Travel The Hangar Travel Thread

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I didn't realise how many movies had been filmed in the Calgary area;

Doctor Zhivago
Dances With Wolves
Inception
The Revenant
The Unforgiven
Legends of the Fall
 
DapperDon said:
I'd go NY over San Fran. Not that San is bad just N.Y.C is simply amazing.

Just stay away from L.A
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What don't you like about Los Angeles?

Beerfish said:
I didn't realise how many movies had been filmed in the Calgary area;

Doctor Zhivago
Dances With Wolves
Inception
The Revenant
The Unforgiven
Legends of the Fall
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Yep. The majority of Hollywood movies are filmed in Canada.
 
Kakkle said:
What don't you like about Los Angeles?
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Just found it to be a city lacking character. I'll be honest and say I did only stick to tacky touristy things so it may be unfair but I just felt if you weren't in the film industry there isn't much to offer.
 

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DapperDon said:
Just found it to be a city lacking character. I'll be honest and say I did only stick to tacky touristy things so it may be unfair but I just felt if you weren't in the film industry there isn't much to offer.
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Well that's on you :p
 
Beerfish said:
May not have much of a choice actually. Sounds like wifey wants to do a road trip in Alberta or over to Vancouver. I'm really not that fussy. I just want go somewhere. She may have to go to Houston and Glasgow at some point too so that would be cool as well. Certainly is a cheap way to take holidays although you don't get a say where. We have accumulated about 900,000 FF points which will finally get some use too. Hello business class upgrades!
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I'd stick to the west coast cities then and leave NY for next time. We've spent a bit of time in Fernie BC (going there again in January) in the Canadian Rockies. Fernie is about a 3 hour drive from Calgary and we are thinking about a side trip to Calgary this time - so I'd be interested in your impressions.

Also, Calgary is not far from Banff and Lake Louise which look great in summer although known primarily for skiing. There's an archeological dig reasonably close too - we were told by friends in Vancouver that it was worth exploring at the time one of our boys was big on dinosaurs. The dig is also close to the FLDS communities in Montana (have you read Under the Banner of Heaven?)

Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco are all great. Also, Victoria Island off Vancouver is worth exploring. Bear in mind the distances are huge - a road trip from Calgary to Vancouver will be great (good choice Wifey!) but will eat up a lot of your time. It might be better to drive around the Rockies from Calgary and then fly to Vancouver from one of the regional airports, then drive to Seattle (good outlet shopping) and then fly to San Fran. So many good choices...you really can't go wrong. Roxanne (Steve Martin) was filmed in Nelson BC, not far from Fernie.
 
I'd actually agree that NYC is better left for a separate trip, because it is so big that you can easily devote a holiday just to NYC with nothing else. When I was in the US five years ago, I spent about a month there all up and three weeks of those were on the east coast, and within those three weeks I'd say 16 days were just in New York - with a three night side trip to Boston (which is a really great city as well) and a couple nights in Philadelphia (which personally, I found underwhelming) rounding out the three weeks.

Even with the time I spent in NYC, when it came time to leave I felt absolutely nowhere near ready to leave; there is just that much to do and see there.
 
NYC/Brooklyn is something that is not to be rushed for your first time. I'll be going back for 3 days in September, just to tickle the itch I have for the city.
 
Plenty of good stuff in Queens and Bronx too. The only borough of the city not really worth bothering with is Staten Island; there's just not much of interest there for a tourist, and I got the impression most New Yorkers see it in a similar light too.
 
sameolds33 said:
I'd stick to the west coast cities then and leave NY for next time. We've spent a bit of time in Fernie BC (going there again in January) in the Canadian Rockies. Fernie is about a 3 hour drive from Calgary and we are thinking about a side trip to Calgary this time - so I'd be interested in your impressions.

Also, Calgary is not far from Banff and Lake Louise which look great in summer although known primarily for skiing. There's an archeological dig reasonably close too - we were told by friends in Vancouver that it was worth exploring at the time one of our boys was big on dinosaurs. The dig is also close to the FLDS communities in Montana (have you read Under the Banner of Heaven?)

Vancouver, Seattle and San Francisco are all great. Also, Victoria Island off Vancouver is worth exploring. Bear in mind the distances are huge - a road trip from Calgary to Vancouver will be great (good choice Wifey!) but will eat up a lot of your time. It might be better to drive around the Rockies from Calgary and then fly to Vancouver from one of the regional airports, then drive to Seattle (good outlet shopping) and then fly to San Fran. So many good choices...you really can't go wrong. Roxanne (Steve Martin) was filmed in Nelson BC, not far from Fernie.
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Great post mate. Thanks for taking the time to give such a considered response. Some no doubt valuable information there. Time will be of the essence unfortunately as I think we will only have a week after her work is done so maybe the road trip isn't the best idea. I also found out that her office is actually an hours drive from downtown Calgary so it'll be interesting to see where they expect us to stay given most of the accommodation in the office area is 2.5 star at best. :think:
 

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A few from Scotland. 327A7284-FAC4-4E25-A3FB-4D2CF58E4068.jpeg 8AAD7ED7-EBCF-44D7-9A2A-3310EB485B7C.jpeg 03609902-965B-46F0-AF60-950689E5BAEC.jpeg
 
tesla1962 How did you find the Maltese? I have only met a handfull over my lifetime but every one that I have met but they have always stood out and as warm and genuinely friendly person. Malta is definitely on my list to get to one day.

