Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Johnny199r]

At a Mexican resort right now. Two things that never cease to amaze me at every resort I’ve been to:

1. Grown men willing to nearly drown children in order to win some activity like water polo or basketball.

2. The large proportion of people that are painfully slow in the buffet line. It’s a hotdog, not a big life choice. Bonus points for pretending not to see a line already waiting there.

[activeStick]

Cousin is getting married in Hong Kong end of August and I'm trying to decide when would be the best time to get tickets as I'll be purchasing for my parents as well. Really hoping for some YVR deals...

[D as in David]

Originally Posted by activeStick

Cousin is getting married in Hong Kong end of August and I'm trying to decide when would be the best time to get tickets as I'll be purchasing for my parents as well. Really hoping for some YVR deals...

Beforehand.

[Bigtime]

Suggestions for the best area(s) to stay in Seoul? Looking to make a trip over there in April. Would you go for an AirBnB or Hotel?

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Suggestions for the best area(s) to stay in Seoul? Looking to make a trip over there in April. Would you go for an AirBnB or Hotel?

What are you looking to do/ where do you want to be? I stayed at the LOTTE HOTEL SEOUL and it was awesome. Easy access to the train that goes to the airport. Great access to various subway lines. It is right by the night market and an easy walk to a lot of cool things to see.

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

What are you looking to do/ where do you want to be? I stayed at the LOTTE HOTEL SEOUL and it was awesome. Easy access to the train that goes to the airport. Great access to various subway lines. It is right by the night market and an easy walk to a lot of cool things to see.

We are all about exploring and checking out the big city offerings, toss in some of the historic temples and a trip up the DMZ too. Never shy away from walking around to explore and definitely want to use the public transport options to get around.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

It's not downtown Seoul, just outside the city, the M*A*S*H 4077 while not five star accommodations apparently is fun and full of wild and crazy antics.

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

We are all about exploring and checking out the big city offerings, toss in some of the historic temples and a trip up the DMZ too. Never shy away from walking around to explore and definitely want to use the public transport options to get around.

In that case the hotel I suggest would be a great option. If I remember correctly the user Cheese lived in Seoul for a while so he would definitely have a better opinion and maybe even know of some hidden gems hotels.

Edit: updated the user as I looked back through my information.

[Bigtime]

I appreciate the info, pulling the trigger on the flights tonight. Also going to do some time in Japan as well, Osaka/Kyoto, Hiroshima and then Tokyo. Take advantage of the new WestJet non-stop to get back to Calgary.

[surferguy]

Anybody have an idea of when a decent time to by tickets to Auckland would be? Looking for early November departure.

[Jimmy Stang]

Does anyone have any experience doing a group booking (for 10) with WestJet or Air Canada. Destination would be Rome.

Both sites let you book up to 9 people, but the 10th puts you into group booking territory, and they basically say "call your travel agent".

Group bookings come with a few perks like a checked bag being included (that would be $1400 in savings across 10 people), pre-assigned seats, etc.

And a related question: does anyone have a travel agent that they would recommend? I haven't used one in years (decades?), but is seems to be the way to do this sort of booking.

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Jimmy Stang

And a related question: does anyone have a travel agent that they would recommend? I haven't used one in years (decades?), but is seems to be the way to do this sort of booking.

We’ve been dealing with North Munro for 20 years - always remotely. We love the guy.

https://www.virtuoso.com/advisors/4173496/north-munro

[Muta]

Took advantage of the YYC-Tokyo flight deal from WestJet a couple weeks ago, going in July with my bro and a friend; managed to get a ticket for $1150. Not as cheap as it used to be, but not too bad either! Friend hasn't been there before too, so it'll be fun showing him around that magical city for the first time. Bullet trains to Osaka and Kyoto FTW too!

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Muta

Took advantage of the YYC-Tokyo flight deal from WestJet a couple weeks ago, going in July with my bro and a friend; managed to get a ticket for $1150. Not as cheap as it used to be, but not too bad either! Friend hasn't been there before too, so it'll be fun showing him around that magical city for the first time. Bullet trains to Osaka and Kyoto FTW too!

Any suggestions? As mentioned above we'll be there in April/May as well. Planning to use the bullet trains to get from Osaka to Hiroshima and then back to Tokyo (I've already got my Shinkansen Reservation account created). Any must see's/do's in these areas?

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Any suggestions? As mentioned above we'll be there in April/May as well. Planning to use the bullet trains to get from Osaka to Hiroshima and then back to Tokyo (I've already got my Shinkansen Reservation account created). Any must see's/do's in these areas?

