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Find that Car Hire Deal You've Been Looking For at AutoRentals.com |
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Travel Inspiration
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Europe's Best & Worst Stations |
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If you’re like me, you appreciate a good public transport system. I know, I know - it’s a little nerdy. But I’m not the only one…right?! Never have I been so grateful for a decent bus and train network than when I travelled non-stop for a week, overland, across Europe. In the height of summer. With a time crunch. Yeah, now I know you’re interested. So I thought I’d take my first-hand experience—from some of the largest hubs to the smallest country towns—to give you my honest review of which were the best, and which were…not. The ‘my worst enemy’ award: Zagreb Train Station It was late at night when our train pulled into Zagreb train station with a 40-minute delay, and the flickering platform sign greeted us ominously. Like the start of any good horror film, we were fighting for our lives the minute we stepped off the train. OK, not literally. But, we were ready to wave goodbye to Zagreb as soon as we arrived. It didn’t help that we were coming off the back of a long train journey and a last-minute decision to jump on a night bus onto Serbia. In other words, we were overtired, frazzled, and rushing. Still, Zagreb train station didn’t deliver on location, lighting, station signage, or facilities. And it was mobbed with 20-somethings heading down south to Split to go party.  Two things that really stood out for the worse: the train station is deceptively far away from the bus station (even though they seem to be right next to each other on Google Maps). And it has truly terrible bathrooms with very few stalls. The only positive thing I can say is that even though the bathrooms were awful (and they are: the only accessible toilets in the lady’s bathroom didn’t have a wall all the way up to the ceiling. Instead, they opened…to the men’s bathroom. Ideal!), it doesn’t cost you anything to use them. A rare treat when travelling around Europe. Before I move on, I need to point out that the bus station in Zagreb also leaves a lot to be desired. After the terrible walk, we rushed in through the door, only to realize that we weren’t at the right entrance. It turns out the actual entrance to the bus station looks exactly the same as the other shopfronts nearby. Handy… Station stats:
Final rating: ⭐ The ‘backpacker’s dream’ award: Innsbruck Hauptbahnhof We hit a few stations on our journey through Austria, but two stick out in my mind: Innsbruck and Villach. While Villach is a pretty small place, it’s worth a shout-out because the station is super close to the main town, so really easy to access on foot (definitely wins points in my book!).  Innsbruck, though, absolutely deserves the handiest bag storage award. It’s also pretty centrally located, but the rows and rows of bag storage, of all different shapes and sizes, really aided in our quest to climb into the Alps during a 6-hour stop. We honestly wouldn’t have been able to see snow in August, or experience just what it feels like to be in the Alps wearing sandals (shout out to Aileen!), without Innsbruck’s bag storage system. It was as easy as rocking up to the station with €3.50 in change, popping it into the machine and away you go to the mountains! Other perks of the bag storage:
Not that Innsbruck is the only station in Europe to have bag storage—it’s a pretty widespread concept. But we got the most out of not having our huge backpack when the Alps were right there. Love it. Station stats:
Final rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
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Travel Tips
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November's Looking Up! |
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You might have heard, November is a big month in sale land. And thankfully, that usually extends to airlines as well! We hesitate to join the ranks of Walmart and invoke the words “Bl*ck Fr!day” too soon, dear readers, but we’re getting pretty excited about the kinds of airfares we could be seeing in just a few weeks time. So excited, in fact, that our Flight Finding gurus have shared some predictions for this year so that you are all as prepped as we are to hit “book” as soon as that dream trip lands in the inbox.  