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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
No clue. Probably going to try and spend a 7-10 days with a mix of the coast and inner Spain. Just seems like a fun country to eat, drink, and explore in. I don’t really have concrete plans on any of these, just have them on my bucket list. Would love to hear your opinions since you lived there.
I mean it depends on what you’re into. Obviously history is more prevalent in Madrid. You’d also see a ton in Seville. And if you’re gonna be in Andalucia, Granada is a must due to Alhambra. Also some crazy good Moroccan food in the medieval Moorish Quarter.
As for beaches/partying, basically anywhere on the coast. However, Ibiza is where it’s at. It’s expensive since it attracts a shitload of foreign tourists during the summer relative to its size though. Get to the beach super early in the morning. Spaniards are total beach bums as are the tourists there.
As for Italy, there’s little one can do to avoid crowds beyond staying in one of those villages that’s selling houses for 1 Euro because of depopulation. Reality is that every major city is jammed with tourists at all times. In 7-10 days, just pick a region of the country and stick to it. 7-10 days is a good amount of time for Sicily.
My wife and I went to San Sebastián, in the Basque region of northern Spain, for our 1 year anniversary. It was absolutely incredible and I would go back at a moment’s notice if given the chance. The Basque is part of both northern Spain and southern France, but they consider themselves autonomous. They have their own language/dialect, culture, food, regional government (I think?) - I’m selling them way short here but the takeaway for me was their pride in NOT being Spanish and NOT being French.
I cannot recommend this region enough to anyone who will listen and hope you’ll consider going. My gtfo of USA #300 plan includes, wishfully, going to San Sebastián and living on a farm, learning how to make Basquese salumi and Txakoli.
Separately, but with the same passion, I would encourage you to visit Tokyo. I was lucky to go for work, and spent nearly 2 weeks eating ramen and walking the city in my down time. The Japanese are the real #1, as @Ikioi would probably attest. They are quiet, humble, and have immaculate attention to detail/perfection. For me, I observed this in the food, the infrastructure, the architecture, and the people around me. When I came home, I realized that the US isn’t really a first world country.
Hopefully these memories will get you excited about traveling to these places. If you want any details of specific recs, please just ask or shoot me a PM.
Spain is so much fun. I’ve been there twice and have had four friends go within the last five years, all of us to a different area. All of us had fun. It really seems like you can’t go wrong no matter where you go.
