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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 1, 2019 4:44:44 GMT -5
I am booked on a trip with a group of friends in September 2020, to go to the Oberammergau and Sordevolo Passion plays. It starts in Milan on 2nd September, and finishes in Munich on 11th September.
I need to be back in Australia (Sydney or Brisbane) by 9th October.
As it is now twelve months out I am starting to look at my travel options.
1. Would there be enough time to look at a Round the World option?
2. I would love to do a repositioning cruise from North America, or even Asia, back to Australia.
3. I want to fly to Europe arriving a day or two before the trip, with a possible stopover on the way, as long flights are a physical strain. Any suggestions as to airlines, arrival points and stopovers?
4. Wouldn’t mind a train trip or two.
I’m thinking online here, but I’m hoping for suggestions from my favourite travel brains trust.
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Post by wombatrois on Sept 1, 2019 7:55:21 GMT -5
1. Yes, you have a month - but where do you want to go on the RTW trip? If it were me, I'd concentrate on getting the best option for the flight to Milan (or Italy). RTW fares go with airline alliances and that often means side trips to get to where you really want to go.
2. If this is what you really want to do - find one, then look at the airfare that best suits this option
3. We have flown Emirates and Qatar in recent years and they were OK. What I particularly liked about them is you get the biggest chunk of the journey out of the way first, with just a short flight to Europe from there. We had a forced stopover in Dubai because the flights were rescheduled (paid for by the airline), which turned out really well for us - we basically didn't leave the hotel and rested, researched the upcoming trip and got into holiday mode. The trip on Qatar was straight through, and turned out OK too - although the first day or two in Athens were a bit of a blur with jet lag. A quick google search shows SQ, TG and EK all have one stop journeys to Milan from Brisbane (which is what I'd be looking for). Sydney would have more options.
4. There are plenty of train journeys that you could do - others on this forum would have more contemporary info than me. We love the high speed trains in Europe, though :-)
I first heard about Oberammergau in the late 70s, gearing up for the 1980 performances - it sounds like a wonderful experience.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 1, 2019 8:14:39 GMT -5
Thank you W3.
Oberammergau and the tour, which tales in Innsbruck and Verona, should be fun with the people who are going.
I’m thinking of organising a second night in Milan before the tour, so I’m rested for the trip.
I’ll do the major bookings through the agent who organised the tour, as she is a friend who is coming with us, and has done overseas stuff for me before.
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Post by rikita on Sept 1, 2019 13:39:20 GMT -5
what would be the advantage with rtw? would it make travel cheaper or more convenient? or is there some specific place you'd get to see that you always wanted to visit? or just because?
hope this doesn't sound annoying - but just me personally, with a month, i prefer to concentrate on one or two countries, else i'd feel too rushed and like i am missing out on things (and even then, sometimes i still feel that way) ... and anyway, if you are in munich, and want a train trip, berlin is only four hours on train away ...
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 2, 2019 7:14:58 GMT -5
I’ve been to Europe twice before, but North America only once, and I have friends there I’d love to catch up with. This may be my last trip to the Northern hemisphere, as I’ll be retiring at the end of next year, and finances could be much tighter. And if I can find a repositioning cruise that’s affordable at the right time, that would be the easiest way to do it.
Remember, where I live at the moment, it is between 100 km and 200 km to the nearest towns, depending on which direction. Australians are used to long distance travel.
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Post by Phar Lap on Sept 2, 2019 14:41:13 GMT -5
Long distance in a boat is so much more relaxing than long distance in a 4WD on an outback road.
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Post by tzarine on Sept 2, 2019 15:37:00 GMT -5
i love cathay pacific, ana, jal, singapore & qatar airlines
there is enough time to do a round the world.
which i would consider if the stops were right
we did a milan, prague, tokyo trip w tzarevich bc the fare was insanely cheap a few years back
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Post by Queen on Sept 8, 2019 1:55:44 GMT -5
1. Would there be enough time to look at a Round the World option?
Do you mean flights? A RTW ticket often turns out more expensive unless you're really making a lot of stops, given that you want to include a cruise this may work out as a more expensive options.
