2023 Travel Plans

[Flashback]

When? September?

Oh gosh, forgot about that! End of August so will just miss you. Going in/out via Bucharest (award flights were hard to find for OTP!) and going to take the overnight train to Chisinau. I remember you're going to Transnistria, advice is to not travel there (but the rest of the country is fine). Are you still doing that bit?

On the way back stopping in Iasi in Romania too.

I have a feeling we are in Cambodia when you're in Moldova.

 

[RooFlyer]

Oh gosh, forgot about that! End of August so will just miss you. Going in/out via Bucharest (award flights were hard to find for OTP!) and going to take the overnight train to Chisinau. I remember you're going to Transnistria, advice is to not travel there (but the rest of the country is fine). Are you still doing that bit?

On the way back stopping in Iasi in Romania too.

I have a feeling we are in Cambodia when you're in Moldova.

August good for me - I'll hear all about your experiences

Still planning Transnistria and also Gagauzia - another 'Autonomous Republic'. . Hmm, Smarttraveller I don't think had 'Do not Travel' for Transnistria before. Will assess on the day - its a dash in and out on a day tour so I think it'll be OK and as its a private tour, I can say 'turn around' at any time.

Moldova Tours: Best Incoming tour operator agency to discover Moldova

Inbound tour operator Moldova Tours offers sightseeing tours, including city walks, tailor-made tours and wine tours with professional English speaking guides.

www.moldovatours.md

You'll love Cambodia - really fun. Try to get the book 'Carrying Cambodia' Carrying Cambodia: Kemp, Hans, Wall, Conor: 9789628563784: Amazon.com: Books Its a hoot as well as an accurate reflection of the place.

 

[Buzzard]

August good for me - I'll hear all about your experiences

Still planning Transnistria and also Gagauzia - another 'Autonomous Republic'. . Hmm, Smarttraveller I don't think had 'Do not Travel' for Transnistria before. Will assess on the day - its a dash in and out on a day tour so I think it'll be OK and as its a private tour, I can say 'turn around' at any time.

Moldova Tours: Best Incoming tour operator agency to discover Moldova

Inbound tour operator Moldova Tours offers sightseeing tours, including city walks, tailor-made tours and wine tours with professional English speaking guides.

www.moldovatours.md

You'll love Cambodia - really fun. Try to get the book 'Carrying Cambodia' Carrying Cambodia: Kemp, Hans, Wall, Conor: 9789628563784: Amazon.com: Books Its a hoot as well as an accurate reflection of the place.

Do you have the book?

 

[RooFlyer]

Do you have the book?

The friends I was travelling with got the last copy in the store

 

[OZDUCK]

We have just booked for our trip to the German Christmas markets in December this year arriving in Frankfurt. Like a few others on here we are flying Oman Air in J but with the legs from/to Perth in MH J - on an A330. For both legs of the trip we will have an 11 - 13 hour stopover at KLIA so we will book a 9 hour time slot in the Transit Hotel. The fare for two is about $7-9,000 cheaper than currently available on SQ, QF or QR. We are on the 'old' version of their A330 for the KL/Muscat legs so no Apex suites but a 1-2-1 layout with a flat bed of about 80" but a lot less private.

The only definite plan we have at the moment is to be in a small town just north of Stuttgart on 3/12 so we can go to a fund raising concert for the town band - our friends daughter has been playing in it for a number of years. She also wants to go with us to the Strasbourg Christmas Markets. I am not sure if she is intending to drive us or whether we will all take the train.

 

[Pushka]

The friends I was travelling with got the last copy in the store

It's available on Amazon store.

Post automatically merged: Jul 12, 2023

We have just booked for our trip to the German Christmas markets in December this year arriving in Frankfurt. Like a few others on here we are flying Oman Air in J but with the legs from/to Perth in MH J - on an A330. For both legs of the trip we will have an 11 - 13 hour stopover at KLIA so we will book a 9 hour time slot in the Transit Hotel. The fare for two is about $7-9,000 cheaper than currently available on SQ, QF or QR. We are on the 'old' version of their A330 for the KL/Muscat legs so no Apex suites but a 1-2-1 layout with a flat bed of about 80" but a lot less private.

The only definite plan we have at the moment is to be in a small town just north of Stuttgart on 3/12 so we can go to a fund raising concert for the town band - our friends daughter has been playing in it for a number of years. She also wants to go with us to the Strasbourg Christmas Markets. I am not sure if she is intending to drive us or whether we will all take the train.

We are doing a River Christmas at Christmas time. Will be in Strasburg, Cologne, and a variety of other cities to see the markets.

