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Registered on:1/27/2017
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Try Travelbyjen. 4 days, 5* Riviera Maya, all,inclusive, including air, for $600/person.
The Intercontinental is nice.
1 day is plenty. Take a cruise that includes a port of call at Key West. You can walk from one side of the island and back and stop off at a few of places along the way.

re: European Christmas Markets

Posted by AeroFan on 11/8/25 at 6:08 pm to
I haven't tried them, but Nicko river cruises seem to offer attractive pricing as low as 399 euros/person for 3 nights.
We did that in 2015. Stayed at LeMerdien Cairo Airport and did daytrips to Luxor and Giza over 2 days. We searched the internet and found guides with drivers for each day. Unfortunately, we didn't think the guides were that good, so can't recommend them.
See the Kara and Nate episode about it on Youtube. I believe they walked it last year. It looks like fun.
Vilnius is worth a visit. I liked it. However, unless you want to visit all of the Baltic countries on one trip, it's not worth squeezing it into this already ambitious trip, especially when you have plans to return to see it. Having said that, I'm glad we saw all three Baltic capitols on the same trip for comparison's sake (we also did Stockholm and Reykjavik during the same week-long trip). Maybe drop Bergen and just make this a Nordic/Baltic capitols' trip? Maybe next time you could focus on Norway? Just some thoughts.
Okay, here's the deal. Most people will crap all over your proposed itinerary because they don't like to travel that way. That's fine for them; to each their own, but they can't understand how someone might like to travel differently. So, you need someone who likes to cover a lot of territory in a single trip. I'm your man. Disclaimer: I've been to all those places except for Bergen and Helsinki. Here goes:


My first stab is this:

Night of 22nd: Fly into Copenhagen
23rd: Explore Copenhagen

I've been to Copenhagen a couple of time and walked around the city center both times. A day is enough, unless you want to go into museums or something. (We didn't go into Tivoli Gardens)

24th: Morning in Copenhagen-> Travel to Oslo

There's an 18-hour overnight ferry from Copenhagen to Oslo. I haven't done it, but it looks interesting.

25th: Explore Oslo or surrounding Fjords

There's not a lot to see in Oslo. I walked from downtown all the way outside of town in a couple of hours. A day is enough.

26th: Travel to Bergen early, see the surrounding fjords

If you like nature, you might want to see if you can work in a hike. If so, you may have to drop Bergen or Oslo. Hikes probably are more scenic near Bergen. We hiked Trolltunga, but positioning for that hike is time-consuming.

If the flight-times and fares are good, I'd consider starting the trip in Bergen or Oslo, instead of Copenhagen, and working east. You could take the ferry from Oslo to Copenhagen. Then you always could take a train from Copenhagen to Stockholm -- if fare and times are more favorable than a flight.


27th: Fly to Stockholm early, see the city

We did Stockholm in a day. That should be plenty.

Consider taking the overnight ferry from Stockholm to Tallin or Helsinki. If you take the ferry to Tallinn, then you could do a day trip from Tallinn to Helsinki, and have 2 nights in Tallinn. The ferry between Tallinn and Helsinki is only 2.5 hrs. long. A day in Helsinki should be plenty.

Take the bus from Tallinn to Riga. It only cost $5 or so when we went.

Spend the day and night in Riga, then bus to Vilnius.

Spend day and night in Vilnius, then head back to Germany.


Sounds like you have the makings of a great trip!
If you've never been to Oktoberfest, you could head to Munich for a day or two! :cheers:
We've flown into NYC a few times to connect on separate tickets. We did it once with Norwegian and also with Norse. We usually stay the night in NYC before the connecting flight. The last time we did it, we flew into JFK late at night, and took a city bus to the subway, and then the PATH to NJ where our hotel was. However, for our Norwegian flight, we flew into LGA on Southwest and took a city bus over to JFK for the connection to Norse. If you're taking the first flight of the day out of ATL, there should be less chance for delays. Also, some travel insurance policies provide some coverage for missed connections. You could look into that, but be sure to read the fine print.

re: Budget airlines to Europe

Posted by AeroFan on 2/16/24 at 5:38 pm to
We flew Norse. No issues.
Right now MSY-MAD is $546/person rt economy fare for end of Oct., or even leaving as soon as Feb.-March. The fares are about the same from BTR and MLU. Comparable fares to DUB. In a few weeks, prices from MAD-Milan should drop to $44/person rt.
Went to Kota Kinabalu a few years ago. It was pretty good.

re: Europe flights price jump

Posted by AeroFan on 6/13/21 at 2:22 pm to
I booked ORD-MUC for $238rt for Christmas last week. Hopefully, Europe stays open.
Democrats want it because their voters are less likely to show up to vote for the runoff.
Or how about the battles of Tours, Vienna, and Lepanto? If the Christians had lost any of those battles, then, arguably, Europe would have been converted to Islam 500 or more years earlier than it was.
quote:

Then the ramifications:
- Allowed the greatest stateman of the 19th century to unify Germany
- Created the largest and most powerful country in Europe
- Set in motion the alliances that would lead to WW1, some of which changed after Bismarck died
- Would mark the peak of Bismarck’s power


Now, we're on to something. If by decisive, you mean most consequential, how about the battle for Belgium when Germany invaded Belgium in WWI in blind adherence to the Schlieffen Plan? Had Germany not invaded Belgium, then Britain likely stays out of the war, there's no resulting naval blockade of Germany, and Germany doesn't have to sink British ships and antagonize the U.S. into joining the war. Without the British involved, and weaker than anticipated Russian forces, Germany is able to hold its own against France, and they don't need to transport Lenin to Russia to foment the Communist revolution. In due course, the war parties agree to terms, and the circumstances are not present for Hitler to rise to power or for WWII to break out.

re: Global entry question

Posted by AeroFan on 1/22/20 at 10:22 pm to
When you go through immigration at IAH when returning from abroad, they have a counter you can go to and be interviewed for global entry. There was no wait. No appointment needed. They ask you a few questions, and you're good to go. Piece of cake. That's what we did a few years ago.