Filling in some gaps in Spain, a Greenland cruise and I'm getting a tattoo!

[RooFlyer]

I'm again starting this a bit early, as people come have up with great suggestions on my forecast itineraries previously.

The core of this trip is an 8 day expedition cruise on the west coast of Greenland.

https://albatros-expeditions.com/expeditions/arctic/disko-bay-0#block-views-departures-block

Charters are provided from and to Copenhagen (the company is Danish). The vessel is Ocean Albatross and I think capacity is 180 pax.



The cruise is less inclusive than others I have done - booze only at dinner, gratuities not included, no parka, but the expedition crew look excellent.

The background for this cruise, being a silly 2 months after my Svalbard arctic cruise, was @Flashback announcing he was going to Greenland and a discount price was available - how could I miss that company and also miss a place I've always wanted to visit. @k_sheep is also coming along, with others in both their groups. An official AFF cruise. All welcome to post here if not starting your own thread.

Before the cruise, I am going to fill in some places in Spain and Scotland that have eluded me.

Barcelona and area for a few days, then a train to Cordoba, taking a lead from @Seat0B , including the hotel. This is a major diversion - 5 hours each way from Barcelona on Renfe but I've always wanted to see the Mezquita-Catedral of Córdoba.

Then up to Edinburgh, where on planning this trip, I found hotel prices to be astronomical. Ridiculous. On investigation, I found this was on:

Tickets for the The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo

Find out more about Tickets for The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo Show.

www.edintattoo.co.uk

75th anniversary, so I snapped up a ticket and booked the Ibis close by at about $400/night. . Then hire a car and head first down to Holy Island off Northumbria which I tried to visit before but got rained out. A chap I am researching comes from a town on the mainland, so will be looking at a few places closely.




Back to Edinburgh (where I've been to about 4 times), then up to the highlands and Inverness at the head of Loch Ness (I've also done the lowlands a number of times - I have Scots ancestors). Drive down it to Glenfinnan, where the attraction is this:



Again, when planning about 9 months ago, I decided to take the Jacobite train (pictured) from Fort William to Mallaig on the coast and back. European trains generally only ticket about 3 months out, so at 4 months out I started to look. Its a private, not public train, so they sell tickets a year out. By the time I looked there wasn't a ticket available a month either side. . However on reflection, if you are interested in the spectacle, rather than the train itself, its better to see it from close by, at one of the nearby viewpoints. So I changed my hotel to an old coach inn within walking distance and stopped checking for tickets.

Glencoe and other places of my and general interest on the route back to Edinburgh.

Then fly to Copenhagen for the cruise charter, spending a day at Helsingør ( Elsinore) checking out Kronborg Castle (Hamlet's hangout), travelling by train. Staying at the Clarion Hotel at the airport, very cheaply, thanks to @Flashback pointing out a very cheap points promotion for Choice hotels. Price of the room 1/3 of the rack rate.



Flying home from Copenhagen at the conclusion of the cruise.

 

[Flyfrequently]

Ok @RooFlyer - am I the first to be sucked in by "tattoo" in the title of your TR ?

 

[RooFlyer]

Flights



HBA-MEL-HBA Virgin J using Velocity points
MEL-SIN-MEL Singapore airlines J on Krisflyer points (mainly VFF points transferred)
SIN-DOH-BCN CPH-DOH-SIN Qatar Airways paid J
BCN-LHR-EDI-LHR-CPH on BA J using Alaska miles
CPH- SFJ ( Kangerlussuaq) - CPH an included Enter Air charter in whY (but ... 2C)

SFJ was built as the USA Sondrestrom Air Base but is now demilitarised.

Following the fall of Denmark to Germany in World War II, responsibility for the security of Greenland passed to the American military under the terms of a 9 April 1941 treaty with the defected Danish ambassador in Washington, Henrik Kauffmann. Military leaders responded by building several bases in Greenland, the largest of which were Bluie West One in Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and Bluie West Eight along the Kangerlussuaq fjord. ... The location at the bottom of Sondrestromfjord is about as far from the coast as one can get on land in Greenland, and though the climate is severe, it is much more favorable for aviation than the coast. The approaches are clear, although the runway has a slope.

