Just wondered if there's many people on here who have done some in the past, or just been anywhere really!?! Its probably my biggest interest aside from Football obviously. I did a trip in Africa back in 2010 and have got pretty addicted since then. So much so that I often go out of my way to tick countries off my list. I've been to a few places that just weren't really worth it. I also rush about quite a bit, I'm not the type of person that hangs about in hostels for bloody ages, don't usually stay anywhere anymore than 2/3 nights. Be quite interested to here peoples stories about the places they've been, where they want to go etc etc. Always good to get advice about countries your planning on going to. I don't think we've really got a thread like this and this is technically the travel section of the forum. My next couple of trips are; Slovenia-Liechtenstein-Switzerland in April and then Croatia-Montenegro-Albania-(Kosovo)-Macedonia in May. I am also looking at Russia but can't really get enough time off work for it to be worthwhile. Don't really want to spend £200+ on flights/visa just to visit for a week or so! All those place you wont be surprised to know are places I haven't been too, with the exception of Croatia. I suppose Kosovo isn't technically a country... I've pretty much planned what I want to do but be happy to here suggestions from people that have been to these places already.
I love it, where are you going to go in Switzerland? Did you need a rep to show you where the local Stella / Amstel outlet is?
Albania is an absolutely beautiful place. If you have the chance, my #1 recommendation would be visiting Butrint national park, it's stunning and the site of Butrint itself has some unbelievably well preserved archaeological ruins dating back to the Late Antiquity era. Dunno if you're into that sort of thing, but they're definitely the most impressive ruins I've seen aside from Rome itself and probably Ostia. A quick tip for money in Albania: although the Euro is weaker now than when I last visited, the Lek (their currency) is pretty worthless, a lot of businesses would much rather take Euros (similar to a lot of tourism related businesses in Turkey being equally as happy taking GBP/USD/EUR over Turkish Lira). Also, try and have a lot of change all small denomination notes too. If you hand over €10 for a bottle of water, it means you're very likely to pay €10 for that bottle of water
Yeah I've heard its really nice. I've not had a particulary detailed look yet, but just looking at Bar (Montenegro) to Shkodra, maybe the Albanian alps, which aren't too far. I'll probably then head to the capital Tirana. Just had a look at that national park, seems a bit of a trek right down near Greece, does sound interesting though. Yeah I had thought about the currency, I'll have a decent amount of Euro's anyway, do the ATMs spit out Euro's or just Lek? Probably just Zurich & Basel (fly out of there) and briefly a city near the border with Liechtenstein. Its the only country in central europe I haven't really been to, not really going to Ski or anything like that, just a passing visit to a couple of cities! The journey from Ljubljana to Zurich will probably be quite nice. The high cost of the country has always put me off really. Have you done much of South America? Just noticed your location is Sao Paulo.
Actually Dorset is quite a nice place isn't it? I spent a lot of time in Basel, and did some work once in Zurich. The costs of going there is huge, especially with the prevailing exchange rates. They have 'scenic' trains that go through the mountains, they are pretty cool because the roof is virtually all glass so you get amazing views. Yeah, I would like to have done more, I went to BA about 10 years ago and that was sensational, I've been up to Caracas a few times and have been to quite a lot of places in Brazil, it is just so big. Have you considered coming down here?
Yeah just had a brief look around hostel prices, all about £30 which is about 3 times the amount I usually pay, sometimes even less than that. So thats a bit of an issue, might just spend a night in the airport on the final night. Don't suppose you know if its a 24/7 one?! (probably is seeing as it serves 3 countries) I was actually quite surprised by the flight, cost me £35 with easy jet to Gatwick- bit of a trek back to Norwich but not the end of the world. Those scenic trains sound pretty cool, any idea of the costs? I hoping to catch a football game if possible I dunno really, I did a trip in SA in 2011. It was mainly Peru & Bolivia but I did add a bit of Chile & Argentina in. I just found Argentina quite expensive compared to where I was coming from and just felt Brazil would probably be more. If I went back then possibly, its just alot of money to get out there really. I think flying to BA is probably the cheapest way of doing it, paid like £800 to Lima and back.
