Two-week 'off the beaten path' holiday for me and mate

Fizman

Ok, I'm basically looking for a bit of advice/inspiration here guys.

Last year myself and a buddy of mine went to Cuba for just under 2 weeks. It was the most incredible holiday we've both had and we're not holding our breath about it being beaten. However, we've decided to get away again for about 2 weeks this time (last week in July/first of Aug) and we want another holiday that is 'a bit different'.

Our one big requirement when getting away is sunshine. There are a few other important ones, such as night life etc, but we also have a serious adventure itch that needs scratching.

Any recommendations on where to go. We don't really want to do Europe.
We were looking into the possibility of South America. Maybe doing 3 or 4 cities/countries over a 15/16 night period. Any suggestions???

Balmed Out

Dont forget its the winter for South America during our summer but plenty of the northern section will still be warm especially Columbia, Venezuela, northern Brazil and Central America. 2 weeks is a short time so only go to 3 places i reckon.

Some suggestions
Return to Rio. Temps 20 - 25. Go to Rio, Paraty and Ihla grande.
Lima - Cuzco, inca trail.
Equador
Fly in to Cancun, go to Tikal, Arequipa and home via Guatemala City.

Europe
A good one is into Prague and check out the western part of the country and Slovakia.

Spain
Hit Cordoba, Granada and Seville

wallpaper12

Cambodia sounds like a perfect place, could see all the main areas plus a few more remote areas in 2 weeks and has a great mix of cultural sites, beaches and nightlife!

cocoshovel

Cycle La Paz in Peru, then head to the galapagos islands or Matsu Picchu etc.

Fizman

We have been discussing doing Colombia. Like the look of maybe doing Bogota for a night or two (more so to rest after the travel and before we leave again) Medillin for 3/4 nights, Taganga (in Santa Marta) for 3/4 nights, and Cartagena for 3/4 nights. That gives a decent city living with coastal chillout too.

Price wise however, the flights are nasty. €1,200 is the going rate right now (Jul 28 - Aug 11) going by Trailfinder, Skyscanner, Expedia etc.

We were getting very excited by the looks of all of this, but the lot could come to €3k almost so it may not be a runner.

Any other suggestions? Either on ways to pull it off a little cheaper, or suggestions for other locations.

schemingbohemia

Go to Mexico, great mix of party places, amazing beaches and archaeology/ruins etc

Fizman

Have you been? If so, what parts?

Food for thought alright! Mates boos has flown to Cancun before and worked his way through Central America over a 2/3 week period. Might be getting an itinerary off of him.

dory

I just booked flights in July €750 return to Guatemala. Some very interesting places to see there. €1200 seems to be the going rate for South America. I've gotten tickets to India for €400 return, but it's getting a bit late in the day now to be getting cheap fares.

schemingbohemia

Fizman wrote: »

Have you been? If so, what parts?

Food for thought alright! Mates boos has flown to Cancun before and worked his way through Central America over a 2/3 week period. Might be getting an itinerary off of him.

It was 10 years ago or so so things may have changed. We got a cheap package company flight only deal to Cancun (with Aeroflot!).

Wasn't mad about Cancun though we loved Isla Mujeres just off it's coast.

We then went to Palenque for the ruins, amazing place
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palenque

Then overnight very long bus journey to San Cristobal de las Casas which was really interesting, up in the mountains, did some horseriding there.

Then we went to Oaxaca which has an amazing canyon you can do a boat trip on.

Mexico is huge, same size as France, so I'd just stay there for the 2 weeks, you don't want to spend your whole trip travelling on buses (might be easier to fly around now).

Other friends have been to Costa Rica and adored it but I think that's as expensive as Colombia to fly to.

Pisco Sour

Your requirement for hot weather will probably rule this out but Scandanavia could be a bit different. Long summer evenings this time of year, beautiful women, stunning scenery. Stockholm is one of my favourite cities in Europe. You could spend 2 weeks travelling Sweden, or perhaps hit the big cities in 3 weeks (Copenhagen, Oslo, Stockholm).

Pisco Sour

schemingbohemia wrote: »

Mexico is huge, same size as France.

Tis a fair bit bigger than France

Canis Lupus

Israel? Sun is a definite, you can rent a car and drive around it easily. Catch some amazing sights in Jerusalem and the dead sea area and party your face off by the beach in the Tel Aviv.

Dunno if it really classifies as off the beaten track tho nowadays.

Lustrum

Indonesia??

Get to KL or Singapore, then nice cheap flights with Air Asia to Bali (or else Air Asia the whole way from London). Head east to Lombok and get up to the Gili Islands for a few days. Then organise a boat trip to Komodo, it's a 4 day trip of incredible deserted islands, dolphins, and of course komodo dragons. Take the local buses across Flores to Kelimutu to see the three lakes. Then bus and boat thewhole way back across Sumbawa and Lombok to Bali, where there's night-life galore.