2. I would love to do a repositioning cruise from North America, or even Asia, back to Australia.
Check Seascanner.com, but travelling by ship takes a chunk of time. I think transatlantic will be 6 or 7 days.
3. I want to fly to Europe arriving a day or two before the trip, with a possible stopover on the way, as long flights are a physical strain. Any suggestions as to airlines, arrival points and stopovers?
Singapore and Malaysian would be my two picks, and with stopovers in Asia you end up with two legs of similar length. Malaysian is often a code share with KLM, and they're OK as well - but they do turn the temperature of the cabin way down.
Emirates are OK, but it does mean a really long leg out of Australia.
4. Wouldn’t mind a train trip or two.
Trains all over the place in Europe, high speed trains between Italy, France, NL, Belgium, Germany, UK. So think about what you really want to see and then look into trains.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 8, 2019 6:43:34 GMT -5
Didn’t think of a transatlantic cruise. Thank you for the suggestion and the website. The best Pacific crossing I’ve found so far gets back to Australia too late.
I want to get my travel agent friend to compare RTW tickets with return tickets. If I did that, Vancouver is a must stop.
If I stay in Europe, I’d like to go somewhere I haven’t been. Possibilities are Scandinavia, Eastern Europe or possibly Ireland, which I missed when I got stuck in Athens during the Iceland volcano.
I wouldn’t mind going somewhere to meet up with some of our Europe-based figments, after Munich, but before going elsewhere.
Also, I want to stop in one place for a few days to chill, mid-trip.
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Post by psw on Sept 8, 2019 10:06:05 GMT -5
Any cruise segment would give you plenty of time to chill while you keep moving.
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Post by Liiisa on Sept 8, 2019 12:22:07 GMT -5
I did a transatlantic crossing with my mom on the QM2 a couple of years ago. It felt like an old-fashioned ocean liner, the type of ship people took to get places before there were long-distance airplanes, with days and days of just sitting around and reading books from the surprisingly well-stocked ship library. I decided that if I had endless time and money, I'd do that every year: take the ship to Southampton, tool around Europe for a month or so on trains, then take the ship back. I met several people who were doing just that. And the "steerage" buffet was also surprisingly good - a huge spread of smoked fish for breakfast, for example.
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Post by tucano on Sept 8, 2019 13:34:07 GMT -5
I'm sure the Euro posters would be happy to meet you somewhere... sounds like northern Europe could work.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 9, 2019 6:55:20 GMT -5
I'm sure the Euro posters would be happy to meet you somewhere... sounds like northern Europe could work. Would a pissup accessible from Munich by train on the weekend of 12-13 September be a possibility? |
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Post by rikita on Sept 10, 2019 7:43:15 GMT -5
i can't say anything this far ahead, but i would like to participate, and the closer to berlin, the higher the chances i'd be able to ...
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Sept 10, 2019 8:09:34 GMT -5
Berlin is on my list of places I haven’t been, but would like to visit. The island I visit in Solomon Islands is called Berlin!
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Post by treehugger on Sept 10, 2019 10:20:26 GMT -5
Berlin is on my list of places I haven’t been, but would like to visit. The island I visit in Solomon Islands is called Berlin! I would definitely be 100% up for a Berlin piss up  |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 4, 2019 3:54:25 GMT -5
Update. I have now booked a twelve-night cruise on one of the Hurtigruten coastal ships that does the Norwegian fjords. Apparently more like the Aranui in Tahiti than the Princess Somethingorother.
It starts and finishes at Bergen and crosses the Arctic Circle.
So from Munich I will go to Berlin for a long weekend, then Bergen by train, stopping for a few nights in Copenhagen.
After the cruise, I will get a train to Oslo, and fly out a few days later.
The before and after cruise sections aren’t locked in yet, so if anyone has any suggestions, or is able to meet up in the vicinity of Berlin, Copenhagen, Bergen or Oslo, please let me know.
I also have three nights in Dubai on the way home (mostly to chill before going back to work).
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Dec 4, 2019 4:23:18 GMT -5
The cruise sounds great.