You can still find cheap corners of Brazil, but it is so much more expensive that it used to be when I first came here. Our cost of living is 50% more than it would be in London for us. On the airport are you talking Basel? That airport is actually in France because they had the space, so they call it Basel / Mulhouse / Freiburg I think. I doubt that one is 24/7 but they have upgraded it since I used to use it, Zurich is a better one with more services and more long haul flights, Basel is more regional. There are Formula 1 hotels in Switzerland, they are f**King basic but can be very cheap. Have a look at these: http://www.sbb.ch/en/leisure-holidays/holidays--short-breaks-in-switzerland/scenic-trains.html
I'm not actually sure, I only tended to do day visits there as it was literally 40 minutes on the Ferry from where I was living, so I never really needed to use a cashpoint as I just took Euros with me. I'd assume it would just be Lek though.
I went to Australia in 1988 for six weeks. Started off in Sydney and travelled by bus up to Brisbane and beyond. Loved it there but haven't been back, as yet. Stopped off in Bali for a week on the way back. Thailand is lovely and would return there and add Cambodia and Vietnam to my itinerary. India is nice, although didn't find it as friendly as Thailand. Been to Morocco a couple of times and like it there. . Love the different cultures and cuisines these places offer. Been to the USA a few times. Drove from LA to Las Vegas one time, which was fun and worth doing
Did a big trip with a friend a couple of years back - South America (Brazil, Bolivia, Chile & Argentina), Australia & SE Asia (Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia & Vietnam). Fell in love with SE Asia and have been back twice since and go again for a fourth time in 5 weeks. Aside from that on my "to do list" are Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan & China. Would love to get back to SA and do the countries I missed too. Ecuador, Uruguay, Paraguay etc etc.
Albania , needs a wall building around it. I like most of europe, parts of central and south America or the carribean, not interested in Asia, Australia etc in the slightest, just doesn't float my boat.
I thought Albania was full of scumbags, like Romania. The few Albanians I've seen over here, like Romanians, are dirty smelly theiving pikey lowlife. Similar to RLJ, because ultimately these 'consultants' are theiving lowlife who take money with no real trade to offer the world except for endless bullshit. The only difference being, an Albanian wouldn't lick his own arsehole at every given opportunity.
Thanks for that, they look quite nice but I'm not sure time is on my side. A day trip somewhere possibly, although Basel seems like quite a nice city. I didn't actually realise that airport is actually in France, hope its 24/7! I have stayed in an F1 hotel before, so bloody small, had a look at ones in Switzerland and only a couple of Ibis's came up, which are out of my price range. I usually just go for shared dorms, £27 in Zurich, good way to meet people aswell. I might consider couchsurfing, quite an interesting concept, people offer there flats out for free. Looking into Australia, I barely touched the surface on route to New Zealand so would love to properly spend some time there. I might end up getting one of those working holiday visas. I'd definitely recommend Cambodia & Vietnam, fascinating countries, very cheap and quite dark history in places. The killing fields in Cambodia are truly horrific. As for the Albania hating. I've read quite nice things about the country. I think the 'Albanian mobster' tag is just a load of bollocks. Don't think they'd target tourists even if there is loads of them anyway. More of chance of coming across a weak Voldermort.
I'm not basing it on a tag. I'm basing it on experience. Construction is full of them. And they'd steal the eyeballs from your head.
Well if that's the case then fair enough. It just annoys me when people are quick to generalize foreign people into certain stereotypes (not suggesting that is what you were doing btw!) Keep reading rubbish about all Swiss people never being a second late, all Mexicans being lazy, Germans being boring & organised, Italians all being really passionate etc etc. You get my drift!