A highly recommended experience

Fizman

Thanks for the suggestions guys. After having a chat with my mate and we've agreed that flights of €1,200 and the like are just too much for us at the minute (we have other trips on the horizon too).

Dory, can I ask, where did you get those Guatemala flights? That's looks very good!

We're still looking at other options.......the threads on South Africa (Cape Town / Garden route) have given me more food for thought.

bamboozle

if you're doing Mexico/cancun - dont miss Isla Majures

if you're thinking Guatemala dont miss the villages around Lake Atitlan and Tikal.

Guatemala and Argentina are by far the best countries i've visitied in central & south america.

Fizman

bamboozle wrote: »

if you're doing Mexico/cancun - dont miss Isla Majures

if you're thinking Guatemala dont miss the villages around Lake Atitlan and Tikal.

Guatemala and Argentina are by far the best countries i've visitied in central & south america.

The Mexico / Guatemala route looks very appealing. Flights still look steep enough mind although I'm looking through different combinations.

We've pretty much ruled South Africa out due to the climate in August.

I'd imagine Guatemala is relatively cheap?

Balmed Out

Guatemala is fairly cheap but not as cheap as Bolivia or south easth asia.

When I went I went cancun - Tulum - Flores & Tikal - Some place I dont remember the name of - Guatemala city - Arequipa - Lake attilan - then all the way back up and on to Belize where we spent 3/4 nights and then to Caye Caulker an island off Belize and back home.

To be honest the cancun part was nice and relaxing but stuff you can do in Spain except with a much cheaper all inclusive option.

The ruins in mexico are no where near as impressive as Tikal. Ive done the pyramids, machu pichu and ankor wat but Tikal was probably my favourite. Flores the town nearby is really nice too.

Arequipa is a great spot and theres a volcano nearby that you can climb and cook marshmallows over the lava flow not too far off which is fun.

Lake atilan is beautiful but to be honest if its 2 lads id cut it as its a bit of a journey. It took us about 9 hours when it was measnt to take way less.

The belize mainland is very skipable but Caye caulker is fantastic. Relaxing place with great snorkeling and diving.

If I were you id look into cancun - florres and tikal - caye caulker and home via belize city. We did that from Dublin via newark booking through one of the american airlines, maybe continental? cant remember.
Dont do too much anyhow, end up spending the entire time travelling.
You can fly flores to Guat city which is very close to arequipa too as an option.

Todd Gack

Balmed Out wrote: »

Arequipa - Lake attilan

You can fly flores to Guat city which is very close to arequipa too as an option.

I'm presuming you mean Antigua here rather than Arequipa (Peru) just if there's any confusion but yeah it's about 30 miles from Guatemala City so easy to get to from the Airport.

ardmacha

We've pretty much ruled South Africa out due to the climate in August.

Much of South Africa has a weather a bit like Ireland today in August. Not unpleasant.

Fizman

ardmacha wrote: »

Much of South Africa has a weather a bit like Ireland today in August. Not unpleasant.

Ya, that's the thing. There is a South African working with us who lives and works out of Johannesburg, and he said August is one of the worst month to get there. Badly in need of some sun so that ruled that out. Another time though!

ardmacha

Badly in need of some sun so that ruled that out.

Loads of sun, it is the driest month in JNB, not scorching hot but often rather pleasant in the middle of the day (20-25C). But it depends on what you want, for me temps over 30C are just a nuisance.

Fizman

ardmacha wrote: »

Loads of sun, it is the driest month in JNB, not scorching hot but often rather pleasant in the middle of the day (20-25C). But it depends on what you want, for me temps over 30C are just a nuisance.

Well I'm just going on what a bloke who has lived there all his life (36). To quote him "cold and windy......can hit 20 degrees but few and far between).

I don't want 30+ heat, but I do need a location that has a very good chance of very good weather. Unfortunately SA in it's winter does not offer that.

Fizman

Balmed Out wrote: »

Guatemala is fairly cheap but not as cheap as Bolivia or south easth asia..
.
.
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If I were you id look into cancun - florres and tikal - caye caulker and home via belize city. We did that from Dublin via newark booking through one of the american airlines, maybe continental? cant remember.
Dont do too much anyhow, end up spending the entire time travelling.
You can fly flores to Guat city which is very close to arequipa too as an option.

Cheers for all of that, great info! Taking it all into serious consideration now. There are currently nice prices to be had with Cancun return flights, so may I ask how you travelled from Cancun onwards? I'm guessing you got the bus for each location?

