zanzibar's European Adventure

[zanzibar138]

More work on Wales​

We've pretty much decided on our plans for Austria now (staying in Bad Ischl instead of Salzburg), just need to wait for hotel availability before formally locking that in. We are also still considering our options for getting there and whether we want to just go the most direct way there on the train or fit in some more sightseeing (and what kind of sightseeing) with that one night.

So now we've had another look at Wales.

You may recall we were feeling a little underwhelmed after looking at Austria. However, after changing our focus we are back on track and excited again! We won't bother so much with mountains and lakes, but more picturesque riverside towns with fairytale-esque moss-covered forests and waterfalls etc. There's also some nice looking gardens, plenty of castles in various states of repair and other historic ruins, and some slate/copper mining history. And lots of lovely walks of course for those who can manage.

So here's the pretty riverside town of Llangollen, which is a great base for some very interesting canals and a few other points of interest.



I finally managed to get some helpful feedback from Grandma. Apparently she spent a lot of time there when she was young, and even worked at one of the hotels, so she's pretty excited about visiting! She also expressed a preference to stay in the town itself, where she could wander around freely, and was willing to compromise on accommodation to make it happen. So with that in mind, I think I've found a pretty good place that would suit the 5 of us. It actually has a ground floor bedroom, but I had blacklisted it before because it has a shower over bath in the ground floor bathroom.

Grandma has also requested a closer to town location for the next part of the trip in Snowdonia, and is also willing to compromise on accommodation there. I've found a few options that all have some compromise, but I'm generally pretty happy with. I still want to be somewhere relaxing and not feel like I'm in a city. Happy with a nice little village location though. I'll go through the options with everyone over the weekend and hopefully be able to book something in. With so few suitable options, I'm a bit worried about missing out if we don't get onto it quick!

 

[Steppesister]

Got my new laptop and am sloooooowly getting back on track here. Such a massive hassle!

but more picturesque riverside towns with fairytale-esque moss-covered forests and waterfalls etc. There's also some nice looking gardens, plenty of castles in various states of repair and other historic ruins, and some slate/copper mining history. And lots of lovely walks of course for those who can manage.

What a gorgeous little village. Absolutely charming!!! Who wouldn't love exploring here!?!

I finally managed to get some helpful feedback from Grandma. Apparently she spent a lot of time there when she was young, and even worked at one of the hotels, so she's pretty excited about visiting!

WOW! What a GREAT resource you have in her. Truly, she will be such an asset in your planning.

Happy with a nice little village location though.

Yeah, I can see why! I considered Austria for my trip in May, but I just can't do everything I want to in 2 short weeks. But I too am most looking forward to the villages between the big cities.

 

[zanzibar138]

WOW! What a GREAT resource you have in her. Truly, she will be such an asset in your planning.

You'd think, but she hasn't been very forthcoming with information so far! It was only after I found Llangollen in my own searches and decided it looked like a nice place to stay that she mentioned anything about it lol!

Yeah, I can see why! I considered Austria for my trip in May, but I just can't do everything I want to in 2 short weeks. But I too am most looking forward to the villages between the big cities.

Sounds like your plans are coming along for your trip What places in Austria are you visiting? Will you be hiring a car?

 

[zanzibar138]

Well that was a mission!​

It's been a big few days of trip planning for me!

Insurance​

First things first, before I started booking in anything non-refundable, I wanted to get our travel insurance organised. Hubby and I both have pre-existing conditions, so took a while to get through the quoting process for probably half a dozen different providers. They were mostly around the same cost, but one was slightly cheaper and one slightly more expensive. The cheaper provider was the same one my parents have gone with, so we went with them too. Unfortunately it was Qantas that was the most expensive, so no bonus points for us

Beddgelert​

Back to Wales, I booked our week in Snowdonia at a nice looking townhouse in a lovely looking village called Beddgelert. I had really been hoping to stay in one of the amazing stone cottages like this:



However, with accessibility limitations and wanting to be closer to a town it meant that we had to go with something with a little less character.



Still, it looks very nice inside, has lovely views from the upstairs windows, and the town itself has more than enough character to make up for it! Borrowed from google... Beddgelert is a picturesque village in Snowdonia National Park, Wales, known for its stone cottages, traditional charm, and scenic location at the confluence of the River Glaslyn and River Colwyn. The townhouse is about a 1-2 minute walk downstream from here, directly across from the river but behind another house - maybe that one you can just see the roof of.



