artnbarb
1000+ Posts
As we're counting down the days before our 2022 trip begins, of course I'm thinking about 2023. I'd posted earlier about wanting to go to Sicily, but in the end, it just didn't work out. For a variety of reason, planing a vacation from scratch just doesn't excite me any more. Maybe it's because I'm older, maybe it's because I'm just so exhausted from everything that's gone on in the US over the last 6+ years, who knows, but for now I'm content to return to the places we love - places that require very little planning. And yet there are still new places we want to see - Sicily, Vienna and Budapest top that list.
When I couldn't get the timing right for a trip to Sicily, I wasn't sure what our other options were. After some discussion, we decided that we'd plan for a trip next spring, and visit Umbria in Sept/Oct. But where to go in the spring? For years we've said we'd like to take a river cruise in Europe, but that was something we were going to save for when we're "older". And then I found a package that combined a Danube River cruise (with a stop in Vienna) and included extra days in Prague at the beginng and extra days at the end in Budapest. We decided that waiting until we're "older" isn't a good plan, so next spring we're gong to take our first European river cruise, return to Prague (we haven't been there since 2004!), and finally get to visit Budapest! We're trying to adapt slow travel to best fit our needs, and everyone who's taken a river cruise has been very enthusiastic.
We'll be travelling with GateOne, the same company we used for Morocco. Round-trip air from NYC, 4 nights in Prague, a 7 night Danube cruise, 3 nights in Budpest, and a few add-on tours cost us $8200. And the boat is smaller - 130 passengers, compared with other companies that carry 190. Fingers crossed!
When I couldn't get the timing right for a trip to Sicily, I wasn't sure what our other options were. After some discussion, we decided that we'd plan for a trip next spring, and visit Umbria in Sept/Oct. But where to go in the spring? For years we've said we'd like to take a river cruise in Europe, but that was something we were going to save for when we're "older". And then I found a package that combined a Danube River cruise (with a stop in Vienna) and included extra days in Prague at the beginng and extra days at the end in Budapest. We decided that waiting until we're "older" isn't a good plan, so next spring we're gong to take our first European river cruise, return to Prague (we haven't been there since 2004!), and finally get to visit Budapest! We're trying to adapt slow travel to best fit our needs, and everyone who's taken a river cruise has been very enthusiastic.
We'll be travelling with GateOne, the same company we used for Morocco. Round-trip air from NYC, 4 nights in Prague, a 7 night Danube cruise, 3 nights in Budpest, and a few add-on tours cost us $8200. And the boat is smaller - 130 passengers, compared with other companies that carry 190. Fingers crossed!