chicovilla Posted September 14, 2018 Share Posted September 14, 2018 On 09/08/2018 at 11:24, chicovilla said: All booked now, flying to Sofia in Bulgaria from Luton, visiting Sofia, Rila and Plovdiv over 5 days then travelling south to Skopje, to stay there for 2 days and then Lake Ohrid area for further 3 nights. Fly back to Luton from Skopje, Macedonia. Flights cost £65 return and accommodation at some excellent Air BnB's for average £25 a night. Hearing that Bulgaria is one of the cheapest places in Europe and Macedonia even cheaper Will probably skip Kosovo on this trip. Currently in Ohrid and its absolutely stunning, one of the best places I've ever been. Incredibly cheap and the scenery around the lake is incredible. In an air bnb overlooking the lake and mountains from the old town. Skopje was also brilliant, loved the old town and its bazaar. Bulgaria was also great, did the 7 lake trek high up in the Rila mountains and also Plovdiv one of the oldest towns In Europe. A fantastic trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted September 15, 2018 Share Posted September 15, 2018 (edited) Anyone been to Macau? @tonyh29 @chicovilla Thinking of a couple of nights here when we hit Hong Kong Edited September 15, 2018 by Xela Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicovilla Posted September 15, 2018 Share Posted September 15, 2018 44 minutes ago, Xela said: Anyone been to Macau? @tonyh29 @chicovilla Thinking of a couple of nights here when we hit Hong Kong Went there on the fast ferry from Hong Kong for a day trip. Think Las Vegas style casinos! Some huge resort hotels full of Chinese gamblers. Town Was pleasant enough, nice old town to wander through and sample the free tasters on each food stall. Their specialty is Pork chop buns which are very good and also strips of grilled pork. It's an old Portuguese colony so some of the buildings have that feel. Very popular for Hong Kongers and Chinese. Cant comment on the nightlife but a worthy day trip from Hong Kong itself. Although as you know you cant beat Hong Kong! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted September 15, 2018 Share Posted September 15, 2018 13 minutes ago, chicovilla said: Went there on the fast ferry from Hong Kong for a day trip. Think Las Vegas style casinos! Some huge resort hotels full of Chinese gamblers. Town Was pleasant enough, nice old town to wander through and sample the free tasters on each food stall. Their specialty is Pork chop buns which are very good and also strips of grilled pork. It's an old Portuguese colony so some of the buildings have that feel. Very popular for Hong Kongers and Chinese. Cant comment on the nightlife but a worthy day trip from Hong Kong itself. Although as you know you cant beat Hong Kong! Cheers. My mate wants to take the helicopter from HK to Macau instead of the ferry but its about £300. Not sure its worth it when the fast ferry doesn't take too long at all! We'd probably do 1 or 2 nights there.. .got no interest in gambling but its another place ticked off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted September 16, 2018 Share Posted September 16, 2018 13 hours ago, Xela said: Anyone been to Macau? @tonyh29 @chicovilla Thinking of a couple of nights here when we hit Hong Kong Not been , hoping to go next year as my mate has got a job in Hong Kong so plan to visit him at some point Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted September 17, 2018 Share Posted September 17, 2018 We haven't been away since moving house a year ago, so have just booked a three week trip to New York, Martha's Vineyard and Boston. Can't wait. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 booked a 3 day surprise trip for the other half to Bruges in late november ( the price difference between then and two weeks later for hotels is insane ). I've been before and loved it, but went in a summer month, looking forward to seeing it in winter. Yes, I know it's going to be a tourist trap with the christmas markets, but it is so beautiful I don't care, and it's a great excuse to watch In Bruges once more, and I'm looking forward to sampling de Garre beer again. 11% strong and served with cheese 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 im going to cologne german market this year so i can have the argument with my german missus over birmingham's being better and i typed it, realised what i'd done and then left it..."german market" she does the same! calls it the koln german christmas market Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 13 hours ago, Risso said: We haven't been away since moving house a year ago, so have just booked a three week trip to New York, Martha's Vineyard and Boston. Can't wait. remember they don't put toffee sauce on Steak and Kidney pie in America ..instant deportation if you do it P.S if you're flying BA can you stick my On Business number on the booking if i send it to you , so I get some bonus airmiles ( you still get yours , just i get extra ones) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Risso Posted September 18, 2018 Share Posted September 18, 2018 Sorry Mr H, we're going by Virgin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 (edited) Has anybody got any advice on the best way to tour around Auschwitz - booking tickets/guide etc. Would be staying in Kraków so need to get to Auschwitz from there.... Edited September 20, 2018 by Tayls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Tayls said: As anybody got any advice on the best way to tour around Auschwitz - booking tickets/guide etc. Would be staying in Kraków so need to get to Auschwitz from there.... i did it by rental car, tickets on the door, its cheaper and their guide was excellent, you get a bus from camp 1 to camp 2 included, it might look really busy but there are a lot of tours and a lot of languages, what i did find was theres more than a few who obviously couldnt be bothered to wait so just jumped in our group and didnt understand any of it which is mad to me, especially around camp 1 looking at their website you can reserve time slots for 50 zloty which is just over £10, incredible value for the experience