It's a popular tourist destination that offers a base for outdoor activities, with attractions like a station on the Welsh Highland Railway, walking trails to nearby mountains like Snowdon, and the famous legend of Gelert's grave. I get teary at the mere mention of this legend (even though it's just a legend and not a true story), and not sure if I'll be able to do the walk to Gelert's grave, but if it's something that interests you, feel free to do your own googling.

Llangollen​

Before finalising our bookings, I just did some quick double-checks. Unfortunately the favourite for Llangollen didn't quite check out. One problem was that towels weren't supplied, but the bigger issue was the reviews for the other listings. This was one of several terrace houses in the same building, managed by the same owner. The one I was looking had decent reviews, but only 3 of them. The other ones also only had a few reviews each, but they were not as complimentary, with complaints about cleanliness and bad smells. Had the complaints been about something inconsequential I wouldn't have been as bothered, but cleanliness is pretty important, so it was back to the drawing board.

I considered several options - one large house for the 5 of us, splitting us up over 2 separate houses, also looking at guest houses - and sent off a number of enquiries. Many of the replies came back explaining that there were steep and uneven stairs, spiral staircases, stairs with no handrail, or the bedroom/bathroom that Grandma would need was on the attic level. So they were all out. I was definitely running out of options. I was starting to get a bit stressed out so, with the knowledge that it's only for 4 nights, Hubby and my parents told me to just pick one and we'd all be able to help Grandma manage. So this morning I finally pulled the trigger on a large 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse right in town. It's larger and grander (and more expensive) than what I was originally envisioning, but we will all be glad to have the room to spread out a bit by then. It's not a cute little stone cottage either, but does have some character in a more grand Art Deco kind of way. Towels aren't supplied here either (seems to be a thing in Llangollen), but we all decided we would be happy to buy some cheap towels to just leave there to make it work.

The final flight​

I have been waiting and waiting for reward flight availability for my flight back from Hong Kong. Yesterday, I finally decided to do a bit more poking around. I started looking at nearby airports, thinking maybe there was something out of Singapore or KL that could work. Frustratingly, there was availability for a flight from Singapore VIA Hong Kong to Perth, but still no availability just for the flight from Hong Kong I ended up seeing something available on the Sunday, so I've just jumped on that. There was even availability for premium economy, so I decided to splurge a little since Cathay Pacific is regularly regarded to have one of the best premium economy products in the world.



It wouldn't get me home until probably midnight the Sunday night, and luckily I have already organised to include that Monday in my leave. However, ideally I would really prefer to have an extra day for recovery, so if something comes up on the Saturday, I will change it.

Hong Kong​

I also looked at Disney hotels in Hong Kong. I'm pretty much ready to pull the trigger on a Mickey themed room at the Hollywood Hotel. I've stayed at the Hollywood Hotel before, but before the update, and the rooms look super cute! I would always prefer Explorer's Lodge, but for a quick stopover just for me, I can barely justify the cost of Hollywood lol!



I wanted to use my AMEX to book, as there's a good bonus points offer on at the moment for foreign currency spend, but it was nearly at its (quite low) limit, so I had to make a payment and will finalise the booking once that's come through.

 

[pkondz]

However, with accessibility limitations and wanting to be closer to a town it meant that we had to go with something with a little less character.

Those two do not look similar.

Towels aren't supplied here either (seems to be a thing in Llangollen)

Towels aren't supplied??
That's just... odd!

 

[zanzibar138]

Those two do not look similar.

No. No, they do not.

Towels aren't supplied??
That's just... odd!

IKR? At least 50% of the listings in Llangollen did not supply towels. I didn't really check for the other area of Wales - only checked the one we wanted did and booked it in. It also seemed to be a thing in Austria. Maybe they're only expecting to get local travellers who are arriving by car for a weekend away We definitely do NOT intend to lug towels around with us when we have 13 different places to drag our luggage (and Grandma in a wheelchair) to over 5 weeks

 

[pkondz]

We definitely do NOT intend to lug towels around with us when we have 13 different places to drag our luggage (and Grandma in a wheelchair) to over 5 weeks

Exactly what I was thinking?

You know who totes towels around while travelling?


No one.

 

[zanzibar138]

It's been a big week​

Things are definitely starting to come together. Now that we've got confirmed dates and insurance in place, I thought it was worth booking in more of our accommodation while there's still plenty of availability.

