The Travel Thread

[seela]

I really miss traveling, making travel plans and talking about the trips first in anticipation and then as a lovely memory. Do you? Here's a thread for you to talk about traveling, post your plans, real or imaginary, and maybe find some nice new places and fresh ideas from other people's posts.

Some questions to hopefully get the conversation going. No need to answer all of them, but you may if you so wish!

Do you have any travel plans? Is there a place you travel to over and over again? Is there any trip that's been especially memorable, one way or another? Do you maybe have a dream destination you'd love to visit one day? What are some things that someone visiting your area (defined as broadly as you wish) as a tourist shouldn't miss?

 

[seela]

To start off...

I love Warsaw, which I'm sure some people here know! I've visited it so many times times and I never get tired of it. Sadly it gets bad a rap and tourists often skip it, because it's not as pictoresque as Kraków or Wrocław, but I think that's been changing the past few years. Okay, I admit it, Warsaw is a little rough around the edges, but that's what makes it so interesting to me. It has an immense history, both sad an wonderful, and if you're willing to look past and behind the modern glass buildings and the Soviet blocks, you can see it too.

I love taking people to Warsaw and showing them all the little things that make the city so important to me. Many people have a very strange idea of what Poland and especially Warsaw looks and feels like, so it's great to see them being surprised. It's not necessarily the most obvious or tourist friendly of destinations, but it has a lot to offer.

Some things I think are definitely worth checking out if you're ever in Warsaw that aren't necessarily mentioned in travel guides.

Fotoplastikon: it's basically a giant, historical View-Master. You sit on a chair in an old-timey room, peer into your binoculars and take in the show. They're great 3D pictures, mostly from the late 1800s or early 1900s with various themes. Often they're about life in a particular city. I've caught an afterhour special with vintage erotic photography, too. In 3D, of course!

Mokotów area: cute buildings, cafes and neighborhood eateries on the side streets. Also parks, most famously the beautiful Łazienki park, where you can catch free concerts of Chopin's music in summer.

The university campus: just go in through the gates from the beautiful Krakowskie Przedmieście street! It's not a big campus, but it has its charm and big, old trees. If you go through the side gate to the Oboźna street, you can find Kawiarnia Kafka, the salads have never let me down. And if you keep going down, you'll come to the university library which has a great roof top garden. The area near the river has changed a lot over the years, it's still pretty though.

Muranów area: Okay, I don't really like it that war is almost the only thing people think of when they hear Poland and Warsaw, but if you want to see and feel the war, this is the place. Muranów is completely built on ruins of the Jewish ghetto and the buildings are mostly made with bricks that in turn were made of the rubble that was left behind after the ghetto was destroyed in the war. Some buildings are sitting higher than others and that's because there was simply so much rubble that it was impossible to clean it all, so it was pushed in piles and buildings erected on top of it instead. It breaks my heart to think about it and to see pictures of what once was, such a stark contrast to what there is now. In Muranów there's also the POLIN museum of Jewish history in Muranów that you should check out (and I hope it's mentioned in all tour guides!), and Kino Muranów, which is a cute, atmospheric movie theater.

Hale Mirowskie (or Hala Mirowska and Hala Gwardii) are markets that offer many things to buy and a little glimpse into the day to day life. The buildings are pretty, rebuilt in the 1940s as replicas of the original halls.

Warsaw was the last place I visited before the pandemic and I'm sure it'll be one of the first places I go to after traveling stops being scary.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Yes, travel! I’m all over the place and don’t know where to start...
I think I might have to come back and post more details.

There are two themes that we tend to come back to when we travel:
Places related to technical and industrial history are things that we tend to go out of our way to look at. For example a really cool place in Sweden is an old radio station built in the 20s:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_Radio_Station

In Germany for example Rendsburg with the Kiel channel, the high bridge http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendsburg_High_Bridge over it and the tunnel under it.

When I finally get to Finland this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verla is on my list.

The other theme is stories and books.
In Denmark for example you can visit Odense, HC Andersens home town.
In Germany we have planned whole vacations based on the Grimm fairytales and we tend to keep coming back to Hameln, the city of the pied piper.


