2026 travel plans

[RooFlyer]

is it $2,000 worse than LHR

It will feel like it at the time, but probably not.

One suggestion is for a day trip by ferry to Tallinn in Estonia. It takes around 2 hours to cross over the Gulf of Finland. Tallinn is well worth a visit for at least a day but it would also probably be worthwhile spending a couple of nights there.

Another nice day trip is to the Suomenlinna Sea Fortess. It is only a short trip on the local commuter ferries.

Def agree to these. Tallinn is a terrific place to visit. Really try for an overnight. Tallinn in a single post here. Watch the Finns go over in the morning, have a loooonnng lunch, then take literally trolly loads of (cheaper) booze back home on the ferry after lunch. A post on Helsinki here. (My TRs were a lot more compact back then!)

Edit: Porvoo - agree with Flashback (again )

 

[MARTINE]

It will feel like it at the time, but probably not.



Def agree to these. Tallinn is a terrific place to visit. Really try for an overnight. Tallinn in a single post here. Watch the Finns go over in the morning, have a loooonnng lunch, then take literally trolly loads of (cheaper) booze back home on the ferry after lunch. A post on Helsinki here. (My TRs were a lot more compact back then!)

Edit: Porvoo - agree with Flashback (again )

Thanks again
Read those trip reports - really good Roo.
Porvoo a definite - might do the old steamer there and bus back

 

[jb747]

North Island NZ in March. Tasmania in October. I’m considering Athens in November.

 

[RooFlyer]

North Island NZ in March. Tasmania in October. I’m considering Athens in November.

You may care to browse this - the FuelCheck Tas App is a must. Fortunately the Check-in App not so much!

Thread 'Touring Tasmania tips'

Mar 24, 2021

There are a few threads on things to do/see in Tasmania, such as

Hobart accommodation, where to get the best scallop pies, tour suggestions, NW coast ideas, plus a range of trip reports - the most recent one drron's A Summer in Tasmania and my own Weekend at Cradle Mountain National Park. Rather than adding to the most recent, Hobart Accommodation thread, I thought I'd start a general one where locals and visitors can post tips and help guide a nice experience.

• RooFlyer
• Replies: 7
• Forum: Destination Guides, Tips & Questions

• 

If you are returning a hire car to the airport, or just driving past, then the cheapest fuel anywhere are often these two - unmanned bulk fuel for truckers but multiple pumps for cars. Usually priced the same, but the Ampol offers a further 6 cent discount for RACT cards - unsure if it recognises interstate motoring associations. The BP you see on the road to the airport is 15c/litre more expensive than the other two today.

 

[Warks]

Just completed the Abel Tasman Great Walk (AT National Park near Nelson, NZ). Fantastic experience and my fifth of the 10(11) Great Walks of NZ. All of them are different and this one was probably the easiest and 'nicest'. No massive climbs, beaches near every hut with cold beach showers (first time I've had a shower on a Great Walk), and there's even a lodge nearby on day 3 where you can grab lunch or dinner (also a first). If you don't want to haul your pack the whole way you can get it shuttled between huts by water taxi. Also allows you to leave the walk when you want if injured or exhausted.
All this leads into my big one for Feb 2026 - the Milford Track - it's so much closer now and this was a good training run.
I'm really going to have to do all of these while I can.

 

[JessicaTam]

Just completed the Abel Tasman Great Walk (AT National Park near Nelson, NZ). Fantastic experience and my fifth of the 10(11) Great Walks of NZ. All of them are different and this one was probably the easiest and 'nicest'. No massive climbs, beaches near every hut with cold beach showers (first time I've had a shower on a Great Walk), and there's even a lodge nearby on day 3 where you can grab lunch or dinner (also a first). If you don't want to haul your pack the whole way you can get it shuttled between huts by water taxi. Also allows you to leave the walk when you want if injured or exhausted.
All this leads into my big one for Feb 2026 - the Milford Track - it's so much closer now and this was a good training run.
I'm really going to have to do all of these while I can.

I did the Milford Track in my teens.

So. Much. Rain!

And Sandfly point is aptly named.

 

[bPeteb]

I did the Milford Track in my teens.

So. Much. Rain!

And Sandfly point is aptly named.

South Island sandflies. Makes me itch just thinking about them!

 

[Beano]

New granddaughter (3 days ago) so looks like MAD, and FRA (again) in 2026, plus lots more Australia trips from WLG.

 

[Warks]

I did the Milford Track in my teens.

So. Much. Rain!

And Sandfly point is aptly named.

There was a spot on the Abel Tasman track called "Sandfly Bay" but I heard that it was named that to keep people away. Went there and probably had the fewest sandflies of the walk. They are pretty vicious anywhere near the beaches and they even come inside huts if it's near the water. Europeans get shouted out "CLOSE THE DOOR!" when they come inside leaving it open. We had a weka charge inside when someone left the door open. The NZ bin chicken equivalent but bolder and less dumb. They would get into anything left outside.
We had five perfect days of sunshine on the AT, am hoping for little to no rain on day 3 when we go over McKinnon Pass on the MT, no wind is even better. On the Kepler Track some years ago we nearly got blown off the top it was so strong.

South Island sandflies. Makes me itch just thinking about them!

