Travel Addicts/Advice Thread

[Riverman]

Italy recap:

Our positioning flight to JFK was on time so we had like 3 hours. We needed it. The international terminal at JFK, and the security situation there, is a disgrace. Shout out to the most openly rude and unpleasant TSA agents I’ve ever encountered. Also, there is a form you have to fill out to get into Italy that’s like a 10 step online thing with endless annoying drop downs (“United States of America” = scroll all the way down, every time). Of course, zero prior notification from airline this was needed.

The flight to Istanbul was smooth except I was planning to watch the Masters and the TV didn’t work once we got to cruising altitude. Also, a crying baby.

The Istanbul Airport is absolutely massive. We were completely exhausted at this point and somehow made our connection, but my kid left his Switch on the plane. -$300 right off the bat.

Our Airbnb in Rome was great, right across from Piazza Venezia, which I highly recommend climbing for the incredible views.

Rome has absolutely insane drivers. These people do not obey traffic laws at all and drive at incredibly dangerous speeds. We were in constant fear.

We visited the Pantheon, Colosseum and Vatican along with a bunch of just walking around. Gorgeous city, truly one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Was a bit dirty though and everyone smokes. Also, was not blown away by the food. Our family had an amazing time exploring this city. Some photos:

Next up, Florence. Italy has amazing high speed trains and they are pretty cheap. The train stations are super centrally located, especially in Florence. We had an incredible Airbnb about a 15 min walk from the Duomo with great views:

Food in Florence was better, definitely prefer the Tuscan cuisine. Went to a fantastic local restaurant called Pegasus. No English on the menu is a good sign.

We did all the obligatory tourist stuff like Uffizi Gallery and Mercado Centrale. Florence is small and it was super packed.

Finally, Venice. Unspeakable beauty but incredibly crowded and weirdly, not a ton of culture. But of a Disney vibe but again we had a great time. It’s worth doing a water taxi once, super cool experience. We didn’t do a gondola.

From there, train back to Rome and a frantic dash to get COVID tests done. We made it, barely. Overall a great bucket list trip.

[LFS]

Thanks for the trip report, good stuff here. Making me feel better about flying direct from LAX. We’re doing Rome for five days, Florence for four, then on to Switzerland. Planning on doing at least one day trip from Florence - in your opinion is Venice doable as a day trip? I kind of want to see it but don’t really feel the need to get that far into it.

[JordanIB]

It’s always better than in back, but Turkish Airlines still has some pretty underwhelming long haul business product.

[Riverman]

Yeah I was not impressed. We got an attractive points redemption so it wasn’t upsetting but I would never pay cash. Forgot to mention the Wi-Fi didn’t work on the 10+ hour IST-JFK flight. I will say the IST business class lounge is pretty nice.

[ChrisV]

I’m plotting another trip to the US in the middle of this year. Mostly my plan is to go to Yellowstone and the Tetons and drive south into Colorado. I was thinking I might go to New Orleans after that, but am I liable to have a good time there as a 42 year old man travelling alone? Assuming going there is a good idea, I also have no plan for what to do, if anything, between Colorado and there. Just flying there is certainly an option, but interested in suggestions for other things I might consider doing (for example, flying somewhere else and driving there). I will probably have about 3-4 weeks total.

Places I have already been: Montana, Washington State, Oregon, California, Utah, Vegas, New York, Boston, D.C., Miami

Stuff I like: natural beauty/hiking, food/wine/beer, nightlife and live music (again bearing in mind I am 42 and by myself)

Stuff I don’t generally like: Museums, old buildings etc, set-piece tourist attractions (examples: Mt Rushmore, Niagara Falls)

[Bigoldnit]

1. Based on your likes and dislikes, I think you would definitely enjoy New Orleans. The food is absolutely amazing and quite different than what you find in most other parts of the US. There’s a decent live music scene (especially if you like having a cocktail while listening to jazz). And there is a casino that usually has pretty decent games (and lower take than Aussie casinos)

Given the time of year it sounds like you’ll be going it should be possible to avoid the craziest parts of New Orleans if you just mostly steer clear of Bourbon Street (or at least don’t hang out there too late at night), but if I were you I might do a little googling to see if there are any major events going on when you might be there. I think for your vibe, you’d probably want to pick an off peak time when the city isn’t getting as swamped with tourists.