For me a big part when it comes to travel, is visiting family and friends. I miss that part like crazy. The pandemic made it impossible for me to travel to a close relatives sick bed and funeral. As soon as possible, I’d like to visit the family and the grave.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I want to visit Iceland again, and Hamburg. I got to Hamburg a few years back for work and it looked lovely but I didn't get much chance for sightseeing. We had a couple of weeks in Iceland, beautiful and stark.

I used to visit the USA every couple of years. Haven't been back since 2015 for a couple of reasons (one personal, one obvious) but once it's feasible, I'd be tempted to go again and catch up with old friends.

 

[wicked woman]

Do you have any travel plans?

No. Considering my province is under stay-at-home orders, there is no saying when I will be able to cross the Canada-US border or fly any where. No point having plans. In fact, it hurts a bit to think about it.


Is there a place you travel to over and over again?


Yes, all the red rock areas around Utah and Arizona. My best friend lives on the other side of the country to me. We usually go on an annual trip so we can see each other. Her favourite place on the earth is this area of red rocks. She introduced me to the area and now I love it too.

Is there any trip that's been especially memorable, one way or another?


I've visited Tuekey a few times, but the first time was a few months after 911. There were almost no tourists at that time. I did a 3 week tour of the western half of the country and fell in love with it. The people, the history, the geography, the architecture, the food. Just love it.

Do you maybe have a dream destination you'd love to visit one day?

I've always had a long list of places that I'd like to visit that got adjusted for where I travelled and new places that I wanted to see. My dream destination would be Egypt with the pyramids and the Nile. I looked into it a few times, but it was never safe for travel.

 

[gracie920101]

My dream vacation is a full 7 day tour on the Royal Scotsman or the Orient Express.

I wanted to take J to Ireland for his decade birthday but thanks to covid that's not going to happen. We're hoping for that maybe next year.

 

[seela]

Yes, travel! I’m all over the place and don’t know where to start...
I think I might have to come back and post more details.

There are two themes that we tend to come back to when we travel:
Places related to technical and industrial history are things that we tend to go out of our way to look at. For example a really cool place in Sweden is an old radio station built in the 20s:
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimeton_Radio_Station

In Germany for example Rendsburg with the Kiel channel, the high bridge http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rendsburg_High_Bridge over it and the tunnel under it.

When I finally get to Finland this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verla is on my list.

The other theme is stories and books.
In Denmark for example you can visit Odense, HC Andersens home town.
In Germany we have planned whole vacations based on the Grimm fairytales and we tend to keep coming back to Hameln, the city of the pied piper.


For me a big part when it comes to travel, is visiting family and friends. I miss that part like crazy. The pandemic made it impossible for me to travel to a close relatives sick bed and funeral. As soon as possible, I’d like to visit the family and the grave.

I like old industrial places as well. There are some old ironworks (järnbruk in Swedish) here that are lovely destinations, because there usually is a pretty mansion there as well, so there are gardens and such there besides the old industrial buildings. These days there are often lots of artists there as well. For example the Fiskars bruk is a cool place to visit, it even has a brewery so you're set for a day in an industrial but pretty surroundings.

Your idea of basing your trip around a book or an author is great! I might have to steal that one. I've never been to Hameln, but now that I looked it up, I really want to go.

I want to visit Iceland again, and Hamburg. I got to Hamburg a few years back for work and it looked lovely but I didn't get much chance for sightseeing. We had a couple of weeks in Iceland, beautiful and stark.

I used to visit the USA every couple of years. Haven't been back since 2015 for a couple of reasons (one personal, one obvious) but once it's feasible, I'd be tempted to go again and catch up with old friends.

What did you do in Iceland? I'd like to go there, too, but at the same time I'm not sure if I'm nature oriented enough to get the most out of the trip. It looks very beautiful and I don't think I know anybody who hasn't liked Iceland.

Do you have any travel plans?

No. Considering my province is under stay-at-home orders, there is no saying when I will be able to cross the Canada-US border or fly any where. No point having plans. In fact, it hurts a bit to think about it.


Is there a place you travel to over and over again?


Yes, all the red rock areas around Utah and Arizona. My best friend lives on the other side of the country to me. We usually go on an annual trip so we can see each other. Her favourite place on the earth is this area of red rocks. She introduced me to the area and now I love it too.

Is there any trip that's been especially memorable, one way or another?