you will have https://visit.auschwitz.org/rezerwacja/termin.html?idg=1 i really enjoyed krakow, did the salt mines which are worth a visit, can tell you beware schindlers factory they cap the number of visitors a day so that you might want to pre book or get there day 1 and line something up, also did a horror tour there which as i've learned over the years horror tours arent scary but its a great way to get a private tour of the city for cheap 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Yeah the salt mines are well worth a visit. I went to Auschwitz a couple of years ago and we got a bus up from our hotel to the site, wasn't too hard at all really. We then booked onto a guide but then they take you over to the other camp as well. It is not as crowded as you first think when you get there though. Was really annoyed by some assholes taking smiling selfies in the gas chambers though 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mottaloo Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 1 hour ago, Rodders said: Was really annoyed by some assholes taking smiling selfies in the gas chambers though My annoyance at seeing such a disgusting act would probably include me slapping such words removed and stamping on their camera phones. Fair play to you for not (I assume) chinning one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 (edited) i think i took 1 photo for the whole tour, on the train platform at camp 2 looking back to the entrance i didnt do plaszow, would say the main square in krakow is one of the nicest ive been to (even if it was about 8 degrees and pissing it down in mid june) and i would love to go back, not sure what my german missus would think of it, its not really talked about, she has polish ancestry but thats from gdansk (which she still calls danzig) Edited September 20, 2018 by villa4europe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tayls Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 5 hours ago, villa4europe said: i did it by rental car, tickets on the door, its cheaper and their guide was excellent, you get a bus from camp 1 to camp 2 included, it might look really busy but there are a lot of tours and a lot of languages, what i did find was theres more than a few who obviously couldnt be bothered to wait so just jumped in our group and didnt understand any of it which is mad to me, especially around camp 1 looking at their website you can reserve time slots for 50 zloty which is just over £10, incredible value for the experience you will have https://visit.auschwitz.org/rezerwacja/termin.html?idg=1 i really enjoyed krakow, did the salt mines which are worth a visit, can tell you beware schindlers factory they cap the number of visitors a day so that you might want to pre book or get there day 1 and line something up, also did a horror tour there which as i've learned over the years horror tours arent scary but its a great way to get a private tour of the city for cheap Yea I’m definitely keen on getting a guide and making sure I take full advantage of actually being there and learning. I’ve wanted to go for a while. I had a look on the site, but there were 2 options available which I couldn’t tell the difference between, but one was cheaper than the other by 5/10 zloty... so I panicked and didn’t book... I just need to try and figure out the best way to get there, but based on what @Rodders said, it might be possible to arrange that through the hotel. (Which we haven’t picked yet). I hadn’t thought about the salt mines - we were only going for 2 days, primarily for Auschwitz, but I might have to try and fit it in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zatman Posted September 21, 2018 Share Posted September 21, 2018 On 18/09/2018 at 11:22, villa4europe said: im going to cologne german market this year so i can have the argument with my german missus over birmingham's being better and i typed it, realised what i'd done and then left it..."german market" she does the same! calls it the koln german christmas market was there few years back. Its more than one market in Cologne. Think was about 7 or 8 different ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh29 Posted September 22, 2018 Share Posted September 22, 2018 On 20/09/2018 at 23:44, Tayls said: Yea I’m definitely keen on getting a guide and making sure I take full advantage of actually being there and learning. I’ve wanted to go for a while. I had a look on the site, but there were 2 options available which I couldn’t tell the difference between, but one was cheaper than the other by 5/10 zloty... so I panicked and didn’t book... I just need to try and figure out the best way to get there, but based on what @Rodders said, it might be possible to arrange that through the hotel. (Which we haven’t picked yet). I hadn’t thought about the salt mines - we were only going for 2 days, primarily for Auschwitz, but I might have to try and fit it in. One more vote for “do the salt mines” from me youll find local companies that will do salt mines and Auschwitz in one day or if you want to pre book before you go then have a look at Viators web site I’ve used them before in numerous countries and they are reliable . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xela Posted October 1, 2018 Share Posted October 1, 2018 All booked now Bangkok - Saigon - Hong Kong - Macau - Hong Kong - Bangkok Just over 2 weeks in all - bit of a trip down memory lane with the lads, been a few years since we've done these places. Macau is the only new stop. Off in just over 5 weeks! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheAuthority Posted October 6, 2018 Author VT Supporter Share Posted October 6, 2018 Heading to Majorca in about 10 days for a week for our babymoon Flights to Madrid from JFK were dirt cheap so we grabbed them. Few days in the Park Hyatt resort on the East side (credit card rewards FTW) and then over to Deia for the rest of the week. Renting a car and we'll visit all the cute little towns. We will be giving Magaluf about a 50 mile wide berth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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