Travel advice - 2 weeks, ?1000, 3 girls, where to go?

[bloonoo]

Hi everyone

I am going on a 2 week holiday in the last 2 weeks of May and am a bit stumped on where to go. The problem is, there's so many places I want to visit!! I am going with 2 female friends, we have a ?1000 budget each and 2 weeks to take....Can anyone recommend anywhere? I am not particularly well travelled (I have done Spain, a few Greek islands and a bit of France!) so want to go somewhere quite exotic, but safe, cheap and fun! Thailand is (unfortunately) off the books as one of the girls has been there already, as is India as we're going out there next year for a wedding. We don't particularly want to slum it anywhere but we don't have to stay in 5* accommodation either.

Any suggestions much appreciated!

Thanks

[reeko]

Lucky you - how about Morocco. A week in the cities and then a week trekking in the Atlas mountains. Yummy food, pretty exotic, not too far away, something for everyone.

[SarahG]

Or Egypt?

[Huguenot]

Fly drive California? Not sure about whether that's in budget?

[KidKruger]

India, even if you include flight you'll have loads of dosh if you can handle budget-ish accomodation/travelling on basic trains. A few years ago I spent 3 months in india on ?1000 (excl. flight).

[Ted Max]

+1 for India.

Or Thailand.

[woodrot]

Nam, do the reunification express between hanoi & HCM City, stop off at various places en route. maybe a side jaunt to Cambodia if at all possible - one of the most fascinating places I have ever been to.

Morocco - ok but expect 24/7 hassle if you are female.and 24/7 hassle if you are male. actually, just 24/7 hassle for everyone, but significantly worse for women

[PeckhamRose]

Indeed FlyDrive California or the East Coast depending on the weather. Friends and rellies in West Coast and Arizona tell me its hotting up nicely.... and you may great a great cheap last minute flight deal if you're willing to be flexible.

[Mick Mac]

Ted Max Wrote:

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> +1 for India.

>

> Or Thailand.

:)

[Voyageur]

Eastern Europe is great. Can highly recommend Dubrovnik! Lovely little bars and restaurants, stunning, scores of little coves with crystal clear water.

http://hideoutfestival.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Dubrovnik.jpg

Ljubljana is beautiful too.

http://www.slovenijaturizem.com/galerija/ljubljana-iziol.jpg

[Sue]

woodrot Wrote:

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>

> Morocco - ok but expect 24/7 hassle if you are

> female.and 24/7 hassle if you are male. actually,

> just 24/7 hassle for everyone, but significantly

> worse for women

xxxxxxx

Is that still the case, Woodrot?

Long long time since I've been to Morocco, and I came back needing a holiday :)) but my son-in-law went there a year or so back and told me that they now had some sort of tourist police specifically to stop the hassle?

[numbers]

What Voyageur said.

Or Thailand Turkey.

[seemster]

Morocco gets my vote too. Start in Marrakesh, PM me and I'll dig out details of the riad I'd recommend. Soak up the whole place including souks and dodgy carpet dealers, go for fancy drinks at the hotel just outside the main square for a total switch of ambience, then head up into the Atlas mountains, stay the night at a kasbah, eat *the* most amazing 7 vegetable tagine, avoid buying carpets again, then back down to Marrakesh, spend a day or two in the new town if you haven't already (bit like Paris we thought) and then straight across to chill in Essaouira, one of my favourite places in the world (I've been to a few so I think I can get away with saying that.)

In terms of hassle, be street smart and remember your manners as you would anywhere else and you should be fine. Colour of my skin doesn't attract too much attention but my English rose friend was ok too.

[ratty]

Cuba

[indiepanda]

Sue Wrote:

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> woodrot Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> >

> > Morocco - ok but expect 24/7 hassle if you are

> > female.and 24/7 hassle if you are male.

> actually,

> > just 24/7 hassle for everyone, but

> significantly

> > worse for women

>

> xxxxxxx

>

> Is that still the case, Woodrot?

