Help me come up with a vacation spot in April

In My Humble Opinion
1

So if I stick with my current job through April, I will get a week long vacation in April over Passover (April 7-13). Last year I took the time to go to Puerto Rico, which was a lot of fun, and this year I’m seriously considering doing another big trip. I’m female, 27, not flush with cash, and will probably be traveling alone. I want a vacation destination that will be affordable and a lot of fun. FWIW, my definition of ‘fun’ isn’t ‘laying on a beach/getting drunk’. I lived on a beach. I don’t give a crap about beaches. I want an opportunity to see some sights and meet some interesting people.

To maximize my opportunity, I’m NOT going to repeat a trip I’ve already done. For the record, I’ve already been to these countries:
Canada
Mexico
Turkey
Greece
Bahamas

I don’t want to do a trip in-USA, because I’ve been to a lot of states and want to use my time to go abroad again.

My passport is good through 2014. Here’s what I’m thinking…

Iceland
Scotland
Ireland

The plus sides to these are that they are in relation to NYC, fairly quick flights. I don’t think any of them is over 10 hours, which means I can take a night flight from NYC, sleep on the plane, and arrive ready to check into my hostel and see the city. I found a RT on Skyscanner.com NYC-Dublin for $614, which is the best I’ve found. I can’t realistically spend more than about $600 for a ticket. I figure at $600 for a ticket + $100/day for room and board and excursions + 3 or 4 days = a thousand bucks for the whole shebang. I spent probably $700-800 on the Puerto Rico trip, so I figure a couple hundred more is doable.

I’m kinda leaning towards Europe, BUT if anyone has an amazing trip idea in Central/South America I would totally be down.

Please remember: I have seven days, tops! While it would amazing to go to Europe and go sight-seeing through four or five countries, it’s not realistic. I can probably afford more like 3 or 4 days, then back to NYC to recuperate before I go back to work. I would rather hit the highlights of one city like Dublin or Glasgow than rush through Paris, London, and Berlin.

2

I love York, in England. Ive been in March, and the weather was fine and the daffodils were beautiful. In a week you could do northern England and some Scotland, or all northern England.

3

England and Scotland are cheaper than Ireland for many things although hotel deals are now pretty good. Someone on here recently linked to a $600-ish deal for flights + hotel in Ireland for around a week. Might be worth searching for a full package like that. England and Scotland also have far more to see than Ireland. But hey we need your money more than they do so come to Ireland.

4

I went to Edinburgh, Scotland a few years ago and loved it. I took a night flight from Newark to Manchester, then a 4 hour train ride up to Edinburgh. Probably could have flown straight to Edinburgh, but I had to get back to Manchester for work related meetings.

5

I vote Iceland - the country is absolutely fascinating. The people are nice - I flew celand Air and had a wonderful flight. The airport is beautiful, the landscape is very interesting - a combination of tidal flat, plains and rugged mountains. They have a huge hot spring spa that looked amazing when I saw it on a cute little tourism DVD they gave me at the airport. They have a penis museum @_@

[Check out Tony Bourdain’s show on Iceland as well. ]

6

Funny enough, I am a single 26 year old female who is also not flush with cash but has some money, that has been trying to plan my epic trip of the year. Personally, I am cheap as hell but love luxury, so I’m all about the good deals. Last year I did Fiji ($1200 for air-- which is crazy but average-- then $500 for 8 nights in a beach front house-- with food and everything I came in under $2500, though that included me buying jewelry while I was there). In. . . was it 2009 or 10? I did Peru. That entire 9 day trip-- with food, air, lodging, transportation, and buying crap-- was under $1000 total. Peru is really cool, but I can’t honestly say that I’d feel safe there alone, as a single woman. If you’ve got someone you can drag with you though, I’d be more than happy to advise you on my deals (I mean, if you want to go alone too I’ll advise you, I’m just saying I wouldn’t have felt the safest alone).

Anyway!

While I’d love to see various parts of Europe, one of the reasons I’ve moved it down my list this year is because I know my money still isn’t worth anything there. Personally, I like to go to countries where I can live like a queen on $20 ;):D. Not only do you get nicer digs and food, but I dunno, I guess I feel better about what I did spend, you know?

So, this year, I’ve only done the preliminary research, but I’m thinking possibly either somewhere like Angkor Wat in Cambodia (then a few days at a beach resort somewhere around there after that) or maybe an eco resort or something in Central or South America. Where? I’m not sure. I know a friend (very much a world traveler) told me she felt more unsafe in Ecuador than anywhere she’s ever been, so that’s out. Maybe Costa Rica, Nicaragua, I don’t know.

Anyway, I have a friend who is a regular traveler to Asia and she said that done right, it can be crazy cheap but beautiful and luxurious, which is why I’m leaning toward that trip.

