In 2 weeks time, Tony and I managed to narrow down our many options for a holiday that had no destination and find ourselves 3 days from hopping on a plane to Paris. Life could be worse, right? This is by far the fastest holiday I've booked (Japan last year was booked 8 months in advance!). So what have our last couple weeks been like?
Destination: We had no destination in mind, which can open the door to many deals and options, but also made it incredibly hard to research - East, West, Sun, Adventure....the options were endless. With only a week, we did not want to be flying too far (Japan and Maui were out), and did not want to be in North America (we can do that on any given long weekend), and did not want to spend more than $1500 each on flight and hotels, since all-inclusives are a dime a dozen at under $1000. We toyed with the idea of several European locations - some we had been, some we had not; in the end, it came down to a balance of cost and practicality. Although I have seen most of the major sites in Paris, I really only spent 4 days in the city of love while backpacking and have been keen to spend more time just enjoying the city, culture and food (you can't eat very well on a student budget!). I was also looking for a low key holiday, but also with things to see and do - Paris was perfect, since we have both been before, eliminating the need to strategically plan out our days and ensure we don't "miss anything," but the city is also so diverse and amazing that there is plenty for us to do. Ultimately, understanding your budget and "objectives" is important in narrowing down options and ensuring the best location for a holiday!
Tips for last minute deals: subscribe to travelzoo, travel alerts and the like if you are flexible in dates and location; expedia still boasts some of the best hotel and flight deals around; we love kayak.com for flight tracking and comparisons.
Where to stay: my last trip in Paris was with a backpack and in a hostel. The key, I recall, was to be close to a metrostation. We obsessively looked up hotel and flight deals on expedia, keeping in mind that hotel standards in Europe are not the same as North American standards. Clean is all I ask for! Our go-to site, of course, is tripadvisor.com, which I sometimes feel is more hindering than helpful. Aggregate reviews and real-life photos are key to the review, but the divergence in opinions ranking accomodations from 5* to 1* can be stressful to navigate. Tony sticks to the worst reviews while I like to read the most recent. My only rule is if any review includes bed bugs - OUT. We have also tapped into our many well travelled friends for tips and ideas. Our friends Stella and Jon found a nice apartment to stay in Paris, an idea that appealed to us as well (although we are not expecting to use the kitchen much). And further, our friend Marissa recommended a great vacation rental site: www.vrbo.com. We had NO IDEA what a big industry vacation apartments were, and were immediately excited to find lovely apartments at reasonable costs in great locations. In the end, we landed a great apartment a stone's throw away from the Louvre for less than a 3* hotel would cost us in the same area. Anyone want to join us at our 2 bedroom apartment next week??
What to do: I used to consider myself an avid researcher, but ultimately, I am lazy and prefer to just show up and decide. In far off places, as long as I am safe, everyday is an adventure, planned or unplanned. But my favourite guidebooks are Eyewitness Travel. I love the inset pictures and short explanations, along with maps (street and subway) and suggestions galore. I usually ignore the restaurant and accomodation recommendations since they can fast become outdated, but love the area reviews with highlights not to be missed. I consider it the one-stop book and can thank my friend Jen for introducing them to me when we were backpacking. I delved into my book this past weekend, looking this time more for local markets and shops than must-see attractions. Reading the book gave me a great overview of the city and excited to cross the Ocean this week! lonleyplanet.com is another great site I have used in the past for sample itineraries and ideas of things to do. For food, we have often relied on chowhound.com for local recommendations; but in Paris, we will be happy to eat where-ever we end up :)
Logistics: Tony has become a google maps expert in all our vacation planning. You can quickly find the proximity of hotels/hostels to public tranportation by layering on multiple maps, and of course, google earth can show you exactly what the areas look like. Seeing it all laid out is a good way to get oriented.
With 3 days to go, Tony is populating our "map" with places we want to visit while I go the old fashioned way and tab my travel book and highlight key subway stops. After all our research and thanks to the tips of friends, we feel great about the plans we have made so far, and are looking forward to a nice, relaxing holiday in Paris. Vive la france!
