Ok so BillHaywood already tried to start a thread on this and it didn’t take off but I saw a post in the LC thread (poster going to South Korea) asking for tips and realized I need some for my own trip to Tennessee in a few weeks (Chattanooga and Nashville). Probably won’t have a lot of time in Chattanooga (we are there for a wedding and have some plans) but only have vague ideas of what to do in Nashville. I’m married and have a toddler who is an adventurous eater; we are not really camping people but enjoy other outdoor activities. Any must sees? Thanks in advance!
I’ll be in Australia for a couple weeks starting mid-October. Visiting a friend in Melbourne, but will also check out Sydney and the Northeast (Cairns / Port Douglas). Thinking of taking a day trip to Tasmania during the week I’m in Melbourne (maybe fly in Tuesday night, fly out Thursday morning). Anyone been and have any tips? Other general Straya tips are welcome!
What kind of stuff do you like to do?
I haven’t been up Cairns way in many years so don’t have a lot of advice there.
I really like Tasmania, it’s probably my fave state, but the attraction is more the outdoor activities. That said, Hobart is a really nice little city imo. It’s small (~200,000 people compared to multiple millions for Melbourne and Sydney) but is Australia’s second oldest city (after Sydney) so you get heritage buildings etc. You’d want to check out the Salamanca area which has restaurants, pubs, shops etc all housed in a heritage area. Because it’s so small, 10-15 minutes’ drive (or like 5 mins from the airport) will get you out into a pretty wine region with good restaurants, I had lunch out there a year or so ago and it was great. The other direction out of the city you can drive up Mt Wellington to get a view of the place. If Australia’s convict past interests you, a little further out, something like 80-90 mins each way, you could visit the Port Arthur Historic Site, which is the best-preserved penal site in Australia. That’s all assuming you’re OK with driving on the left. Let me know if hiking interests you, I have some ideas, but they’d all be very long daytrips from Hobart.
My wife and I are going to Argentina in late February for our 10th anniversary. Haven’t planned anything yet besides the plane tickets to Buenos Aires.
Thanks! Those ideas are perfect–restaurants, mountains, and penal history sounds pretty great tbh. Was just hoping for a little bit of culture, a little bit of sightseeing, wondering what I could fit into a single day.
Mt Wellington was on my list–saw that there are hiking options, but will be limited in my packing so had planned to take the lazy way up. Do you think hiking is worth it? (I hike infrequently but enjoy it, and I’m in fine shape.)
I like the Port Arthur idea–will see if I can get there without renting a car.
I’m sure there are guided daytrips to Port Arthur from Hobart. I haven’t actually done the Mt Wellington hike but I doubt it’s worth it, it’s a nice enough view and I always like to look out over cities when I visit, but I don’t think hiking up would add anything. The restaurant I ate at was Frogmore Creek Winery, but a number of them are supposed to be nice.
If you’re up for quite a long hike, I’d certainly recommend Fortescue Bay to Cape Pillar return, which is probably 6 hours, it’s about 15 miles there and back. Long but spectacular; you can read a blog from a guy who did it here (I’d probably skip the Cape Huay detour, short but kind of steep and not really worth it imo). I did the Three Capes Experience walk he talks about at the start of the post, the Cape Pillar part was the highlight for sure. It’s boardwalk quite a bit of the way, so it’s not tough going, some elevation change but nothing too taxing. It’s in the same region as Port Arthur (which is the start point for Three Capes Experience) but you’d definitely need two days to do both; you could get away with flying into Hobart, having early lunch at a winery, then checking out Port Arthur in the afternoon, transportation permitting. Something like that, hike next day, back to Hobart to hang out at Salamanca at night would be a full two days, but doable. Few photos from my Three Capes walk (though you may not see all this stuff from Fortescue, can’t remember):
I understand you have limited time and I like Melbourne too, maybe my fave city in Australia (that or Hobart). There’s not a laundry list of things to do there, more one of those places with a vibe to it. Maybe speak to your friend about how to divide your time.
Hmm, I might be lying about the length actually. I think it’s more like 23 miles if you want to do the loop (see map on blog) which you probably would.
Excellent tips, thanks!!
Probably doesn’t need to be said, but if you go to Port Arthur, please don’t bring up the massacre with anyone there. It’s a small community down there and in addition to the deaths, a lot of businesses went under as a result of the subsequent drop in tourism, it was a very traumatic time. Nobody wants to hear about it. I heard a tourist bring it up with a local while I was there.
Let me know if any of y’all end up in Prague in the near future.
There’s a quality cigar and whiskey bar if you’re game. Can’t smoke Cubans in America.
I was there like a decade ago but I really enjoyed the Sandemans New Europe walking tour. There are a bunch of companies do them now I think but they are the originals. It’s 3 hours long, they show you some of the sights and talk through some history. If your kid likes history I think he’d enjoy it. It’s “free” but the guides work for tips and the company takes a cut, I’d say 5 euro per person if it sucked and 10+ otherwise.
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Seconding Chris. First thing I do when arriving in a city is go on a walking tour.
I loved Berlin. Not sure why I hear people give it shit. It has the megacity feel of having basically every nationality in the world living in the same place while retaining its history. It’s also shockingly affordable for a city of its kind.
Personally, I loved all of the museums. That might bore the hell out of a little kid though.
Not too many cities better for museums than Germany. Definitely recommend the DDR* Museum. It’s a very hands-on experience. Quite unique from the others.
*Obv not the Dance Dance Revolution Museum
A Dance Dance Revolution museum sounds great though
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There are a bunch of video game museums all over the U.S. and Europe. Rome has one that is inexplicably centered around John Romero and has a video game programming academy in its basement. Sheffield has one with two different DDR machines in it to go along with a crazy amount of old-school video games.
And for OP’s kid, Berlin has one too
Never been there though.
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Going to Nashville tomorrow for the weekend. Any recommendations?
Currently on the docket:
Martin’s BBQ
Country music HOF
Patterson House for cocktails
Husk for dinner
Concert at Ryman Theatre
If you don’t eat Nashville Hot Chicken, you’re missing out.
Also, getting the highest (or even second highest) spice level is for tourists. If you don’t want to spend a day in Nashville shitting your brains out in a hotel bathroom, go mid-level at most. Even a bite of the second highest level was rough on me.
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Anyone have a trip planned post vaccine? I thought about gambling on some cheaper international flights. Wife and I have never been to Europe, so that’s a strong contender. Or we could go beach route.
Boring day at work so I put together a list of places I want to go before I have a kid in a few years. Anyone have any experiences with any of these?
Mexico City → Oaxaca Coast
Spain
Italy
Tokyo
Costa Rica
I lived in Spain. Could you be more specific on where you want to go?