2. As far as driving vs flying, I usually lean towards flying for a distance that long, but if you really want to experience 'Merica, you’ll definitely get to do that with a roadtrip through Texas. Fastest route from Colorado would probably take you near Dallas, and you could detour a bit and maybe hit up Austin or even Houston depending on how much time you wanted to take along the way.

[ChrisV]

I think the distance of the roadtrip through Texas is probably too brutal, especially since I imagine it looks a lot like what much of Australia looks like in West Texas. I have some small desire to go to Austin, partly to see some of Texas and eat some good BBQ, and partly because Austin is the US sister city to my home city Adelaide. I also have a friend in Houston I could visit, so I might consider flying to Austin and driving to New Orleans from there.

Originally I was hoping to somehow tie together the Great Smoky Mountains area with New Orleans, but I’m not sure the geography works out. I mean we all wish Alabama and Mississippi didn’t exist, but unfortunately they do.

[Bigoldnit]

Your read on the drive through West Texas is spot on. Bypassing it by flying into Austin seems like a good plan.

[ElSapo]

New Orleans

@Bigoldnit

There’s a decent live music scene

[TheNewT50]

Beware one-way rentals in the time of Covid. The drop fees can be outrageous.

[LFS]

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? I went briefly at the end of last year and it’s really something else.

Like somebody else said, when/if going to New Orleans avoid Bourbon Street etc. It’s sketchy and gross.

Memphis might be a reasonable destination for the music and the BBQ. I know you don’t like set-piece tourist attractions but Graceland is worth a visit if only because it’s so weird.

People really like Charleston, SC. I find the pride/shamelessness around its history pretty spooky, but it’s definitely a unique and picturesque city.

[ElSapo]

@LFS

People really like Charleston, SC. I find the pride/shamelessness around its history pretty spooky, but it’s definitely a unique and picturesque city.

I think it’s possible to navigate Charleston in a way that isn’t creepy, but agree that this is an issue. If someone is considering Charleston, my advice is usually to check out Savannah which has a lot of the same history but also feels like a real city, younger, more progressive and leans into art-school hip instead of [bad things about Charleston].

Charleston can definitely be creepy, I totally agree. The food is pretty fantastic though, and it is a long way past where it was a decade or so ago.

[superuberbob]

@LFS

People really like Charleston, SC. I find the pride/shamelessness around its history pretty spooky, but it’s definitely a unique and picturesque city.

Yeah it was pretty weird down where the bigass houses were with old money in them. I remember a few statues that wouldn’t fly well nowadays were there.

But yeah, real good food.

[Bigoldnit]

Yeah, I undersold the quality of the live music scene. TBH the style of music I’ve typically experienced when I was down there was not really my preferred genre(s), but it is obviously home to lots of very talented musicians and there are plenty of venues to see them, so I probably should have given a more enthusiastic recommendation.

[suzzer99]

If you’re already up that close you should check out Glacier National Park (unless you’ve already been). It’s incredible.

If I was going to drive from Colorado to New Orleans, I’d go down through New Mexico, check out Santa Fe and some of the other sights. Then drive across to San Antonio/Austin, and check that out. Yes west Texas will be boring, but you can pretend you’re living in No Country for Old Men.

[VoteForSocialists]

i’m not sure i have it in me as a 42yo to travel alone for long stretches anymore. most likely if i was traveling to meet someone else.

good luck! you have a lot of good suggestions already. if you are driving by yellowstone and colorado, i would recommend detours into wyoming and new mexico because those were my most recent trips. hot springs, and natural and historical sites like Fossil Butte and Taos.

[zikzak]

@LFS

Have you been to the Grand Canyon? I went briefly at the end of last year and it’s really something else.

I’ll second this. I’m like the anti-Chris as a traveler, loving museums and old buildings but really not into nature hikes, and I can still say that hiking to the bottom of the Grand Canyon was a top tier life experience.

[Nozetradamus]

There is nothing worth seeing between Colorado and New Orleans and holy hell do not do that drive. I’ll happily give you some recommendations if you come here when you firm up your dates.

[TheHip41]

Frenchmen street was pretty amazing for music. Every night. All night.

[Fossilkid93]

@Riverman

The Istanbul Airport is absolutely massive. We were completely exhausted at this point and somehow made our connection, but my kid left his Switch on the plane. -$300 right off the bat.

Weird, I lost my Switch as well on my stop before Istanbul. Probably in my AirBNB in Athens.

You gonna do an Istanbul TR as well? Curious to hear your thoughts.