Also, was it relatively easy to access from Heathrow or was it from one of the other airports?
 
Drummer_19 said:
I lived in Malta for 3 months in 2010, really awesome place, especially if you like things more on the quiet side.
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Cheap/ expensive? Pros/ cons?
 
DERO said:
Cheap/ expensive? Pros/ cons?
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This was 2010 and I was 23 then so stuff there has changed probably and so have my priorities but yeah the reason I went to live there was because of how cheap it was compared to other European countries, the only downside with that is you get a lot of English tourists there going there for holidays and stinking the place up because it's close and cheap, but then again I guess I was in the same boat.

The things I liked were it was a pretty quiet/small place, it's easy to get places, the locals were nice, weather was good. I like the architecture of the place, I suppose it's a lot similar to other old european countries in that way with how old a lot of the stuff is.

I've always said to people it's probably not the place you go to if you're young and just doing a small euro trip where you're spending 2 - 3 days in places because there's not really a ton to see from a sight seeing perspective but it's somewhere if you've got a bit more time to soak it in and maybe save a bit of money it's awesome, I think it's more the atmosphere that's alluring, I lived in Sliema which is right next to the ocean so it was a really nice view to wake up every day. There's a bit of a nightlife as well if you know the right people/places to go.
 
DERO said:
tesla1962 How did you find the Maltese? I have only met a handfull over my lifetime but every one that I have met but they have always stood out and as warm and genuinely friendly person. Malta is definitely on my list to get to one day.

Also, was it relatively easy to access from Heathrow or was it from one of the other airports?
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Yeah, the people are friendly. I think that the maltese population in Australia is about half of the Maltese population in Malta. It's very British due to the fact it was a colony up until quite recently. The cars are right hand drive and they drive on the left hand side of the road. The power plugs are a mixture of European and British. There are a s**t load of English tourists - just yesterday i was in a cafe and the people next to me were complaining about how bad the various motorways are in the UK and the M25 came in for a bit of stick. It was like a scene from minty python. The place is beautiful, I love the architecture and the history. I went to two temples (well preserved ruins really) that were both older than Stonehenge. The weather is great. Some people dismiss it as hot rock in the Mediterranean where nothing happens. That's not fair. One, because the on shore breezes are delightful and, two, because the place has a lot of charm. The ocean is spectacular and there is a lot of diving. Personally, I get pretty sad about how barren the Mediterranean is underneath the surface - i reckon you see more life in Port Philip Bay. It's cheap and easy to drive around with nothing very far away.

PS flew air Malta from Heathrow
 
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DERO said:
Where to next tesla1962 ?
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Haha, like you I am heading to Scotland with daughter #1, then France. Any tips re. Scotland much appreciated - I have targeted loch fyne and loch awe.
 
If I had another crack at Scotland, I would have concentrate my time in the area you are going to to and tried to spend more time around Glencoe/ Ben Nevis. I did not have enough time to go as far east to Loch Fyne instead heading up past Loch Lomond and past Loch Awe through the Trosachs on my way to Glencoe which was fantastic. Without doubt the most scenic drive I have ever done was the drive from Glascow to past Loch Lomond up to Fort William.

I should have spent more time in around Glencoe, Fort William, Port Augustus and Oban but had to crack on. I hiked to the McDonald signal rock near Glencoe which was the staging ground for the McDonalds whose slaughter by the Campbels is considered the inspiration for the Red Wedding scene in Game of Thrones! The lack of people, stacked rocks and Blair witch style stickmen made it a little unsettling. I much preferred the west coast scenery but that is not to say that central and western Scotland is not beautiful!

There is big Loch Ness and Inverness. I really liked Foyer which was just off Foyer's River, South of Loch Ness. Foyer's falls is a nice little hike and you can keep hiking inland to Loch Ness if you wish.

Isle of Skye was nice. My big mistake there was heading up too far north to Lochailort only to be told that I should have gone to Mailag and grabbed the car ferry so lost an hour+ backtracking to Fort William which i had driven through. It was super busy but there were some beautiful spots. Fairy pools, the Store (which you need to hike to), Neist Point, the Qiraing etc were good spots but you will need a bit of time to get around as the roads go to a single, shared lane in some spots. Dunvegan Castle is also a good spot and you will be out towards Neist Point. Isle of Skye is deceptively big and takes more time than you would think to get around.

I really liked Aviemore in Clairgorm National Park. There is still snow on protected parts of the peaks and the Fernicular railway goes all the way to the top. It is closed for maintenance until early July. There is also some really good hiking from the carpark to the peak. There are some really nice villages just south of the Carigorm such as Aberfeldy, Kenmore, Killin. Falls of Bruar is a nice little hike near Pitolchry (the heart of Scotland) and you will also find Blair Castle and the house of Bruar nearby.

I'd be really keen to hear how it goes as I would love to get back one day.
 
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