Where's the farthest away you've went for a 1 week holiday?

lc180 · 10-08-2013 10:00pm #1

I love travel. I'd love to take off for a few months and see the world but right now for me that's not possible. Luckily with my job I'm still able to do quite a lot of travelling, last year I managed to get 2 weeks in Thailand along with budget city breaks in 7 European cities. Not bad going in fairness.

My main problem is next year I more than likely be restricted to a maximum of one weeks holidays at a time. I've seen most of Europe & the USA but I'd love to go back to Asia again, see some of India or South America.

I'm sure I'm not the only one out there with this predicament. Just wondering has anyone ever gone somewhere far a field for only a week? I don't mean sun holidays, I mean backpacking/sightseeing style holidays.

Where did you go? did you think it was worth it given the short time frame and expense?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Toast4532 · 10-08-2013 10:22pm

The furthest I've gone was New York, totally worth it for a week! Amazing place, would love to go back!

athtrasna · 10-08-2013 10:24pm

Hong Kong...totally doable. Went via Paris.

lc180 · 10-08-2013 10:33pm

I've done New York - amazing city in both winter and summer!

Hong Kong - glad to hear its doable, I've heard its pretty pricey though, how did you find it?

Cheers!

athtrasna · 10-08-2013 10:36pm

We got the Marriott on Hotwire for under $100 US a night (we always use the US site for some reason..habit I guess). Didn't find it expensive over there at all. So clean too, you could eat your meals off the floor in the underground stations.

roundymac · 10-08-2013 11:12pm

New York for a week, no problem. Having been to Hong Kong and Singapore on longer trips I would say they are doable but you have got to be prepared to hit the ground running. 12 hour flights with an 7-8 hour time difference means you already have 18 hours gone out of your week. The other option if you are prepared to fly for that length is South Africa which only has a 1 hour time difference with Ireland.

lc180 · 11-08-2013 12:34am

roundymac wrote: »

Having been to Hong Kong and Singapore on longer trips I would say they are doable but you have got to be prepared to hit the ground running. 12 hour flights with an 7-8 hour time difference means you already have 18 hours gone out of your week.

Yeah the time difference is a real annoyance for a trip this short. Once in a destination I usually get around fast and see what I want to see. I'm not one to relax on a beach.

roundymac wrote: »

The other option if you are prepared to fly for that length is South Africa which only has a 1 hour time difference with Ireland.

South Africa doesn't strike me as the most backpacker friendly place, But maybe I'm wrong. Definitely worth considering though so thanks for the suggestion.

FouxDaFaFa · 11-08-2013 1:20pm

Jordan, I think.

It was busy but very doable. Time difference was neglible.

lc180 · 11-08-2013 1:59pm

FouxDaFaFa wrote: »

Jordan, I think.

It was busy but very doable. Time difference was neglible.

There is return flights for under €400. Thats pretty incredible for long haul. I saw a episode of Departures on Jordan, looks like an interesting place!

solerina · 11-08-2013 2:11pm

Texas...it was fab !!

MeMeJK1 · 11-08-2013 3:07pm

Japan. I totally recommend it. Well worth the flight even for just one week.

FouxDaFaFa · 11-08-2013 3:16pm

lc180 wrote: »

There is return flights for under €400. Thats pretty incredible for long haul. I saw a episode of Departures on Jordan, looks like an interesting place!

When I went in 2010 they had ridiculously cheap flights, think a return through london from dublin was 280e.

I'd highly recommend the country. Would love to go again.

mel.b · 11-08-2013 9:20pm

Kenya & Tanzania for safari. There's not a huge time difference so you don't feel any jet lag so you can make the most of your time. I did a trip participation camping safari with Intrepid (highly recommended!)

lc180 · 12-08-2013 12:24pm

MeMeJK1 wrote: »

Japan. I totally recommend it. Well worth the flight even for just one week.

Japan is top of my list for a holiday. I was planning on going for 2 weeks this year but plans fell through.