PS. with free wifi in our apartment, stay tuned for holiday updates. what food can be better than in Paris??In 2 weeks time, Tony and I managed to narrow down our many options for a holiday that had no destination and find ourselves 3 days from hopping on a plane to Paris. Life could be worse, right? This is by far the fastest holiday I've booked (Japan last year was booked 8 months in advance!). So what have our last couple weeks been like?
Destination: We had no destination in mind, which can open the door to many deals and options, but also made it incredibly hard to research - East, West, Sun, Adventure....the options were endless. With only a week, we did not want to be flying too far (Japan and Maui were out), and did not want to be in North America (we can do that on any given long weekend), and did not want to spend more than $1500 each on flight and hotels, since all-inclusives are a dime a dozen at under $1000. We toyed with the idea of several European locations - some we had been, some we had not; in the end, it came down to a balance of cost and practicality. Although I have seen most of the major sites in Paris, I really only spent 4 days in the city of love while backpacking and have been keen to spend more time just enjoying the city, culture and food (you can't eat very well on a student budget!). I was also looking for a low key holiday, but also with things to see and do - Paris was perfect, since we have both been before, eliminating the need to strategically plan out our days and ensure we don't "miss anything," but the city is also so diverse and amazing that there is plenty for us to do. Ultimately, understanding your budget and "objectives" is important in narrowing down options and ensuring the best location for a holiday!
Tips for last minute deals: subscribe to travelzoo, travel alerts and the like if you are flexible in dates and location; expedia still boasts some of the best hotel and flight deals around; we love kayak.com for flight tracking and comparisons.
Where to stay: my last trip in Paris was with a backpack and in a hostel. The key, I recall, was to be close to a metrostation. We obsessively looked up hotel and flight deals on expedia, keeping in mind that hotel standards in Europe are not the same as North American standards. Clean is all I ask for! Our go-to site, of course, is tripadvisor.com, which I sometimes feel is more hindering than helpful. Aggregate reviews and real-life photos are key to the review, but the divergence in opinions ranking accomodations from 5* to 1* can be stressful to navigate. Tony sticks to the worst reviews while I like to read the most recent. My only rule is if any review includes bed bugs - OUT. We have also tapped into our many well travelled friends for tips and ideas. Our friends Stella and Jon found a nice apartment to stay in Paris, an idea that appealed to us as well (although we are not expecting to use the kitchen much). And further, our friend Marissa recommended a great vacation rental site: www.vrbo.com. We had NO IDEA what a big industry vacation apartments were, and were immediately excited to find lovely apartments at reasonable costs in great locations. In the end, we landed a great apartment a stone's throw away from the Louvre for less than a 3* hotel would cost us in the same area. Anyone want to join us at our 2 bedroom apartment next week??
What to do: I used to consider myself an avid researcher, but ultimately, I am lazy and prefer to just show up and decide. In far off places, as long as I am safe, everyday is an adventure, planned or unplanned. But my favourite guidebooks are Eyewitness Travel. I love the inset pictures and short explanations, along with maps (street and subway) and suggestions galore. I usually ignore the restaurant and accomodation recommendations since they can fast become outdated, but love the area reviews with highlights not to be missed. I consider it the one-stop book and can thank my friend Jen for introducing them to me when we were backpacking. I delved into my book this past weekend, looking this time more for local markets and shops than must-see attractions. Reading the book gave me a great overview of the city and excited to cross the Ocean this week! lonleyplanet.com is another great site I have used in the past for sample itineraries and ideas of things to do. For food, we have often relied on chowhound.com for local recommendations; but in Paris, we will be happy to eat where-ever we end up :)
Logistics: Tony has become a google maps expert in all our vacation planning. You can quickly find the proximity of hotels/hostels to public tranportation by layering on multiple maps, and of course, google earth can show you exactly what the areas look like. Seeing it all laid out is a good way to get oriented.
With 3 days to go, Tony is populating our "map" with places we want to visit while I go the old fashioned way and tab my travel book and highlight key subway stops. After all our research and thanks to the tips of friends, we feel great about the plans we have made so far, and are looking forward to a nice, relaxing holiday in Paris. Vive la france!
PS. with free wifi in our apartment, stay tuned for holiday updates. what food can be better than in Paris??
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