Suggestions for two week holiday for couple - budget €5k all in

breadmonkey

Hi folks,

Trying to plan a two week holiday in September to celebrate a 10 year anniversary but not getting very far! Serious first world problem here but if anyone can bear with me and suggest anything interesting I would appreciate it.

Here's a few that have bitten the dust so far:

Originally #1 choice was a road trip around California but I don't think the budget will allow it, even if we could stretch it another 25% at a real push.

Had a look at a couple of places in Africa like Tanzania but it seems from a bit of research that Africa is generally geared towards those with a good bit of cash behind them.

Also really wanted to go back to Nepal but two weeks isn't enough time there so had to scratch that. I've been to south central and southeast Asia before more than once so don't really want to go elsewhere in that region. I reckon any further east is too far for two weeks.

South America is interesting but with two weeks I'd rather avoid the hassle and stress (relatively speaking) that goes with backpacking. Also a little reticent about the fact I don't have any Spanish. Still would be interested to hear if anyone has a good way to spend two weeks here.

Not pushed about the middle east or central asia for this trip.

Bleh, I dunno. It feels like we have the budget to go anywhere we want for maybe one week but it seems a bit pointless flying halfway around the world for that amount of time. Can't really think of anything to get excited about in Europe either!

Any suggestions at all very welcome!

naughtysmurf

Orlando

lea26

we did a trip last year and loved it -

Flights into and out of Las Vegas - 600euro each. Hired a car and drove out to Grand Canyon for a couple of days - then onto Sequioa (?) Park and up to Yosemite National Park , both amazing - we stopped in random towns here and there, some quirky tourist towns and ghost towns along the way ... and also Mammoth Lakes , really nice relaxing ski resort town with loads of lakes for fishing etc....

we only booked hotels for Las Vegas , which can be as cheap or as expensive as you like its all the one really as you wont be in your room much .....

We only spent about 4k in total and stayed in some really nices places, some not so nice aswell but thats all part of it

thejaguar

We did the California road trip a few years back, and I loved it. We flew into Vegas for a couple of nights, then flew up to San Fran.
From San Fran we rented a car and just cruised down the Pacific Coast highway. Absolutely loved it.
Probably should have finished in Vegas on reflection, but still - one of the best trips I've ever been on.

Another option might be a trip to Mexico. Some great places to stay and things to see.

As for Europe, if you've never been, you should have a look at Ibiza. Away from all the madness it's actually a really beautiful island and there are tons of places to stay away from the clubbing scene where you'll find amazing beaches and great food.

HeidiHeidi

Cuba!

You'd have a mighty holiday on that sort of a budget. Wouldn't be lap of luxury stuff, but I get the impression you're not necessarily after that. .... really really different (but won't be for much longer! ) and really beautiful.

I the phone now so can't type much, but PM me if you want more info.

Really couldn't
recommend it highly enough.

Big Nasty

Cali road trip should easily be done for that money. Fly in to SF, spend three days there then cruise down the PCH. Would recommend Monterey and Santa Barbara to stay in. On down to LA then take R66 (ir as much of it as possible) out to Kingman, AZ then north to Vegas via Grand Canyon.

Alternatively you could probably get an all in deal in Mexico (Cancun or the likes) for half your budget.

funkey_monkey

+1 on Cuba. Great country - go now before it is ruined. History, activities, culture, dancing, rum, a whole different lifestyle...

HeidiHeidi

funkey_monkey wrote: »

+1 on Cuba. Great country - go now before it is ruined. History, activities, culture, dancing, rum, a whole different lifestyle...

It's the "whole different lifestyle" that got me.... (I'm back on a keyboard now so can wax lyrical ) - it took me about week to realise that there's no commercialism, no advertising, no competing for "the best deal" or figuring if you're being ripped off or if there's better value elsewhere. A thing costs what it costs, end of. (A mojito cost the same in a street lean-to bar as it did on the 35th floor of Havana's highest building in a west-facing bar overlooking the sunset on Havana Bay, as it did in the complete tourist trap El Bogedito bar (hangout of Ernest Hemingway and worth a visit, tourist trap or not!)) Once you take all of that stress out of things, it's incredibly relaxing, and you can concentrate on the important things - the scenery, the people, the dancing, and the music - oh boy, the music. It's everywhere, really.

