2018 Travel Plans?

[Roz]

If you decide on northern Italy (Torino and Genoa), we also really liked Bergamo.

 

[PokeyMindy]

I am celebrating a "big" birthday in November next year, but with school holidays in September we are planning to celebrate a little early. We will have our 2 daughters, a son in law and 2 children ( 5 and 8) with us.
We meet in Paris for a week, then take the TGV to Avignon before having a week in a villa in Goult.
One daughter will fly home, while the other, with her family will have some time in London before returning home.
Kevin and I plan a few days in Lyon, before travelling to Venice via Switzerland.
We are still in the planning stages for this part.
We have 4 weeks in Venice. I always wanted to go to Venice when the weather was cool ( even if we get some rain) so we will have most of October there. I've been looking at Hotel Concords webcam and there has been some Tshirt days, and some jacket days.
In November we travel to Bologna to tour with Bluone Tours http://www.bluone.com/emilia-romagna-fall--winter-tour.html for 5 nights. They are part of Slowtravel Tour group.
Then it's time for home, in time to celebrate my actual birthday!
It seems a long time to wait but there is no excuse for no research which is part of the excitement for me.

How wonderful you will be going to be with Marcello and Raffa! I'm going on their Friuli trip in May. I just love them to bits!

 

[PokeyMindy]

Everyone's plans sound great! I want to go everywhere! I would really like to go back to Turkey, but that probably won't happen. We still haven't seen Vienna, or Budapest. And due to circumstance beyond our control we missed several days in Copenhagan, so I'd love to go back. I loved the Dordogne so much I'd treturn to France in a heartbeat, and another trip to Scotland, esp in August for the Royal Tatoo, would be wonderful. Alas, too many places, too little time and money to do them all.

Our plans have changed a few times over the last several months. When we learned that our (former) house in Umbria was for sale (and for less than half what we sold it for in 2010!!!) we had some serious conversations about moving back. In the end we decided that altho we love Italy and will always return, we also just love traveling, and that keeping our base in the states just makes more sense in the long term.

So.....travel plans for 2018, still subject to tweaking are as follows: fly to DC for a visit with our granddaughters before flying to Ireland for 2 1/2 weeks. We've never been to Ireland before so this is our 'something new' for 2018. From Ireland we'll fly to England for 2 weeks in Yorkshire then 2 weeks in Sussex. From England we'll then fly to Austria to spend a week outside of Innsbruck, maybe a day or 2 in Switzerland, then on to Italy for 2 1/2 months. We take a transatlantic cruise back home in November.

I'd love to go back to Edinburgh too for the Royal Tatoo too, LOL

 

[PokeyMindy]

Because life can change on a dime...I'm planning on 2 trips in 2018. What the hell, it's only money!

In late May I'll be going on a Food and Wine tour to Friuli with http://www.bluone.com/ It's going to be a blast and I'm looking forward to traveling with @Cameron Afterwards I'll be in Venice for 4 nights (I will probably take the train to Firenze one day to visit friends).
Then in Sept. I'll be joining Shannon on her Grapehops tour of Sicily. We have a fun group (hi @Amy ) and I know it's going to be amazing!

Mindy

 

[Sharon J]

Heading back to Nico's at Sant'Antonio this June, and then several nights in an apartment in Rome. We've been to Rome, numerous times, but not for many years. Haven't been too keen on any large cities in our travels lately. Then, back to Nico's (can you tell we love him and Sant'Antonio?) It's just too relaxing to pass up on any of our Italy travels. After Nico's, we will spend time in Varenna on Lake Como, and end our trip in a lovely apartment in Venice, May 2019.

 

[carolynflower]

Thank you so much for your suggestions. I will have a look at them and see what do I like. Thanks once more.

 

[Rebecca]

We'll be having another year of hot summer travel, but I really shouldn't complain since it's going to be the last trip before my eldest heads off to college. I took on planning Italy with the whole family (7 of us, 3 generations, 2 who haven't been) for 2+ weeks from the end of June into July. Rome, Montepulciano, and Venice. Someone may not make it out alive.

 

[TourMama]

Only one trip planned for 2018, but it is sure to be an interesting one. We are taking our then almost 14 year old granddaughter with us -- she is a Harry Potter afficionado, so London is our starting point; we have a week there before spending four days in Hampshire to get a taste of the countryside and visit with a cousin of Bill's who lives there. Then it is off on the Eurostar to Paris for a week and a day, to introduce her to one of our favorite cities. Major reservations - air and apartments - are booked, and she will be responsible for prioritizing what she wants to see and do -- I have made a list of possibilities, complete with URLs. She loves travel planning and traveling, so aside from the fact that she has morphed in the past six months from a little girl into a full-blown teenager, this should be fun for all.

 

[jonathan]

As many of you know, we moved from Gloucestershire back to London in the summer - great to be back in the city after a 27-year break! We had thought that one of the benefits of the move would be easier travel to Europe and beyond - but with all these riches on our doorstep, and with the extra time we have now that we're (mostly) retired, we find that we haven't planned many trips away yet.

But we are planning to be in California for most of August next year: grandchild no.2 is expected in late May! And we have lots of friends (many of them from SlowTrav, of course) to meet up with - and would like to do another road trip up towards Oregon: I'll post more about this nearer the time.