>

> Long long time since I've been to Morocco, and I

> came back needing a holiday :)) but my son-in-law

> went there a year or so back and told me that they

> now had some sort of tourist police specifically

> to stop the hassle?

Not convinced it always works - one of my friends from work went with her boyfriend, she was very modestly dressed and doing nothing to attract attention, but still had men calling her a slut - presumably just for being blonde haired / blue eyed.

I went to Tunisia with a friend and found it equally unpleasant from that perspective - soon as you left the hotel complex it was harassment all the way.

I would definitely recommend Eastern Europe - maybe a combination of Croatia and Montenegro - only thing is the sea might not be warm enough for swimming this time of year, depends what you want. Dubrovnik is in the SE corner of Croatia and it's easy to travel on by bus from there to the nicest spots in west Montenegro, Kotor is almost as stunning as Dubrovnik and Budva Old Town is also lovely. I didn't get to Herceg Novi but it's another worth visiting. You can do a bus trip from Dubrovnik into Bosnia and Herzegovina going to Mostar and I'd recommend that too.

Or, as an alternative, your money should go far in Bulgaria - I visited the three biggest cities last year (Sofia / Plovdiv / Varna) and all had lots of interest to visit - only thing is Varna is a long trek by bus from the others - I would be more inclined to do Sofia / Plovdiv and some of the smaller places thereabouts, it's near the Rhodope mountains if you fancy a bit of hiking.

[Cassius]

What about Andalucia in Southern Spain - advantage of the Euro (??), shortish and cheapish flight (direct and frequent to Malaga) and has amazing countryside, beautiful cities and some amazing heritage sights - the cities of Seville, Granada and Cordoba are the most well known, but Malaga has an old town too. Then there are some amazing tapas bars/sherry bars plus some good museums. And if you feel like blobbing out on the beach/by the pool then by the end of May that should be possible too.

[Loz]

woodrot Wrote:

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> Nam, do the reunification express between hanoi & HCM City, stop off at various places en route.

> maybe a side jaunt to Cambodia if at all possible - one of the most fascinating places I have ever

> been to.

Does anyone know what Vietnam/Cambodia is like (weather wise) in June/Jul/Aug? I'm thinking of going there for a couple of months cheap travel.

[woodrot]

hot n wet n humid IIRC

[Huguenot]

Kinda depends where you are Loz.

It's rainy season in Saigon, but even rainy season is about time of day. 4pm to 6pm is rainy season.

I really like the rain here, it's heavy but warm. I do dislike 'hot' season when the skies may be travel brochure sunny but really it's unmanageable.

Come and visit :) Moos is here too, and much nicer than me!

[lightweight]

Does the ?1000 flights, accommodation and all expenses whilst away for 2 weeks? If so, flights are always ridiculously expensive these days, especially if going to Thailand, even off-peak.

I think the Eastern Europe recommendation from indiepanda sounds excellent and should be within budget.

[Huguenot]

"flights are always ridiculously expensive these days"

Hee hee, there's a sense of entitlement for you ;-)

How much SHOULD someone charge you to fly you half way around the world in a ?200m plane designed and made by others, whilst you fill the stratosphere with noxious gases?

[lightweight]

Well a flight to Thailand could be ?900, so if you are left with ?100 to live on for 2 weeks, that may be tricky.

[KidKruger]

ETA: moot point

[seemster]

Moot point since OP said Thailand's not an option...

[Love_London]

How about Jordan?

I am pretty well travelled and have been to many exotic places and absolutely loved Jordan.

It's fun, adventurous and beautiful!

Petra, Deadsea, Wadirum, etc there are just so many things to do.

Or as someone suggested, Dubrovnik is a wonderful place.

Not sure if it'll be warm enough for swim in May but it's gorgeous and you can swim in blue sea and do dive jumping!

Or you could try Mediterranean cruise?

Or how about Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Not personal favourite but a lot of people seem to like it.