3 Women Ready to See the World!
 

Hi everyone,

My girlfriends and I are planning a trip for next year. We are trying to figure out where to go. We are all in our early 30s..I have done some traveling--the last place was Brazil. But these girls have never been out of the country..anyway, I have always wanted to go to London, or Australia.

Are any of these good choices for three women traveling together? We just want to have fun (shopping, fine dining, culture..).

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :-)

Simone

Sure, both are good, there are already plenty of women in London and Australia, you will fit right in.

I would chose London but then I have never been to Australia so I can't compare.

Have fun.

Since your friends haven't traveled abroad, one thing to consider is flight times.
NYC-London - 7 to 8 hours
NYC-Australia - 20-25 hours

Since they are neophytes, I would suggest London w/the added benefit
of theatre there.

I think London is the better choice for a first trip and for the things you describe (shopping, fine dining, culture). Maybe you could even fit in some time Paris too?

How ahout a combo London/Paris trip. Excellent for shopping, fine dining and culture. Can I come?
Barb

Good suggestion Suze.

Depends tho on how much time they have. They could take the Chunnel
between Paris & London, both excellent cities for their 3 wonts.

To a man with a hammer everything looks like a nail.

I am not a man. The hammer remains in the tool chest. No nails are in view.

But that describes me & Africa and this response.

No, I'm not some weirdo troll. At least not a troll.

If you could alter your expectations slightly, Africa has some travel bargins, due to the poor economy, that we have not seen in awhile.

If I take your title seriously about being "Ready to See the World" then East or Southern Africa (safe, typical tourist and safari-type destinations) would have you seeing things you'd never forget. Without getting too melodramatic, you'd likely be changed forever upon your return.

<b>Fine dining</b>...check, surprisingly so! Some of the best food I've had was in Africa. How about dining while overlooking a river with elephants taking a drink?

<b>Culture</b>...The Maasai of East Africa, Zulus in South Africa, just for starters. Heck, Africa is the cradle of mankind, so there definitely is some culture there.

You could even do lots of great <b>shopping</b> in Cape Town, South Africa. The rand is 10 to 1 on the dollar, whereas only 6 months ago it was 7 to 1. Those extra three rands can fill your shopping carts with lots of goodies.

At any given time of the year, someplace in Africa is optimal for weather and wildlife.

If your heart is set on London, that is a convenient stopover to-from Africa if flying British Air. It also cuts down on the continuous flying hours.

But ir Africa is a definite no-no, then either London or Australia should be a good time. Maybe see the new Australia movie to put you in an Australian mood.

I'm not an Africa travel agent, just an Africa traveler who is also visiting Brazil in the next year, your last destination.

Should you start running with this Africa idea and August 2009 was your timefame and wanted to visit the gorillas too, then we could be a foursome.

To give you good advice, I think we'd need some more information about, e.g. a) your budget, b) your gateway city (I assume you're in North America - east, south, west, central?); c) how adventurous the least adventurous of the three of you is; d) how much time you have; and e) when you'd be able to travel.

Australia would be interesting, but as others have noted, it's a long trip (maybe a bit more manageable if you're already on the west coast). It's not a practical choice if you only have a week or so - you'd really need at least 2 weeks and preferably 2.5-3 to enjoy the experience. By contrast, you could visit London or another city in Western Europe in less than a week (if you had to), especially if you're coming from the east coast.

Airfares are very expensive these days - $1000+ prices aren't unusual for western Europe; you could be looking at $1500-2000 for Australia. If you're on a tight budget and have a relatively limited amount of time, you might consider Montreal (for some French flavour - with good shopping, food and nightlife - at a budget price), since the Canadian dollar is only about $.81 US these days. This would be a good choice between May and late October, but not necessarily in the winter. If your friends are less adventurous, Montreal would be &quot;manageably exotic&quot;.

The other country I would strongly recommend for a group of 3 thirty-something women is Spain. It's a terrific country for shopping (great home-grown fashion), dining, nightlife (you can easily party until the wee hours), culture and style. There are some very stylish, moderately priced boutique hotels in Madrid and Barcelona. Madrid would be great from about March-May and Sept-Nov (it's an oven in the summer); Barcelona is more temperate (more like San Francisco) - and offers access to beaches nearby. Barcelona is my favourite city in the world (and that's saying something because I used to live in Paris).

