Places to Visit.

  • Please bear with us on the new site integration and fixing any known bugs over the coming days. If you can not log in please try resetting your password and check your spam box. If you have tried these steps and are still struggling email [email protected] with your username/registered email address
  • Log in now to remove adverts - no adverts at all to registered members!
CanaryWorf said:
Amen to that.
It's more expensive to get around now than it was then unfortunately. Had some cracking holidays we probably couldn't afford now.

Anybody know much about China?
Have always fancied a trip there - a rail journey and/or a boat down the Yangtse River look appealing.
Click to expand...

Did a plane spotting trip to Beijing and Shenzen a few years back although only visited the airports. However, did soak up a bit of culture in Shenzen while walking from the ferry terminal to teh airport and found it fascinating - very apparent that out of the main drags it is a poor country with people wading waist deep in a muddy pool to catch fish, trawling for seaweed on a boarded up pallet and scabby dogs looking very nervous. Lovely people though and like Japan, great food, polite and couteous people and a bustling atmosphere. Would like to visit Shanghai at some point in the future.
 
Most of my travels have been because of work - much to the wife's disappointment - so I've been lucky enough to visit a number of places. Favourites have to be:

- Cologne
- Vienna
- Brussels
- Barcelona
- Fez
- Nice
- Monaco
- Hong Kong
- Tokyo
- Fukuoka

To name but a few. Places I couldn't necessarily recommend but am glad I've visited are:

- Detroit
- Nagasaki
- Rome
 
Interesting list Jammis

My top ten would be:

Venice
Sydney
Calgary
Sienna
London (truly a great city and very much overlooked)
Bergen
Paris
Florence
New Orleans
Rome
Valletta

Top 5 countries:

Canada
Italy
Australia
Norway
Malta
 
I highly recommend New England in the Autumn <ok>

Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachutsets, Connecticut are all absolutely gorgeous with the white clapboard houses and dazzling array of autumn Golds, Reds, Browns, Yellows and the mellow mists in the mornings. God it makes you feel just great to be alive and you will be in absolute awe at the dazzling beauty that mother nature can bestow!
 
johnnywarksmoustache said:
I highly recommend New England in the Autumn <ok>

Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachutsets, Connecticut are all absolutely gorgeous with the white clapboard houses and dazzling array of autumn Golds, Reds, Browns, Yellows and the mellow mists in the mornings. God it makes you feel just great to be alive and you will be in absolute awe at the dazzling beauty that mother nature can bestow!
Click to expand...

Have done fair bit of New England myself, but in the late summer, but it's still a nice place. Particularly enjoyed Boston. Americans are nice people, particularly in California and New England. The mental ones are in the Bible belt, and the rude ones are in New York.

One thing I hate about America is the tipping! It's a completely different culture over there. I never liked it when the person serving me hinted at, or asked for a tip. It also surprised me when a barman asked for a tip. All he had done was open a can and poured the drink into a glass!

Going back on topic, has anyone been to the UAE? Been to Dubai interesting place, and good for shopping, the Burj Khalifa - the worlds tallest building at the time, but I think it's been overtaken now, is very difficult to look at!
 
Norfolkbhoy said:
Contrary to an earlier post I really liked Vienna - the Summer Palace (Schonbrum) is worth a visit - huge and impressive with a zoo, a maze and a large folly in the grounds. It has fantastic gardens. The winter papalce and cathedral are also worth a visit. The city is polite and friendly and they have an excellent music and food festival outside the Rathuas during the summer. They either have live performances or videos of all different kinds of music and then a load of world food and beer/wine concessions so if you go you can eat Chinese to start and have Croatian dumplings to finish whilst drinking local wine. It is packed every night with locals and free (other than what you eat and drink obviously).

Bruges is quiet and charming and has superb beer, chips and waffles (so not a good place to go and diet).
Click to expand...

I had a bit of a downer on Vienna earlier, although to be fair to it I didn't have enough time to visit Schonbrum, which I was disappointed about. If I was to return to Austria though, I think Salzburg would be my next destination. I only passed through it last summer, but the scenery was absolutely breathtaking, some of the best I've seen in Europe. I'm torn between a summer trip with the intent of hiking, or a winter trip and hopefully ski.