I've visited Tuekey a few times, but the first time was a few months after 911. There were almost no tourists at that time. I did a 3 week tour of the western half of the country and fell in love with it. The people, the history, the geography, the architecture, the food. Just love it.

Do you maybe have a dream destination you'd love to visit one day?

I've always had a long list of places that I'd like to visit that got adjusted for where I travelled and new places that I wanted to see. My dream destination would be Egypt with the pyramids and the Nile. I looked into it a few times, but it was never safe for travel.

I feel the same way about making travel plans or even thinking about traveling with the pandemic pestering us. Are you able to take any trips locally or does your stay-at-home order really mean you can't leave home, rather than meaning you can't leave your province or something like that? Countries are tackling the pandemic very differently in this regard.

I've only been to Istanbul in Turkey, it was a really cool city. I hope you'll get to visit the pyramids! My colleague is an Egyptologist by her other profession and it's been interesting to talk about the Ancient Egypt with her. She's promised to give me a lesson in hieroglyphs.

My dream vacation is a full 7 day tour on the Royal Scotsman or the Orient Express.

I wanted to take J to Ireland for his decade birthday but thanks to covid that's not going to happen. We're hoping for that maybe next year.

I'd never heard of the Royal Scotsman before. Are you specifically interested in train travel? I did interrail around Europe in my teens and have traveled using trains a lot, but I've never seen the trains as the reason for traveling, only the transportation.


Wicked Woman's and Gracie's answers both mentioned tours. The only experience of tours I have is when I was on a language course and a part of it was traveling to a few places in the country with the group over one weekend. And I've also participated in some short, few hour long walking tours.

I didn't find the tour thing to work for me, because the schedule didn't have much flexibility and I couldn't spend more time I one place and less in another according to my own tastes and moods. The positive side for me was that I didn't have to use any energy on how to get from place A to place B, because everything was already organized. But at the same time, I also couldn't take any detours if I saw something that looked fun.

Have you (general you) taken a tour? What are the pros of doing an organized tour? What are the cons?

 

[mortis]

I hate the traveling part, but I love visiting new places enjoying local cuisine and traditions.
I had to cancel a trip to Spain last year we were going to northern Spain to walk the Camino from Leon.
We want to go to the Canadian Rockies this summer but it’s not looking good.

 

[wicked woman]

I feel the same way about making travel plans or even thinking about traveling with the pandemic pestering us. Are you able to take any trips locally or does your stay-at-home order really mean you can't leave home, rather than meaning you can't leave your province or something like that? Countries are tackling the pandemic very differently in this regard.

Stay-at home orders means stay at home except for essential workers, getting food and going to medical appointments. Even our schools are closed and all children are doing on-line learning. The borders among out bordering provinces are closed except for essential travel. It's a 6 week stay at home order to help cut the cases of Covid for the third wave that we're in. We'll see if it gets lifted in 3 weeks. I'm not holding my breath.

Wicked Woman's and Gracie's answers both mentioned tours.

I don't usually take tours. The only reason I did in Turkey is because all the tour books were very leery of women travelling alone in an Islamic country. Things like have the hotel manager call the hotel manager of your next hotel to tell him you're coming. Thought it would be easier/safer to take a tour. It was a good decision. It was clear that the Turkish people we dealt with referred to our male tour guide and when I travelled by myself in Istanbul, that I was a woman travelling alone was more of an issue than anywhere else I've been.

 

[seela]

Stay-at home orders means stay at home except for essential workers, getting food and going to medical appointments. Even our schools are closed and all children are doing on-line learning. The borders among out bordering provinces are closed except for essential travel. It's a 6 week stay at home order to help cut the cases of Covid for the third wave that we're in. We'll see if it gets lifted in 3 weeks. I'm not holding my breath.

Wicked Woman's and Gracie's answers both mentioned tours.

I don't usually take tours. The only reason I did in Turkey is because all the tour books were very leery of women travelling alone in an Islamic country. Things like have the hotel manager call the hotel manager of your next hotel to tell him you're coming. Thought it would be easier/safer to take a tour. It was a good decision. It was clear that the Turkish people we dealt with referred to our male tour guide and when I travelled by myself in Istanbul, that I was a woman travelling alone was more of an issue than anywhere else I've been.

Fingers crossed the situation gets better there, too, and you'll soon be able to do more than just stay home!

