Travel The Hangar Travel Thread

[eDPS]

Having a hard time deciding between two options to travel with my GF next July (I know it’s a busy period but she is a school teacher so it’s the only long term holiday time we can get) looking like UK/Paris or LA/Hawaii. This will be my GF’s first time overseas so the longer trip to UK might be a tough one.

Can’t say there is a lot that excites me about UK apart from Scotland (Really want to take that Steam Train), my GF’s family originated from Ireland so she would really like to see it. I wanted to see a big music festival while I was over in UK/Europe but non of the announced lineups excite me which has me leaning to going over another year.

LA/Hawaii is the option I recently thought off, my GF really wants to see Disneyland/Universal but there isn’t a lot after that down there that would interest but could easily use up 4 days alone to experience both amusements. Hawaii would be awesome for the great beaches and just overall vibe. I’d love to go on atleast one fishing charter over there to catch a nice Trevally.

 

[DERO]

it’ll be cold and wet in Europe so Hawaii/ the east coast of USA is probably a better option based on weather. Scotland is a beautiful place but it is much better when the sun is about.

Have you considered somewhere like Phoenix Arizona / Scottsdale if you are flying in to LA? A bit leftfield but a beautiful city not far from some amazing desert scenery and the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam which is something that has to be seen to truly understand the magnitude of. Only an hour or two flight from LA from memory. Also not far from Vegas.

If you decide to go the other way, Singapore is a good mid point on the way to Europe and has a Univeraal studios but also an amazing zoo, aquariums, the gardens at Manta Bay, food, the locals are friendly etc and it is easy to get around. In my opinion possibly the best major city in the world (there are plenty that I have not seen).

 

[eDPS]

it’ll be cold and wet in Europe so Hawaii/ the east coast of USA is probably a better option based on weather. Scotland is a beautiful place but it is much better when the sun is about.

Have you considered somewhere like Phoenix Arizona / Scottsdale if you are flying in to LA? A bit leftfield but a beautiful city not far from some amazing desert scenery and the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam which is something that has to be seen to truly understand the magnitude of. Only an hour or two flight from LA from memory. Also not far from Vegas.

If you decide to go the other way, Singapore is a good mid point on the way to Europe and has a Univeraal studios but also an amazing zoo, aquariums, the gardens at Manta Bay, food, the locals are friendly etc and it is easy to get around. In my opinion possibly the best major city in the world (there are plenty that I have not seen).

Would it really be cold and wet in UK/Europe in July? I searched up the weather and said it was one of the warmer periods for Scotland atleast

 

[DERO]

Would it really be cold and wet in UK/Europe in July? I searched up the weather and said it was one of the warmer periods for Scotland atleast

Sorry, I assumed you were considering going in January because your misso is a teacher. I skipped the July bit.

 

[eDPS]

Sorry, I assumed you were considering going in January.

Nah we can only really do the early July school holidays

 

[DERO]

Nah we can only really do the early July school holidays

LA is on the west coast too so I'm doing really well!

It is a pretty brutal flight in and out for only two weeks in Europe. You lose a day either way- say 14 hours to Dubai plus the stop over and then 7 or 8 to Paris or London.

 

[eDPS]

LA is on the west coast too so I'm doing really well!

It is a pretty brutal flight in and out for only two weeks in Europe. You lose a day either way- say 14 hours to Dubai plus the stop over and then 7 or 8 to Paris or London.

Yeah that was the other consideration as it’s her first time overseas so the bigger travel compared to LA/Hawaii might not be ideal

 

[DERO]

Yeah that was the other consideration as it’s her first time overseas so the bigger travel compared to LA/Hawaii might not be ideal

I reckon the jetlag is less severe coming back from the US too. Not sure whether that is just me or whether others would agree.

 

[Lore]

I reckon the jetlag is less severe coming back from the US too. Not sure whether that is just me or whether others would agree.

It’s always worse flying east for me. So going to the USA/coming home from Europe

Also s**t is the stupid short circuiting of day/night on a long haul flight, makes you feel like a battery chicken with everyone pretending that the three hours with the cabin lights off means it’s now time for breakfast. Three times over to europe, unless you get it with one stop over (depends on the carrier).

 

[Kong]

Europe. Always Europe.

LA is cool to look around, but I wouldn't want to stay long. Hawaii, eh.

 

[eDPS]

I guess the other thing is if it’s better to do a proper Europe trip when I have the time to do a lot of places and not just UK and France with the 2 weeks we have

 

[ant555]

I guess the other thing is if it’s better to do a proper Europe trip when I have the time to do a lot of places and not just UK and France with the 2 weeks we have

My view is you have to do at least 4 weeks in Europe.
If you go to LA I would not rule out having some time in San Diego or San Francisco or Vegas

 

[Sporno 4 Pyros]

Having a hard time deciding between two options to travel with my GF next July (I know it’s a busy period but she is a school teacher so it’s the only long term holiday time we can get) looking like UK/Paris or LA/Hawaii. This will be my GF’s first time overseas so the longer trip to UK might be a tough one.

