The Travel Thread

Good place to start a travel thread. Post all your questions, hints and tips and get some real advice from fanatics. Travel photos encouraged, if you need a how to guide contact SI

Well I'll kick things off.. any tips for waikiki? Staying there for 7 nights in late October after attending a wedding in San Diego. Staying right on the beach in the centre of town.

Obviously that will be tourist central, but the main aim of the thing will just be to relax/time off. Will probably hire a car for a day (or more) to explore around the island a bit. Seems like alot of people suggest getting over to Maui for a more authentic visit, but to be honest, that is unlikely to happen.

Random tips off the top of my head:

Hoi An, Vietnam - there's a restaurant (I forget the name) that is next to the street markets. There is an upstairs that overlooks the market and is great for people watching. Insist to sit up there. They will tell you that you can't sit upstairs. Keep insisting. You will be able to sit upstairs.

Melbourne - don't go up the Melbourne star, instead go to Lui bar which is 55 floors up, free entry and has an amazing view. Have yourself a fancy drink there and you've still spent less than the star. Alternatively if you want to look East, go up to the Sofitel bar and go to the bathrooms which have floor-to-ceiling windows. Liberating place to take a slash.

Nice, France - free walking tour is awesome.
Barcelona, Spain - free walking tour is awesome.
Monaco - honestly, don't bother

Paris, France - the catacombs are an often overlooked tourist attraction and probably one of my favourite things there. Get the audio-guide.

Da Nang, Vietnam - speaking of audioguides, don't bother getting the audioguide at the museum of Cham sculpture. In fact don't bother going here at all. There are a couple of cool looking old sculptures but there are far better things to spend your time doing.

Hey @filthridden do you have any Ho Chi Minh tips while you're at it?

filthridden wrote:
Nice, France - free walking tour is awesome.
Barcelona, Spain - free walking tour is awesome.

Thats my #1 tip for every city. Free walking tour should be the first thing you do. Take 3 hours out of your day, see all the important stuff in the city, get it from a real person and not an audio tape or something.

Also, they are usually run by young uni-age people and they always know the best places to go for a pint and feed. 50% of the time theyll have a "tell em i sent you" hook up. I got more legless then I ever could have planned to in Tallin, Estonia off about $10 because the tour guide told us to go to a certain place and her mate behind the bar wouldnt stop feeding us vodka.

ryno_ wrote:

Thats my #1 tip for every city. Free walking tour should be the first thing you do. Take 3 hours out of your day, see all the important stuff in the city, get it from a real person and not an audio tape or something.

Also, they are usually run by young uni-age people and they always know the best places to go for a pint and feed. 50% of the time theyll have a "tell em i sent you" hook up. I got more legless then I ever could have planned to in Tallin, Estonia off about $10 because the tour guide told us to go to a certain place and her mate behind the bar wouldnt stop feeding us vodka.

Yeah the other thing about the free walking tours is that they take you past a bunch of places, talk about a bunch of things and you can decide later if you want to go back and spend more time at any of the places + like you said get 1:1 info from someone who lives there and can guide you to other things you might be interested in.

Went on a paid group tour in Da Nang of the marble mountains and Chùa Linh Ứng and that's probably the worst tour I've been on. Very little information, the guide was making contrived jokes like "Waaassssuppp" (this was in 2017), was rude when we asked further questions and the food we were given for lunch was horrible which should be hard in a place where there is so much good food around for such cheap prices.

Coincidentally we also did a cooking tour in Hoi An which was amazing and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone. Bit of cycling involved, time on a boat, went through the markets and bought what we needed to cook, the guide was easily the best guide I've ever. I would even do it again if I went back.

For advice I have been through most of Europe, South Pacific Islands, NZ and Japan

On my travel plans next trip looking at USA West Coast

Edit: Country list below in case anyone has specific questions

Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Japan

Eastern Europe was a particular favourite of mine and happy to give advice on any of the above

multiple.scoregasms wrote:For advice I have been through most of Europe, South Pacific Islands, NZ and Japan

On my travel plans next trip looking at USA West Coast

Edit: Country list below in case anyone has specific questions

Ireland, Wales, Scotland, England, Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, Spain, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Japan

Eastern Europe was a particular favourite of mine and happy to give advice on any of the above

Yeah OK my list isn't as extensive but will do the same:

London, Monaco, Barcelona, Majorca, Geneva, French Alps, Nice, Paris, South-Western France, Austria, New Zealand (pretty much everywhere), Cook Islands, Fiji, Vietnam, Thailand, Vancouver/BC, San Francisco.

