The site you want is Orbitz. Comprehensive guide across the major cruise lines, with some decent specials.
I don't post here a lot, but I was hoping someone might be able to give me some travel recommendations. Has anyone here done any extensive travel in Central and/or South America? Starting at the end of September I will be heading down to Cuzco, Peru to wrap up my thesis work. After a few weeks in that area I'm going to work my way north to Central America, until either January or when I run out of money. Im hoping to do as many extended hikes and archaeological sites as possible. Planned areas to hit in Peru: Huascaran National Park, Chachapoyas (Kuelap and Gran Pajaten), Iquitos and the tri-border area. In Columbia I'm hoping to see Medellin and the Ciudad Perdida. Does anyone have additional recommendations for these countries? What about Ecuador, Panama or Nicaragua? I've never been to any of these three countries and would like to hear other traveler's experiences. Any advice on issues like transportation or border crossings, particularly from Columbia to Panama would be appreciated as well. If anyone is thinking about visiting Honduras, Costa Rica or Peru, I could probably give you some tips as they are all places I've lived. Thanks!
I'm going to Houston, Texas next month for work and am planning on going a few days early since I have never been to this area before. Any recommendations on places to go or things to see would be appreciated. Also, are there any good restaurants that I should plan on eating at? Thanks.
One of my best friends got married at the beginning of the summer to a German chick and then a couple months later moved with her to Frankfurt where he is playing semi pro basketball. I'm going to visit him the week before Thanksgiving in Frankfurt and hitting Prague and Amsterdam as well. Right now my trip is 2 days in Frankfurt staying with my best friend and his wife then like 3 days in Prague where we will visit a buddy of ours who is studying abroad and hit up Transmission, a trance festival with some cool djs (and drugs). Then we fly to Amsterdam (same price as the train and saves 11 hours of travel) where the two of us will stay in the Bulldog Hostel for the Cannabis Cup for about 3 days before I fly home the day before Thanksgiving. Any thoughts/advice/suggestions? I've never been to Europe before but I love traveling and when I was in the 8th grade made it my goal to hit all 6 inhabited continents before age 25. I'm 22 and after this trip will have been to all of them except Africa which I think is possible within the next 3 years. I'll also do a proper Eurotrip in the next couple years, one of those 4-5 week, 10 cities kinda trips.
Hi Folks, I could use some advice. I'm planning a 5 to 8 week solo trip to South America in June next year (followed by a week in Vegas, incidentally). The countries I'm planning to visit are Peru: for Machu Picchu Brazil: appears to be filled with beaches and beautiful women, fairly welcoming to tourists, and I'd love to see some BJJ comps. Also home to Iguazu falls (and this trip to S.A. happened largely because I saw photos of Iguazu falls and decided I had to see them before I die). Argentina: Iguazu falls, I know nothing else about the place except that its bbq is apparently excellent. Galapagos Islands: some of the best scuba diving in the world. and potentially Bolivia: wasn't initially on my agenda, but everyone seems to rave about this as a tourist destination. Can't miss, etc etc. I have vague plans to fly into Argentina, as Buenos Aires appears to be a good hub into that part of the world (although getting there from Western Australia is an absolute bitch. $2.5k flights are brutal). Then work my way up north till I hit the galapagos islands, then jump across to Vegas. Specific questions: is this feasible in this timeframe? Am I missing out on somewhere that is mindblowingly awesome? What are some key sites I should see in this part of the world? (Background: I'm a 26yr old guy who's not much into cities. I much prefer countryside, or beaches, or small towns, or jungle. Just to be difficult, I'm also looking for a fairly active backpacker party scene, so there's some company around if I feel like it. My preference is to check out interesting cultural sites during the day and then get blitzed at night.) More generally, what are the key things to know about travelling around here? I'm a moderately experienced traveller (lots of Asia, lots of Europe inc Russia, some USA), albeit none of that has been solo. (Atoq, you mentioned living in Peru - I'd be very interested to hear any advice you have for me; places to go, places to avoid, common scams, etc). Any advice is much appreciated.