Can’t say there is a lot that excites me about UK apart from Scotland (Really want to take that Steam Train), my GF’s family originated from Ireland so she would really like to see it. I wanted to see a big music festival while I was over in UK/Europe but non of the announced lineups excite me which has me leaning to going over another year.

LA/Hawaii is the option I recently thought off, my GF really wants to see Disneyland/Universal but there isn’t a lot after that down there that would interest but could easily use up 4 days alone to experience both amusements. Hawaii would be awesome for the great beaches and just overall vibe. I’d love to go on atleast one fishing charter over there to catch a nice Trevally.

Europe (&Paris) is ace and London in summer is great fun but as few others have said it is better with a 4-5 week break from work. I assume she has 3 weeks? You could fly into London, do a few days, head off to Ireland/Scotland for 2 weeks, fly back to Aus with a 2-3 day stopover somewhere like HK, Bangkok, Singapore, but that may be better once she has had a bit more experience traveling (2025’s trip )

LA sounds like a good option for a first time traveler with theme parks, beaches, etc and I am sure there are plenty of fishing options. My experience is that Americans are super friendly to visitors and it is a good place to travel to.

I’ve only done New York, Washington DC, and SanFran in the US.
NY has great bands almost every night at that time of the year and Broadway musicals with some fantastic singers/actors (buy last minute tickets at Halftix). Lots of lakes for fishing. Girlfriends love NYC.

Maybe fly into LA, have a week there, NY for a week, back to LA for a few days then home

 

[Kong]

I guess the other thing is if it’s better to do a proper Europe trip when I have the time to do a lot of places and not just UK and France with the 2 weeks we have

I've found 2 weeks to be plenty for one or two countries in Europe. Longer is obviously better, but on those shorter trips I've done road trips through the UK starting in London, west to Wales, up through England into Scotland. You will see plenty of incredible sights in even a week.

Likewise, a week in Paris, for example, is great. Especially by foot, you can get around and see so much, immerse yourself in the street food and art.

 

[DERO]

That is a lot of driving Kong ! It is at least 10 hours up through London across through Wales and up to Glasgow!

I flew into Glasgow a few years back with the intention of doing 8 or 9 days in Scotland up through Isle of Sky and back around through the highlands and into Dundee and down to Edinburgh and then driving down to Brighton to catch up with THE WINE GURU (tesla1962 ) and then flying out of Heathrow after catching up with some friend in London. In the end I got to Dundee and decided to go back north and ended up getting an easy jet flight from Edinburgh rather than driving in order to make the most of my time!

I reckon tesla1962 is a good man to talk to as he is based over there now.

 

[revival_mode]

the problem with a europe trip as short as that is imo is the plane ride over & back. you lose a fair couple of days travel time straight up (cutting into an already short trip) and tbh i absolutely HATE the plane trip itself over. i couldn't do the two long trips in such a short time. maybe business/first class is more bearable but i've never done it so cant comment.

Hawaii would be fine, especially for a first time traveler. not sure about maui atm after that fire this year but there are the other islands. each have different things going on

LA, san diego, san fran, vegas... can get to a few of those places in the south west easy enough. depends how much you wanna pack in or take it easy

i wanna throw up japan as an option - can see a LOT there in a couple of weeks

 

[owen87]

the problem with a europe trip as short as that is imo is the plane ride over & back. you lose a fair couple of days travel time straight up (cutting into an already short trip) and tbh i absolutely HATE the plane trip itself over. i couldn't do the two long trips in such a short time. maybe business/first class is more bearable but i've never done it so cant comment.

Hawaii would be fine, especially for a first time traveler. not sure about maui atm after that fire this year but there are the other islands. each have different things going on

LA, san diego, san fran, vegas... can get to a few of those places in the south west easy enough. depends how much you wanna pack in or take it easy

i wanna throw up japan as an option - can see a LOT there in a couple of weeks

Japan is great but going somewhere that doesn't speak much English could be a bit stressful for a genuine first-time overseas traveller. Highly recommend it though if it's an option.

I'd always prefer Europe to the US as a destination, but 2 weeks isn't enough, 3 weeks is doable (shortest I've done with 3 weeks from the day I left to the day I landed) but pretty hectic and probably not enough for a first-timer to really get in to the groove.

If you wanted a left-field option to avoid any overly huge flights;

Melbourne > Hawaii > LA > Auckland > Melbourne

Air New Zealand do a LA > Auckland > Melbourne route, could do a weekend in Auckland then a nice short 3.5 hour hop home to finish your trip. Price wise it's no more expensive than the Qantas or Jetstar options (I picked a random Friday in mid-July and it's ~ $1700 p/p with Qantas or ~ $1800 with Air NZ)

Do 3 - 5 nights in Hawaii, allow 2 nights in Auckland, do the rest around LA / San Diego / Tijuana, could even pop over to Vegas which is pretty unique.

