Travel Planning, Planning, Planning

[Pauline]

Around November I start planning out what trips we will take the next year. This year I planned and booked two weeks on the Amalfi Coast in May, but I was forced to speed up my decision making because we are spending one of the weeks with friends and they really wanted everything planned and booked! Otherwise I would have dithered a lot more about where to go.

I had a flurry of planning activity thinking we would go somewhere warmer in December or January. Canary Islands or Madeira - places we have never been. This all fell away as we started the incredibly long process of buying a house in the UK. We move in March.

Sometime in the spring/summer I want to take our car on the ferry from Poole (an hour drive from here) and go to Normandy or Brittany. I thought of going without the car to St Malo - just to see how the whole ferry thing works. For St Malo it takes all day, with a stop in one of those British Islands - Guernsey and Jersey. That we can arrange at the last minute.

Now I am researching for a hiking trip to the Alps in August/September. The area where we are now living, the Dorset coast, turns into a bit of a zoo in August (school holidays and everyone comes to the seaside) and it might be good to miss a bit of that. We know Switzerland very well and were thinking of going back to Lenk, where we went the previous two years, but then I was fixing broken links on some Slow Europe pages and reread @Kathy 's article about The German and Austrian Alps, so now am reconsidering.

I also got some old used copies of the Easy Walking books (great books) for Italy and France, thinking we might try the French Alps again. We visited Samoens (west of Chamonix) in 2014. It was beautiful but the hiking was not as good as in Switzerland. These books give good recommendations for bases for walking.

Steve has a significant birthday in October and we really should do something special. Greece or Israel I was thinking - we have been talking about going to both for the last few years. Which means we need to make the Alps trip earlier so we are home for a bit before going away again.

That is what I am up to. One good thing with buying a house and finally making the decision to stay here, I can make longer term plans. For the last five years I was never sure if we were staying, or if we would be needing to move, so did not like to book too far ahead.

What trips are you planning?

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Hi Pauline,
Fun to read your plans and get caught up on your household news.

So we are off to Geneva next week. This BBC article titled In Praise of Boring Cities lists Geneva first. Oh well, it's still in Europe. As I mentioned in another thread, I will be spending 3 days in Venice on my own. Just 1 hour from Geneva by air. Am really looking forward to Venice. Even if it is grey and rainy.

March we go to Madrid, Lisbon and Madeira.

I would love to see more of Greece. Have only been to Crete and adored it. You must plan a nice trip for Steve's birthday.

I was daydreaming about the Almalfi recently remembering our trip there. It must have been about 10 or 11 years ago. Doesn't seem that long ago. Such a beautiful area.

I read your blog about the loss of Buddy. Made me a little weepy. Our sweet little dogs went to doggie heaven last spring. No more pets for us.

 

[jonathan]

Funny you should mention the Canaries, Pauline. Nick & Philly are visiting us next December before Christmas, so P and I are looking for somewhere warm around Christmas/New Year time - and I'm seriously looking at La Palma, where the hiking and scenery (and lack of tourist beaches & resorts) make it look like a very attractive proposition. We must compare notes!

(In a rather strange coincidence, Islas Canarias = Islands of Dogs; Canary Wharf on London's Isle of Dogs was so named because it was the major wharf for unloading cargoes - bananas, mostly - from the Canaries; we're spending another night in an Airbnb on the Isle of Dogs this weekend, as we combine a bit of family-visiting with planning our next move...)

 

[Pauline]

I read your blog about the loss of Buddy. Made me a little weepy. Our sweet little dogs went to doggie heaven last spring. No more pets for us.

I was wondering about your dogs. I remember you saying when we met you in Oxford that they were elderly. Sorry to hear they are gone.

We've been to Geneva a few times. I like it. The old town is beautiful. There is a nice park along the lake. I have read there is a chairlift or funicular that you can take from the city up into the mountains but we never did that. We were always jet lagged during our stays there.

 

[Pauline]

Funny you should mention the Canaries, Pauline. Nick & Philly are visiting us next December before Christmas, so P and I are looking for somewhere warm around Christmas/New Year time - and I'm seriously looking at La Palma, where the hiking and scenery (and lack of tourist beaches & resorts) make it look like a very attractive proposition. We must compare notes!

