Great (cheap) Europe desination for 10th annv?
Sep 30th, 2003, 07:22 PM
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Great (cheap) Europe desination for 10th annv?
Planning a 10th anniversary trip for May 04. Have been to London and England, Austria, Canada, and hubby has been to Prague. Want some place that's a value as have other traveling planned. Was considering Thailand, Spain, Rio, Amsterdam. Any other bargin places?
Sep 30th, 2003, 07:39 PM
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thailand is my favorite place at the moment...although may is not the perfect month to be there...having said that i plan a one month trip next may to june....
south of france is nice...
turkey is fabulous
south of france is nice...
turkey is fabulous
Sep 30th, 2003, 08:50 PM
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I'd pick Spain, but I've become a Spain addict. Lived in Thailand and have been to Amsterdam, but not Rio. You can get some very good hotel deals through petrabax.com and May should be a good time to go. Lots of information on this website and you might check out guidebooks and several internet sites--spainalive.com, aboutspain.net, red2000.com, okspain.org, to name but a few.
Oct 1st, 2003, 07:27 PM
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Hi
Check out Croatia, especially the Istria and along the Dalmation coast. It is all on the Adriatic Sea. Beautiful Italian looking towns. Very historic , used to be part of Italy. Palm trees, red tiled buildings,Very Good Italian food, Good accomodations. We stayed in resort hotels, which there are many. Check out the Eyewitness guidebook for the pictures of Croatia. I was very surprised that many American were not there. The people picked up our accent and told us it wasn't English. They were very happy when they found out we were Americans. One man in his 40's told us he was glad we were American because he like American. This was the general attitude. I call it Italian on the cheap. Most of the country was Italian until end of WW2. Excellent food both Italian and Slavic.
alan
Check out Croatia, especially the Istria and along the Dalmation coast. It is all on the Adriatic Sea. Beautiful Italian looking towns. Very historic , used to be part of Italy. Palm trees, red tiled buildings,Very Good Italian food, Good accomodations. We stayed in resort hotels, which there are many. Check out the Eyewitness guidebook for the pictures of Croatia. I was very surprised that many American were not there. The people picked up our accent and told us it wasn't English. They were very happy when they found out we were Americans. One man in his 40's told us he was glad we were American because he like American. This was the general attitude. I call it Italian on the cheap. Most of the country was Italian until end of WW2. Excellent food both Italian and Slavic.
alan
Oct 2nd, 2003, 03:18 AM
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Cindy- have been to all the places you mentioned (except Rio) and I agree with rhk - Turkey is absolutely fabulous. We just returned (from a 30th anniversary trip) and I keep kicking myself for not visiting Turkey earlier in our travels. It is truely magical, inexpensive, lots to see and do, and the Turks are warm, friendly, and welcoming people. Croatia would be #2, Greece #3 Outside of Europe Thailand would be #1, Bali #2, and Morocco #3.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 05:24 AM
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Turkey! We had a wonderful trip there early this summer, would recommend Bodrum (Hotel el Vino), Sirince (near Ephesus and Istanbul (Hotel Ibrahim Pasha). You can stay even cheaper than these, but all were under $100/night for beautiful accomodation and wonderful service. Another website is something like "small hotels in turkey" if you search, a web based service and book with charming, small hotels, run by the family who owns the hotel we stayed in Sirince (Nisanyan, is their name). There is so much history, ancient, Christian, islamic and everyone was so wonderful to us, I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 05:42 AM
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I would look into the Baltic States, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. You could also go to nearby Poland (Krakow, Warsaw) and even Russia, St. Petersburg is magnificent and of course Moscow. These places are all extremely cheap!