Close to Osaka is Nara which is pretty fun. Kids loved the Nara deer.

I seem to recall with the Japan Rail Pass the ferries were included, my memory might be wrong on that, but you can from Hiroshima to Miyajima, which has some nice hiking and the iconic gate on the beach.

Studio Ghibli was nice, but if you miss it not a big deal.

The castles are fun to check out. I think the only issue we had was not many English translations at touristy spots, but everyone was very helpful and we managed. Navigating the subway was fun too.

Don’t forget to get a Suica card and SIM cards. We got ours before we arrived.

[Bigtime]

We are probably looking at 10 full days for Japan, not counting the flight home day (WestJet flight departs at 10pm so we'll have that day to do stuff too).

[Muta]

Bigtime - 10 days is a good length of trip! I'm busy atm but will try and write some bullet points for you later tonight or tomorrow!

First thing's first is to get the bullet train pass here, which you did. Wormius is right in that you should purchase your SIM card here first; as for the Suica card, that is a reloadable card to take the subway with and great to have, but you probably don't need to get that - your bullet train pass covers all JR subway lines as well (as far as I remember), which is one of the two main subway lines going all over the major cities anyways.

If you have time, I would absolutely recommend the Shimanami Kaido, which is a 70-km, two day casual biking trip across a bunch of Japanese islands and one of the biggest bridges in the world. Look it up, it's awesome - I loved doing that.

Spoiler!

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Suggestions for the best area(s) to stay in Seoul? Looking to make a trip over there in April. Would you go for an AirBnB or Hotel?

I did Airbnb and it was great! What are you looking to do? Party (single?)? Somewhere more quiet (family?)?

I stayed in Hongdae and Itaewon before but both were more busy (which I liked).

[activeStick]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

I appreciate the info, pulling the trigger on the flights tonight. Also going to do some time in Japan as well, Osaka/Kyoto, Hiroshima and then Tokyo. Take advantage of the new WestJet non-stop to get back to Calgary.

So jealous of you right now. That's an amazing trip!

[Cappy]

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Any suggestions? As mentioned above we'll be there in April/May as well. Planning to use the bullet trains to get from Osaka to Hiroshima and then back to Tokyo (I've already got my Shinkansen Reservation account created). Any must see's/do's in these areas?

For Soeul,

i stayed in Hongdae (2018?) in a hostel for cheap. Probably not what you are looking for but Hongdae is a pretty young crowd, lively with many bars. Anywhere in Soeul is reachable by great transit.

The center is probably best, as it is close to the historical areas and easy to get around without transfers.

For things to do:
Bukchon Hanok Village is beautiful
Gyeongbokgung Palace
War Memorial is amazing
hit up a doosan bears game if you can!

For visiting the DMZ, there are two tours. One takes you to the check now if you can get a tour to the Blue Buildings; and the other takes you to the tunnels and a few other places.

The Blue Buildings Tour is the most desired and you should be trying to book well in advance! It can also be cancelled last minute by the government. The other tour is still worth it though!

For Japan,

Again, so many different areas to stay in each place.

In tokyo i stayed in a capsule hotel near Taito City. If you are travelling alone, or wanting to budget, you cannot go wrong with budget options in japan. Everything is just nicer/cleaner/safer.

Senso-Ji is a must for me. Its actually amazing at night.


- The park hyatt hotel (i think) has a great happy hour for cocktails and canapes. Talking all you can drink top tier japanese whisky. Anyone can go - it was 60 bucks when i went.
- go to arcades!
- look in advance for the fish market tours - especially the one that shows you the auction. I havent been but heard its great!
- Ueno Park and the surrounding area of Yenesen is great. Yenesen is very old school tokyo - 50-60s tokyo

If you have to choose between Osaka and Kyoto, go to kyoto. Hands down the most beautiful city in Japan. Osaka is very modern and will remind you of shinjuku/Shibyua; however, the center has a canal running through it which is neat.

Hiroshima atomic bomb museum/memorial are a must. Close to Hiroshima is Mijajima which is a cute (if touristy) town with the famous Floating Gate and overly friendly deer.

Between Osaka and Hiroshima is Himeji which i stopped in to see the famous himeji castle.

Check out a Japanese baseball game if you can. I would recommend Hanshin Tigers (in Osaka) or Hiroshima Carp as they are outdoor diamonds and a bit nicer - but they are all great.