I get that about not being comfortable traveling alone. I'd like to go to Iran, but I haven't because I don't have anyone to go with. A friend of mine had some problems there traveling with her partner as an unmarried couple, although it shouldn't really be a problem as long as you're both foreigners. But her experiences have made me postpone going there. Then again another person I know was there alone as a woman and never had any issues.

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go already, as the country is very high on my travel bucket list.

 

[Primalex]

In Germany we have planned whole vacations based on the Grimm fairytales and we tend to keep coming back to Hameln, the city of the pied piper.

Fun fact: This is basically next door to where I live.

And while we are at it, for the avid trivia seeker in this thread:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Fairy_Tale_Route

 

[IrisAlthea]

Fun fact: This is basically next door to where I live.

And while we are at it, for the avid trivia seeker in this thread:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Fairy_Tale_Route

Lucky you!
It’s a beautiful part of the country.

 

[wicked woman]

Fingers crossed the situation gets better there, too, and you'll soon be able to do more than just stay home!

I get that about not being comfortable traveling alone. I'd like to go to Iran, but I haven't because I don't have anyone to go with. A friend of mine had some problems there traveling with her partner as an unmarried couple, although it shouldn't really be a problem as long as you're both foreigners. But her experiences have made me postpone going there. Then again another person I know was there alone as a woman and never had any issues.

Maybe I should just bite the bullet and go already, as the country is very high on my travel bucket list.

I don't know anything about Iran since it's not on my bucket list. That said, I found in Turkey two things. First, the cities, like Istanbul and Ankara, were much easier to navigate as a single woman, than the rural areas, because the cities were more cosmopolitan. Second, because tourism is so important in Turkey, the punishments for harming a tourist were severe, which improves the likelihood of your safety. You might find the same thing with Iran. Generally though, I haven't had an issue travelling on my own. Go for it!

 

[Bramblethorn]

Your idea of basing your trip around a book or an author is great! I might have to steal that one. I've never been to Hameln, but now that I looked it up, I really want to go.

Fascinating thing about Hameln - a lot of fairytales are ancient stories that have been retold and relocated all over the place, but the Pied Piper story seems to have been based in some real historical event.

What did you do in Iceland? I'd like to go there, too, but at the same time I'm not sure if I'm nature oriented enough to get the most out of the trip. It looks very beautiful and I don't think I know anybody who hasn't liked Iceland.

Golden Circle (Thingvellir/Geysir/Gullfoss), a couple of days exploring Reykjavik, drove along the south coast seeing waterfalls and lava fields and admiring Jökulsárlón. My partner is an amateur vulcanologist so she spent a lot of time fondling rocks. A day in Heimaey - she saw the eruption there on the news when she was a kid, and wanted to see how it looked now.

I want to dive at Silfra, but I'm not sure what the requirements are - I'm not getting any younger and it's been a long time since I did much diving.

The only experience of tours I have is when I was on a language course and a part of it was traveling to a few places in the country with the group over one weekend. And I've also participated in some short, few hour long walking tours.

I didn't find the tour thing to work for me, because the schedule didn't have much flexibility and I couldn't spend more time I one place and less in another according to my own tastes and moods. The positive side for me was that I didn't have to use any energy on how to get from place A to place B, because everything was already organized. But at the same time, I also couldn't take any detours if I saw something that looked fun.

Have you (general you) taken a tour? What are the pros of doing an organized tour? What are the cons?

I've done a couple of long tours and several day tours.

Tours can be good for safety, and some places you simply can't go without a guide. OTOH, not always a guarantee of safety... probably the most dangerous place I've ever been was Whakaari/White Island, which killed a bunch of tourists and guides a few years later, partly due to tour operators taking risks.

It's nice to have somebody taking care of bookings etc., and sometimes to let somebody else do the driving. One of our NZ day-trips involved eight hours of driving in rain and snow, and I'm happy to leave that to somebody who's getting paid for it.

A knowledgeable guide can be great. I've been on some tours where the guide was obviously just making shit up for the tourists (looking at you, New Orleans) and others where I was expecting something hokey but actually got really good value. I remember a visit to the Faroes, where it seems like everybody has at least two jobs - our tour guide was also a university professor and concert organiser, and the bus driver was also a country musician and air traffic scheduler. They were good value.