Worst I ever experienced was at some old gold mine workings near Greymouth. There were information boards describing how the miners used to cover themselves in bacon fat to try and ward off the little monsters.

 

[jgm]

We flew into MAN on our last trip. Not a wonderful place but certainly not bad.

Flying OUT however is a different matter!

 

[OZDUCK]

Flying OUT however is a different matter!

I shall ask the obvious question - why?

 

[MARTINE]

I shall ask the obvious question - why?

For me - in 2023 it was one of the most stressful security experiences ever in my life. Husband and my bag contents strewn all over the place with multiple different staff from different lanes shouting ‘who belongs to this’. I was convinced my passport and valuables would be lost in the confusion.

 

[OZDUCK]

For me - in 2023 it was one of the most stressful security experiences ever in my life. Husband and my bag contents strewn all over the place with multiple different staff from different lanes shouting ‘who belongs to this’. I was convinced my passport and valuables would be lost in the confusion.

Thanks - sounds horrible.

 

[RooFlyer]

I shall ask the obvious question - why?

It’s an old, coughpy Airport. On my “avoid it all costs if possible“ list.

 

[OZDUCK]

It’s an old, coughpy Airport. On my “avoid it all costs if possible“ list.

Now I am beginning to see why it keeps coming up so much cheaper than LHR on most of my searches.

 

[VPS]

Interesting I have been through Manchester a couple of times and I don't think it's the worst.

In other news it's now £7 to drop someone off at LHR and maximum stay is 10 minutes. Gone up from £6

 

[jgm]

Interesting I have been through Manchester a couple of times and I don't think it's the worst.

In other news it's now £7 to drop someone off at LHR and maximum stay is 10 minutes. Gone up from £6

Your carry on baggage is manually examined after x-ray scanning in a separate enclosure where you lose track of it. The re-connection of passengers and bags is chaotic, and doesn't seem to follow any sort of verification as Martine says. There are travelators in the skylink from the train station or terminals 1&3 to terminal 2 but whenever I've been there, I have never seen them running, and it's a LONG walk.

 

[RooFlyer]

One of my memories of MAN: A departure pier that is old and relatively narrow but is still crammed with shops. The space in front of the scanning points of the gates is about 4m wide, with all the traffic to and from gates beyond, walking though.

Here is a post of mine from 7 years ago:

Post in thread 'International Airports- Best and Worst.'

Nov 20, 2018

Worst:
Well, HBA (Hobart) is classified as 'international' (flights to Antarctica ) and its pretty gruesome - very crowded, no air bridges (or buses), shipping containers form part of the infrastructure ...

Manchester MAN I found pretty ordinary. Irkutsk IRK, Russia was very old and cramped; Ouagadougou OUA when I was there a few years ago had a concrete shell as a terminal building, queue outside in the hot sun for immigration (I assume they have finished it by now); Rabat RBA, as a capital city airport fell into the old and very cramped category, no air bridges. My last 4...

• RooFlyer

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[Seat0B]

Just booked a few weeks again in Denmark in June to see fam. Nested ten days in Helsinki
Any ideas for Helsinki as base?

What about a trip through the Baltic states? I have recently returned from visits to Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius and Kaunas and would recommend them all.

Helsinki is a lovely city. I will be writing up my much delayed trip report (aiming for before Christmas) from our trip to Helsinki, Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn (amongst other places) in August/September. They are highly recommended.

We enjoyed seeing the sights of Helsinki itself over a couple of days and a day on the fortress Island of suomenlinna. We also enjoyed a magnificent free youth concert at the Tempeliaukio (church in the rock) that allowed us after hours access to the church, with no crowds and some magnificent classical music (mainly piano) from the concert artists. Absolutely spectacular. The harbour is magnificent. Also you must to the classic salmon soup at the Old Market from any of several vendors. With a longer stay, you might also consider renting g a car nd venturing into the countryside. It’s a beautiful country, with amazing lakes and forests. We would do that on our next visit, but we did not have time this trip. Recommended to pack a mosquito net and strong repellent if you venture into nature in June/July.

I would also look into the “buy points and redeem for rooms” scheme highlighted in this thread by @masco131

Thread 'Choice Privileges hotels and Why you should look into this'

Jul 15, 2025

Choice Privileges hotels and Why you should look into this
While Choice privileges may not be well-known in Australia or the Asia-Pacific region like Accor, IHG or Marriott, there’s still plenty of hidden in their program. This program might not be your go-to for every trip, but for the right destination, Choice privileges can offer some good value.

1.Transfer partners of Qantas and Virgin
Choice privileges like many hotel chains are transfer partners to various airline loyalty programs and yes, while these do not present the best value most of the time. There are some...

• masco131
• Replies: 31
• Forum: Other Hotel & Accommodation Discussion

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I happened upon it too late as my bookings were done, but we stayed at a couple of Comfort/Clarion hotels and they were uniformly good. Any way to save a few $ or get extra benefits would be worth the effort as things are pretty expensive in Finland.

If you have any specific questions eg to/from airport, how to get tram tickets etc, drop me a DM.

 

[Seat0B]

New granddaughter (3 days ago) so looks like MAD, and FRA (again) in 2026, plus lots more Australia trips from WLG.

Congratulations!