Vienna​

I really wanted to prioritise location for this one and stay in the Inner Stadt area which is close to St Stephen's Cathedral and the Hofburg area (where both the National Library and Spanish Riding School are located). With only 2 nights, I really just wanted to be able to walk everywhere and have to fluff around with public transport. I didn't think we'd be able to afford anything suitable in the area, but yay for Expedia status as I found a VIP hotel that was offering a great discount for gold members! It's an apartment hotel just outside the main plaza area, and even comes with a free bottle of sparkling They had a great option with separate bedrooms for us to share with Grandma to save on costs, and I've just booked the standard studio for Mum and Dad.



I'm actually looking forward to taking this amazing looking lift lol!

Flights to the UK​

While on the subject of Vienna, I thought it would also be worth locking in those flights. I was dismayed to find that the direct flight to Manchester no longer seems to be available. I'd pretty much organised our itinerary around that, so we were pretty much locked in to getting to that area of the UK that day, or re-arranging the whole itinerary for the rest of the trip. The only direct flight available was with Ryanair, arriving early evening. I wasn't keen on that, since I'd prefer to arrive before dark when we're driving, and an evening arrival wouldn't give us much time for visiting rellies. Plus, you hear horror stories about delays/cancellations with Ryanair, with passengers just left stranded, so that was a big no. The better option was with Swiss Air. Great timing with a morning flight, but not at the crack of dawn, getting us in at lunch time, with plenty of time to pick up the hire car and make our way to Liverpool before dark. There is a quick connection in Zurich, but we all agreed it would be worth the inconvenience to go with the more reliable airline with better timing.

Liverpool​

I hadn't initially thought there would be any urgency to book our one night in Liverpool, but thought I'd just do a quick check to see what we would be dealing with. I was shocked to see everything in Liverpool completely booked out! Turns out there's some big political convention on Luckily we have no need to stay in the actual city, since Grandma's rellies are across the river from there anyway.

Funny story, whenever we discuss Liverpool with Grandma, she immediately asks why we're going to Liverpool, and is confused about why we're planning to catch up with rellies from there. Apparently she thinks a 10 minute drive across a bridge is too far to still be considered 'Liverpool'

Turns out, due to the shortage of accommodation, we've ended up about 20 minutes further out in a place called Ellesmere Port. Grandma also asked why we're staying there because apparently it's not a great area for accommodation. She's right - there doesn't seem to be much around, but we're not there for sightseeing, literally just for catching up with her rellies. Looks like a pleasant enough place anyway even if there's not much there.

London​

I don't think 1 night in the Cardiff area will be too much to manage, and a quick search proved me right at this point, so I just skipped straight to London, which I knew could be challenging due to the cost. We've tried to minimise the cost by only staying 3 nights, so we didn't have to be locked into bargain basement accommodation. We all still want to stay somewhere nice and, with only 3 nights, convenient. I'm a bit of a weirdo and not really interested in a lot of the major touristy places in London - all I really want to do is go inside the Tower Bridge and wander along the Thames The London City/Tower Hill area seemed to be best placed for that, and conveniently, is also where the train leaves from for the day trip to Corringham. I found a place right in the middle of all the attractions and train stations that looked quite nice and was well priced compared to others of a similar quality with a sneaky Expedia gold status discount. The rooms are on the small side, but larger than others I was looking at! As a bonus, we also get 1 free drink each during our stay. It's certainly not a 'cheap' place, but as good as we thought we'd get, so I've gone ahead and booked that too.

What's left?​

• Plans and accommodation for our 1 night stopover on the way from Paris to Austria
• Accommodation in Bad Ischl, Austria (6 nights) (not available until closer to the time)
• Accommodation in the Cardiff area, Wales (1 night)
• Trains (not available until closer to the time)
• Tickets for shows/attractions we want to book in advance - I'll want to get onto the Eiffel Tower and Spanish Riding School as soon as availability opens up

 

[pkondz]

Looks really nice!

I'm actually looking forward to taking this amazing looking lift lol!

How could you not?!?!?


I mean, just look at it? How cool is that?

Plus, you hear horror stories about delays/cancellations with Ryanair, with passengers just left stranded, so that was a big no.

I did not know this!

I was shocked to see everything in Liverpool completely booked out!

Oh, no!
Glad you found something else, though.

Apparently she thinks a 10 minute drive across a bridge is too far to still be considered 'Liverpool'