Other tourists: it really really depends. I wouldn't be on a hurry to go on a tour with an 18-35 crowd of Aussies again.

My partner and I both find we need a bit of quiet time around one day in four, definitely at least one day a week, or we get overloaded. Time to sit around in a cafe, read a book, maybe stroll around the neighbourhood, but full-on touring every day is too much. Some tours give that kind of space, some don't.

tldr: it depends.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Fascinating thing about Hameln - a lot of fairytales are ancient stories that have been retold and relocated all over the place, but the Pied Piper story seems to have been based in some real historical event.

Yes, there might be a more place & time specifik background beyond the more general background of ostsiedlung, recruitment etc.
It’s interesting as it is also very tied in to the universal fear of having the young influenced and led astray and the parallell to Pan/Dionysos.
Sorry, fairytale nerd here.

For me, the story also plays a part in one of those memories you talk about Seela, that are tied to a song:
http://youtu.be/Ec3bFbmaiys

On topic:
Tours are not generally my thing. I like to have a general idea about where I want to go, do and see but then I like to play it by ear. Staying longer, making detours, get advice from the locals on where to eat and stay, is part of the experience. I’m not overly happy with larger groups either and I grew up reading Christie, so I know people will get killed on those trips.

Tours for a specific place can be great though and some guides are really wonderful.
One memory of a guided tour that will always make me smile is a tour I made with friends in the Postojna cave in Slovenia (that’s a warm recommendation by the way and a place I keep coming back to). We were there off season so we ended up being the whole group for our guide. He started on his normal routine and then when a friend asked a question, he kind of jerked awake and realized his group was just three guys and a girl in motorcycle gear. We got a very non standard tour and certainly the best I’ve ever had there.

 

[seela]

Fascinating thing about Hameln - a lot of fairytales are ancient stories that have been retold and relocated all over the place, but the Pied Piper story seems to have been based in some real historical event.



Golden Circle (Thingvellir/Geysir/Gullfoss), a couple of days exploring Reykjavik, drove along the south coast seeing waterfalls and lava fields and admiring Jökulsárlón. My partner is an amateur vulcanologist so she spent a lot of time fondling rocks. A day in Heimaey - she saw the eruption there on the news when she was a kid, and wanted to see how it looked now.

I want to dive at Silfra, but I'm not sure what the requirements are - I'm not getting any younger and it's been a long time since I did much diving.



I've done a couple of long tours and several day tours.

Tours can be good for safety, and some places you simply can't go without a guide. OTOH, not always a guarantee of safety... probably the most dangerous place I've ever been was Whakaari/White Island, which killed a bunch of tourists and guides a few years later, partly due to tour operators taking risks.

It's nice to have somebody taking care of bookings etc., and sometimes to let somebody else do the driving. One of our NZ day-trips involved eight hours of driving in rain and snow, and I'm happy to leave that to somebody who's getting paid for it.

A knowledgeable guide can be great. I've been on some tours where the guide was obviously just making shit up for the tourists (looking at you, New Orleans) and others where I was expecting something hokey but actually got really good value. I remember a visit to the Faroes, where it seems like everybody has at least two jobs - our tour guide was also a university professor and concert organiser, and the bus driver was also a country musician and air traffic scheduler. They were good value.

Other tourists: it really really depends. I wouldn't be on a hurry to go on a tour with an 18-35 crowd of Aussies again.

My partner and I both find we need a bit of quiet time around one day in four, definitely at least one day a week, or we get overloaded. Time to sit around in a cafe, read a book, maybe stroll around the neighbourhood, but full-on touring every day is too much. Some tours give that kind of space, some don't.

tldr: it depends.

I can see the advantage of not having to plan things and not having to take care of how to get from one place of another.

Here the people who most commonly go on organized tours, or at least who I think most commonly do that, are older people who don't necessarily have the language skills to be able to take the trip without a tour guide. Often tours are insanely expensive, and that's one reason why I'm not really interested in them. If I dish out that much money, I'd want the trip to be 100% what I want and when I want.

Also another thing I thought about, is the geographic location. If you come to Europe, for example, from Australia or the US, maybe a tour is a good idea. That way you can maybe pack more into that trip than you would if you did it all on your own and you don't have to spend a lot of time planning how to get to places and where to stay. If you're already in Europe, you can do shorter trips more often and don't have to jam pack the itinerary. If you come from far away, you maybe want to make sure you cram in a lot of stuff in the time you spend in Europe.

