I would like to go away during the new year for a maximum of two weeks, around 25 December and 4 January.
Any recommendations for destinations as well as the cost of flights during such a peak period that I would be looking at would be greatly appreciated.
I will most probably be traveling solo, and would prefer to stay in hostels if possible where I can meet people.
I generally prefer relaxing, scenic locations.
Look forward to your suggestions.
I disagree. 2 weeks is plenty of time to spend in the US or Europe. You can't cover the entire country but I could happily spend 2 weeks in New York for example. Would be a pretty awesome place for NYE.
Alternatively you could hit the slopes for a few days, go to Vegas for warmer weather… Plenty of options
You could then head to Boston and see Niagara Falls though a tour.
But then you've got to factor in the more expensive international airfare (~$2,000 return), and the 40 hours you spend in the air — which is something that I cannot justify for a 14 day holiday. But everybody has their own opinion.
That is true with the flying time but unfortunately a lot of people can't take that much time off work. I also can cope with jet lag fairly well and within 1-2 days I'm fine.
I think under 2 weeks in Europe or the US isn't worth it but 2 weeks is manageable
OP what is a realistic budget for you? Are you a student? Do you like cold weather or warmer weather?
Throw a dice, do a 1-way camper drive between major cities?
http://www.imoova.com/imoova/relocations
http://www.selfdriveshop.com/relocation_rentals.aspx
This is absolutely incredible. Definitely going to somehow work this into a boys trip.
Read up on it, few pages that talk about it. 1 thing I just saw come up is make sure you have a $1k bond on your cc when you go to pick it up :)
I am not a student, so don't really have a restrictive budget. I don't want to spend "too much" either.
I prefer the WARMER weather. And definitely NO snow!
NZ sounds like a fantastic idea! What $$$ would I be looking at for flights around the New Year?
Hmmm. Considering there will be a lot of public holidays around the New Year, how easy will it be to get around during those days? I will not be hiring a car and am relying on public transport…
Is this a bad time to travel? :/
Any reason not to hire a car?
I cannot justify hiring a car just for one person (myself) :/
http://nakedbus.com/nz/bus/ will get you between cities, then once you're in the cities you can use public transport, etc.
However in more rural/smaller towns/cities, like popular tourist location Rotorua, there is not much in the way of getting to the attractions without paying for a minibus shuttle service to get you there. In town there are buses of course, but the touristy attractions would probably need something like the "thermal shuttle" (what we used in Rotorua), as they are quite a bit out of town but a MUST see.
Are you adverse to the urban/concrete jungle? If not, Singapore is a nice place to visit. The whole city lights up with Christmas decor. Travelling around is easy with their MRT network. There's even the island resort (Sentosa or nowadays the Genting casino), yes an island off the island…
If you're looking for a more green scenery, maybe of the Thai beaches/islands, i.e. phuket, kosamui, trang, etc. or even Bali..
Hit up Cambodia for two weeks.
Sihanoukville, Siem Reap & Kampot.
I agree. Cambodia is great that time of year. We were in Siem Reap January this year and loved it.
Are you in Adelaide? Finding cheap flights around then, especially from ADL, is going to be difficult.
Cheap international destinations would be NZ and Bali for around $550 return. You could also probably head to Singapore/Thailand/Malaysia etc for around $700-750 around that time.
Thanks for that. Yes, I am in Adelaide.
Is it possible to find flights for around $550 return around the time I want to fly? Around New Year?
Yeah, I checked flights to Auckland and Bali around those times and that's the prices I got.
Thanks for that. Which airline? I can't find anything under $1000 return around those times…
Where did you want to go?
Was with Jetstar to Bali although it looks like $650 now unless you come back on the 31st and it's $512.
To Auckland with Jetstar or Air NZ but I'm not sure where I found the $550, seems to be $750 looking now.
Do you remember where you saw $750 return tickets to NZ? By around this time you mean depart Adelaide before Christmas and arrive after 4th of January?
It was on eDreams but can't get it to show now. Air NZ is showing $827 or there's the Jetstar ADL-AKL 25/12-04/01 but with long stopovers for $760.
ADL - Noumea(New Caledonia) 26/12 - 04/01 is only $900 also on https://www.budgetair.com
Only 8 hours each direction which is good.
sounds like you're flexible - grab whatever bargain airfare you find. If you like travelling, you'll find something worthwhile anywhere… almost.
I'm in the same shoes as you wanting to travel around that time but limited by time.
Although I am a solo traveler and introvert which makes meeting people hard.
I am a solo traveler too.
My mistake I didnt see that
I can relate
Part of the reason why I dont go on many holidays
I think somewhere in Asia would be nice
For 2 weeks travel, I personally would find it difficult to justify a giant trip overseas to somewhere like North America or Europe. There's so much to do in such a short time, and the fares are usually horrendously expensive at that time of the year.
As far as relaxing and scenic locations, I'd recommend New Zealand. Close to home, so the trip won't be that taxing or expensive. There's plenty to see and do across each of the islands, the weather will be very fair during this time and you won't need to worry about any language barriers. Plenty of hostels to go between; only downside is that there'll be no snow to hit the slopes on!