Thank you everyone! I am so excited already. Africa is definitely on my list; I almost went to Addis Ababa earlier this year for work but the trip was postponed. I think I would be the most adventurous of the three of us, but my friends would definitely follow my lead as they trust my opinions. However, I think Africa would be too much for them as a first trip. London, Barcelona, or Spain would be a great first trip for them. Thank you to whoever suggested that!

By the time we travel, money shouldn't be a real issue, because we will be saving all year. These girls are single and childless, while I am married with two children. I hate to be away from them for too long so I think that the most I could stand it (without going nuts and missing them terribly) would be 10 days.

London is sounding like the best option Paris is just a hop and a skip. Thanks again for your suggestions. We can't wait to begin planning.

Simone

Oh and we would be flying from NYC.

Flying from NYC, 5 days London, 5 days Paris is near perfection(!) as a trip for three girlfriends to make together.

Everyone is complaining about the exchange rate and a few friends mentioned we should think of another destination spot as a result.

&quot;Everyone is complaining about the exchange rate&quot; - but the dollar is doing so much better right now! Why the complaints? And if budget is a consideration you could certainly look at Asia.

Thursday, I agree! We are definitely going! :-)

Can anyone suggest a hotel for us? And when is the best time to buy our tickets?

You should probably ask your hotel question on the Europe board. I have had good luck lately with B&amp;Bs on Gower St (e.g. Arosfa and Ridgemount), but fodors posters seem to like Priceline for London. In Paris I just stayed at Hotel Le Sevigne in an excellent location in the Marais, but it may not be as good a deal for a triple as a single.

The way I pick hotels is to first research and get an idea what part of the city you want to stay in. Both London and Paris are huge places. I'd try to pick just a couple areas that are convenient and centrally located, then look at the hotel in those smaller areas.

Trying to research all of Paris or London is a herculean task, and really no benefit.

I don't know London, but in Paris I'd suggest the 5th or the 6th arrondisement.

And definitely head over to the Europe forum. Tons of great information for you already posted there.

Thank you!

I've lived in London and Paris and visited both cities a lot for work and play.

My favourite base in London for visiting is where I used to live, between Marylebone High St and Tottenham Court Road (W and E respectively) and Wigmore St and Marylebone Road/Euston Rd. It's very central, but a little bit removed from the throngs of the west end. It's between High Park and Regent's Park, it's within walking distance of Soho (restaurants, nightlife), Bloomsbury (museums), and shopping districts.

Moderately priced hotels in that area include the Holiday Inn-Oxford Circus on Welbeck St, the Thistle Selfridge Hotel (on Oxford St) and the Sherlock Holmes Hotel. I've stayed at the first two, and while there is nothing particularly special about them, they are decent hotels at a decent price. They're a good bet if you want to make a cancellable reservation in advance and then look into cheaper, non-refundable bookings (eg Priceline) closer to your date of travel. I think there's also a Meridien, but it's more expensive.

In my experience, you have to pay a lot of $ to get better than a &quot;ok/decent&quot; hotel in London.

I finished my response a little too soon. I had said that it takes a lot of $ to get better than a decent hotel in London. For example, there are some places in the world where, for example, $75 gets you an adequate 3* hotel, but $125 or $150 gets you 5* luxury (e.g. some cities in Asia or areas of the Middle East). By contrast, in London, $75 barely gets you a hostel, $125 gets you a dumpy B&amp;B, and $200-225 might only get you an ok hotel near the city centre. You might have to spend $300-400 or more to get something special (and central).

In such a city, it is better either to: (a) adjust your expectations and be prepared to settle for &quot;decent&quot;; or (b) bid on priceline for a luxury hotel and take your chances as to which hotel you get. Priceline is trickier with 3 people, because there's no guarantee you'll get a room with two beds. If, however, you're bidding for 2 rooms, you're likely to be able to accommodate the three of you comfortably (provided that two of you are willing to share a bed on the off chance you can't get a room with two beds).