Goes both ways, though. Traveling from Europe to Australia, for example, that's a long ass flight.

Yes, there might be a more place & time specifik background beyond the more general background of ostsiedlung, recruitment etc.
It’s interesting as it is also very tied in to the universal fear of having the young influenced and led astray and the parallell to Pan/Dionysos.
Sorry, fairytale nerd here.

For me, the story also plays a part in one of those memories you talk about Seela, that are tied to a song:
http://youtu.be/Ec3bFbmaiys

On topic:
Tours are not generally my thing. I like to have a general idea about where I want to go, do and see but then I like to play it by ear. Staying longer, making detours, get advice from the locals on where to eat and stay, is part of the experience. I’m not overly happy with larger groups either and I grew up reading Christie, so I know people will get killed on those trips.

Tours for a specific place can be great though and some guides are really wonderful.
One memory of a guided tour that will always make me smile is a tour I made with friends in the Postojna cave in Slovenia (that’s a warm recommendation by the way and a place I keep coming back to). We were there off season so we ended up being the whole group for our guide. He started on his normal routine and then when a friend asked a question, he kind of jerked awake and realized his group was just three guys and a girl in motorcycle gear. We got a very non standard tour and certainly the best I’ve ever had there.

Regarding bolded bit: lol

I had a really great guide in a castle here a few years ago. There were only me and J on the tour and the guide ended up going a little overtime and taking us to a few spots that aren't normally included in the tour because she got so excited answering our (ie. my...) questions and talking about the Polish connections, getting stabbed in the roof of your mouth by forks and stuff like that.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I can see the advantage of not having to plan things and not having to take care of how to get from one place of another.

Here the people who most commonly go on organized tours, or at least who I think most commonly do that, are older people who don't necessarily have the language skills to be able to take the trip without a tour guide. Often tours are insanely expensive, and that's one reason why I'm not really interested in them. If I dish out that much money, I'd want the trip to be 100% what I want and when I want.

Also another thing I thought about, is the geographic location. If you come to Europe, for example, from Australia or the US, maybe a tour is a good idea. That way you can maybe pack more into that trip than you would if you did it all on your own and you don't have to spend a lot of time planning how to get to places and where to stay. If you're already in Europe, you can do shorter trips more often and don't have to jam pack the itinerary. If you come from far away, you maybe want to make sure you cram in a lot of stuff in the time you spend in Europe.

Goes both ways, though. Traveling from Europe to Australia, for example, that's a long ass flight.



Regarding bolded bit: lol

I had a really great guide in a castle here a few years ago. There were only me and J on the tour and the guide ended up going a little overtime and taking us to a few spots that aren't normally included in the tour because she got so excited answering our (ie. my...) questions and talking about the Polish connections, getting stabbed in the roof of your mouth by forks and stuff like that.

I think one reason for choosing a tour would be getting access to certain venues, concerts etc. Getting to see the Spanish Riding School in Vienna for example is a bit of a quest but included in many tours.

When I was in Moscow as a teen, we got around the difficulties getting tickets for the Bolshoi, by buying them on the black market. We bought them from 3 guys a few years older and got local tour guides somehow included in the deal .
Moscow is a place I would love to come back to. The day my best friend back then and I spent looking at subway stations is a really fond travel memory.

 

[wicked woman]

When you asked about tours, I assumed you meant for the whole trip. There are lots of reasons that I prefer not to take them. As already mentioned, they're expensive. I can get at least 2 trips on my own for the price of one tour.

Part of my enjoyment is researching a trip. I've got a collection of travel books and then there's the Internet. I want to know ever possible thing I might want to see or do. Don't want to miss something because I didn't know about it. My trip isn't regimented...Tuesday so must see X...it's more wake up, check the weather, and what do I feel like doing today from my list of what's possible.

I like enjoying things at my own pace. If I'm in San Francisco at the famous Museum of Modern Art, and I remember that I don't appreciate modern art that much, I can rush through it. But if I'm in the Louvre, especially with all of its sculptures, I can stay as long as I want...even come back the next day. If I just finished busy season at work, I can lie on the beach, with a drink, as long as I need to refresh my batteries. Or if I'm in Ireland, and find a gorgeous castle hotel, that has a 3 day rate, I can decide there must be day trips from here that I can do, so I can enjoy this castle for 3 days. I won't have any of that flexibility on a tour.