I should apply for a job with the Cuban tourist board

You could go and spend a week (or two) in the Varadero all-inclusive resorts behind gates - lots of people do, and love it, but wouldn't be for me in a million years. Or you could do that for a bit, and then do some travelling around the island (which is a lot bigger than a lot of people think). With a budget of 5K you could easily do a one-way road trip (easy by bus or rent a car, although that's not for the faint-hearted) and then fly back to Havana at the end. Staying in casas (like low-grade b&b, but usually independent of the owners' quarters) where it costs half-nothing, the food is fantastic, and the tourist pesos go directly to the Cubans who badly need it. Far, far better value (and experience) than hotels (we tried both).

And Havana is like no town/city I've ever been in before. You could spend two weeks there alone! It's buzzing, it's falling down, it's dirty, it's fun, it's architechturally astounding, it's music music music. It's amazing!

funkey_monkey

For the OP, you could contact the company I went with and they could do you a tailored tour for just you and your partner taking in whatever takes your fancy.

You should take a look: www.cubagrouptour.com

Don't be put off by group tours - they will also do trips specifically for yourself. I done a 14 day group tour with them and they then helped me to organise a further 9 ndays in the west of the country.

I would recommend homestays for at least some of the time - it gets you close to the locals and hotels for some other times - especially Havana, where I thought homestays were not as good as out in the country.

Hmmm, I wonder should I go back there soon...

funkey_monkey

Just checked on their website:

2 adults departing 5th Sept, returning on Friday 19th Sept (2 weeks) is €1678 with BA & Air Canada.

Class: Economy
Price €390.00
Tax €419.24
Ticketing Fee €5.00
Booking Fee €8.762
Passengers 2
Flight Total €1,645.99

Price: €1,645.99n
Oline Payment Surcharge: €32.92
TOTAL TO BE CHARGED: € 1,678.91

As those are Friday flights they will probably be more expensive than midweek flights - if budget is that tight.

If you can get to London/Madrid cheaply then you can book directly from there. Trailfinders or likewise might be good for flight prices.

That leaves you with approx $3,500 for the remainder of your trip. This should be loads for Cuba.

Go! You know you want to!

HeidiHeidi

funkey_monkey wrote: »

Just checked on their website:

2 adults departing 5th Sept, returning on Friday 19th Sept (2 weeks) is €1678 with BA & Air Canada.

Class: Economy
Price €390.00
Tax €419.24
Ticketing Fee €5.00
Booking Fee €8.762
Passengers 2
Flight Total €1,645.99

Price: €1,645.99n
Oline Payment Surcharge: €32.92
TOTAL TO BE CHARGED: € 1,678.91

As those are Friday flights they will probably be more expensive than midweek flights - if budget is that tight.

That leaves you with approx $3,500 for the remainder of your trip. This should be loads for Cuba.

Go! You know you want to!

LOL FM, I'll timeshare that job in Cuban tourism with ya

3500 is TONS - I'd defy you to spend that on 2 weeks in Cuba, there's nothing to buy! And mojitos only cost €2.50. You won't spend more than a tenner on a meal. And sure what more would you want??? (OK, hotels are expensive - relatively - but our experience was that casas were 100% better value all round, not just in money terms. I might agree with hotels for Havana, but I'm still sorry I didn't stay in a casa there....)

breadmonkey

Thank you all for the helpful replies!

It's interesting to see some saying California could be done on that budget so would like to explore that in a bit more detail if possible. I came up with a budget (per person) that looks something like this for two weeks:

Flights:
€780 return with Aer Lingus (We'd be flying from London)

Accommodation:
€50/night averaged over 14 nights = €700. I'm thinking motels and the like here.

Car rental:
€125 for two weeks (OH looked into this, seems very very cheap?)

Petrol:
€125 per person for total drive of maybe 1500 - 2000 km (again, too cheap?)

Food:
€50/day for 14 days = €700

That adds up to about €2500 per person for the whole trip without leaving any money to do any "activities" (e.g. grand canyon, Six Flags, gamble in Vegas etc.) Any suggestions to rework this?!

---

If California really can't be done then Cuba looks very interesting. We did consider it briefly but kind of dismissed it as some friends of ours were there a couple of months ago and weren't that enthusiastic about it. They were saying that there was a good bit of scamming and that sort of thing? No stranger to that myself but really looking for something fairly low stress. I should add that they didn't do a whole lot of planning which would have left them more susceptible to that kind of thing.

HeidiHeidi

breadmonkey wrote: »

Thank you all for the helpful replies!