How much did you see in 1 week?

lc180 · 12-08-2013 12:27pm

solerina wrote: »

Texas...it was fab !!

I love Austin, one of my favourite cities in the US. Great town for music and heart attack food!

nocoverart · 12-08-2013 3:27pm

lc180 wrote: »

I love Austin, one of my favourite cities in the US. Great town for music and heart attack food!

SXSW + BBQ in Austin :P A city I would love to visit.

The Backwards Man · 12-08-2013 3:31pm

I regularly go to Las Vegas for five nights. Anywhere with a direct flight fronm Ireland or the UK is perfectly doable in a week, in my opinion.

xzanti · 12-08-2013 5:52pm

Toast4532 wrote: »

The furthest I've gone was New York, totally worth it for a week! Amazing place, would love to go back!

Snap, did a week in NYC in Spring 2012... amazing place, second time there but only did 3 nights the first time.. never again.. you need at least a week to see what the place has to offer.

Would love to go back.

SouthernBelle · 12-08-2013 5:55pm

The furthest I've gone for a week is Atlanta - lovely city.

ScottSF · 12-08-2013 7:36pm

For me the issue is about getting a low airfare and not the 1 week limitation. If the flight is a real bargain, a week is more than enough to visit most places in my opinion if you are really into travel.

When living in the US I visited Europe twice (Stockholm and Venice) for a 4/5 day long weekend when the flights were super cheap. I agree the jetlag can be an issue but that is part of the game.

Turkish Airlines has decent deals I've seen (via Istanbul) to both Asia and Africa so keep searching for deals and sign up for the various discount alert newsletters. It would help if there were at least some direct flights to Asia but I think there are none from Dublin airport. Another bargain tip is to search flights from Heathrow and worry about booking the cheap flight to London separately.

For more ideas from others, if you are living in Dublin there is a travel meetup group that meets monthly to talk about travel (share ideas and advice).

Yamanoto · 12-08-2013 9:47pm

Farthest away this year have been Manila (4 days) and LA / Pasadena (5 days). These were admittedly bolted onto work trips but as I'm self-employed, it's a simple enough thing to do. People may say you're mad to fly long-haul for such a relatively short time OP & of course, they're right in many respects. But if the adventure energises and invigorates as much as it does exhaust you, then it's surely worth it. Someone mentioned Japan earlier on & that's a case in point tbh - the amount of sightseeing you can get through in just a couple of days there can be epic.

Parts of the Middle East or North Africa may deliver a lot what you're after too & would certainly cut down on 'bum in seat' time. It may also be an idea to look at destinations where a reliable rail network would allow you combine travel & accommodation in one - sleepers providing an efficient use of 'dead time' to maximise sightseeing opportunities. India naturally springs to mind, but there are less obvious alternatives too, such as Iran.

ScottSF's spot-on about Turkish Airlines above, they're well worth a look & have been voted the best airline in Europe by Skytrax for 3 years running. Great deals to Colombo & Bangkok at the moment too, though they're ex-Stockholm and via IST, which would eat up a considerable chunk of your time. Worth checking offers ex-DUB & see what you come up with.

relaxed · 12-08-2013 10:17pm

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I regularly go to Las Vegas for five nights. Anywhere with a direct flight fronm Ireland or the UK is perfectly doable in a week, in my opinion.

Yep, 5 nights in Vegas is fine, so as far away as Beijing or LA for a week is doable.

The issue is price of flights, they need to be cheap to justify it IMO.

lc180 · 12-08-2013 11:47pm

Yamanoto wrote: »

ScottSF's spot-on about Turkish Airlines above, they're well worth a look & have been voted the best airline in Europe by Skytrax for 3 years running. Great deals to Colombo & Bangkok at the moment too, though they're ex-Stockholm and via IST, which would eat up a considerable chunk of your time. Worth checking offers ex-DUB & see what you come up with.

