GRcade

I'll probably be heading there in a few months (pal is moving over) so let me know what to do/avoid.

Eighthours wrote:I'm in Milan. The ladies here are

They all have massive eyes and red faces?

Tomous wrote:

BTB wrote:I'm thinking of doing two weeks in Vietnam/Singapore in October. Got a mate who lives in China who i'll go to Vietnam with, then go to Singapore where my old flatmate now lives.

Has anyone done a similar sort of trip? And for Vietnam, is it possible to do both Hanoi and Saigon in 6/7 days?

It is possible, it would just mean flying between them and not doing too much else.

If you absolutely only have a week I'd say what would make more sense would be doing Hanoi/Ha Long Bay/Sapa.

I see.

What about 9/10 days and doing Hanoi/Hue/HCM? Probably take night trains between them. Woudl that seem more doable? Then just 3/4 days in Singapore.

^North and south would still be a squeeze in ten days imo, depends how you want to travel though. I'd probably opt for one or the other. If you're comfortable riding a motorbike I'd recommend going to Ha Giang up by the Chinese border, has to be the most stunning landscape I've seen.

Singapore's nice but not the liveliest city, 3-4 days is definitely enough. Jurong Bird Park is pretty cool.

BTB wrote:

Tomous wrote:

BTB wrote:I'm thinking of doing two weeks in Vietnam/Singapore in October. Got a mate who lives in China who i'll go to Vietnam with, then go to Singapore where my old flatmate now lives.

Has anyone done a similar sort of trip? And for Vietnam, is it possible to do both Hanoi and Saigon in 6/7 days?

It is possible, it would just mean flying between them and not doing too much else.

If you absolutely only have a week I'd say what would make more sense would be doing Hanoi/Ha Long Bay/Sapa.

I see.

What about 9/10 days and doing Hanoi/Hue/HCM? Probably take night trains between them. Woudl that seem more doable? Then just 3/4 days in Singapore.

That's a big effort with the night trains, you're covering ALOT of distance there and I'm not even sure there is one from Hue to Saigon?

Still, I think you're missing out if you just go to Vietnam to see Hanoi and Saigon. They're cool enough cities don't get me wrong but not worth travelling half way for across the world alone. Vietnam has a lot more to offer-Ha Long Bay/Cat ba Island are incredible and a must in my opinion.

Hue is nice enough too but not sure it's worth that effort on the night trains alone. However, if you go there, then rent a scooter and do the Hai Van Pass (made famous by Top Gear) to Hoi An (which is a beautiful little town) then its a lot more worth it-I'd definitely recommend that.

Cheers for all the info guys! Very useful.

So would 9 days be good for Hanoi and surrounding areas? Such visiting places like Ninh Binh/Ha Long Bay/Sa Pa (may be a bit too far looking at it)/Cat Ba (not all of them) etc. Or would 9 days then seem a bit long for one area?

BTB wrote:Cheers for all the info guys! Very useful.

So would 9 days be good for Hanoi and surrounding areas? Such visiting places like Ninh Binh/Ha Long Bay/Sa Pa (may be a bit too far looking at it)/Cat Ba (not all of them) etc. Or would 9 days then seem a bit long for one area?

9 days would just about be enough for Hanoi > Cat Ba > Ha Long Bay > Sapa or Ninh Binh (not both) in my opinion. Definitely not too long.

Tomous wrote:

BTB wrote:Cheers for all the info guys! Very useful.

So would 9 days be good for Hanoi and surrounding areas? Such visiting places like Ninh Binh/Ha Long Bay/Sa Pa (may be a bit too far looking at it)/Cat Ba (not all of them) etc. Or would 9 days then seem a bit long for one area?

9 days would just about be enough for Hanoi > Cat Ba > Ha Long Bay > Sapa or Ninh Binh (not both) in my opinion. Definitely not too long.

Excellent, looks like that will be my plan.

Just want to get flights sorted now then I can look into what to do and how best to sort it all.

Cheers for the help!

Does anyone have a good holiday destination for around the start of April? Looking to take advantage of the Easter double bank holiday. Must be all inclusive, warm, and in Europe.

Oh, and not a gooseberry fool hole.

Drumstick wrote:Does anyone have a good holiday destination for around the start of April? Looking to take advantage of the Easter double bank holiday. Must be all inclusive, warm, and in Europe.

Oh, and not a gooseberry fool hole.

Most places in the south should be warm in April. South of France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Croatia, etc.

What sort of things are you looking to do? Culture? Beach? Drinking?

Maybe the odd day exploring the local areas but mostly lounging by the pool.

If you just want to lounge by the pool in the sunshine then you have a very wide range of options. I went to southern Portugal (I can’t remember the name of the place but it was about 30-45 minutes from Faro airport) in April once and it was lovely weather, perfect for lazing around by the pool.

My pals strawberry floated off to live in Italy so I'm off to Milan/lake como next month. I hate the sun. But I do love spaghetti.

She's your cat, you're obliged to love her.

Any advice for travelling through Asia? We're going back to Japan next year, and definitely want to pop into South Korea for a couple days too. Any recommendations of places nearby we could try?

Found flights on Norwegian Air for £150 single to Singapore. Tempted to go there for a couple days and take a week or two getting short flights to various stops before hitting Japan. Have no intention of going to Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, or other cheap 'gap year' destinations.

Off to Australia for a month in just under two weeks Very similar trip to last year except this year we have a week on Tasmania. We've sorted our accommodation and route (starting in Hobart and basically driving around clockwise). Does anyone have any strong recommendations for activities we may not have thought of?

Drumstick wrote:Does anyone have a good holiday destination for around the start of April? Looking to take advantage of the Easter double bank holiday. Must be all inclusive, warm, and in Europe.

Oh, and not a gooseberry fool hole.

Malta, hot in April, they speak English, lots of culture. Small enough to see a lot in a short space of time. Good bars and relatively cheap.

My summer road trip is taking shape. Colmar - Lauterbrunnen - Lake Como - Rovinj - Venice - Other Italian lake - Freiburg - Clervaux - Bruges - home. Roughly 2500 miles over 18 days.

Drumstick wrote:Maybe the odd day exploring the local areas but mostly lounging by the pool.

Malta

Drumstick wrote:Maybe the odd day exploring the local areas but mostly lounging by the pool.

Cyprus. It sees less weather than most other med islands at that time of year...yes the occasional storm....but same for everywehre else.

I've been working out here and compared to crete and the western med the weather is soooo quiet. The west of the island particularly so....although paphos is a bit of a gooseberry fool hole.

I've booked up a long weekend to Bruges in October for myself and my girlfriend. Anyone have any recommendations for places to visit whilst we're there? Doesn't matter if it's a landmark/bar/restaurant/anything else at this stage since we've got nothing planned yet.