2022 travel plans

[welshbairn]

52 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

Anyone been to La Coruna in Spain? Got a day there off a cruise ship and from looking on Google Earth, the cruise port is right in town. Looks like a decent plan would be to walk the length of the big beach from the Deportivo La Coruna stadium end, to the old town and square end. Ducking and diving up a few streets en route. Anyone been?

I found it to be the only town in Spain I've been to with no redeeming features, maybe I missed the nice part. We were around the railway station on a day trip from Santiago de Compostella, a place that really is worth visiting, half an hour away on an express train. 

[pozbaird]

11 minutes ago, welshbairn said:

I found it to be the only town in Spain I've been to with no redeeming features, maybe I missed the nice part. We were around the railway station on a day trip from Santiago de Compostella, a place that really is worth visiting, half an hour away on an express train. 

The area I described with the beach leading to the old town looks decent. Ach, only there for a day, so should be fine. A lot of places are shit where the train stations are, so not particularly put off by that. I remember Baltimore being one, then the harbour area was good for a day. We’ll see soon enough. Have stopped for a day in Vigo before off a cruise, and managed to do OK there despite it not being Barcelona, Madrid, or Seville. 

[welshbairn]

16 minutes ago, pozbaird said:

The area I described with the beach leading to the old town looks decent. Ach, only there for a day, so should be fine. A lot of places are shit where the train stations are, so not particularly put off by that. I remember Baltimore being one, then the harbour area was good for a day. We’ll see soon enough. Have stopped for a day in Vigo before off a cruise, and managed to do OK there despite it not being Barcelona, Madrid, or Seville. 

I'm sure it'll be fine, the bit I visited wasn't run down or anything, just a bit dull. Think it was mainly residential.

[Billy Jean King]

Spain have finally lifted the last of their Covid entry requirements today so no need to show proof of vaccination or a -ve test.

[paul-r-cfc]

Spain have finally lifted the last of their Covid entry requirements today so no need to show proof of vaccination or a -ve test.

I went to Spain on Sunday and showed nothing. Some very welcome sun at this time of year!

[Billy Jean King]

I went to Spain on Sunday and showed nothing. Some very welcome sun at this time of year!

Aye it's been (very) random for a while. Last visit in May we noticed those getting picked out randomly to show vax cert seemed to be the young team but it's all irrelevant now thankfully.

[Elixir]

Anyone know why the flight times Skyscanner are showing for Ryanair seem to be different from what Ryanair are showing, both on their website and their app? 

[welshbairn]

25 minutes ago, Elixir said:

Anyone know why the flight times Skyscanner are showing for Ryanair seem to be different from what Ryanair are showing, both on their website and their app? 

Skyscanner only check airline schedules and prices every so often, it's just useful for directing you to what airline site to check out.

[Elixir]

2 hours ago, welshbairn said:

Skyscanner only check airline schedules and prices every so often, it's just useful for directing you to what airline site to check out.

This makes sense, but I've hilariously just realised I was searching the times in the app without flipping the airports, i.e. going to Edinburgh rather than from. 

[Honest_Man#1]

2023 rather than 22 but got a wedding to attend in between Nantes and Rennes. Annoyingly no direct routes to either airport anymore, so might be Paris then train, or some other convoluted method of getting there. 

[ArabGaz]

44 minutes ago, Honest_Man#1 said:

2023 rather than 22 but got a wedding to attend in between Nantes and Rennes. Annoyingly no direct routes to either airport anymore, so might be Paris then train, or some other convoluted method of getting there. 

Not sure where you are located but Ryanair fly direct to Nantes from Edinburgh.

[Honest_Man#1]

11 minutes ago, ArabGaz said:

Not sure where you are located but Ryanair fly direct to Nantes from Edinburgh.

Ah, just checked and it was because they don’t fly on the dates I was looking at. Gives the option though, cheers!

[Hedgecutter]

Looking into going somewhere beyond these isles myself sometime between 20th Nov to earliest Dec, ideally somewhere interesting where the beer is half decent and I can wander into a bar to watch the occasional World Cup game at a socially acceptable time of day.  Any ideas / sparks of inspiration more than welcome.  Even just a week away would be fine, doesn't need to be the entire fortnight.

The idea of somewhere where there'll be loads of England / OF tops, or Carling on tap does not appeal. ie. places like Salou need not apply.