American Airlines While 2022’s sale wasn’t all that special, it should be a sign of big things a-coming for the airline. At the very least, we’ll see a repeat of 2022’s offering, with fares in the $90s-$330s RT across the US and Caribbean, which is about as low as you’ll ever see American go. That doesn’t mean we can’t expect better from them. We’d love to see them finally discount some of their more in-demand destinations outside this continent, including non-stops to Brazil, Japan & Australia. While they do have flights on these routes, they almost never offer anything cheaper than their competitors. We believe in you, American!. There’s also a pretty decent chance that they don’t have a sale at all. In that case, shame on them. But also, they should still have some pretty good rates across the board, even if those far-flung corners remain just out of reach. Spirit Honestly, we don't think you'll have any mega discounts to look forward to this year. Spirit may have an announced sale, and we’ll be happily surprised if they do, but it's more likely that they'll just push their membership program again instead of those cheap flights we all want. If they do surprise, expect those $20 one-way domestic cross-country fares, with a few up to $40 thrown in there. If they don’t, the naughty list is just getting longer and longer. Especially if they keep the Caribbean and Latin America locked away! Delta Seeing as Delta is new to the Black Friday game, it’s a bit harder to make any kind of solid prediction. But, if you’re gonna twist our arm, we’re expecting more like last year, with drops all across their domestic network and to those laid-back Caribbean beaches for around $90-$370 RT. They also aren’t really a fan of announced sales. They usually shy away to make their product seem a bit more premium. So, don’t be surprised if they take another break from Black Friday in 2023. They do often drop their prices outside of sales, though. So even if they don't advertise huge sales, they still might be the cheapest way to get you to those far-flung corners of the world. Stay tuned for more predictions from the flight deck next week! |
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Around The States In 50 Editions
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This Week, We're In Texas! |
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Texas doesn’t do anything by halves. Landmass? Oh yeah, bigger than any country in Europe. Most populous cities in the US? It’s got 3 of the top 10. Largest State Capitol building in the US? Check—you’ll find that in Austin. And since it’s so big, we’re gonna go ahead and split it in two with an invisible line from the NW to the SE. To kick things off with a shalala-lala-lalala, we’ll take the road to Amarillo. With a claim to fame like being the self-proclaimed “Helium Capital of the World,” you might not expect much excitement from Amarillo. But with the helium came eccentric millionaires and their wild ideas, like The Cadillac Ranch, an art installation of ten graffiti-clad Cadillacs half-buried in a dusty field. It’s interactive, too, since visitors are encouraged to leave their mark on the cars.  As one of the few spots in Texas to land on Historic Route 66, there are a few more quirky roadside attractions in the area, including Texas’ very own Leaning Tower, and a bloomin’ giant cowboy. We’d sooner take a small detour, though, and head to the “Grand Canyon of Texas” in Palo Duro Canyon. On the road southwest towards Dallas, make a pit stop in Wichita Falls. Known for historical bank robberies and all the makings of a true-crime series, everything’s kept a lot more wholesome these days with the World’s Littlest Skyscraper and mouthwatering waffle sandwiches. Dallas itself is home to everything you could want from Texas— sumptuous BBQ, rodeos, a library dedicated to George W. Bush. Stretch your legs after the drive at the Dallas Arboretum before easing into the city in the tech-forward Discovery District. Alternatively, skip straight to the city’s most important site, the Sixth Floor Museum, all about the legacy and assassination of JFK. Make sure to save time for nearby Fort Worth as well, where the cowboy spirit is alive and well with the twice-daily longhorn cattle drive in the old Stockyards. There’s no denying that it’s all a bit like a theme park, but if you lean into it, you might just feel like you’ve been transported back to the Wild West. No doubt you’ll need to unwind after all the lassoing and comedy gun fights, so your next stop has to be the meditation pool at Fort Worth Water Gardens. More architectural feat and less water park, the gardens were designed to revitalize an area formerly known as “Hell’s Half-Acre” for all its brothels and saloons.  And now for our final stop in the state’s far south-east: Houston. The number one out-of-this-world experience (ahem) can be found at the Space Center. With behind-the-scenes tours of astronaut training facilities and Mission Control, as well as a genuine SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket exhibit, it’s the closest most of us will ever get to outer space. But a kid can dream! The city holds a few quirky surprises too, like the former public waterworks that give off eerie industrial cathedral vibes, or the city’s answer to Barcelona’s mosaic-clad Park Güell. And to top it all off, you can even grab a Tex-Mex staple in the place it all started with a beef fajita from Ninfa’s. Deeee-lish! |
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Travel News
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Pick Of The Clicks |
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All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
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