I was looking into something like (assuming we go with the flying in and out of Cancun option) Cancun 3-4 nights, then Caye Caulker for 3/4 nights. It looks like a long bus journey. I'm struggling to find flights from Cancun to Belize. Know of any airlines?

Then maybe 3 nights in Flores/Tikal. That leaves us with 5 nights. Looking into the best option for these.

bamboozle

Fizman wrote: »

Cheers for all of that, great info! Taking it all into serious consideration now. There are currently nice prices to be had with Cancun return flights, so may I ask how you travelled from Cancun onwards? I'm guessing you got the bus for each location?

I was looking into something like (assuming we go with the flying in and out of Cancun option) Cancun 3-4 nights, then Caye Caulker for 3/4 nights. It looks like a long bus journey. I'm struggling to find flights from Cancun to Belize. Know of any airlines?

Then maybe 3 nights in Flores/Tikal. That leaves us with 5 nights. Looking into the best option for these.

we flew to Cancun, took fast ferry to isla majures (15 mins) week diving off isla majures. bus from Cancun down to Tulum (2-3 hours) did some mayan sites around there, snorkeled the ceynotes, bus on to Belize City (maybe 4-5 hours) speed boat out to Caye Caulker (1hour) week out there, great snorkeling on the reef, plenty of (friendly) sharks & mantra rays to be seen.


from Belize city we got bus to Flores (maybe 5/6 hours) then up to national park at Tikal - incredible spot, howler monkeys going mad at night time, unmissable doing the sunrise trek to top of one of the temples.

overnight bus from Flores down to Guatemala city (8 hours or so) taxi out to Antigua maybe 30 mins. Guatemala city is dodge, antigua is a stunning colonial city. minibus out to late atitlan 2-3 hours, spent a week in http://www.sanpedrospanishschool.org/ on the lake learning spanish in the mornings and hiking etc in the evenings.

Guatemala is sh1t cheap compared to here.

then we hit Costa Rica onwards to S. America.

7 years since we did the above so my travel times could be off....

lambayrules

Fizman wrote: »

Well I'm just going on what a bloke who has lived there all his life (36). To quote him "cold and windy......can hit 20 degrees but few and far between).

I don't want 30+ heat, but I do need a location that has a very good chance of very good weather. Unfortunately SA in it's winter does not offer that.

SA is a big place -- Cape town and JHB are not great at that time of year however if you head to Durban and work ur way through northern Natal and into Mozambique you will should get very good weather. Warm , not to humid and little rain. Durban is good spot for the night life but if you are looking for adventure head north and you wont be sorry. Loads of affordable accommodation, some of the best beaches (warm Indian ocean) and wild life going.

http://www.holiday-weather.com/durban/averages/july/

It is also a good time of the year to head to game parks like Kruger etc as the bush is down after the winter and you should not get much rain but it will be cold at night and in the morning....

(CPT will be very much like Ireland - wet and windy)

Fizman

bamboozle wrote: »

we flew to Cancun, took fast ferry to isla majures (15 mins) week diving off isla majures. bus from Cancun down to Tulum (2-3 hours) did some mayan sites around there, snorkeled the ceynotes, bus on to Belize City (maybe 4-5 hours) speed boat out to Caye Caulker (1hour) week out there, great snorkeling on the reef, plenty of (friendly) sharks & mantra rays to be seen.


from Belize city we got bus to Flores (maybe 5/6 hours) then up to national park at Tikal - incredible spot, howler monkeys going mad at night time, unmissable doing the sunrise trek to top of one of the temples.

overnight bus from Flores down to Guatemala city (8 hours or so) taxi out to Antigua maybe 30 mins. Guatemala city is dodge, antigua is a stunning colonial city. minibus out to late atitlan 2-3 hours, spent a week in http://www.sanpedrospanishschool.org/ on the lake learning spanish in the mornings and hiking etc in the evenings.

Guatemala is sh1t cheap compared to here.

then we hit Costa Rica onwards to S. America.

7 years since we did the above so my travel times could be off....

Cheers again for all of that! Could very well have flights booked tonight/tomorrow!

Cancun pretty much speaks for itself, but what's the nightlife like in the other places?

bamboozle

Fizman wrote: »

Cheers again for all of that! Could very well have flights booked tonight/tomorrow!

Cancun pretty much speaks for itself, but what's the nightlife like in the other places?

if you plan on staying in hostels along the way they'll always have stuff set up at night time and there'll be plenty of backpackers up for it.

Fizman

Still looking about for flights as Skyscanner is a pain as it says a certain return route is available on its site, but then when you go onto the actual booking site, they are not available!

One thing I forgot to ask.....what kind of vaccine shots would we need for this part of the world, if any?