I've been to Brazil several times - Rio, Salvador, Sao Paulo, and Buzios. You mentioned you are not a "big city" person, so I would suggest staying away from Rio and Sao Paulo. Although Rio is pretty choice in my opinion. If you are a beach guy, I'd highly recommend going to Buzios for a few days (only a couple of hours from Rio by bus). Been to Peru once...like you, just to see Machu Picchu. It's definitely worth the trip. Are you planning to hike the Inca Trail? If so, plan on 4-5 days total in Cusco/Machu Picchu. If not, there is a train that goes from Cusco (~ 4 hours). 1 day (or maybe 2) at the actual site is probably all you'll need. Recommend climbing Huayna Picchu if you want an awesome bird's eye view of the site. It's at the far end of the entrance to the park. Galapagos is amazing as well. One thing I would suggest is booking some sort of guided tour or cruise/sailing trip. There are a ton of islands, only a couple of which have commercial ports and/or hotels/restaurants. Santa Cruz is probably the most traveled to, because it's touristy and you get to see the big tortoises. In my opinion, it was also the most disappointing. The other islands that are uninhabited are almost other worldly. You can't access these islands on your own...you will need a pre-booked guide. The animals are not hunted in the Galapagos, so they are extremely friendly. You can pretty much get up next to any one of them and get some cool pictures. I strongly suggest booking a small cruise or a sailing tour. 5-6 days is probably a good amount of time to spend here. Haven't been to the other countries, although my wife and I are trying to do a week in Argentina sometime next year. Let me know how Iguazu is. It's on my list.
Advice on SA trip: Buenos Aires: Spent four days there in sept. 2008 and liked it. It is a big city (that seems to have stoped in time in the 50s due to Argentina's economic decadence) and has some interesting historic sites. Lots of options for nightlife all night long, although argentinian women seem to be a bit stuck up with gringos (maybe this is just with brazilians). Food is also great if you like red meat and ranges from traditional parillas (argentinian bbq) to very nice high end places. The good news is that even the latter are pretty affordable due to the peso being very devalued. June is the start of ski season in Argentina and although it very rarely snows in BA it does get very cold. Also taxis are very cheap and the best mean of transportantion in Ba but there a lots of crooks driving them ( from stealing in the change to robbing people at gunpoint).
Further advice on South America: Brazil: its a huge country and the roads are terrible so you will probably travel mostly by plane. This requires a lot of planning ahead because air tickets are very expensive. In June you will not be able to go to the beach in the south (were the best looking woman are). I advise you to spend a week in Rio. The city is beautiful, you might get nice weather, the people are very laid back and there are a lot of hostels in Ipanema.
I could use some advice... I recently was approved to telecommute full time, so I am completely location independent for the foreseeable future. I would like to take advantage of this and work from a foreign country or two for an extended period of time (1-2 months in each place). I've done a significant amount of research, but would like to hear some more location suggestions. Here are the requirements... 1. Reliable high speed internet and phone service (I have a global phone and need to keep that number, but will rarely actually use it). I need to be in constant contact with coworkers and can't afford internet blackouts for hours. 2. Cheap cost of living. I am keeping my current apartment and will be paying double rent. I'd like it to be under $400 / month for a 1 BR or studio. 3. Nightlife. I'm in my mid-20's and traveling alone, so it'd be nice to be able to go out and socialize after my work day is over. It'd also be nice if the place catered to backpackers or other travelers. 4. +/- 6hr time difference. I need to work roughly 9-5 EST and can adjust my schedule accordingly, but do not want to be completely nocturnal. 5. Authentic cultural experience. I don't want to work from Cancun or some other Americanized artificial tourist location. There should be sites worth seeing when I am not working. 6. Friendly/Safe. I am fine with any place that is of comparable safety to any major US city. I just don't want to be in some war torn area. It'd be nice if the area was friendly to outsiders and I didn't feel like I was constantly being taken advantage of or about to be mugged. I only speak English and enough Spanish to get by. I really appreciate any suggestions on locations, finding short term rentals (craigslist? airbnb?), connecting with other people when living alone in a new country etc.
After reading trh2h's post, I started looking into that sort of thing as I am also a telecommuter. I found furnished apartments in Berlin and the Netherlands on Craigslist for around 700 euros. The flights were about a thousand dollars or so on Orbitz. I really want to do this in the next year or so, so I am also interested in anyone else's opinions.
I'd have suggested S.A., since I've seen 1br. apartment rentals for just over $300 per month, but the reliable high-speed internet and not war zone make that not an option... Oh, xenophobia is rife too.
I'm going to be in the Oakland/Berekely CA area next week for some work. I'm looking for suggestions of things to do, see, and eat while I'm in the area. If necessary I could rent a car, but would prefer not to. Any advice/suggestions are appreciated. Thanks.
Anybody have details from Panama they'd like to share? Will be there for 10 days over Christmas. Love hiking, diving, snorkeling, drinking, speaking bad spanish, etc.
I'm in the beginning stages of planning a trip for myself and 2-4 of my close friends to Germany. We plan on leaving in the end of September and plan on spending two or so days in Munich for Oktoberfest. Also want to go to Berlin and Amsterdam. Total time available for the trip would be 2-2.5 weeks including travel time. The information on Germany posted previously has helped immensely, but I'm looking for advice on where to find the cheapest flights, experiences with Oktoberfest, and any other suggestions on places to visit/things to do in Germany in that time frame. Thanks in advance.