Wondering whether just flying to Amsterdam and less adventurously winging it around that part of Europe by train to be in e.g. Rotterdam when the Netherlands are playing, Brugge when Belgium are playing (just booking hotel / hostel at a few days notice once already somewhere else) is a great or terrible idea.

Edited November 8, 2022 by Hedgecutter

[Inanimate Carbon Rod]

4 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Looking into going somewhere beyond these isles myself sometime between 20th Nov to earliest Dec, ideally somewhere interesting where the beer is half decent and I can wander into a bar to watch the occasional World Cup game at a socially acceptable time of day.  Any ideas / sparks of inspiration more than welcome.  Even just a week away would be fine, doesn't need to be the entire fortnight.

The idea of somewhere where there'll be loads of England / OF tops, or Carling on tap does not appeal. ie. places like Salou need not apply.

Wondering whether just flying to Amsterdam and less adventurously winging it around that part of Europe by train to be in e.g. Rotterdam when the Netherlands are playing, Brugge when Belgium are playing (just booking hotel / hostel at a few days notice once already somewhere else) is a great or terrible idea.

Why not give Turkey a bash? Antalya and Belek seem decent. 

[Guest]

For any other "West Coasters" here, I'm wondering if you've noticed that Ryanair have no flights at all listed from Prestwick after March 28th. They would appear to be the only airport which doesn't have a Summer schedule released which worries me that they may be pulling out as have been hugely reducing their routes and flights over the past couple of years.

Glasgow Airport is also a major concern as the few routes that Ryanair operate from there have also had their frequency slashed and flight times also changed to horrific slots, such as returning from Malaga / Alicante at 06.00 and 06.50am. On a similar note, Easyjet have also slashed the number of flights for Summer next year and also have some terrible times returning at Midnight etc, not to mention that their prices have increased by around 80%+ from the normal.

Are they actively trying to discourage people from travelling ?

Looks like JET2 are about the only viable option remaining and while you can get the odd deal, they're not exactly a "budget" airline. Either that or we're all being forced through to Edinburgh which would seem bonkers given the catchment area of Glasgow and the recent major investments in Glasgow Airport terminal but what do I know ???

 

[welshbairn]

17 hours ago, Hedgecutter said:

Looking into going somewhere beyond these isles myself sometime between 20th Nov to earliest Dec, ideally somewhere interesting where the beer is half decent and I can wander into a bar to watch the occasional World Cup game at a socially acceptable time of day.  Any ideas / sparks of inspiration more than welcome.  Even just a week away would be fine, doesn't need to be the entire fortnight.

The idea of somewhere where there'll be loads of England / OF tops, or Carling on tap does not appeal. ie. places like Salou need not apply.

Wondering whether just flying to Amsterdam and less adventurously winging it around that part of Europe by train to be in e.g. Rotterdam when the Netherlands are playing, Brugge when Belgium are playing (just booking hotel / hostel at a few days notice once already somewhere else) is a great or terrible idea.

If you haven't been before I'd give Seville some thought. Fair chance of decent weather and plenty bars showing football, Cadiz a short train journey away and Morocco a ferry ride.

[welshbairn]

On 09/11/2022 at 10:30, WATTOO said:

Looks like JET2 are about the only viable option remaining and while you can get the odd deal, they're not exactly a "budget" airline.

Once you've added a normal sized carry on bag to Easyjet or Ryanair they're no cheaper than Jet2.

[Guest]

1 hour ago, welshbairn said:

Once you've added a normal sized carry on bag to Easyjet or Ryanair they're no cheaper than Jet2.

Yes, on current prices you're right, however quite often we'd get the Polish routes with Ryanair for under £50 return which Jet2 never get close to, plus popular routes such as Malaga and Barcelona were also available at under £70 return if looking for 3 or 4 days off season.

As I say, the choices we now have of routes is pretty pathetic and is a fraction of what was available 10 years ago when we had Wizz, lots of Ryanair routes and even the demise of Thomas Cook has left a large gap.

Things are most definitely moving backwards if you take Edinburgh out of the equation.

[Michael W]

If they're canning routes/frequencies, it's almost certainly because they aren't making money out of them and are putting aircraft where they will make money. easyJet in particular had a pretty rough pandemic. 

But yes, prices are pretty high at the moment. Some of it understandable - high fuel prices will see to that and other costs are also increasing due to high inflation. Definitely an element of taking the piss owing to pent up demand, though. 

[QoS99]

Heading to Budapest just after new year, any recommendations for pubs/ restaurants or activities to do while out there?