But it's all a matter of choice. I've travelled enough, I enjoy the planning and I actually enjoy travelling on my own.

 

[Primalex]

Do you have any travel plans?

I might visit Lolland / Denmark; didn't make up my mind yet. I'm not a fan of solo traveling, so...it's complicated.

What are some things that someone visiting your area (defined as broadly as you wish) as a tourist shouldn't miss?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6H1ydAfhU

 

[seela]

I think one reason for choosing a tour would be getting access to certain venues, concerts etc. Getting to see the Spanish Riding School in Vienna for example is a bit of a quest but included in many tours.

When I was in Moscow as a teen, we got around the difficulties getting tickets for the Bolshoi, by buying them on the black market. We bought them from 3 guys a few years older and got local tour guides somehow included in the deal .
Moscow is a place I would love to come back to. The day my best friend back then and I spent looking at subway stations is a really fond travel memory.

When you asked about tours, I assumed you meant for the whole trip. There are lots of reasons that I prefer not to take them. As already mentioned, they're expensive. I can get at least 2 trips on my own for the price of one tour.

Part of my enjoyment is researching a trip. I've got a collection of travel books and then there's the Internet. I want to know ever possible thing I might want to see or do. Don't want to miss something because I didn't know about it. My trip isn't regimented...Tuesday so must see X...it's more wake up, check the weather, and what do I feel like doing today from my list of what's possible.

I like enjoying things at my own pace. If I'm in San Francisco at the famous Museum of Modern Art, and I remember that I don't appreciate modern art that much, I can rush through it. But if I'm in the Louvre, especially with all of its sculptures, I can stay as long as I want...even come back the next day. If I just finished busy season at work, I can lie on the beach, with a drink, as long as I need to refresh my batteries. Or if I'm in Ireland, and find a gorgeous castle hotel, that has a 3 day rate, I can decide there must be day trips from here that I can do, so I can enjoy this castle for 3 days. I won't have any of that flexibility on a tour.

But it's all a matter of choice. I've travelled enough, I enjoy the planning and I actually enjoy travelling on my own.

I'm the same way, I enjoy planning my trips but I don't like having to stick to a fixed schedule, so I tend to pick a few bigger things that I want to do or see and leave everything else up in the air. I do the same thing you mentioned, pick something from my long list of fun things depending on what I feel like doing that day. If I come up with something more interesting to do or see, I won't feel bad about not getting around to do the things on my list.

I've also traveled quite a bit alone and I enjoy it. What I like the most is having a little bit of both during one trip - getting some days on my own, then some days with a friend/partner/whoever.

I might visit Lolland / Denmark; didn't make up my mind yet. I'm not a fan of solo traveling, so...it's complicated.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh6H1ydAfhU

I went to Lolland during my 9th grade class trip to Denmark way back when. We traveled all over Denmark, it was fun. Visited some schools there in several cities, went to a lot of beaches and the highest point in Denmark. Spoiler alert, not very high. Also, my teacher threw a basketball at my face and we had pizza that had frozen corn and tiny sausages as toppings.


The Wasserspiele and Hameln both near you? Whatcha doing in August? Free to be my chauffeur? Stock up on goodies from your family's vineyard!

 

[Primalex]

The Wasserspiele and Hameln both near you?

Hameln is about 40 minutes, Kassel about 2 hours away. This is what I feel is a day trip distance and therefore qualifies as near.

Whatcha doing in August? Free to be my chauffeur? Stock up on goodies from your family's vineyard!

I don't need to make plans, as I can take my vacation time fairly spontaneous.

 

[seela]

Hameln is about 40 minutes, Kassel about 2 hours away. This is what I feel is a day trip distance and therefore qualifies as near.



I don't need to make plans, as I can take my vacation time fairly spontaneous.

Okay, I’ll hit you up when I’m in the area.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Goes both ways, though. Traveling from Europe to Australia, for example, that's a long ass flight.

Yep. Usually with a couple of changes along the way to drag it out a few more hours.

