The Travel Thread

[Killer Power]

Plenty of people on here who have visited or lived in other countries / parts of Oz. Thought it would be a good idea to start a thread where advice or travel tips could be provided. Or just talk about your exciting plans or dream holidays!

I will kick off (yes, there is an alterior motive!).... Heading to France in May. Have been to Paris before and will end up there again at the end of this trip but what im really interested in is advice on the south of France. We have a couple of weeks available to lazily lap up the countryside, food and wine. Would love to hear of any highlights / must sees / must misses!

 

[DaTBird187]

The south of France is one of the most beautiful parts of Europe. Plus the food and wine is outstanding.

Go to Carcassonne, an amazing fortress town south of Toulouse.

Also anywhere in the Roussillon area near Perpignan is wonderful too. Great wine there.

And the area around Biarritz in the West coast near the Spanish border is fantastic too. This is the Basque region, which is an area in France/Spain rich in history, with one of the oldest continuous cultures in Europe.

I love France, such a great country.

 

[Killer Power]

Caracassone sounds like a must see. Cheers!

 

[It Just Is]

I finish uni at the end of this year and have about 7-8 months to travel before I start work (already have a job).

At this stage I'm thinking I'll hike Mount Kilimanjaro and the Atlas mountains plus do some volunteer work somewhere in Africa. And maybe surround all that with a bit of a Mediterranean loop, Killer Power I'll be eagerly awaiting a report on Southern France as well as Spain/Portugal if you get there.

I'm comfortable, and I like to think competent, travelling solo but was wondering if anyone has backpacked around Africa and the Middle East before, is it achievable or are there parts where it's best to join a tour group?

Would love to hear about any must see places in that region too.

 

[El Zorro]

We spent 3 weeks driving a motorhome in southern France. I would recommend: Blois and nearby Chataeu de Chambord, the Pirinees, Carcassonne and surrounds, Arles, Aigues-Mortes, Reins and the Champagne area. All the Loire valley area is beautiful too. Basically, all the south of France is quite unbelievable!

 

[I Dont Care]

We spent 3 weeks driving a motorhome in southern France. I would recommend: Blois and nearby Chataeu de Chambord, the Pirinees, Carcassonne and surrounds, Arles, Aigues-Mortes, Reins and the Champagne area. All the Loire valley area is beautiful too. Basically, all the south of France is quite unbelievable!

Did you spot any septic tanks while you were over there Zorro The Second?

 

[Killer Power]

I finish uni at the end of this year and have about 7-8 months to travel before I start work (already have a job).

At this stage I'm thinking I'll hike Mount Kilimanjaro and the Atlas mountains plus do some volunteer work somewhere in Africa. And maybe surround all that with a bit of a Mediterranean loop, Killer Power I'll be eagerly awaiting a report on Southern France as well as Spain/Portugal if you get there.

I'm comfortable, and I like to think competent, travelling solo but was wondering if anyone has backpacked around Africa and the Middle East before, is it achievable or are there parts where it's best to join a tour group?

Would love to hear about any must see places in that region too.

Yep, happy to report back what was good & what wasn't. Not hitting Spain / Portugal but have just finished planning the Italian portion. Booked 3 nights in an authentic 1 up 1 down terrace house in a stunning town on the Cinque Terre.

 

[Killer Power]

We spent 3 weeks driving a motorhome in southern France. I would recommend: Blois and nearby Chataeu de Chambord, the Pirinees, Carcassonne and surrounds, Arles, Aigues-Mortes, Reins and the Champagne area. All the Loire valley area is beautiful too. Basically, all the south of France is quite unbelievable!

Cheers for that! Some of these have been mentioned to me already so confirmation is appreciated and the others I will check out.

 

[Duck Farmer]

Spent a month on the Côte d'Azur in 2012 - Nice, Villefranche sur Mer, Antibes, Monaco, Menton. Last year I spent 3 weeks in Paris - rented an apartment in the 6:eme arrondissement not far from Montparnasse. J'espère que j'y retournerai cette année.

 

[Ian Jackson]

Annecy is a must! Outside of France, if you can get to the Croatian coast, Split, Korcula, etc, it is fantastic!

 

[raptalia]

If you cannot afford Europe try New Zealand. It is less expensive and a lot closer than Europe.

 

[Janus]

Pro tip: If you want to go places for a fraction of the cost, buy airline miles from mileage brokers (it's not illegal to buy miles and transfer them in the US), then book through US airlines.

Looking at going from Melbourne to Bangkok to London, then from Frankfurt to Dallas, then from Houston to Beijing before heading back to Melbourne. All business/first class. Total trip cost? 6k. You couldn't get cattle class airfares on the same route for that.

 

[crafty_bernardo]

If you cannot afford Europe try New Zealand. It is less expensive and a lot closer than Europe.

This is exactly what happened to me. Wanted to go northern parts of Euro but ended up too costly for me so I've organised a trip to Auckland and then drive to Queenstown, whilst stopping along Lake Taupo etc;

Got any recommendations for me? (re: anything bout going to NZ)

 

[raptalia]

This is exactly what happened to me. Wanted to go northern parts of Euro but ended up too costly for me so I've organised a trip to Auckland and then drive to Queenstown, whilst stopping along Lake Taupo etc;

Got any recommendations for me? (re: anything bout going to NZ)

I know it is the wrong direction but try to get up to Russell in the Bay of Islands. If I had three recommendations they would be Bay of Islands, Rotorua and Queenstown. Even if you do not get to Russell you will have a great time. If you have time you might try going to the Coromandel on the way to Rotarua.