Inntravel, the company you recommended to me, does walking holidays on the Canaries, some with hotels, some based for a week in a vacation rental. January and February are the wettest months, I think.

 

[Kathy]

A fantastic area for hiking is the Alpe de Siusi in the Dolomites of Italy. We spent six nights there back in 2010 and did day hikes most of the days we were there. We took one day off to visit Bolzano. This is a huge alpine meadow, a ski area in the winter that becomes a hiking mecca in summer. We were there in late June/early July... similar to what I remember about Switzerland, the wildflowers were just beautiful. I really enjoy the inn-to-inn hiking, but this is a very easy area for day hiking using the ski lifts to help you up the steep mountains. We also really liked the mix of Austrian and Italian culture in this area. I could have easily stayed here for two weeks or more.

I really do like the inn-to-inn self-guided hikes, especially on the recognized trails where there's a clear beginning and end and you get a feeling of accomplishment at the finish. It also forces us to get going every morning and hike on... a discipline we might not have otherwise. (Of course you might also get up and find it's pouring rain and hike on quite reluctantly...) And we like the camaraderie of meeting up with fellow travelers on the same route. We're not too fussy about the accommodations when it's just for one night, and we've found the food is pretty great in every country where we've done these walks.

But for day hiking from a set base, I thought the Dolomites was just wonderful. We would love to go back, but we've ended up taking our vacation time in England these last several years since we have to watch our time in the Schengen area very carefully.

Anyway, another place for you to think about Pauline! I always love following along with your vacation planning! (So many things are being talked about in this thread, I'm not sure if I'm even on track, but you made me think about hiking destinations!)

 

[jonathan]

Pauline, thanks for the reminder of Inntravel's walking holidays - I've just spent a pleasant 15 minutes browsing through their La Palma pages, and I'm even more hooked! We've used Inntravel, many times for our annual cross-country skiing trips (we've got one coming up next month, to an area south of Salzburg; so far, we've always stayed in the Tirol when in Austria, so this is an interesting contrast), but never taken one of their walking holidays.

One of our previous (non-Austrian) skiing weeks was spent in the Alpe de Siusi (= Seiseralm): as Kathy says, the scenery there is absolutely gorgeous - and the typical Dolomite mountaintops form a nice contrast to the Swiss Alpine ones that you've explored so far.

Future trips for us this year include a week in Ostuni around Easter - and then another trip to California to see our first (expected June 22nd) grandchild We're planning to go over some time in earlyish July, have a roadtrip (just the two of us!) up the coast and into Oregon at the end of July, and then spend some more time in an Airbnb around Albany/El Cerrito for some of August. (Nick & Philly are in the process of moving over to the East Bay - El Cerrito - at the moment: much cheaper rent than SF, and much closer to Philly's family)

Oregon doesn't really fall under Slow Europe's remit... So I'll probably post over at ST for a bit of guidance there!

 

[Kathy]

Congratulations on your first grandchild, Jonathan!

I got caught up in Pauline's hiking trip discussion and didn't realize that her last question was "What trips are you planning?" This is a big year for me! I'm taking early retirement from my university job at the end of this semester to focus full-time on our European Experiences business and open up some time to pursue some other interests and projects, including more time for personal travel.

We're going to France for two weeks in March (an extended spring break). A few days in Paris and two weeks at our place in Bonnieux... our daughter will be with us in Paris and for the first week in Bonnieux. Charley and I will take a week of French lessons (mornings) and also hope to do a lot of hiking.

Then at the end of April we're back to Provence to begin our tour season. We'll be away from our USA home until mid August. Including our transition weeks, we'll be in Provence for 4 weeks, 3 weeks in Tuscany, and 3 weeks in Alsace. We take a two-week personal break in the Cotswolds, then two more weeks with groups... a month total for us in Chipping Campden. (Pauline, we hope the timing still works for us to visit you in your new area.)

After our last Cotswolds group, we're going to do a long distance walk, Offa's Dyke, a 177 mile self-guided, inn to inn walk along the English/Welsh border. We've booked our walk through Celtic Trails, a walking tour company located in that area. Here's the info on our walk.

