Trip Suggestions - Decent Budget - Want Nightlife

[mattyk]

Hey Guys,

Trying to brainstorm an 8-12 day trip. Three American men aged 25-30. I recently started a business and have had the good fortune to put enough expenses on the credit cards that we can all fly round trip just bout anywhere in the world for free. We are looking to Travel either this upcoming August or September (leaning towards September as everyone in Europe goes on Holiday in August and I assume things could be hectic)

We did Budapest, Vienna and Prague last May in 13 days and had an absolute blast. Pics - www.flickr.com/photos/kull/collections/72157600256353917/

All cities were great, Budapest was our favorite though. The night life and clubs at Dokk on the island in the danube were phenomenal.

That being said, we are mainly looking to unwind and enjoy the nightlife. Day trips and sight seeing are nice, but less of a concern.

We were originally considering Ibiza, but I think with the weak dollar that might be out of our budget. (Willing to spend $1500US on accommodations spending money)

So now we are debating Mykonos and some of the Greek Isles, or possibly heading back to Eastern Europe, possibly Croatia.

Anyone have any good recommendations on putting together an itinerary? Am I correct in assuming we would blow the budget by doing Ibiza? (we are partiers.. we are not into drugs at all but we would probably go out to the clubs hard every night)

Any brainstorming help would be appreciated, let me know if I can provide any further info that would help.

Thanks!

[Eagle]

mattyk, I'm well past the age of "partying", so can't really suggest any spots with good night life. However, I've heard good things about Croatia, so that might be one possibility (I hope to get there perhaps this fall or next spring). Many places in Eastern Europe seem to be opening up for tourism, so even Bosnia or Serbia might be something to check out? You mentioned the Greek Islands, and Crete might be a good choice (have a look at the website www.yhplakias.com for some views.

Hopefully some of our members here can provide a few suggestions for you.

Cheers!

[madamtrashheap]

mattyk, I'll add my two cents to what the boys have written. I agree that Croatia may offer you the beach and nightlife aspects you're looking for and you could also explore Albania and Montenegro as suggested. If you liked central/eastern Europe then Croatia will impress you too.

Greece is an obvious choice and you'd have a great time on Mykonos - you'd end up doing the daily circuit of: wake up late, go for brunch, head to Paradise Beach, lie on beach all day (occasional thought about going skiing/wind surfing), 5pm Paradise turns into a beach bar, catch 2nd last bus (if staying on main side of island; last bus doesn't always operate!), shower and change, go for dinner, go to bar, go to club, walk home munching giros from Jimmy's at dawn, sleep. Repeat each day. Having said that, there are also other things to do (eg day trip to Delos) so you don't have to "relax" the whole time. If you choose Greece, just know that towards the end of September things start to close down on the islands (and Mykonos gets really windy), so going in late August/early Sept would be good. You could go to Crete as Eagle mentioned and also consider islands like Santorini (nightlife good, relaxing better) for 3 days. Here's a recent Post where we've discussed the places you've mentioned: pretravel.proboards1.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=intinary&thread=7444&page=1 so that may help with a little more information.

Ibiza is still well and truly a party island, but the cost of entry to the big clubs is quite high (around Euro50 last I saw) and drinks inside can be around Euro10 (for a vodka/lemon for eg), however if you are willing to spend money on entry an daccommodation to enjoy your holiday then you could do it, despite the weak US$. Just do a little research/calculations on costs involved (fly from Barca to Ibiza, accom., club entry, food) and you'll have a better idea.

[mattyk]

Thanks for the responses all. The budget for daily expenses / accommodations is ~1500US per person, although I suspect that will probably be more like 1500-2500, the 1500 is really just a target.

I will have to use the search here and dig some threads or resources on Montenegro, Albania, and turkey. Anyone have any suggestions/links offhand? It may make sense to do a couple of days in croatia then hop to one or two of the other SE Europe countries. Albania seems interesting to me, what would be the main draws there? The wikitravel article was helpful (http://wikitravel.org/en/Albania) but not very detailed.

So it will probably be between creating an itinerary which involves a few of the countries along the Adriatic (probably 3 at 3-4 days a pop) or doing the Greek Island tour. How expensive will the clubs / drinks be at Mykonos and the other islands? Hopefully a bit cheaper then Ibiza! I think the target date would be the first week of September.

So the options here are two very interesting trips (Croatia followed by some combination of Montenegro, Serbia, Montenegro, Albania, and Turkey) or the Greek Isles. Both sound exciting to me. I think I know what to expect with the greek option, the other option I think would be more adventurous and require a bit more planning and research.

[mattyk]

Also, madamtrashheap I thought I recognized that name. You were a big help with your help last year when we were planning our previous Eastern European trip so just wanted to say Thanks! again.

[madamtrashheap]

Jun 4, 2008 0:37:35 GMT -5 mattyk said:

Also, madamtrashheap I thought I recognized that name. You were a big help with your help last year when we were planning our previous Eastern European trip so just wanted to say Thanks! again.

You're very welcome mattyk! Glad the trip went so well. And thank you for reporting back in your original Post about the Dokk Island clubs - that will be helpful for other travellers (and for when I finally get back in Summer, not Winter!). If you could Post a brief note on your accommodation (where you stayed in each city, what you thought) that will be great too, esp. for Budapest.

Now, to your question about cost of clubs/drinks on Mykonos, thankfully not as expensive as Ibiza, but they aren't super cheap. The beach club at Paradise Beach (when I was last there a few years ago it was called Club Tropicana - go Wham! and the 80s!) is free to attend (it was still going last year) and drinks are around Euro7, but that depends what you're drinking. But when you get into the main part of town, and into the bars and clubs, you're looking at around Euro8-10 a drink (mixed) which isn't cheap, although entrance to Space, for example is around Euro15. Some clubs offer a drink included in the entrance price, and bar tenders use the free pour method for mixed drinks so watch that as you're not necessarily drinking a standard drink measure and they creep up on you. There are some fun bars ("Scandi" or Scandinavian Bars are a perennial fave) and clubs on the island and they offer something for everyone. This site might be helpful www.mykonosbars.com/ Also, remember that Super Paradise Beach is not the same place as Paradise Beach. Super Paradise is the gay-friendly beach and attracts a mixed crowd (gay, straight, nudists) and Paradise is the "regular" beach - although having said that, there used to be an Italian guy who every year would stand in the water up to his knees opposite the entrance to the beach and show off his full body tan, yikes! There are no restrictions for anyone going to any beach, just so you know what's going on where. There are also gay clubs that are straight friendly (Pieros is major!) so like I said, the island has something for everyone!

Costs on the other Greek islands will be similar or cheaper, depending on where you go.