In Rotorua we went to a Hangi which is a NZ Maori feast. It was great, if you are interested Viator Australia do the night for around $100 for the show and dinner. It is run by Maori and they do a Haka and you get to see a traditional Maori village. They then perform so traditional Maori stuff and you eat all you can eat. You can probably book in NZ but sometimes these things are cheaper on line. If you are lucky the heavy duty Maori women who drive the coaches may do half a dozen laps around the traffic islands while you sing along, it is that sort of night. The Buried Village just outside of Rotarua is also worth a look. It is a village buried by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. The village was buried in ash and mud and excavated in the 1950s by the family that owned the land.

In Auckland try and get across to Davenport it has great views of the harbour from the ferry and Davenport is a trendy place to visit. I can recommend The Patriot Pub as a great place for lunch.

In Queenstown make sure to do a trip on the SS Earnslaw, it is brilliant. Not sure if you will be there in winter but it is pretty chilly.

The roads are pretty good but in the South there are a few one way bridges so you will need to get the give way signs worked out. If you want to calculate distances and driving time between towns you can use the calculator on the aatravel website. Driving times are conservative and I suspect they are based on driving a motor home of which there are many on NZ roads.

If you do not yet have accommodation booked I use Holiday Guide as it lets you pick properties in different cities and towns.

Remember in NZ the larger gold coin is 2 NZD.

 

[malph]

I'm comfortable, and I like to think competent, travelling solo but was wondering if anyone has backpacked around Africa and the Middle East before, is it achievable or are there parts where it's best to join a tour group?

Would love to hear about any must see places in that region too.

Lady malph and I backpacked around southern Africa last year. We spent most of our time in Zimbabwe, and I know a great place there where you can volunteer with animals that's relatively inexpensive and without the ethical issues that are a problem with some other programs. Actually, between Africa and the Americas, Zimbabwe has easily been our favourite off-the-beaten-track destination. And we were there during the election.

Like most things, the more money you have, the easier it gets. If you're really on a budget, South Africa is great, but the distances heading north make cheap travel problematic, and if you're short on time, an overland tour is probably the best way to go (unless you have the cash to fly everywhere). We used G-Adventures for a portion of the travel (they are terrific), but mostly did it ourselves. Our plan for the next time will be to rent a good 4WD in South Africa, and camp pretty much everywhere we go. There are a handful of backpacker joints to stay in most urban areas, but compared to what you can get in places like Asia, Central and South America, although they are good, they are quite expensive for what they are.

 

[crafty_bernardo]

I know it is the wrong direction but try to get up to Russell in the Bay of Islands. If I had three recommendations they would be Bay of Islands, Rotorua and Queenstown. Even if you do not get to Russell you will have a great time. If you have time you might try going to the Coromandel on the way to Rotarua.

In Rotorua we went to a Hangi which is a NZ Maori feast. It was great, if you are interested Viator Australia do the night for around $100 for the show and dinner. It is run by Maori and they do a Haka and you get to see a traditional Maori village. They then perform so traditional Maori stuff and you eat all you can eat. You can probably book in NZ but sometimes these things are cheaper on line. If you are lucky the heavy duty Maori women who drive the coaches may do half a dozen laps around the traffic islands while you sing along, it is that sort of night. The Buried Village just outside of Rotarua is also worth a look. It is a village buried by the eruption of Mt Tarawera in 1886. The village was buried in ash and mud and excavated in the 1950s by the family that owned the land.

In Auckland try and get across to Davenport it has great views of the harbour from the ferry and Davenport is a trendy place to visit. I can recommend The Patriot Pub as a great place for lunch.

In Queenstown make sure to do a trip on the SS Earnslaw, it is brilliant. Not sure if you will be there in winter but it is pretty chilly.

The roads are pretty good but in the South there are a few one way bridges so you will need to get the give way signs worked out. If you want to calculate distances and driving time between towns you can use the calculator on the aatravel website. Driving times are conservative and I suspect they are based on driving a motor home of which there are many on NZ roads.

If you do not yet have accommodation booked I use Holiday Guide as it lets you pick properties in different cities and towns.

Remember in NZ the larger gold coin is 2 NZD.

Yeah I'll be heading over to NZ in July. Thanks for the reply! Will definitely check out your suggestions.

 

[Killer Power]

Spent a month on the Côte d'Azur in 2012 - Nice, Villefranche sur Mer, Antibes, Monaco, Menton. Last year I spent 3 weeks in Paris - rented an apartment in the 6:eme arrondissement not far from Montparnasse. J'espère que j'y retournerai cette année.

I'm picking up a car in Nice when I cross the border from Italy but haven't decided whether to stay a while there or just head through towards Montepellier. Thoughts?

 

[Duck Farmer]

I'm picking up a car in Nice when I cross the border from Italy but haven't decided whether to stay a while there or just head through towards Montepellier. Thoughts?

I haven't been to Montpellier KP, but can recommend Nice as a nice(!) place to spend a few days. It's a good sized city but not too big (about 300K people) and it's a good spot to base yourself for exploring the French Riviera. A car won't be necessary to do that - you can get all the way from Nice to Menton near the Italian border by bus for 1 euro.
I mainly spent time in the towns east from Nice (Villefranche, St Jean - Cap Ferrat, Beaulieu, Eze, Monaco, Menton etc.) and they were all pretty good (except I found Monaco a bit over-rated, much prefer Nice). If you have time and like walking, a hike around Cap Ferrat is worth doing. Going west you have Antibes, Cannes, San Tropez etc.
Hope you enjoy your trip you lucky bastard!

 

[scotty13]

If anyone wants any advice/recommendations for Bali/Indo I can help out. Lived in the country for periods of time over the last 12yrs.