Parts of Italy, Kosovo, Nth Macedonia, Greece, Albania, Poland and Germany.

[RB]

We have just returned from another great trip.

Bit of Background-
We have been fortunate to be regular leisure travellers to Europe & enjoy making our own arrangements and have always managed to travel independently. We don’t drive while holidaying there and have typically caught trains & buses to get around. Apartments are our preferred style of accommodation as we enjoy the space, like to prepare our own breakfasts (& sometimes lunch when we get over eating out) & like the convenience of access to washing facilities. Booking.com is our main choice with flexibility of free cancellation, a genius status bonus on prices, cash back via Cash Rewards, and we feel that we usually get good value for money and lots of information after reading reviews, checking google street view etc. This trip will see us use more private car transport as we have a few “must see” locations where public transport links are not going to work for us. Also, we are not as young as we used to be!
Using the search function of the forum seems to indicate that some of the places we visited are not common “stop-offs” so I hope some readers get some insights of them.

 

[RooFlyer]

Nice - how do you do the map, by the way?

 

[RB]

Nice - how do you do the map, by the way?

It is from Travelerspoint.com & then a screen shot. I was not having much luck with Google maps because it seemed to restrict the number of stops that I could plot. Seems useful for having an amalgamation of places you have covered & can do multiple separate trips

 

[kpc]

Been to all those countries but not to all the places

We, like you, normally travel independently...when we researched going to the Balkans, we decided all the border crossings were going to be too confusing and stressful...so we did a small group (17 pax) tour and covered 7 countries (8 if you count Kosovo) in 9 days...it was a bit hectic but we ticked off all the highlights. The border crossings were confusing...the only stressful part was making sure we were on the bus on time each morning!

As we get older and make more travel mistakes, I'm leaning more towards small group / private tours moving forwards especially if English is not spoken.

We just did 6 days independent travel in La Reunion by hiring a car...the whole trip was somewhat stressful and challenging as the locals only spoke French and Creole!

 

[RB]

PQQ-BNE
Our plan was a mid-week flight with QF but flooding was starting at Port Macquarie and it looked like it was going to be big, so we decided to drive out before we were isolated. We drove to where we could safely leave the car with relatives at Casino. The decision was justified when QF to Brisbane cancelled the next day and the PQQ airport was closed down for a few days-our plans would have been in total disarray! An Amex credit covering the yearly fee was used for the booking and it was all refunded so we actually profited. The airport bus from Casino to Brisbane with Byron Bus was a great service & arrived 15min early at Roma St- also makes a quick stop at Gold Coast airport.

Visibility wasn't good for driving


Already plenty of water lying around near Kempsey


Very impressed with the service by Byron Bus

 

[RB]

Meriton Brisbane Herschel Street - room 2107.

We really enjoy this location. A couple of minutes walk to Roma Street station, easy access to the airport, walk into the City and plenty of choices for food & booze.
Our King room with requested corner room was ready. Bit odd shaped (bed against the bedroom door) but good views & comfortable, excellent value, plenty of space & facilities and quiet.

 

[RB]

Around Brisbane
An over priced dinner for the quality at the nearby Transcontinental Hotel filled us up-Roamer Bar that we had used previously was hosting a trivia night.
We had a good morning coffee at Skydeck while enjoying great views of Brisbane. Unfortunately the flood news from home was getting worse worse.
Didi was very prompt and cheaper than the airport train for our ride from the Meriton to the airport.

Views from Skydeck