Yeah I've been looking closely at Turkish airlines and their network of flights is really impressive. They come off cheapest for most destinations and their reputation is top notch. Also seems to be good opportunities to get 12 hour layovers in Istanbul which would give me more than enough time to check it out and get a feel for it and see if I'd like to come back properly. I flew to Bangkok last year with Etihad and had a 14 hour layover in Abu Dhabi and managed to see most of the sites in that timeframe. Was a great little adventure at the end of my trip! It broke up the long flights and help counteract some jetlag.

Pro Hoc Vice · 12-08-2013 11:49pm

Did a 4 day trip to both Vegas and Bangkok, did 6 nights in Rio, and did Hong Kong and Thailand for just over a week.

lc180 · 13-08-2013 12:00am

infosys wrote: »

Did a 4 day trip to both Vegas and Bangkok, did 6 nights in Rio, and did Hong Kong and Thailand for just over a week.

Cool! And you found all of them do-able given the short time you had?

Pro Hoc Vice · 13-08-2013 12:23am

lc180 wrote: »

Cool! And you found all of them do-able given the short time you had?

Ya the rio one was in BA first class, (I did not pay lol) so the trip was no problem, Vegas is fine for a short trip, in fact anything more than 4 or 5 days in Vegas would drive me scatty. Hong Kong was a long flight for just a few days, would like to go back there and spend more time. Bangkok/Thailand would again like more time there a few days only scratches (no dirty thoughts) the surface.

lc180 · 16-08-2013 7:32pm

Thanks everyone for the replies! Glad to hear there is so many destinations do-able with such little time.

lisasimpson · 17-08-2013 11:49am

did Dubai for 5 days. if you keep an eye on the BA website can get some great bargins when their sale is on. have done new York twice both times 5 or 6 night, have a week off in oct going to Toronto and maybe Montreal while im there, a week is v do-able somewhere, just plan what you want to get out of your trip in advance

derekjones · 19-08-2013 11:19am

Japan - was hectic, but worth it!

Amirani · 19-08-2013 3:48pm

I think if you're doing one-city trip, most places can be do-able to some extent in a week. I did SE Asia in about 11 days which was fine. Furthest I've done in a week is probably East Coast USA.

lc180 · 20-08-2013 9:43am

NiallSparky wrote: »

I think if you're doing one-city trip, most places can be do-able to some extent in a week. I did SE Asia in about 11 days which was fine. Furthest I've done in a week is probably East Coast USA.

Yeah Ideally the best cities for this kind of short trip will have day trip excursions nearby so you get to experience city & countryside in one go. I think a lot of Asia cities can provide that.

Out of curiosity which parts of SEA did you do in 11 days? Thanks!

Amirani · 20-08-2013 10:24am

lc180 wrote: »

Yeah Ideally the best cities for this kind of short trip will have day trip excursions nearby so you get to experience city & countryside in one go. I think a lot of Asia cities can provide that.

Out of curiosity which parts of SEA did you do in 11 days? Thanks!

Bangkok, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (flew between them all). It was undoubtedly a bit rushed, but 11 days was all I could manage to go for. I did see a huge amount in that time, enough to make me want to go back.

lc180 · 20-08-2013 7:15pm

NiallSparky wrote: »

Bangkok, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh (flew between them all). It was undoubtedly a bit rushed, but 11 days was all I could manage to go for. I did see a huge amount in that time, enough to make me want to go back.

Cool, last year I did Brussels, Munich and Stockholm in a one week trip flying between cities, was way too rushed but i consider it a worthwhile trip. The amount of time I spent in or transferring to/from airports was the major downside though.

spank_inferno · 21-08-2013 12:03am

New Zealand (North Island)
10 days
31 hr flight each way!

I know we barely stratched the surface of that country but it was still worth it.

maggiep2010 · 27-08-2013 2:00am

Bali for 6 days... so worth it to escape from irish weather, felt like i had been away for a month!!

Where's the farthest away you've went for a 1 week holiday?

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