 

[VPS]

Ok @RooFlyer - am I the first to be sucked in by "tattoo" in the title of your TR

I would be very surprised if @RooFlyer had a real tattoo

Some suggestions would be Alnwick Bamburgh castle and I stayed at the Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland but that’s about an hour and a half south of holy Island

I love the area and if you need any suggestions for Glasgow or Edinburgh let me know

 

[RooFlyer]

I love the area and if you need any suggestions for Glasgow or Edinburgh let me know

Edinburgh - not needed, thanks been there maybe 4 times. Glasgow yes, but only the 'absolute top highlights', as little time. I recall something was mentioned in another thread ... Main reason for going through there is to visit Dumbarton, to the west which is the home of another guy I am researching.

 

[drron]

I'll be following this as I already had decided 2026 was the year for attending the Edinburgh tattoo probably towards the end of August as I now have booked a Med Cruise hosted by Bruce Tyrell who I know well and Stephen Henscke.
So I will probably fill in the time on the Scottish trains and spend time between Glasgow and Edinburgh where both Grandmothers families lived. Not to be unexpected both families were Covenanters.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenanters.

Then a couple of weeks before the cruise. ? Hungary and Poland, maybe the Balkans or possibly Egypt.

 

[SuePa]

Ok @RooFlyer - am I the first to be sucked in by "tattoo" in the title of your TR ?

That's what caught my attention too!
I think RooFlyer might be suggesting the military kind of tattoo, in Edinburgh.

 

[MARTINE]

Edinburgh - not needed, thanks been there maybe 4 times. Glasgow yes, but only the 'absolute top highlights', as little time. I recall something was mentioned in another thread ... Main reason for going through there is to visit Dumbarton, to the west which is the home of another guy I am researching.

The Great Eight at the Hill House

Rachel Thompson, Visitor Services Manager at the Hill House, tells us about her favourite parts of the property.

www.nts.org.uk

The Hill House, Helensburgh

Renowned for its stylish, dramatic and carefully considered interior spaces, this domestic masterpiece was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald.

www.historicenvironment.scot

As a lover of the architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (and the art nouveau period in general), this place is excellent and the area of Helensburgh is beautiful.

 

[RooFlyer]

That's what caught my attention too!

What's a little clickbait between friends ....

 

[kookaburra75]

That's what caught my attention too!
I think RooFlyer might be suggesting the military kind of tattoo, in Edinburgh.

As @RooFlyer had mentioned the Edinburgh Tattoo in earlier posts I thought he had signalled his intent, so I wasn't surprised to see it pop up in the title. Mind you, if he had said "... and I'm getting another tattoo", that would be interesting

@RooFlyer if you're thinking of swinging through Glencoe, check out this site Laird / Lady / Lord of Glencoe - Highland Titles MrsK and I both are titled Laird and Lady, and they sell you the rights to a square foot of land, which you can visit

Lady K indicating our estate

 

[Flyfrequently]

What's a little clickbait between friends ....

In hints on AFF for making the title of a TR interesting- think you nailed it @RooFlyer

 

[MARTINE]

The Great Eight at the Hill House

Rachel Thompson, Visitor Services Manager at the Hill House, tells us about her favourite parts of the property.

www.nts.org.uk

The Hill House, Helensburgh

Renowned for its stylish, dramatic and carefully considered interior spaces, this domestic masterpiece was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald.

www.historicenvironment.scot

As a lover of the architecture of Charles Rennie Mackintosh (and the art nouveau period in general), this place is excellent and the area of Helensburgh is beautiful.

And only 15 min drive from Dumbarton.
PS - great coffee shop (the barista is Australian!)

 

[SYD]

Are you flying out of BCN because it was one of the cheaper QR options? We did that in Jan (into MUC out of BCN). But flew LGW to AGP (Malaga) with a plan to road trip along the coast to BCN via Valencia. Which was interesting and almost completed my circumnavigation (by road) of Spain.

Malaga itself is worth the visit outside of peak summer seasons, but also much closer to Cordaba (~1hr?), Seville, Rhonda and the Pueblos Blancos (White towns) and Granada.

 

[k_sheep]

The cruise is less inclusive than others I have done - booze only at dinner, gratuities not included, no parka, but the expedition crew look excellent.

The background for this cruise, being a silly 2 months after my Svalbard arctic cruise, was @Flashback announcing he was going to Greenland and a discount price was available - how could I miss that company and also miss a place I've always wanted to visit. @k_sheep is also coming along, with others in both their groups. An official AFF cruise. All welcome to post here if not starting your own thread.