As far as resources, my absolute favorite is TravelZoo. While I now know they are a huge travel company, I had never heard of them until I found out their Las Vegas office is on the same floor as mine. When I went to their website, I was amazed by all the great deals. The absolute best thing they do is that every Wednesday, they send out their Top 20 best deals. . . and some of them are KILLER. If you’re like me and your heart isn’t set on one particular destination, this list might be great for you. Plus, a lot of the international flights include airfare from NYC, which is great for you.

Going over the last few Top 20s, to give you an idea. . .

From last week, they had Ireland for $999. Honestly though, I’ve seen them offer a similar package for as low as $599 w air from NYC.

Two weeks ago, they had 7 nights in Costa Rica for $699.

Here’s an Ireland deal from 3 weeks ago, $799 w air.

$799 to Rome from a few weeks ago.

You get the idea. A lot of their package trips like that usually include at least a few meals too, which is great. The best deals though, I think, come in their flash emails-- if a great deal pops up, they email you with it mid week.

What other sites? I actually think Groupon Travel (Groupon Getaways( has some great stuff, believe it or not. Right now, they’ve got a big Ireland tour for $899, but it doesn’t include air. This one is $725 to Morocco, but doesn’t include air either. I wonder what that runs you from NYC? Honestly, what they’ve got up right now isn’t so great, but it does change daily, so sign up for their email.

LivingSocial also has a good travel program. And my favorite search website is Kayak.

Ok. Phew. That’s a lot. :slight_smile: Sorry if I went off a little there, I love love love travel! I hope that helped a bit.

7

DiosaBellissima, thanks so much for the Travelzoo rec! I am seriously considering their 4-night flight+hotel deal to Denmark. I would vacation the fuck out of Denmark. Also I could do a day-trip to Germany, maybe.

8

Hahaha! You are a woman after my own heart. And you’re welcome!

Whatever you do choose, I’d love to be updated! I’m all about learning about the ins and outs of traveling to all these different places.

9

How about India? Hubby and I are planning on a tour there in the next 5 years, I found on online that starts at the Taj Mahal and runs to the Golden Temple, then a quick flight back to the start and then home, with 2 different wildlife preserves in between. I believe it was something around $2k each not counting the airfare. I am not on my desktop, but I think this is the company.

10

Just a head’s up: I’ve seen much better deals than that on TravelZoo. You may want to sign up for their mailing list, too. :slight_smile: Here is one from last week– $1499 with air, 3 cities, nine days.

11

If I recall correctly, the visa alone for India is $90, or about 10% of the OP’s budget.

12

How on earth did you do this? I can’t even find airfare to South America for under $1000.

One thing to be careful of with sites like TravelZoo is the “single supplement.” The prices they list are per person for double occupancy. If you find someone to go with you, you both get an amazing deal. If you end up going on your own, the price can sometimes nearly double.

Whatever you do, have a blast!

13

We checked the respective airline websites every single day, several times a day. After a few weeks of this, we checked one day at lunch and the price had dropped under $500, round trip, from LAX. It was TACA that we booked through. Previously, the lowest I had seen was $750, so obviously when it dropped below 5, we jumped on it.

14

Yeah, and besides that I feel like I’d need more like a month to really see India. It’d be a waste of 2k to go to India for 3 or 4 days. Not to mention its about a 14 hour flight each way. I’d waste a 2 days in the air.

15

What are the accomodations like on these kind of airfare+hotel deals? The prices look really good, but I’ve always booked everything separately (and obverpaid), out of concern that I’ll wind up in the local equivalent of the skanky places out by the airport. Do you get treated any worse than the typical tourist?

16

Girl, I would vacation Denmark so hard, Denmark would be walking funny the next day.

Absolutely, I will keep y’all updated!

17

Short answer: it varies.

Long answers: in the details of the deals, they always say which hotels are included and what other hotels you can pay more to upgrade to (if that’s an option). This isn’t a Priceline situation, where you are blindly buying into a package. With any of the deals, I go to Trip Advisor and look up the hotels. I’d say most of the Top 20 deal ones actually have great hotels that I would be likely to choose even outside of the deals (high rated, good reviews, good locations). It goes without saying, though, that there is no blanket answer and you’ll always be best off doing some research yourself.

And any time I’ve ever booked a deal-- especially through Groupon and Living Social-- I get treated like a queen. I think the reason is that the staff at these places are trained that I am a customer who only is trying them because of the deal, so I better have a good experience so I’ll come back. Seriously, I’ve noticed places bend over backwards for Groupon deals. It’s crazy.

18

OK, that sounds pretty good then. Thanks.

19

Wow, found an 8 day escorted flight+hotel to MOROCCO on Virgin Vacations for about a cool grand a pop. I may end up doing this one… I mean, MOROCCO.

20

I say Morrocco, baby!!! The only place I’ve been overseas is London and I HIGHLY recommend it. However, it is costly. But we found a great deal for $1000 round trip with hotel. But for a grand these days, Morrocco!!! Think of all the cool shit you could buy while you’re there, too!