At the end of the walk, we'll come back to the USA for a few weeks... then will return to Provence in mid September for three more groups there. We hope to do some travel in the USA in the fall.

Our daughter will in graduate school at the London School of Economics for a year beginning in September. We thought we would go back over to England right after Thanksgiving to meet up with her for her winter break. We want to travel some in France, Germany and Austria during the first few weeks of December, then make our way to Bonnieux for Christmas.

So we'll pretty much divide our time between the USA and Europe this year... lots of plans still to be made!

 

[Lisa in Ottawa]

Wow Kathy. What a whirlwind of adventures. Congratulations on your retirement. Well, not really retirement but from teaching anyway. With the US$ so strong I think more Americans will be travelling which can only be good for your business. The questions for us poor Canadians is how low can the loonie go. As of today it is trading at about 65 cents against the green back. Canadians love to travel but this will definitely make many of us think carefully.

Just had a look at Inntravel and La Palma. Oh, makes my mouth water and my feet itch. So wonderful sounding.

I'm really looking forward to our trip to Madeira in March. Going to see what Inntravel has to say.

 

[Pauline]

... (In a rather strange coincidence, Islas Canarias = Islands of Dogs; Canary Wharf on London's Isle of Dogs was so named because it was the major wharf for unloading cargoes - bananas, mostly - from the Canaries; we're spending another night in an Airbnb on the Isle of Dogs this weekend, as we combine a bit of family-visiting with planning our next move...)

I thought you meant that Canarias means dogs - but you don't do you? Does it mean Canary like the bird?

 

[jonathan]

'Canarias' isn't dogs in modern Spanish, certainly - but the name comes from the Latin Canariae Insulae, apparently. So yes, dogs. And the islands' coat of arms shows two dogs supporting a shield!

 

[Pauline]

Wow @Kathy ! That is a lot of time away from "home" (in quotes because I think you are changing where home is for you). We will see you before your Cotswold weeks and maybe after too when you are doing the Offa's Dyke walk. And maybe we will see more of you with Kelly living in London!

@Lisa in Ottawa a friend of mine recommended this hiking book for Madeira (I have it): Rother Walking Guide, Madeira, by Rolf Goetz. She has done a lot of walking there and said this is the best guide. Take lots of notes for me on your trip. Maybe we will get there this year.

We watch the Canadian dollar too because Steve gets a small (and smaller every month) pension from Canada (from all his working years there). The US dollar is so strong these days!

 

[Pauline]

'Canarias' isn't dogs in modern Spanish, certainly - but the name comes from the Latin Canariae Insulae, apparently. So yes, dogs. And the islands' coat of arms shows two dogs supporting a shield!

Well, I just LOVE that! The Isle of Dogs and Islas Canarias, plus the connection of Canary Wharf.

 

[Pauline]

A fantastic area for hiking is the Alpe de Siusi in the Dolomites of Italy.

My friend Joan who we traveled with in Italy last September spent a week in the Dolomites and loved it. I was considering Austria because of your article @Kathy but will now look at the Dolomites. We love Switzerland but maybe a better plan for us is one year hiking in Switzerland, the next year hiking in Austria or Italy or France. Since we are back in love with Italy, and Steve's Italian language is coming back to him, this year might be in the Dolomites. I did get the Easy Walking book for that area too.

 

[Jan55612]

We are headed to Lisbon for a month from early February through early March. We've never spent any time in Portugal, so a new place to explore. Then in October, we are returning to Paris for a couple of weeks. It has been fifteen years since we were in Paris. Where does the time go????

 

[jonathan]

Jan, we visited Lisbon (just 5 days: rather envious of your whole month!) a couple of years ago: here's what I posted in a Lisbon thread on these forums - just a few of my Lisbon favourites.

 

[Jan55612]

Thanks, Jonathan! Your post is great! Our apartment is very near the Miradouro de Santa Caterina. I will check my Google map and add anything I had missed. I loved reading Kathy's posts during her trip. This reminds me that I should re-read them now before I leave.