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Post by riverhorse on Dec 4, 2019 4:38:38 GMT -5
My best friends in the UK want to do a Hurtigruten cruise for a big birthday in 5 years time, and want us to come too - so we have 5 years to save up for it! I think it's the only type of "cruise" PG would ever be up for.
Depending on when it is, I could try and come over to Berlin for a weekend. Or even Copenhagen!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 4, 2019 5:07:55 GMT -5
Berlin would be around 12-15 September, Copenhagen 15-18 September. Cruise departs Bergen on 19 th.
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Post by mei on Dec 4, 2019 5:30:24 GMT -5
sounds like a great trip Ozzie! I like your trainstops in between both cruises, great way to cross Europe!
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Post by Liiisa on Dec 4, 2019 5:46:27 GMT -5
That sounds fantastic, ozzie!
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 4, 2019 6:00:58 GMT -5
Of course, now I’m watching a documentary about a railway built by the Nazis in the Norwegian fjords.
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Post by sprite on Dec 4, 2019 8:41:15 GMT -5
3. I want to fly to Europe arriving a day or two before the trip, with a possible stopover on the way, as long flights are a physical strain. Any suggestions as to airlines, arrival points and stopovers?
I think Air Brunei does Aus--Brunei--London. Last I heard, it was a lot cheaper than other airlines, although the planes/services are not quite as nice, and there's definitely no booze or pork on the flight.
Brunei is a pleasant enough place to stop, but the main attractions are the golden mosque, the water village, big-nosed monkeys (not their real name), and rain forest. You may have seen very similar before, and you may not be comfortable supporting a gov't with sharia law (I don't think it's applied to non-Muslims).
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Post by sprite on Dec 4, 2019 8:51:23 GMT -5
i'll put those dates on my calendar and have a think. i haven't been to either country!
my parents enjoyed the Glacier Train from Paris to Geneva, but that's in all the wrong directions for you.
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 5, 2019 7:55:36 GMT -5
3. I want to fly to Europe arriving a day or two before the trip, with a possible stopover on the way, as long flights are a physical strain. Any suggestions as to airlines, arrival points and stopovers? I think Air Brunei does Aus--Brunei--London. Last I heard, it was a lot cheaper than other airlines, although the planes/services are not quite as nice, and there's definitely no booze or pork on the flight. Brunei is a pleasant enough place to stop, but the main attractions are the golden mosque, the water village, big-nosed monkeys (not their real name), and rain forest. You may have seen very similar before, and you may not be comfortable supporting a gov't with sharia law (I don't think it's applied to non-Muslims). Thank you for the suggestion. I didn’t want to go anywhere near London, if possible, as both my trips are in continental Europe. I’ve actually booked flights now, into Milan and out of Oslo, on Emirates, with a stopover in Dubai on the way home. Best deal travel agent could get. And I generally fly out of Brisbane, not Sydney or Melbourne, as its much closer to home. |
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Post by sprite on Dec 5, 2019 10:39:12 GMT -5
yeah, now i look again, i completely misread your final destination. i know they do several euro flights, but am not sure which.
i'll admit the last few years when planning holidays, i've pretty much veto'd anything with more than 4 hours of flying unless i'm going home, or it's for three weeks.
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Post by riverhorse on Dec 6, 2019 3:03:21 GMT -5
Berlin would be around 12-15 September, Copenhagen 15-18 September. Cruise departs Bergen on 19 th. Oooh, not sure of the dates yet, but that might clash with Hal, Clipper and LC's visit next year (meaning that I'd not be able to pop over to Berlin, I mean, unless we make it a mini pissup all together!) |
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Post by ozziegiraffe on Dec 6, 2019 4:54:05 GMT -5
Berlin would be around 12-15 September, Copenhagen 15-18 September. Cruise departs Bergen on 19 th. Oooh, not sure of the dates yet, but that might clash with Hal, Clipper and LC's visit next year (meaning that I'd not be able to pop over to Berlin, I mean, unless we make it a mini pissup all together!) It would be great to catch up with Hal in Europe. Those dates are two weeks before our school holidays start, if that’s any help. |
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Post by HalcyonDaze on Dec 6, 2019 5:32:30 GMT -5
We will skip some school time, and it usually is in the end of the third term. Just not sure how long.
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