 

[Matt_01]

Came across this thread again so NZ in Apr went ahead, managed to sneak in a trip to TPE and KUL in June. The EU/UK trip in Sep/Oct 23 was cancelled. I am booked to go the 2023 AFF annual catch up in LST, I think this qualifies as international travel as I have to transit via MEL and fly over water .

 

[oznflfan]

Time to start planning post COVID 2023 travel plans.

Just booked 7 nights great AirBNB apartment in Torun, Poland. Torun is the site of 2023 Speedway World Cup, held Tuesday 25th to Saturday 29th July 2023. Nothing else booked, but Torun isn't a huge town, and good accommodation will book out well before the event. Planning 12 weeks off from mid June to early September 2023, European trip for my 50th birthday present.

Update to opening post of this thread. Fly out this coming Monday ASP-MEL, then next day MEL-SGN-FRA with Vietnam Airlines Premium Economy, then quick Lufthansa flight to KRK.
Krakow 4 nights
Wroclaw 7 nights - attend Speedway World Cup - main purpose of trip
Gdansk 4 nights
London 7 nights to have a real good wander around.
Can't wait.

 

[Flashback]

We have just booked for our trip to the German Christmas markets in December this year arriving in Frankfurt. Like a few others on here we are flying Oman Air in J but with the legs from/to Perth in MH J - on an A330. For both legs of the trip we will have an 11 - 13 hour stopover at KLIA so we will book a 9 hour time slot in the Transit Hotel. The fare for two is about $7-9,000 cheaper than currently available on SQ, QF or QR. We are on the 'old' version of their A330 for the KL/Muscat legs so no Apex suites but a 1-2-1 layout with a flat bed of about 80" but a lot less private.

The only definite plan we have at the moment is to be in a small town just north of Stuttgart on 3/12 so we can go to a fund raising concert for the town band - our friends daughter has been playing in it for a number of years. She also wants to go with us to the Strasbourg Christmas Markets. I am not sure if she is intending to drive us or whether we will all take the train.

We'll be in the general vicinity at the same time then. Arrive in STR on 30/11 and heading south towards Lake Constance before heading over to the Black Forest. Drop the folks back at STR nearly a week later where they'll spend a few nights. The train from STR to BER was pretty cheap (even in 1st, was minimally more) booking this far out. DB is one of the few operators where you can book more than a month or two ahead. Get over the border and to Strasbourg, but definitely Colmar if you can.

Yes @VPS, I'll be adding another 8 or so new Christmas market locations on that trip My folks haven't done any before so thought I'd give a nice variety tour!

Update to opening post of this thread. Fly out this coming Monday ASP-MEL, then next day MEL-SGN-FRA with Vietnam Airlines Premium Economy, then quick Lufthansa flight to KRK.
Krakow 4 nights
Wroclaw 7 nights - attend Speedway World Cup - main purpose of trip
Gdansk 4 nights
London 7 nights to have a real good wander around.
Can't wait.

What dates is the Speedway World Cup? That could be fun to pop over to see. Love Gdansk, really cool city. Sort of a Polish Holland.

 

[VPS]

We'll be in the general vicinity at the same time then. Arrive in STR on 30/11 and heading south towards Lake Constance before heading over to the Black Forest. Drop the folks back at STR nearly a week later where they'll spend a few nights. The train from STR to BER was pretty cheap (even in 1st, was minimally more) booking this far out. DB is one of the few operators where you can book more than a month or two ahead. Get over the border and to Strasbourg, but definitely Colmar if you can.

Yes @VPS, I'll be adding another 8 or so new Christmas market locations on that trip My folks haven't done any before so thought I'd give a nice variety tour!

What dates is the Speedway World Cup? That could be fun to pop over to see. Love Gdansk, really cool city. Sort of a Polish Holland.

Sighhhh

 

[lifeofhaz98]

Cancun in August! Flying QF (and AA connection from Dallas)

Very very keen

 

[oznflfan]

We'll be in the general vicinity at the same time then. Arrive in STR on 30/11 and heading south towards Lake Constance before heading over to the Black Forest. Drop the folks back at STR nearly a week later where they'll spend a few nights. The train from STR to BER was pretty cheap (even in 1st, was minimally more) booking this far out. DB is one of the few operators where you can book more than a month or two ahead. Get over the border and to Strasbourg, but definitely Colmar if you can.

Yes @VPS, I'll be adding another 8 or so new Christmas market locations on that trip My folks haven't done any before so thought I'd give a nice variety tour!

What dates is the Speedway World Cup? That could be fun to pop over to see. Love Gdansk, really cool city. Sort of a Polish Holland.

