International Holiday

[Jeld-Wen Falcon]

Hi, im planning to go on an international holiday within the next year. I basically want to get out and see different places/cultures before its too late. Does anyone have any recommendations? I was thinking Holland, England, Ireland, Greece, NZ . But im willing to look at other places.

[the_scotsman]

Not being biast at all, but I reckon Scotland has a far more interesting culture than england...

[MAGPIE]

All depends on your circumstances & budget, are you confident to go it alone or do you prefer the idea of Contiki type tours.

Personally I dislike the Contiki type tours, but they are far easier than going it alone where you have to organise it yourself, believe me it's a great experience to do it yourself but it's no picnic.

As a starting point I would say go to the UK, the whole of the UK & Ireland has such great culture, history, scenery, & its dead easy due to no lanuage difficulties.

After that I'd say Western Europe, so much to see & do where do I start.

As for NZ, I'd leave that for later, it's just next door & it's always going to be cheap & easy to get to.

[EF, What else?]

If your wanting to experience a whole lot of different cultures, my suggestion won't probably appeal to you, but I have always wanted to Canada, I think it would have to be the most stunningly beautiful country in the world. Absolutely stunning, with some of the best wilderness and wildlife you could ever see. But if culture is what you after, either Europe or South America.

[Martyvan]

From my experiences, best thing to do before you go, is look at a map, work out how many kilometres you want to drive per day, and then google the landmarks on the said map. We did that last time in Ireland, the money we saved from not doing a Contiki tour, allowed us to spend a few 500 Euro per night, nights in castles in Ireland. That was sweet.... ;) (Child Resulted!)

If you are intending on being in Europe for a length of time, I would suggest going for a "Brand New Rental", I havnt done it myself, as i havnt found a RHD company that does it, But Renault I believe do it, and maybe Peugot, But you pick up a brand new car from a dealership, drive it for as long as you need, then hand the car back, paying only rental charges. (cheaper than rental usually) and then they sell the car as an company demo....!

Other thing to look for is your own B&B's or cheap hotel chains to stay at, Accor have cheapies...... throughout Europe. Only prebook, if you cant book over the internet for cheaper... but if you do book by the internet, Always confirm with a phone call a week or so later, to ensure it worked.

Sorry for jabbering, but I love Travelling

Originally Posted by MAGPIE

Personally I dislike the Contiki type tours, but they are far easier than going it alone where you have to organise it yourself, believe me it's a great experience to do it yourself but it's no picnic.

As a starting point I would say go to the UK, the whole of the UK & Ireland has such great culture, history, scenery, & its dead easy due to no lanuage difficulties.

[conordec]

do spain and germany in the summer, do the festivals, pamplona/beer fest... but for the beer fest, go in the last week, as less tourists.
come back through asia, it's cheaper and you'll see more, say 4 days in vietnam, 5 days in hong kong... or somewhere else... Europe is overly expensive, forget the UK full stop... it sucks... i lived there for 2 years...
greece is great, but stick to the islands... forget Athens etc.. expensive and polluted/busy as all hell.

good luck.

[Tony xa]

Is it your first time overseas .....
If so somewhere that is not to full and close to Australia culture wise like NZ USA Canada england etc .
Traveling can be a bit scary if you havn't done it before so I would recomend baby steps .

Oh and proberly give the middle east a miss yes its cheap but still the food is crap

[max]

Go to India. I found it the real deal in experiencing a different culture. USA, UK, Canada and many parts of Europe have many things similar to Australia. India is in a
class of its own. Having a population of over a billion, life is lived very differently to
our sparsely populated land! You get back here and really come to appreciate even our most modest comforts, eg, clean streets, shops, etc.!

[Drive XR7]

Go to Cleveland, Ohio USA. It's right in the midwest so you'll see the most American sportscars out. Corvettes, Mustangs, etc, all over the place. Right near Lake Erie so jetskiing and boating is common. It's also a short drive to Canada so you can go visit another country while you're here. We have great local beers (better than the Aussie beers, IMO), good nightlife, and lots of stuff to do during the day. And you can give me a call. You'll know someone in the states.

[Dark Horse]

If you have a once off opportunity, best to go right round to the other side of the world. Depends on if you want to do your own thing than be whisked around on a time limit basis, I prefer to do my own thing.

Culture wise definitely through Asia but well away from the main cities and out in the provinces.

I could also most probably recommend heading up to Papua New Guinea - I did the Kokoda Track almost a year ago now - opens you up to a verrrry different perspective on life and culture.

Originally Posted by EF, What else?

If your wanting to experience a whole lot of different cultures, my suggestion won't probably appeal to you, but I have always wanted to Canada, I think it would have to be the most stunningly beautiful country in the world. Absolutely stunning, with some of the best wilderness and wildlife you could ever see.

Canada is also comparatively cheap as far as food and accomodation is concerned. The touristy type places aren't too far away at all - Grouse Mountain, Capilano Bridge etc aren't far from Vancouver , Niagara Falls and Algonquin National Park make for good day trips out of Toronto. Would love to head out through The Rockies next time.