Potential next stops: More of the UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali... and if I go through Asia I might visit Thailand/Vietnam again.

multiple.scoregasms wrote:Good place to start a travel thread. Post all your questions, hints and tips and get some real advice from fanatics. Travel photos encouraged, if you need a how to guide contact SI

multiple.scoregasms wrote:
On my travel plans next trip looking at USA West Coast

Don't over estimate the time you want to spend in LA / Hollywood. Its a fucking hole and you'll run out of things to do after 2-3 days, tops.

filthridden wrote:

Yeah OK my list isn't as extensive but will do the same:

London, Monaco, Barcelona, Majorca, Geneva, French Alps, Nice, Paris, South-Western France, Austria, New Zealand (pretty much everywhere), Cook Islands, Fiji, Vietnam, Thailand, Vancouver/BC, San Francisco.

Potential next stops: More of the UK, Italy, Germany, Netherlands, Croatia, Slovenia, Greece, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Bali... and if I go through Asia I might visit Thailand/Vietnam again.

Would definitely recommend Slovenia. Spent about 9 days split between Ljubljana and Lake Bled with a trip down to Postojna. Gorgeous country with Vintgar Gorge being a real highlight

ryno_ wrote:

Don't over estimate the time you want to spend in LA / Hollywood. Its a fucking hole and you'll run out of things to do after 2-3 days, tops.

Yep was roughly planning 3 days possibly 4 if including Disney

ryno_ wrote:

Don't over estimate the time you want to spend in LA / Hollywood. Its a fucking hole and you'll run out of things to do after 2-3 days, tops.

haha. When I went to the states, I stayed in Santa Monica (was cool, had fun). Had initially planned to head into Hollywood for a look around, but in the end, didn't even bother. At no stage have I regretted that.

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

Yep was roughly planning 3 days possibly 4 if including Disney

Apart from Santa Monica, the Hills and 4 blocks of Hollywood, LA is a shit city slum. Even including Disney, youll struggle to fill time for 4 days. There's Universal aswell I guess.

ryno_ wrote:

Apart from Santa Monica, the Hills and 4 blocks of Hollywood, LA is a shit city slum. Even including Disney, youll struggle to fill time for 4 days. There's Universal aswell I guess.

Had any experience getting sporting tickets? Ideally get a chance to see an NFL or NBA game. No chance of Lakers tickets the prices are outrageous

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

Had any experience getting sporting tickets? Ideally get a chance to see an NFL or NBA game. No chance of Lakers tickets the prices are outrageous

Either StubHub or SportsWhereIAm depending on if your looking for just the ticket or accomm/packages. Best option for NBA/NFL/NHL. Other leagues might have other ways.

ED: use promocode PocketNation on SWIA for a sweet deal.

Looking at doing a road trip to Dubbo in the school holidays.  Any tips?

Pain wrote:Looking at doing a road trip to Dubbo in the school holidays.  Any tips?

Visit the zoo, even stay the night at the zoo under the stars but they do know how to charge

multiple.scoregasms wrote:

Had any experience getting sporting tickets? Ideally get a chance to see an NFL or NBA game. No chance of Lakers tickets the prices are outrageous

Not as yet. I'm there in October and looking at Lakers tickets at the moment (no personal care about the Lakers, just what works with my schedule) - can get season ticket holder resale tickets at the moment. Pretty damn expensive.. I don't really care about the $$$, but I'm still undecided (we'd be stopping in LA specifically to goto a game).

When I was last in the states I went to two D-Backs games (in Phoenix). That was fun. A guy from our local Phoenix office got a hookup for premium seats behind the dugout, met the owner of the D Backs, access to a bar that was beside the players change rooms, etc. Got two game balls that players tossed into the crowd.

my tv broke wrote:

Not as yet. I'm there in October and looking at Lakers tickets at the moment (no personal care about the Lakers, just what works with my schedule) - can get season ticket holder resale tickets at the moment. Pretty damn expensive.. I don't really care about the $$$, but I'm still undecided (we'd be stopping in LA specifically to goto a game).

When I was last in the states I went to two D-Backs games (in Phoenix). That was fun. A guy from our local Phoenix office got a hookup for premium seats behind the dugout, met the owner of the D Backs, access to a bar that was beside the players change rooms, etc. Got two game balls that players tossed into the crowd.

Check out the Clippers tickets. Same arena prices are about 1/4 and still see some quality teams