 

[eDPS]

I’ve been to Japan before and would love to go again but yeah this is a trip for both of us and not a trip just for me

 

[citizen-erased]

Having a hard time deciding between two options to travel with my GF next July (I know it’s a busy period but she is a school teacher so it’s the only long term holiday time we can get) looking like UK/Paris or LA/Hawaii. This will be my GF’s first time overseas so the longer trip to UK might be a tough one.

Can’t say there is a lot that excites me about UK apart from Scotland (Really want to take that Steam Train), my GF’s family originated from Ireland so she would really like to see it. I wanted to see a big music festival while I was over in UK/Europe but non of the announced lineups excite me which has me leaning to going over another year.

LA/Hawaii is the option I recently thought off, my GF really wants to see Disneyland/Universal but there isn’t a lot after that down there that would interest but could easily use up 4 days alone to experience both amusements. Hawaii would be awesome for the great beaches and just overall vibe. I’d love to go on atleast one fishing charter over there to catch a nice Trevally.

jacobite?
Scotland is amazing. food, people, edinburgh as a city, the highlands and islands in general. gorgeous part of the world.
the UK has a lot of things to do.
London is obvious, or older cities like York, Bristol, Bath are quite nice.
the countryside is amazing, as are the seaside towns.

easy to drive, bus/coach, train about UK. train to paris is excellent too. 2hrs-ish. you go from central london to middle of paris (airports are the worst).

If it's 4 weeks, i'd do England and scotland in a heartbeat.
if paris is a must - take 3-4 days out midweek and head over. you don't need that much longer in Paris.

 

[citizen-erased]

I guess the other thing is if it’s better to do a proper Europe trip when I have the time to do a lot of places and not just UK and France with the 2 weeks we have

i find europe gets too frantic doing too much.

i spent Nov taking my parents to 9 different cities. it was too much.
A month is fine, but plan for 2-3 countries max imo.

 

[eDPS]

jacobite?
Scotland is amazing. food, people, edinburgh as a city, the highlands and islands in general. gorgeous part of the world.
the UK has a lot of things to do.
London is obvious, or older cities like York, Bristol, Bath are quite nice.
the countryside is amazing, as are the seaside towns.

easy to drive, bus/coach, train about UK. train to paris is excellent too. 2hrs-ish. you go from central london to middle of paris (airports are the worst).

If it's 4 weeks, i'd do England and scotland in a heartbeat.
if paris is a must - take 3-4 days out midweek and head over. you don't need that much longer in Paris.

Yep the Jacobite, yeah we only played on doing 3 days max for Paris.

 

[citizen-erased]

Yep the Jacobite, yeah we only played on doing 3 days max for Paris.

get on the trains early if you go.
I got my dad on the flying scotsman, but it was a massive stroke of luck in the end.
they can sell out fast.

brightside, that trip from Edinburgh to Fort william is amazing. Get a car from there and travel the highlands, speyside and argyll are really nice parts of the world.

 

[sameolds33]

get on the trains early if you go.
I got my dad on the flying scotsman, but it was a massive stroke of luck in the end.
they can sell out fast.

brightside, that trip from Edinburgh to Fort william is amazing. Get a car from there and travel the highlands, speyside and argyll are really nice parts of the world.

what about spending most of the time in Ireland - where she's keen to go and it'll be a new experience for you too?

We had a great 2 weeks holiday before kids: flew into London, wedding in Kent, drove down to ferry (Hollyhead?) via Cornwall, ferry to Cork, drove around a bit (the Connemara was especially beautiful) ended in Dublin - great party town. Flew back to London. Few days there then home.

 

[pepsi]

I did a two week trip to Europe in 2018 and loved it. Left the Friday night and returned on the Sunday before work.

Flew into Athens and went straight on a ferry to Paros. Couple of nights in Paros and then a ferry to Santorini for two more nights. Flight to Munich for two days at Oktoberfest and a fast train to Berlin for 3 nights. Flight to London for another two nights and then headed home from London for Melbourne.

It can be done and I enjoyed the trip a lot.

 

[citizen-erased]

what about spending most of the time in Ireland - where she's keen to go and it'll be a new experience for you too?

We had a great 2 weeks holiday before kids: flew into London, wedding in Kent, drove down to ferry (Hollyhead?) via Cornwall, ferry to Cork, drove around a bit (the Connemara was especially beautiful) ended in Dublin - great party town. Flew back to London. Few days there then home.

Think you meant to quote edps, but ill take the post.
For all my trips to the uk im yet to get to ireland. So ill add those stops ;