Looking Forward to the New Year: 2019 Travel Plans
- Sophie Uden
- Jan 1, 2019
- 5 min read
Maybe other travel addicts will be unfazed to learn that I have already booked most of my 2019 travel plans! My low key aim to is visit 3 new countries a year, not just for the number but more as a tool to encourage me to take as many trips (and see as much of the world) as possible… not that I need much encouragement! I already have trips to 3 new countries planned so read on for all of the details (so far!) on where I will be spending my 2019 time abroad.
*Except for a couple, since I’ve not actually gone on any of these trips yet, photos are not my own!
Skiing in the French Alps
I won’t write too much about this one since you’ll be hearing lots more about it in a blog post before long! Very soon, in the second week of January, my boyfriend and I are joining my family (Mum, Dad, brothers and their plus ones) in Val Thorens for a week of skiing and good times! Val Thorens is a resort I’ve visited many times growing up so it will be good to revisit as an adult and this time take some good mountain pics hopefully.
Macedonia
Macedonia’s Lake Ohrid has been on my list of places in Europe I still needed to get myself to! I was keeping my eye out for good flight deals and checked Wizz Air’s website on Black Friday to find discounts across all flights! Wizz Air are one of the few airlines that fly directly to Ohrid so even though they seem very budget with pretty stingy baggage allowances, I’m willing to give them a go! I booked a long weekend (Saturday to Tuesday) for May straight away.
The second win was finding the Airbnb… I was looking for somewhere where we could view the lake outside (like a balcony or terrace) for a reasonable price. I found somewhere simple but that fit the brief for £20 a night!
After a bit of research on the rest of this small country, I think we will focus on relaxing in the Ohrid area instead of trying to visit too much or go too far. The one thing that I think would be nice to do is some hiking in the nearby Galichica National Park. However, since we won’t be renting a car I’m not sure how feasible this is. Definitely the priority will be relaxing, for a change! I am hoping that the May waters will be warm enough to perhaps have a little dip, but if not I don’t think I’ll be braving it. Other than that I’m just looking forward to having a relaxing long weekend and exploring the small area.
Flights: £76 return per person Accommodation: £20 a night Total per person: £108
Slovenia
When our last trip of 2018, to Mykonos, was approaching I started to get that panicked feeling that I was facing the possibility of coming back to the UK with nothing planned! I sprang into action at the end of the summer and researched a draft trip to both Slovenia and Montenegro (both high on my Europe list) and put them both to my boyfriend! Slovenia was the choice so I had full permission to get planning on booking.
Again, I’m always looking for reasonable prices on flights/accommodation and so I set myself a tough budget, for the 9 day trip I was aiming for around £300-£350 per person. This said, as soon as EasyJet released their first wave of spring/summer flights, I was on the prowl for good deals. The best option I found was in June, flying on a Friday and back just over a week later on a Sunday.
My outline for the trip is splitting our time into 3 sections – Ljubljana, Piran and Triglav National Park. This covers the city life, the coast and then mountains and lakes! To get us around we will be renting a car which I also got at a good price. So the challenge was then just finding accommodation which met the requirements for having a successful trip but also within budget.
The first place we will be staying is probably the place I’m most excited for – Mount Triglav National Park. I knew that I wanted to stay at Lake Bohinj, and it was important for me to be within walking distance of the lake so that we could go for evening walks or get up easily for sunrise (that sort of thing!). We’re staying in a guesthouse on the south east corner of the lake, around a 5 minute walk away. All of our accommodation was booked on Airbnb and we’re staying here for 4 nights. During our time in the area I’d like to visit Lake Bled (obviously!), Vintgar Gorge, Soca River among other points of interests and walking areas. It’s all about soaking up that country air.
Pictured: Our Airbnb at Lake Bohinj, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, Soca River
From here we’ll head to Piran, which is on the small stretch of Mediterranean coastline that Slovenia has. We’re staying just outside the town centre (which is vehicle restricted) for 2 nights. Piran is the most well-known town on the coast so it will be good to be so close but we’ll also want to visit some other points along the coast such as Strunjan Cliffs.
For our final part of the trip, we’ll spend 3 nights in the capital city Ljubljana. On the way back to the city I’d like to stop at Predjama Castle/Posojna Caves. If we have time it would also be good to visit the small town of Ptuj. Other than that, we will just spend our time exploring the capital and soaking up those European continental vibes
Flights: £65 return per person Accommodation: average £38 a night Car rental: £116 Total per person: £325
Luxembourg
Back in 2016, my boyfriend and I drove to France for a couple of nights away for our 2nd anniversary. We both really enjoyed the driving aspect and how easy it was to hop over on the ferry so I thought it would be a good opportunity to repeat something similar. Next summer it will be our 5th anniversary and although we won’t make a trip across our anniversary this time, I do plan to visit later in the summer, across the August bank holiday weekend.
This time instead of visiting the north of France, we will tick off my third new country of the year (holla), Luxembourg! For such a small country it actually looks like there’s a lot to offer. There’s the Moselle Valley, the small town of Echternach and of course Luxembourg City.
For accommodation I have heard that Luxembourg can be pretty pricey so since we will have our car I thought we could combine our driving trip with a camping one. After some minimal research so far, it looks like there should be plenty of camping options and I’ll probably look to book somewhere nearer the time.
Ferry: £98 return Accommodation: Camping max. £20 a night Total per person: £100
And who knows what else 2019 will have in store for me! Where are you heading in 2019? Are you as early to book as I am?! Let me know in the comments below.
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