 

[Mei5ter]

Stay-at home orders means stay at home except for essential workers, getting food and going to medical appointments. Even our schools are closed and all children are doing on-line learning. The borders among out bordering provinces are closed except for essential travel. It's a 6 week stay at home order to help cut the cases of Covid for the third wave that we're in. We'll see if it gets lifted in 3 weeks. I'm not holding my breath.

Wicked Woman's and Gracie's answers both mentioned tours.

I don't usually take tours. The only reason I did in Turkey is because all the tour books were very leery of women travelling alone in an Islamic country. Things like have the hotel manager call the hotel manager of your next hotel to tell him you're coming. Thought it would be easier/safer to take a tour. It was a good decision. It was clear that the Turkish people we dealt with referred to our male tour guide and when I travelled by myself in Istanbul, that I was a woman travelling alone was more of an issue than anywhere else I've been.

Like Seela, I assumed that all tours were basically designed for fussy septuagenarians who can't cope with proper travel. But I do think it depends on the circumstances, and especially over how much time you've got. If I only had two and a half days in Cambodia, for example, I'd want to see as much as I possibly could with the least time wasted. Yes, I could probably spend a morning negotiating with the owner of a doomed Toyota in a polyglot of French, English, Khmer and Korean, only to find that I'd inadvertently asked to go to a snake farm with restaurant attached. And that would be fun in its way. But it wouldn't get me to Angkor Thom, and I'd then spend the next two days wishing I hadn't actually tried the snake. If that's two days out of a two week stay, it's fine - and besides, everyone loves to tell lengthy and detailed stories about travel-related food poisoning. But if it's two days out of two and a half, it's time wasted, and I'd rather not.

My views on this are coloured by two particular events. One was a lengthy journey by donkey which was not compatible with the aftereffects of insufficiently spatchcocked pigeon. The other was an incident involving the Virgin Mary and the Grey Fish Stew, which one Litster will recall almost as vividly as I do.

So call me a princess, but I'd rather have someone else to sort out travel and tickets beforehand, make sure I have a comfortable bed to rest in, and head me off at the pass before I accidentally order marinated tripe.

 

[wicked woman]

Like Seela, I assumed that all tours were basically designed for fussy septuagenarians who can't cope with proper travel. But I do think it depends on the circumstances, and especially over how much time you've got. If I only had two and a half days in Cambodia, for example, I'd want to see as much as I possibly could with the least time wasted. Yes, I could probably spend a morning negotiating with the owner of a doomed Toyota in a polyglot of French, English, Khmer and Korean, only to find that I'd inadvertently asked to go to a snake farm with restaurant attached. And that would be fun in its way. But it wouldn't get me to Angkor Thom, and I'd then spend the next two days wishing I hadn't actually tried the snake. If that's two days out of a two week stay, it's fine - and besides, everyone loves to tell lengthy and detailed stories about travel-related food poisoning. But if it's two days out of two and a half, it's time wasted, and I'd rather not.

My views on this are coloured by two particular events. One was a lengthy journey by donkey which was not compatible with the aftereffects of insufficiently spatchcocked pigeon. The other was an incident involving the Virgin Mary and the Grey Fish Stew, which one Litster will recall almost as vividly as I do.

So call me a princess, but I'd rather have someone else to sort out travel and tickets beforehand, make sure I have a comfortable bed to rest in, and head me off at the pass before I accidentally order marinated tripe.

I think you hit on two important points.

One is are you travelling in a country that you're fluent in the language or are their enough English speaking people there (assuming you speak English). To me that makes all the difference in the world.

The other is how long do you have to see what you want to see and how often do you travel. I'll admit that I sometimes scoff at the 10 day see all of Europe tours, but that's because I've travelled often enough to know that I don't need to do that. I can pick one country or even one city for a trip. Even better than that, if I absolutely love some place. I know I can go back again. But if you don't travel a lot and this is your one and only opportunity to get as much in as possible, sure, taking a tour makes sense.

The truth is I just love to travel. Learned it from my parents. I've learned over the years what works for me, but frankly, I don't think it matters how you travel and I'd certainly never call someone a princess for taking a tour. The important thing is that you do it. I'm reminded of when I was in my early 20s and newly married. My husband and I were planning a 6 month trip to Europe. My parents were so excited for us, giving us suggestions of all sorts of places we could see. My in-laws, who were not travelers, couldn't understand and thought we should put the money on a down payment for a house!