25-29 July in Wroclaw. Aussies in SF2 on Wednesday night the 26th. Final is Saturday night 29th. About 900 tickets left for the final as of today. Heaps of tickets for SF's, as the Polish team qualify straight to the final, so that's the ticket for the locals.

 

[Flashback]

25-29 July in Wroclaw. Aussies in SF2 on Wednesday night the 26th. Final is Saturday night 29th. About 900 tickets left for the final as of today. Heaps of tickets for SF's, as the Polish team qualify straight to the final, so that's the ticket for the locals.

Thanks for the insights! FR is coming in at £262 + cost of a carryon (so let's call it 325 or so), LH is £195. Similar pricing into KRK, then 3 hours or so on the train. KTW slightly more again. WAW even more.

Nothing available using Avios to either KRK or WAW going over, but is a seat coming back from KRK. Looks like I'm SOL for this one! BER or PRG have seats available coming in, but then it's a 4+ hour bus ride. At least with the Polish options it was a nice comfy train.

I can recommend a few places for meals there:

• SETKA - Restauracja Polska - Wrocław · Kazimierza Wielkiego 50, 50-077 Wrocław, Poland - SETKA - Restauracja Polska - Wrocław; kind of a bar/restaurant, does decent food
• Pierogarnia Rynek 26 · Rynek 26, 50-101 Wrocław, Poland - Pierogarnia Rynek 26; baked dumplings, a must try if you haven't had them before
• Bar mleczny Miś · Kuźnicza 48, 50-138 Wrocław, Poland - Bar mleczny Miś - if you haven't tried a Polish milk bar before, it's an interesting experience and this place wasn't too bad
• Wrocław Kebab I Pizza · Wita Stwosza 44, 50-438 Wrocław, Poland - Wrocław Kebab I Pizza - if you're after a cheeky kebab, this place was pretty good and the guys working there are good fun

 

[luxury-lizard]

so far only Spain and a cruise around the Canary Islands (on Ponant) in late April. Thinking of spending a week in Majorca - would like hgh-end holiday apartment - suggestions on location and/or particular apartment most welcome.

 

[Flashback]

Qatar for the F1 GP.

 

[ayebee]

Depends how long you want to spend travelling, you can do Cambodia in a little less time I'd say. We are heading there in September. Vietnam we did a few years ago but 2 weeks wasn't enough, we had a 2nd crack at it booked but ended up cancelled due to COVID.

We are also heading for Vietnam and Cambodia in November.
We have booked a Mekong Cruise Siem Reap / Angkor Wat to HCM City, but after that we are building our own itinerary.

We would like to do a 2 night Ha Long Bay cruise from base in Hanoi.
Do you have any experience / suggestions with operators ?

 

[Flashback]

We are also heading for Vietnam and Cambodia in November.
We have booked a Mekong Cruise Siem Reap / Angkor Wat to HCM City, but after that we are building our own itinerary.

We would like to do a 2 night Ha Long Bay cruise from base in Hanoi.
Do you have any experience / suggestions with operators ?

Haven't made it north yet, had flights booked during COVID but that was cancelled!

 

[jase05]

We are also heading for Vietnam and Cambodia in November.
We have booked a Mekong Cruise Siem Reap / Angkor Wat to HCM City, but after that we are building our own itinerary.

We would like to do a 2 night Ha Long Bay cruise from base in Hanoi.
Do you have any experience / suggestions with operators ?

We have now done 2 Ha Long bay cruises and I must say I preferred just the day trip. The 2 night trip whilst being ok I felt the accomodation and meals weren’t fantastic and we didn’t see much more of the bay than we did in the day trip. When we went back last year we just found it better to stay a couple of nights in Ha Long bay and then just do a day cruise on one of the days. When we go back this will definitely be our plan of attack too

 

[Flashback]

Just booked Bosnia & Herzegovina, leaving on Sunday.

 

[trooper]

Heading off on a somewhat ridiculous routing to YWG (Winnipeg) in 12 days. Trip is built mainly around great value or cheap Biz fares, though kicking off in Y on VA/SQ CBR-MEL-SIN-MNL.
MNL-BAH-CAI in J on GF. Stop
CAI-MUC-YUL-YWG on MS/LH/AC. in J. A week there for a competition..
then YWG-YUL-LHR on AC..in J.
LGW-GIB rtn on U2 (!) as a side trip. (Y Minus?? )
Then LCY-VIE-CAI on OS. In J. Longer stop.
CAI-CDG-SIN-SYD on AF/QF. In J.

It turned into a bit of a monster!

REALLY looking forward not only to the comp..but to Gibraltar. Amused to be using THREE London airports.