Oct 2nd, 2003, 05:54 AM
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If you are planning to be part of a guided tour, then I suppose Turkey would be a good destination. But if I were you, I wouldn't try it as independent travel unless you are familiar with the country and the language. For someone who has already been to various parts of the world, you might be better off considering either Croatia, as already suggested, or Hungary, which is also a good value, lots of history, with warm people. Good luck.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 07:15 AM
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Cindy- I disagree strongly with Wayne. My wife and I (in our 60s) traveled independently in Turkey and never had any problem even though we were totally unfamiliar with the country and spoke no Turkish. We did, however, set up "base camps" in Istanbul, Cappodocia (Urgup) and Kusadasi and took small group day tours from each "base" as we felt like it. The maximum allowed on each tour was 8, but most tours had only 3 to 6 people. Turkey, however, is a large and diverse country so don't expect to see it all- just choose a spot (Cappodocia, Istanbul area, the Agean or Mediterranean Coast) and enjoy!
Oct 2nd, 2003, 08:54 AM
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I agree with dffisher - any or all of the Baltic states are reasonable, especially outside the capital cities.
You'll also have the bonus of less tourism / commercialism etc. Go there before they cop on to the "rip-off" mentality. And they will. Tell hubby that Tallin is like a mini Prague without the tack.
You'll also have the bonus of less tourism / commercialism etc. Go there before they cop on to the "rip-off" mentality. And they will. Tell hubby that Tallin is like a mini Prague without the tack.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 12:30 PM
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Laurie_ann - Bodrum has a reputation as a rowdy, beer fuelled clubbing zone full of drunk Brits after some "fun". I assume that it's not all like that then? I've never been and was wondering.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 12:45 PM
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I'd also vote for Turkey (although I've long wanted to go the Dalmatian coast). For Turkey, consider doing a "blue cruise" from bodrum (or antalya)-- mini cruises (nice little boats 4-10 people, generally 3-14 days). We were in Bodrum in the offseason, and there was a nice castle and some other things to see for a day or two, but mostly it was before/after the cruise.
I also think you don't need to go on a tour, although using tour guides at specific sites (like cappadocia, or ephesus) is a good idea.
Depending on how long you have I think you can cover a number of different spots (Istanbul, coastline, cappadocia) without rushing about too much.
I also think you don't need to go on a tour, although using tour guides at specific sites (like cappadocia, or ephesus) is a good idea.
Depending on how long you have I think you can cover a number of different spots (Istanbul, coastline, cappadocia) without rushing about too much.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 12:50 PM
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if i recall correctly from my one year (enforced) stay as a "guest" of the former republic of south vietnam, may is the beginning of monsoon season throughout thailand and the rest of southeast asia.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 04:33 PM
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Wow! Thanks for all the great ideas. Funny that so many of you recommended Turkey--that was our original plan but with strained relations between our countries because of the Iraq war we were going to abandon the idea. We will probably only have 8 days at most (including travel days) so that was another consideration. Money is an issue on this trip as we are going on a family vacation to Hawaii in Nov. and our daughter is going to London with her Advanced Placement History class in June '04. Keep those ideas coming!
P.S. I've always wanted to go to Venice--how expensive would that be for a week with some side trips? Travel orginating from the west coast.
P.S. I've always wanted to go to Venice--how expensive would that be for a week with some side trips? Travel orginating from the west coast.
Oct 2nd, 2003, 05:35 PM
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Cindyrella,
(By the way, love the name) Check out this month's BUDGET TRAVEL Magazine. They have a featured article on Croatia, and it really sounds amazing and cheap, esp. Dubrovnik and Hvar. I understand that you can take an overnight ferry from Venice to Dubrovnik, so maybe this could fit in with your desire to visit Venice for a few days.
Good luck with your trip!
(By the way, love the name) Check out this month's BUDGET TRAVEL Magazine. They have a featured article on Croatia, and it really sounds amazing and cheap, esp. Dubrovnik and Hvar. I understand that you can take an overnight ferry from Venice to Dubrovnik, so maybe this could fit in with your desire to visit Venice for a few days.
Good luck with your trip!