It's interesting to see some saying California could be done on that budget so would like to explore that in a bit more detail if possible. I came up with a budget (per person) that looks something like this for two weeks:

Flights:
€780 return with Aer Lingus (We'd be flying from London)

Accommodation:
€50/night averaged over 14 nights = €700. I'm thinking motels and the like here.

Car rental:
€125 for two weeks (OH looked into this, seems very very cheap?)

Petrol:
€125 per person for total drive of maybe 1500 - 2000 km (again, too cheap?)

Food:
€50/day for 14 days = €700

That adds up to about €2500 per person for the whole trip without leaving any money to do any "activities" (e.g. grand canyon, Six Flags, gamble in Vegas etc.) Any suggestions to rework this?!

---

If California really can't be done then Cuba looks very interesting. We did consider it briefly but kind of dismissed it as some friends of ours were there a couple of months ago and weren't that enthusiastic about it. They were saying that there was a good bit of scamming and that sort of thing? No stranger to that myself but really looking for something fairly low stress. I should add that they didn't do a whole lot of planning which would have left them more susceptible to that kind of thing.

You'd have far more scamming (/robbing/general scumbaggery) to deal with on a weekend in Dublin!

Now obviously you need to have your wits about you - but where wouldn't you?

The majority of people we came across were utterly genuine, out to give their guests/tourists the best time they could, and couldn't have been more helpful.

We planned our own trip, did a bit of research beforehand and decided what towns we wanted to see - we saw about the top 1/2 of the island or a bit less in two weeks, but didn't want to get into internal flights or spending every second day travelling - and that also allowed us to get back to Vinales west of Havana which was beautiful. We winged it on public transport the whole time, booking for each move the day before we left. It was very easy to do. But for an anniversary trip, I can see that you might want more organised for you, so if FM can recommend that other crowd then definitely investigate that possibility.

Seriously, you couldn't get anything lower stress than Cuba!!!

And it won't be there (as it is now) in 10 years time......

funkey_monkey

Agreed, if you have any notion of Cuba, go soon before it changes.

ScottSF

If you have your heart set on California, why not cut back by 3 days so you can keep the trip within your stated budget. And skip Vegas if you are prone to excessive gambling

As for housing, I'm not sure how realistic the €50 per night figure is. Remember that US hotels add hotel tax to your per night rate and hotel taxes vary widely by city. In San Francisco for example the hotel tax is 14% and it is not included in the base quoted rate.

Your car rental figure sounds low but like you found deals can be had. Just make sure your car insurance will cover you properly and you don't need to pay extra for that.

You can probably cut down the food/day figure if you find hotels with free breakfast and eat burritos for lunch

There is a lot you can do for free in California so you don't necessarily need a lot more for admission fees. It all depends on whether you have to go to Six Flags and take a helicopter ride in Vegas. Or if you are happy with the coastal drives, walking among Redwood trees, going to a free concert in the park, and people watching in Hollywood.

tbeans

If you are looking for somewhere a little different - try South Africa!

Flight to Cape Town and drive along the Garden Route = stunning!

There are lots of different budget options to consider so it would it fall within your budget. I've been twice on quite small budgets and would certainly consider going back again.

Last year we went to Nepal for 2 weeks so it can certainly be done - we decided to visit Katmandu and then fly up to Pokhara and go on a shorter hike (poon hill) and it was one of the best holidays plus Nepal is super cheap. Sept isn't a great month to visit - try and push off til October....

crisco10

South Africa is possible....you don't have to do the expensive options. Plenty of budget options open to you, self catering etc.

You can safari in Krugar Park on a self catering basis etc. And there is cheaper car hire if you don't go to Hertz/Avis etc. Finally, if you fly midweek, you can get the flights a bit cheaper.

househunter

How about a campervan? We got one the summer before last from Escape Campervans for about $1300 for 2 weeks - car and accommodation in one - apart from the campsite fees

Picked up and dropped back to SF.
Travelled along the coast to Monterey, Big Sur, Pismo, several other places, Yosemite, Tahoe, Sonoma back to SF

Amazing trip, lovely campsites. Couldn't say exactly what it cost and we stayed in hotels in SF and a couple of other places.

Also have the options of cooking for yourself which saves cash and is really good fun with the campfire etc.

Did a similar trip a few years ago but with a car and a tent. Started in Boulder, Colorado where my husbands brother lives, then went to Moab (Arches NP), Bryce Canyon, Grand Canyon, Zion, Vegas and then home. Really great trip too!!!