GRcade Travel Topic

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

Rocsteady wrote:Why would you choose SA then?

Because one of Malaysia airlines 777's went missing and still haven't been found

True, but doesn't that mean Singapore Airlines are overdue an incident?

Tomous wrote:

No:1 Final Fantasy Fan wrote:

Finish.Last wrote:Ah. Might want to swerve Raffles then, mate.

One of my friends actually recommended Raffles to me, said its amazing etc I know Michael Jackson stayed there when he was in Singapore ha
Anyway yes its closed for refurbishment at the moment and its like £400 a night too!

Hey if anyone has any recommendations and tips about what to do in Singapore then let me know! I'll be there for 5 days

The Singapore Sling cocktail was invented in Raffles. If you don't stay there you can always visit one of their bars and try one of their (expensive) cocktails.

They are closed for refurb until sometime in the middle of the year and I'm going on April 26th. I'll find some other bar to try the sling thanks!

Parksey wrote:I'm fairly sure Marina Bay wasn't £400 a night. Have you left it late or travelling on a particularly busy time? It was expensive (and as I said before, I think you pay a lot of the name) but not absolutely extortionate.

Raffles is easy enough to just pop in and get a drink. Might need to wait for a table but it won't be too bad. Prices are basically the same as a high-end cocktail bar in London so you should go for at least one. Has a very colonial feel, back when we had taken our country back, could call a spade a spade and entrusted menial labourous tasks to the locals.

Yeah I'm going end of April so maybe that's why or prices might have gone up :/
I'll still go to the observation deck to capture the view tho
Shame about Raffles being closed as a visit to their bar would have been nice to see the history like the colonial style you mention

Finally uploaded my Eiffel Tower footage today, have any of you guys been up there? If so how high did you go? I went to the second floor via the stairs because the queues for the lifts were way too long (plus the stairs ticket i bought was 10.20 euros whereas the one for the top was 19 euros+).

Trying to decide where to spend the summer, thinking maybe Gdansk as it looks pretty, is fairly cheap and by the sea. Could jump over to Tallinn for a month then too.

Arrived in Belgrade this weekend, seems like a really cool city. Lovely sunshine, got fair burnt. Went on a communist walking tour which was fascinating, never knew quite how complicated their history had been this last century.

Came up from Sofia which was pretty cool too, ace that Vitosha mountains are just a bus ride away but near enough died on the mountain. Got lost by myself at the peak with the sun going down and the snow suddenly as deep as my waist. Was strawberry floating bates.

Got a busy May too including my first time in NY, can’t wait.

Anyone here been to Singapore?

Thinking of going for a week or so towards the end of May and staying in the Downtown area.

Lagamorph wrote:Anyone here been to Singapore?

Thinking of going for a week or so towards the end of May and staying in the Downtown area.

Are you purely staying for a week in Singapore?

It's a nice place - really comfortable as an Engkish speaker- but I tagged three nights there on to a longer trip. Not sure I'd want to spend a week there, as it's basically just a city state.

I did the Night Safari at the zoo, drinks at raffles, lunch in Chinatown, dinner at the quay, the Marina Bay Sands/merlion and the two gardens. I'm struggling to think what else there would be to do apart from eat and drink.

Like I said, nice place but not absolutely jammed with things to see for a tourist. I'd split the time and look at going somewhere else, maybe Malaysia (Malacca or Kuala Lumpur).

If you feel adventurous, quite a lot of places are within a two hour flight (Siem Reap, Borneo, Bangkok).

I think I'd just find a week there really samey and eventually a little dull.

I'll be flying to Lake Garda in northern Italy at the end of October. With the Sun holiday vouchers (I didn't buy it, don't judge me), RyanAir flights and car rental, its cost just shy of £300 for two people for four nights. It was a bit of an impulse spend, but who could say no at that price?

Anywho, we'll be driving to Milan and Venice on two of the days, but I don't have any experience with Italy, save for a trip to Rome a decade ago. Can anyone suggest any must-sees?

Chocolate-Milk wrote:but I don't have any experience with Italy, save for a trip to Rome a decade ago. Can anyone suggest any must-sees?

Haven't been there myself (i went to Lake Maggiore instead), but i've heard good things about Riva del Garda and Limone (the smaller lakeside towns are often stunningly beautiful).