Seeing as this thread has gone down so well, would anyone like it if we kept the OP updated with a list of where people are after tips for, and a list of places that have been mentioned, with links for easy reference?
 
a bit further afield, but visited belize in central america 2 years ago fo 3 weeks. supurb! tiny country, but has so much, carribean beaches,second longest coral reef in the world (great snorkling),mayan cites and brilliant wildlife plus ex british colony so they speak english. found people friendly and not to expensive once you are there
 
Still working my way round Spain, done Barca, Madrid, Segovia, Granada, Ronda, Toledo and Salamanca, just booked 4 nights in Cordoba (Wifes birthday).
Did Majorca recently, looked up a decent restaurant and found " Sa Punta" described by Rafa Nadel as his favourite eating place, turned out it's owned by his Dad who on the night was our waiter.
 
kentcanary said:
a bit further afield, but visited belize in central america 2 years ago fo 3 weeks. supurb! tiny country, but has so much, carribean beaches,second longest coral reef in the world (great snorkling),mayan cites and brilliant wildlife plus ex british colony so they speak english. found people friendly and not to expensive once you are there
Click to expand...

an ex-army friend of mine was telling me about his time in Belize, he said that if he hadn't been on tour it would have been great!
 
monarch said:
Still working my way round Spain, done Barca, Madrid, Segovia, Granada, Ronda, Toledo and Salamanca, just booked 4 nights in Cordoba (Wifes birthday).
Did Majorca recently, looked up a decent restaurant and found " Sa Punta" described by Rafa Nadel as his favourite eating place, turned out it's owned by his Dad who on the night was our waiter.
Click to expand...

The best 'spontaneous' flamenco I ever saw was in a club in Cordoba. Magnificent how the entire place suddenly gets to its feet as soon as they play some 'Sevillanas' flamenco - their own local 'musical dialect'.

The Mezquita and the Juderia are obvious targets but hell's teeth, monarch, you won't regret this trip <ok>
Andalucia rocks.
 
Norfolkbhoy said:
I have been to Budapest several times and thoroughly recommend it. The thermal public baths near Heroes Square (also worth a look) are superb and consist of three outdoor pools at different temperatures plus the whole area is surrounded by an ampitheatre containing all sorts of spa treatments and water features, steam rooms, jacuzzis saunas etc. Worth a day in my book and really easy to get to as the yellow metro line stops at Heroes Square (I think the station is Oktogon but it is pretty easy to find). The Museum of Terror is worth a visit IF you have an interest in the grim period around the war in Hungary with both Nazi and communist occupation. Is is also on the Yellow Line (Opera station I think). Out of town you have the Momento Park where a number of huge communist statues and artworks have been moved to. You can also cruise on the Danube. The castle area on the Buda side of the river is worth a day as you have the Castle which also holds the National Gallery and the Cathedral and the National Military Museum is there. Margarit island is is the middle of the river and is a nice quiet green place. There are lots of good restaurants at reasonable prices - best bet is to ask at the hotel. There is an excellent steakhouse at the top of the Mamut (Mammoth) Shopping Centre. If you go I would recommened buying books of 10 tickets for the metro as they are much cheaper that way and represent better value than the day passes. It is not as developed as other Western cities, more like Prague 20 years ago.
Click to expand...

Budapest is an amazing place I like how it's two separate towns which have developed into a city, it's great crossing the Danube and seeing how either side of the city has a really different feel. We stayed in Pest which I found a lot more interesting then Buda, I really liked the Baroque architecture and the avenues which Pest offered also it was a lot more lively and less touristy. Buda was great with the castle etc but I found it a bit Hansel & Gretel it seemed like a central European village. My major bit of advice with the metro is stamp your ticket using the orange validation boxes, we ended up getting fined by the transport police!
 
know the parador in ronda well canary max. when i was there last there were a pair of eagles flying BELOW us in the gorge! we stay at a great little hotel near the old arab baths. wonderful views and tapas
 
a couple of ex forces guys have said the same to me about belize,that it would have been great if they were not training! i am surprised not more brits go as it is an ex colony and they speak english. i have been to cuba and i prefered belize
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom
Back