Well, if Europe is an option, there are several fantastic places. Lisbon: - HIGHLY underrated. Fucking awesome city, really nice people, very cheap because the economy is up shit creek without a paddle. Rent can be anywhere between 200 € upwards. Surfing beaches within 40 bus minutes from the city centre. Aside from lisbon, Portugal is really great too. It's a western city, no problems (there is one area of town that you don't visit at night because you can get mugged) Berlin: - So hyped it's almost already too much. If you're looking for an artsy (i.e. hipster) city, this is it. Cheap rent, cheap food and everything. Arguably the electronic music HQ in Europe. Cultural life out of this world (the arts, music, history). The weather may be a bit of a letdown, but if you're cool with 4 seasons, it's a good pick. Barcelona: - Very overrated imho. Lots of tourists, lots of annoyances (pickpockets etc.). I've heard from friends it gets great if you're there for a decent amount of time, but I still think that there are other cities more fun. Amsterdam: - Probably also overrated, if you're in it for drugs etc., they're relatively relatively available in every major European city. Nice place, dutch people are cool and easygoing, quite a lot of culture going on too. Nightlife also a pro. Cologne: - Rather fun, debauched and messy. Less "trendy" than Berlin, but heaps of fun. Zurich: - Very nice, and as a foreigner, very accessible. If you're living off a US salary, cost of living could be a dealbreaker. It's fucking expensive. Worth a visit though and Zurich's proximity to skiable mountains is great in winter. Budapest: - Nice city, boatloads of fun aaand that's about where my first-hand knowledge of it ends. Seemed like a cool place to live culturewise, but I had too little interaction with locals to actually get a feel for it.
On Oktoberfest, I stayed at a campground through TopDeck. We mainly had to do it that way because we weren't sure if our trip was going to last that long, until 2 or so months before, and that was the only thing that had free accomodation. You're looking at about 30 euro per night (they do it in 4-5 night packages), and for hostels you're looking at anywhere upwards of 60 euro (although a lot closer to the grounds). I didn't particularly mind the camping (just a place to crash after the drinking), but it was a 20-30 minute trek from the Oktoberfest grounds. Either way I'd suggest booking your accomodation, whatever you decide to do, right now. On the tents/beer halls, get there as early as you possibly can in order to ensure you get a seat at a table. You're looking at 9am starts. Drink steins for a few hours, then go ride the bumper cars or whatnot. Super fun. It's easy to make friends with other people on your table or the surrounding ones too.
Getting around Germany - Germanwings and Airberlin are two local aircarriers. In between them and EasyJet / Ryanair you should be able to book reasonably priced tickets to get from one end of the country to the other. Personally, I'd spend less time at Oktoberfest (the novelty wears off quickly) and spend more time in Berlin, possibly Hamburg. Both rule and are cheap.
I'd have to disagree regarding Oktoberfest, but each to their own. Hamburg was definitely enjoyable, moreso than I expected.
The Girlfriend and I will have about 5 days in Kuala Lumpur in February. Any suggestions on what we should see/do? Any travel advice will be appreciated.
KL is fucking great. For pure touristy stuff: go up the petronas towers (it's free, but go there in the morning, because you'll have to get tickets for it and they run out by afternoon). For the price of a bit of advertising on how Petronas is the greatest company ever, you'll get a cool view over KL and some interesting fact on the building itself. I wouldn't recommend the tv-tower, as it's pricey and while the view is better than the Petronas, there's not THAT much to see. The petronas towers are built on a piece of land that was made to be observed from above, loads of trippy architectural shit to see. Also, KL features SHITLOADS of various cultures and cuisines. I haven't witnessed, the admittedly overused term, diversity like that anywhere. In a crowd, you'll regularly be able to witness fully-veiled muslim women alongside Indians in traditional garb and a a girl of Chinese heritage wearing a skirt more deserving the description "belt". Go to the various districts and eat the local food off the street, it's fantastic. Throw out the notion of "eeww, that place doesn't look so clean", instead look at how many people eat there. The stuff is usually fresh if there are loads of people and what may look like shit is really very tasty. (prime example of this is "rendang" - beef stewed in a spicy coconut sauce. It literally looks like chunks of shit though) If you're in to that, KL offers some of the wickedest shopping opportunities. Even non-fake merchandise is a lot cheaper. For fake stuff go to china town, for real stuff go to one of the huge megamalls. Other than that, there are some day tours to caves that other travellers recommended, but I didn't have time, as I was only there for 3 days. Also, I think there are day tours to national parks, which should be good based on the ones I did in other parts of Malaysia. Have fun!