Parksey wrote:

Lagamorph wrote:Anyone here been to Singapore?

Thinking of going for a week or so towards the end of May and staying in the Downtown area.

Are you purely staying for a week in Singapore?

It's a nice place - really comfortable as an Engkish speaker- but I tagged three nights there on to a longer trip. Not sure I'd want to spend a week there, as it's basically just a city state.

I did the Night Safari at the zoo, drinks at raffles, lunch in Chinatown, dinner at the quay, the Marina Bay Sands/merlion and the two gardens. I'm struggling to think what else there would be to do apart from eat and drink.

Like I said, nice place but not absolutely jammed with things to see for a tourist. I'd split the time and look at going somewhere else, maybe Malaysia (Malacca or Kuala Lumpur).

If you feel adventurous, quite a lot of places are within a two hour flight (Siem Reap, Borneo, Bangkok).

I think I'd just find a week there really samey and eventually a little dull.

Yeah was looking at purely Singapore. Was planning on a day at Universal Studios, the Night Safari and then the Friday night After Hours at Universal Studios as well.

How easy is it to day trip from there to other places? Particularly on a whim rather than with advance planning.

Chocolate-Milk wrote:I'll be flying to Lake Garda in northern Italy at the end of October. With the Sun holiday vouchers (I didn't buy it, don't judge me), RyanAir flights and car rental, its cost just shy of £300 for two people for four nights. It was a bit of an impulse spend, but who could say no at that price?

Anywho, we'll be driving to Milan and Venice on two of the days, but I don't have any experience with Italy, save for a trip to Rome a decade ago. Can anyone suggest any must-sees?

Milan never really interested me so make sure you actually want to go. Aside from the cathedral and fashion I'm not sure it really offers much. Most of my friends who went when I lived in Italy never had particularly high praise for the place. But Verona is very nice, so you could go there on the way to Venice. Or, and this is just what I'd do, I'd skip out Milan entirely and drive down from Verona to Bologna. Its about 1.5 hrs so nice and possible with your short time. Food is amazing and the town is pretty. Its a uni city too so lots bars etc.

Then it's just another 2 hrs back to Venice.

OK the subject of Venice, there is an app you can get which let's you know when cruise ships are expected to land. I'd avoid those days at all costs for Venice as they make it look like a nightmare.

I really dislike Milan. Been a few times as cheap flights then I go elsewhere, unless you’re really into fashion I wouldn’t personally recommend going.

Sounds like Milan isn't all that. In that case, we'll probably do a fly-by and spend the rest of the day elsewhere. Thanks for the heads up!

SandyCoin wrote:OK the subject of Venice, there is an app you can get which let's you know when cruise ships are expected to land. I'd avoid those days at all costs for Venice as they make it look like a nightmare.

I don't suppose you remember the name of the app?

Chocolate-Milk wrote:Sounds like Milan isn't all that. In that case, we'll probably do a fly-by and spend the rest of the day elsewhere. Thanks for the heads up!

SandyCoin wrote:OK the subject of Venice, there is an app you can get which let's you know when cruise ships are expected to land. I'd avoid those days at all costs for Venice as they make it look like a nightmare.

I don't suppose you remember the name of the app?

Unfortunately not, sorry. I had a quick look but can't seem to find it. It's potentially just an app for actual cruise ship users, but people who want to avoid them use it also. Another option may be to just check websites specifically for Venice cruise times. I know they relatively recently banned cruise ships from the main Venice area and they were made to dock just outside, but not sure if anything has changed.

Parksey wrote:

Lagamorph wrote:Anyone here been to Singapore?

Thinking of going for a week or so towards the end of May and staying in the Downtown area.

Are you purely staying for a week in Singapore?

It's a nice place - really comfortable as an Engkish speaker- but I tagged three nights there on to a longer trip. Not sure I'd want to spend a week there, as it's basically just a city state.

I did the Night Safari at the zoo, drinks at raffles, lunch in Chinatown, dinner at the quay, the Marina Bay Sands/merlion and the two gardens. I'm struggling to think what else there would be to do apart from eat and drink.

Like I said, nice place but not absolutely jammed with things to see for a tourist. I'd split the time and look at going somewhere else, maybe Malaysia (Malacca or Kuala Lumpur).

If you feel adventurous, quite a lot of places are within a two hour flight (Siem Reap, Borneo, Bangkok).

