayed or cancelled - they seem to overbook. Internal flights - book them online for savings.

Drive - If you have time this is the way to go - see the real US. Just check out costs if you drop in a different location.

NYC - worth a look. I only got one night there and will now go back. Before the visit I was so so about seeing it but the atmosphere and people are interesting. Catch a show. John's Pizza was good (couple of streets from Times Square)

Niagra Falls - saw it from the Canadian side. Worth a visit IMO if you haven't seen falls this big but I believe Maid of the Mist has stopped operating. The town of Niagra was kitschy.

Grand Canyon - not been yet but several ppl I know saw the helicopter flight is worth it & they'd do it again. oN our list.

I visited relatives in Allentown PA but didn't get to tour the Martin guitar factory (closed for the period). Was interesting visiting a county fair, market at just before Halloween, and seeing the Amish communities. Then drove to NJ. Easy drive. The train from Newark airport to NYC - quicker and cheaper than any other mode of transport.

Idaho - went for work. Main experience here is mid-west lifestyle which I find interesting but possibly many other wouldn't. Saw some intersting country. First time I heard vehicle pronounced "vee-hickle".

Boston - got stuck here from 10 am to 6 pm the following day when our connection got cancelled. Interesting city. Went to Bunker Hill, missed the samuel Adams brewery tour, saw USS Constitution, Granary Burying ground (Paul Rever & other buried here) then had expensive steak in the steakhouse next to it. Had a great stroll through Boston Common.

Salt Lake City - transit through there but looks interesting esp the salt lakes.... On our list to visit.

I've found that the smaller/obscure local attractions grab me more than the better known.

Enjoy.

 

[MrBurns]

I'm off to Phuket, Rome, Florence, Venice, Brussels & Paris at the end of the year on my first ever overseas adventure. Would appreciate any advice on each of my destinations, particularly what not to do

m.

Take twice the money and half the clothes.

Shirts from Kathmandu stores are good, polyester, wash and wear they dry in half and hour and never need ironing, plenty of other handy stuff there too.

 

[springhill]

My wife and I am off to Singapore and Langkawi next week, spending just over a week in each.
Neither of us have been to either destination.
We have done the usual internet research as to the main tourist attractions and have pre-booked a few things to do, but would love to hear of any recommendations or hidden gems anyone has to share.

Cheers

 

[CanOz]

[SUB][/SUB]

My wife and I am off to Singapore and Langkawi next week, spending just over a week in each.
Neither of us have been to either destination.
We have done the usual internet research as to the main tourist attractions and have pre-booked a few things to do, but would love to hear of any recommendations or hidden gems anyone has to share.

Cheers

Enjoy your trip Springhill, looking forward to the photos!

 

[noirua]

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[noirua]