Solid Recommendations Needed for 6mth OS Trip
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Sep 9, 2012 8:46 PM Last Post By: carling_reid
jump to
Solid Recommendations Needed for 6mth OS Trip
Hi all – am new to Lonely Planet and seeking some advice!Firstly, some background: I’m based in Australia and I have always had the travel bug. With our house now selling and ducks lining up, it’s becoming more of a reality to go on a solid trip overseas so thought I’d join LP and get some advice! My husband and I are restless at work and considering taking the plunge and doing a good 6 month trip from April/May – September/October.
We don’t want it to be a whirlwind in the sense of constantly moving every couple of nights and everything crammed in to a few days... we’d rather find a location to position ourselves in and then day trip from there. The minimum amount of time we’d like to stay in any one place is 1 week (e.g. we’d like to spend a month in Italy, so are open to finding 3-4 lots of accommodation for a week or so each).
My question is, does anyone have good recommendations as to affordable accommodation for specific locations or suggestions for reliable websites for house-sitting? I’m after specific names of hotels/B&B’s/etc (3 star or above) that come highly recommended and also tried-and-tested house-sitting websites. We’re not keen to do the backpacking thing, just not the kind of holiday we’re after. Budget-wise is hard to say, and I realise it changes depending on which country, but I’m guessing we could manage around $100/night or $700/week maximum. Of course if a place is incredible we would be willing to pay a little more and then balance it out elsewhere to keep within budget.
Look forward to hearing your thoughts!
Greece – April
2 weeks
(Zakinthos, Mykonos, Paros, Santorini, Rhodes, Kythira, Ios)
Italy – April/May
1 month
(Dolomites, Venice, Verona, Cinque Terra, Florence, Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Portifino, Positano, Sorrento, Capri, Wine Regions)
France – May/June
1 month
(Paris, Marseille, St Tropez, Cannes, French Riviera, Wine Regions)
England – June/July
1 month
(London & surrounds, also have family in Leeds)
Ireland – July
2 weeks
(Dublin & surrounds – open to suggestions)
Scotland – August
2 weeks
(Edinburgh, Glasgow, Highlands – looking at doing a rail journey from Edinburgh to Inverness)
Canada – August
2 weeks
(Location TBC, joining friends in a motorhome trip)
Texas – September
2 weeks
(Negotiable destination – depends if friends move there)
Indonesia – September
2 weeks
(Bali stint on the way home)
1
Hi - and welcome to Thorn Tree.Just as a little PS to Fwoggies very informative post....
Europe doesn't accept Aus$'s as payment.
As for accommodation requests in England and Scotland, if it's just a bed you need - then check out....
Premier Inn and Travelodge.
It really doesn't come much cheaper, except for a few multi-bed dormitory hostels.
There is a house swapping branch here on Thorn Tree that you might like to have a look at.
It all sounds like a wonderful trip.
3
Thank you Fwoggie for all the tips! I really appreciate it - especially the idea about the ashes - he would love that! Bali is simply dirt cheap for Aussies which is why we were picking there and thinking that getting over jetlag in Bali on the way home might be a nice idea... Of course it'll all depend on flights and where they stopover and the prices etc. Cheers!5
I just realised too that I mustn't have made it clear - the places listed next to each country are just shortlisted options - we certainly don't intend to go to all of them! They are a mixture of places we've either wanted to go or good recommendations from friends who have been.For the countries where we'd like to stay a month, we'll look at picking maybe 2-3 locations out of the shortlist options and then staying there for a week or so each. We can then look at doing day trips around that location (perhaps a zone of up to a 3hr drive radius).