[BA_Turbs]

No one has mentioned Asia. I have glanced over the thread but not read it word for word. I wen tot Vietnam last year, and , I am reasonably well travelled, what a place! If you want to see something different, go there. Leave Thailand until you are keen to do something touristy.

[Outbackjack]

What are your family roots? Mine are Irish (first arrived in Melbourne in 1854) That is why Ireland is a special place to me. Maybe this is a way of deciding?? Makes a difference when you are connected in some way.

[XRated]

South America, make sure you go when the Carnivale is on.

Or Thailand and surrounding islands.

Both places are cheap and lots of partying.

[TS50EB]

I'd recommend going to Maurtitius, off the coast of Africa.

My wife and I went there for our honeymoon, it's a mix of India, france and Africa.

Although French is their first language just about everyone there speaks English. It has lots of history, and is really beautiful. Lots to do, and places to see.

[chief]

I have to say Turkey. Went to Turkey the day after they came 3rd in the world cup soccar. Partying in the streets. The food is great, hospitlity amazing, culture inspiring. Every Aussie should go to Turkey at least once. The Turks have tremendous amount of respect for the Aussies (on the brink of giving you free food and beer because I wore a wallabies (thinking it was a kangaroo) hat).

Beer is $1.00, $1.50 for imported. Food $10A = a 5 course meal.

I could go on for days about Turkey, but I wont. Everyone should go to Turkey. I have been to many countries and apart form Australia, Turkey is my favourite.

[banarcus]

Yep, I'd recommed Turkey as well. Cheap holiday and the people are great. As for western Europe, it's getting expensive but you can do it on the cheap. We bought a '91 escort in pomgolia and brought the tent over from here and we camped everywhere.

[Papa Smurf]

I think I would be looking at Europe? So many countries and you can DRIVE to most of them?

[RAREV8]

Originally Posted by the_scotsman

Not being biast at all, but I reckon Scotland has a far more interesting culture than england...

Yep, I'm not biassed either- Go to Scotland!! Hae a pag wi a chuchter an a wee dram n' 80/ chaser an a cheildh tae end the nicht! Braw!

England?! Ah've seen mair culture in a yoghurt!

[mad machs]

You could try Cornwall (we don't consider ourselves part of England) its far better than Scotland, great surf too....

[RAREV8]

Originally Posted by mad machs

You could try Cornwall (we don't consider ourselves part of England) its far better than Scotland, great surf too....

Please provide your own mallet to break ice before entering channel!!! :

[new2ford]

If you want to see the best of Europe rolled into one go to Prague/Czech Republic. Also much cheaper than western Europe and great beer too.

Being part Scots and Welsh I'd endorse the Celtic countries but be warned, they're as mad as meat axes as the above posts indicate! You'll need your language dictionaries too!

[Pedro]

Something no one's touched on is phones. If you leave your current Australian sim card in your mobile it will cost you a fortune roaming with it. I'm going to Europe in September and will be buying a sim when I get there. There are lots of choices depending on what countries your visiting. Check it out at www.ekit.com or www.prepaidgsm.net
Happy travels!

[Polyal]

it all depends on cash....unfortunatley

Im a uni student, and went to Canada for 2.5 weeks then went to France for 2.5 weeks. I lived with my Gf's relo's while over there so didn't need to pay for accomodation thankgod, I think thats the killer.

I can only speak from my experience, but Canada is great, we only visited Quebec (Montreal and the french bit), but even that was great. Next time we go we will venture off a bit more. It was my first time overseas aswell. :

And you have to try Putin...its disgusting but a french/canadian thing.

The it was France..and holy crap, that was awesome. We spent 4 nights in the middle of paris, not backbacking either (use the site wotif.com.au...save HEAPS!). But yeah, France was the best by far! Everything is so old, great food, HOT HOT HOT chicks, but not slaggy hot, model hot (I was only looking :nutsycuck ). Took me a few days to get used to drinking in the middle of the day..lol

But yeah, it helps if you speak french, but most of the popular stuff has english and french speaking people. we did so much in Paris I cant even remember anything. Here are a couple of pics though.

Oh and go somewhere where its snowing for Xmas..thats an experience too!


Just a couple of pics...

Hired an Exporer in canada



One of the main streets in Montreal looking back



In France...the arc



The eygptina thing they stole or something..Obilisc (sp?)



In the catacombes



Got heaps more but Ill spares ya's...lol

I want to go to Asia next, Vietnam perhaps..something thats CHEAP...lol

[Bucknaked]

I love Thailand. Phuket in Particular. So when ever I go OS, i always go to Phuket. Your not gonna get much more cultue than Phuket nightlife :

Seriously thou, they are a lot of places in Asia, but with the Travel Warnings, I think the US and Europe are the best. Asia represents value for money.

[chief]

Polyal the last 3 photos I have been there. How weird was it at the catacombes?

[Polyal]

lol yes quite weird...espically when water falls on your head...ewwww boney + sewage = nasty.

Amazing place though...here were so many bones it was almost like it wasn't real.