Semi-retired, but still playing concerts - and I'm delighted to be going back to Venice again in early April: concert in the Frari on the 6th, and midday Mass in San Marco on the 8th. The same group, with the Berlin-based choir, are playing the same music in Berlin the previous month, so that's another short trip.

And now that I'm no longer teaching, I've got time to go on courses and be taught! So I'm travelling (by train, I think: London-Paris-Hendaye-San Sebastian: details at Seat 61) at the end of April, to eat food and play my sackbut (= renaissance trombone) in San Sebastian.

 

[Amy]

Our 2018 plans have solidified now. In early March we'll be in Nice for almost two weeks of art museums, exploring towns, Provencal-Italian food, hopefully milder weather than in Boston, and some sea views. In June we are sherpas/tour guides for my 85 year old MIL in Switzerland, and happily SIL is taking over for the second week.

The big trip is in September, when I join Shannon et al in Sicily. At the end of that tour, Larry will fly out to join us---to celebrate his early retirement that month, our unexpected but welcome Big Change. Then we'll have another 10 days in Sicily, fly to Paris after that, and spend 2-3 weeks in France before returning home.

 

[jan]

Our 2018 plans have solidified now. In early March we'll be in Nice for almost two weeks of art museums, exploring towns, Provencal-Italian food, hopefully milder weather than in Boston, and some sea views. In June we are sherpas/tour guides for my 85 year old MIL in Switzerland, and happily SIL is taking over for the second week.

The big trip is in September, when I join Shannon et al in Sicily. At the end of that tour, Larry will fly out to join us---to celebrate his early retirement that month, our unexpected but welcome Big Change. Then we'll have another 10 days in Sicily, fly to Paris after that, and spend 2-3 weeks in France before returning home.

Wow, Amy. That sounds wonderful! Sicily with Shannon followed by husband time. Wow--just wow!

 

[artnbarb]

Flight to Dublin booked. Car rental for 2 weeks booked. Final night in Ireland booked. Now to fill in the rest - 17 nights in 6 different locations!!! And Trinity College Dublin is already sold out for the 4 nights I want!

 

[Pauline]

Our March Israel trip is booked (2 weeks) and I am doing my research for the trip. Our Switzerland trip is booked (3 weeks in late August/September). Next up I am thinking about a May trip to Italy - Liguria? Tuscany?

Planning and booking trips is a lot of work!! But you all know that.

 

[phirhon]

We have our flights booked. We arrive in Lyon on 31st August and leave on November 10. So ten weeks in all. We are spending time with family next week, and as soon as we return from that we will begin booking our gites. Then it really gets exciting. I love doing lots of research on the regions we will visit.

 

[Fletch]

We have our flights booked. We arrive in Lyon on 31st August and leave on November 10. So ten weeks in all. We are spending time with family next week, and as soon as we return from that we will begin booking our gites. Then it really gets exciting. I love doing lots of research on the regions we will visit.

We will be interested to hear about your time in Lyon. We will only have 5 nights there in late September and will have some questions I’m sure.
We fly into Paris ( from Melbourne) and out of Venice. What airline have you booked?

 

[phirhon]

We are not actually visiting Lyon, just flying in there and collecting our car. We will stay overnight at the airport. We did this in 2016 and know we will be too tired to go into Lyon when we arrive. We then set out on Saturday for our first week .

 

[Cameron]

I've just added Sicily in September with GrapeHops and will probably go to Rome either before or after. I may go to Malta for a couple days. I'll figure that part out after I go to Paris, Fruili and Venice in May.

 

[Valerie]

Next up I am thinking about a May trip to Italy - Liguria? Tuscany?

Le Marche! You would like the walking there, and it's got a lot for you to explore and enjoy, and some fantastic rentals available, too.

 

[Mom83]

I envy the longer trips that so many of you mention....maybe possible for us once my husband retires in 6 years.
2018 brings us a variety of shorter trips for a variety of reasons.
An 8 day stay in Tuscany in late March for my daughter and me....staying in the same place my husband and I stayed for a week this past October.
A quick 6 day trip to Barcelona for my husband and son...attending the bachelor (stag) party of our daughter’s fiancé.
A week’s stay in Niagara on the Lake in early July for my daughter and me...our 25th annual trip there.
A week’s trip to Colorado for my husband, son and me in late July split between Breckenridge (attending a wedding) and Denver (visiting family).
8 day golf trip to Ireland (Dublin and north) in August.
Daughter’s wedding in Richmond Va in early September.
A week in and around Oxford, England and the Cotswolds the 3rd week of October...2nd wedding reception for our daughter (her husband is from Oxford). From there we are thinking of traveling to the area around Caen, France so that my husband can visit the WWII battlefields (I still need to research this!)
Then...home for the holidays!

 

[Pauline]

... From there we are thinking of traveling to the area around Caen, France so that my husband can visit the WWII battlefields (I still need to research this!)

We’ve visited several WWI and WWII sites, so I’ll be able to help you plan. If you plan to take your UK car across on the ferry, I know a bit about this too.

You have some nice trips planned!