Thanks for having me!

Apparently I couldn't resist a bargain either. Neither did 2 of my usual travel mates. So off we go!

The good news re the cruise is you can BYO booze on board! There is a corkage charge however for drinking in public areas.

The BEST news is I have a many category upgrade according to the paperwork so I have a little extra room in our suite! So drinking party time in the k_sheep suite

 

[RooFlyer]

Are you flying out of BCN because it was one of the cheaper QR options?

no, it was just where I wanted to start.

I have another itinerary coming up and I was trying to fly QR out of Malaga back home but couldn’t make it work.

One thing I found out from that from my TA is that QR doesn’t offer all the range of business fares on every route - the classic fare is not offered out of Malaga for instance. I also looked at ex Lisbon. The classic fare is available from there.

 

[RooFlyer]

many category upgrade according to the paperwork

Hmmmm ... me too. I didn't notice .

As for booze, the interwebs are telling me that you cannot bring booze into Kangerlussuaq (EDIT - may be old info],

Greenland customs and tax regulations

Looking to purchase items for import or export to Greenland? Read more about customs and tax regulations here.

www.greenland-travel.com

but you can buy it duty free on arrival. But I wonder if they would encourage that. You can also buy from the supermarket between 10am and 6pm, but it will be expensive. I'll be after a bottle of gin.

 

[Seat0B]

When are you departing @RooFlyer?

We are leaving on 19 August for our sojourn through Finland, Iceland, Cruise to Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland and Norway, then visit the Baltics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It will be my first cruise (let's see how I go, not sure I am going to like it , and also my first time in Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland, and the Baltics, so I'm pretty excited. I might start a TR soon too. If last minute trip planning and unexpected medical things like an emergency root canal permit, that is!

 

[RooFlyer]

When are you departing @RooFlyer?

I leave Oz on 6 August; in Greenland 23-30 August.

We are leaving on 19 August for our sojourn through Finland, Iceland, Cruise to Greenland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Shetland and Norway, then visit the Baltics - Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. It will be my first cruise (let's see how I go, not sure I am going to like it

Wow, quite the trip. Who are you doing the Greenland etc cruise with? Sounds fantastic.

 

[Seat0B]

Wow, quite the trip. Who are you doing the Greenland etc cruise with? Sounds fantastic.

The cruise is on Norwegian Star departs Reykjavik 31 August and does a sprint to Greenland for 2 days (so we will miss you), then back around the NW-NE of Iceland (3 ports) then Faroe Islands, Shetland and Norway (3 ports) finishing in Oslo on 14 September. We are travelling with Mr Seat 0A's sister and her husband. We were trying to get the other sister and husband to join too as we have all celebrated 40 years of marriage in the past 12 months, but her husband flatly refused to go. The itinerary sounded so good that I forgot that I'm a bit less than fully enthused about cruising with 2000 friends, and especially on what I regard as a nickel and dime type of cruise line - sure you have a drinks package, but it's only for alcohol - no water, soft drink or coffee included. Those all have separate (expensive) packages. Or PAYG - in USD +20% compulsory gratuity, of pay USD385 for a 2 hr walking tour of a port in Iceland .... I would rather just pay an all inclusive rate and then not feel little spurts of anger every day at being gouged. But I'm sure it will be fine once I get there.

The rest of the itinerary is self planned, with a mix of rental car and train transport. I'm really looking forward to it. It was my chemo incentive trip - a light on the horizon to get me through the nausea, vomiting and general lethargy to think that things might be good again in the future - and they are . I won't hijack your thread any more, and will follow with interest.

 

[SYD]

no, it was just where I wanted to start.

I have another itinerary coming up and I was trying to fly QR out of Malaga back home but couldn’t make it work.

One thing I found out from that from my TA is that QR doesn’t offer all the range of business fares on every route - the classic fare is not offered out of Malaga for instance. I also looked at ex Lisbon. The classic fare is available from there.

Ah, we finished in BCN because MUC was the lead cheapest fare but didn’t want to backtrack and BCN was one of the cheaper open jaw options that worked DIY. Similarly, LGW-AGP on BA was quite good (albeit in whY).

If you ever find yourself in Europe in Jan/Feb, you can do a lot worse than the south of Spain. In fact, Valencia and Barcelona were surprisingly pleasant weather wise.