I think I'd just find a week there really samey and eventually a little dull.

Looking more into it yeah it's looking like that's going to be the case, once you've done Universal and Safari there's not really much else to do during the day.


I'm now instead looking at heading to the Lake Garda area instead, going to the Gardaland theme park and the Canevaworld resort which will cover a good 3 or 4 days, and looking at staying the Gardaland Hotel.
It's coming up a good few hundred cheaper than Singapore, and over a grand cheaper than my first choice which was Los Angeles to do Disney/Universal/Hollywood over there. Just couldn't justify almost 2 grand for a single week in California (And not even including park tickets) when for the same money I've got a fortnight booked in Florida with Disney and Universal tickets.

copycat..

Chocolate-Milk wrote:copycat..

Yeah but I might be going first so you'll be copying me

Lagamorph wrote:

Chocolate-Milk wrote:copycat..

Yeah but I might be going first so you'll be copying me

Touché

How is it costing £2000 for a week in California? Where are you staying?

I went back in 2014 and I did LA/Vegas/San Fran in a rushed trio (had a friend with limited holiday) and I didn't spend that much. And I took more expensive flights with BA due to restricted dates.

My flights were £750, but you can probably get to £500 if you're really flexible. I stayed in good hotels but they weren't £100 per person per night. Are you going solo? When are you looking at going?

I'm guessing you must really like theme parks too, right?

EDIT - I just did a random, two second search on Kayak, from London to LAX for a week at the end of August. If you don't mind flying budget with Norwegian Air, there were to let's for £540. Even direct with BA, which is always never the cheapest option, you're looking at £780, which is about what I paid.

That would leave £1200 left which presumably you were blowing on hotels? That's £170 a night, which is way too much if you're considering costs for your trips.

I would argue that for a trip like LA, where 90% of your waking time is away from the hotel, you don't need to be spending that much. And like I said, I got some very decent hotels (4 stars, central location, fairly big, International brands) and didn't break the bank or slum it. I can check my prices in more detail later as I'll have the bookings on my account still.

Parksey wrote:How is it costing £2000 for a week in California? Where are you staying?

I went back in 2014 and I did LA/Vegas/San Fran in a rushed trio (had a friend with limited holiday) and I didn't spend that much. And I took more expensive flights with BA due to restricted dates.

My flights were £750, but you can probably get to £500 if you're really flexible. I stayed in good hotels but they weren't £100 per person per night. Are you going solo? When are you looking at going?

I'm guessing you must really like theme parks too, right?

EDIT - I just did a random, two second search on Kayak, from London to LAX for a week at the end of August. If you don't mind flying budget with Norwegian Air, there were to let's for £540. Even direct with BA, which is always never the cheapest option, you're looking at £780, which is about what I paid.

That would leave £1200 left which presumably you were blowing on hotels? That's £170 a night, which is way too much if you're considering costs for your trips.

I would argue that for a trip like LA, where 90% of your waking time is away from the hotel, you don't need to be spending that much. And like I said, I got some very decent hotels (4 stars, central location, fairly big, International brands) and didn't break the bank or slum it. I can check my prices in more detail later as I'll have the bookings on my account still.

I was looking on Expedia.

Part of the issue is needing to fly from Durham Tees Valley or Newcastle Airport and the additional short haul leg is bumping the price quite a bit. I could get cheaper flights but the travel times were about 30 hours.

Hotels I was looking at were around the Hollywood area, and were just 3 star rather than 4 star.

Do you have to fly from a local airport? Can you not get the train to London or Manchester? Could work out cheaper than flying locally.

Manchester Airport has a direct train link to the area, which I've used before and if you book far enough in advance it's about £11.

Also, have you checked KLM? My parents came to Japan last year, and never thought of flying from Teesside. I find flights from Teesside that changed in Amsterdam and then to Osaka (Tokyo was also available) for about £540.

Teesside doesn't have many flights, but that Amsterdam link enables you to do quite a lot. A lot of places are then direct from Amsterdam too.

If you get serious about the California trip, I can get a link to where I stayed. I usually have a limit of £50 per person per night, which in a twin can get you somewhere decent usually. I reckon my international flights
and accommodation for my week long trip was maybe about a grand. I paid a bit more as I went to three different locations and needed internal flights too.

You're looking at going somewhere with theme parks to visit, I take it?