Branching Out from Europe

I've worked out a very rough itinerary that has us visiting the Cusco/Machu Picchu region of Peru, spending time in the Amazon rainforest, and taking a cruise to the Galapagos islands.

I assume you are aware of the current civil unrest in Peru, following the attempted coup by the president? I just visited Peru for a 3 week trip back in August and found the country fascinating, but until the current crisis is resolved I probably would not venture there.

Have you considered Japan? It's in the top 3 countries for me that I have visited.

I would postpone any plans to go to Peru for quite some time. There is serious political unrest there with stories of tourists trapped at Machu Picchu because of trains stoppages.

Thank you all for your advice!

Carlos and Bob - Yes, I've been keeping up with the current issues in Peru. This trip would be for the summer of 2024, so I was hoping that things may be better by then; however, after doing more research I saw that the new president has suggested moving the elections to April of 2024 (instead of the regularly scheduled 2026 date), so it may be best not to have a trip planned immediately following the elections in case things don't go well. With that, I think we will postpone this trip until after the next election and hope that things will get better in the future.

Carlos - Japan hasn't been in our top 10, but I would definitely like to go there someday. What area(s) did you like best?

Hi Jennifer, back in March 2018 I visited Tokyo (3 nights), Kyoto (4 nights), and Osaka (3 nights). I had a special interest in the Sengoku Jidai (Waring States period). I took only two group day tours for the "highlights of Kyoto" and "Himeji castle", mainly for the transportation. The rest of the sights I was able to do on my own with little difficulty, I'm pretty adventurous though and love getting out of my comfort zone.

I found Japan to be easier to navigate then I originally expected, even If I did not know much of the language (just basics). It was a breeze to get around using the bullet train to travel between cities. Once you get out of Tokyo things are generally much less expensive. My favorite city was Kyoto followed by Osaka, last place was Tokyo, but all three were fun to visit.

In the end, It was a great trip, everything went smoothly and the Japanese people were warm and friendly. Definitely brush up on some basic Japanese polite words and cultural norms/customs, you'll be bowing a lot haha

In Tokyo I liked:
Sensō-ji Buddhist temple
Kabuki performance at Kabuki-za theater in Tokyo's Ginza district
Samurai sword exhibition at the Tokyo National Museum
Egg salad sandwiches at Lawson Markets
Ekiben bento lunch on the Shinkansen bullet train to Kyoto

In Kyoto (my favorite of the three citites) I liked:
Tōfuku-ji Temple, great for Autumn and Spring leaves/colours
Rengeoin Sanjusangendo, home to 1001 Buddha statues
Nishiki Market
Kyoto Marui Market, incredible luxury food market at the bottom floor
Nara, the old capital of Japan before Kyoto
Kyoto International Manga Museum

In Osaka:
Osaka Castle
Dōtonbori
Himeji Castle
Conveyor Belt Sushi at Osaka Station
Toro Tuna Tasting

Hope this all helps helps! :)

We like Europe but find Asia much more interesting and exciting. Japan is one of our top favorites and I can’t wait to return! Good is an important part of travel for us and we love Asian food! We also have enjoyed visiting Southeast Asia and have taken several trips to China before it’s recent shutdowns.
We have only been in Argentina and Chile in South America. Our doctor told us not to visit Peru due to high altitude and our lung issues. Like the US, these countries are filled with centuries of immigrant history. Both countries were interesting but did not wow like our other foreign travels.
We would love to visit more of Africa as we only have visited Morocco and Egypt.
I encourage you to try other continents and cultures and to enjoy a totally different worldview.

My trip to Argentina was one of the best (if not THE best) trips I ever took in my lifetime but the planning process was painful - it's a huge country and I didn't have as many resources to plan out long drives in the northwest (it was hard to even estimate how long the drives would take and not all the roads were paved). Plus, there was the language barrier although I know a little Spanish. I think you may feel less excitement because this forum (and many people) are very Eurocentric so you don't get as much energy and excitement from them for other places and that, in turn, can make you feel like you're somehow selecting a less exciting destination. But I can assure you that the rest of the world is just as interesting. There is nowewhere in the world like the Amazon.

Hi Jennifer,
I am assuming that you are fairly young and physically fit. If so, my suggestion is to do the hard trips now that require physical stamina and energy. As you get older, your choices will narrow. Have you considered Patagonia? I have not been but it looks gorgeous especially Torres del Paine. How about the Galapagos?

We have made several trips to the following places outside of Europe/

1) Australia and NZ. We did Australia twice and the North Island of NZ once. Australia is large country and you need a lot of days to do it properly. Two weeks in Australia is tight unless you skip going to Perth. The key places are Sydney, Melbourne and Cairns (Great Barrier Reef).

Suggest spending 4-5 days in Sydney, 4-5 days in Melbourne(including two day trip to the Great Ocean Highway and Philip Island to see the Penguins come in). Also, see Cairns and the Great Barrier Reef.
NZ you need at least 7-9 days just for the North Island.

The flights to down under are brutal. We flew to LAX on a five hour flight, then a 14 hour flight to Sydney, the 5 more hours to Perth.

2) South America. It is cheaper to visit this continent and flights are not expensive. Peru, Argentina and Chile are our favorite countries (haven't been to Brazil). We did a great cruise from Buenos Aires to Chile, Around the Horn that is fantastic. Still Peru with Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu is amazing. Also, Lima is worth 2-3 days. Check out Peruagency.com for tours. We had a private tour for four days for Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu, everything included but a couple of meals for $799 pp in 2019. Guides were university educated and great. Machu Picchu is a must see.

3) Africa. Egypt is a must do, with a Nile Cruise. Also, we did a wonderful safari with Good Earth Tours in Kenya and Tanzania. Stayed in top hotels and lodges for 9 days our private safari for four was about $4500 pp. Air fare from the USA was a bit expensive, but the safari was SPECIAL.

4) East Asia, we loved Japan, the people there are friendly and helpful and super. Also, loved the sights, don't miss Nara and Kyoto as well as several other places, of course Tokyo. China was great, we did a tour in 2012, not sure it would be great right now.

5) Israel is amazing with all the history, highly recommended. Istanbul is another great city to visit for 4-5 days.

6) Cruises, we have done 21 ocean cruises since 2010 and love it. Do an Alaska cruise from Vancouver to Alaska that goes to Glacier Bay and your ship will be a football field from a glacier where you can watch ice fall off the glacier. Also, do a cruise of Norway up to the North Cape.

Rather than focusing on three completely different areas that are not even close together, consider a smaller area; maybe only one of the three. We made our Peru trip with a tour only because I didn’t feel like arranging all the different transportation changes. I felt it was easier to let somebody else deal with it if a flight, bus, or train was cancelled. With S. America there will be some culture shock since it is not like travel in Europe.

We’ve enjoyed our trips to S. America, but with all the political issues taking place in most of the countries on the continent, I wouldn’t even consider visiting there for a while. Using Peru as an example, tourists were recently stranded at Machu Picchu due to a government shut down of the railroads, so they need to be airlifted out. It’s up to you since it’s your trip, but remain cognizant of the current situation as your planning proceeds.

We travel to hike, whether in Europe or elsewhere. We did a wonderful 3-week independent trip to Australia and New Zealand, but for Japan and South America ( Patagonia) we opted for a guided hiking trip with an adventure travel company, MT Sobek. Both trips had fewer than ten guests, and offered excellent accommodations, great food, and cultural experiences as well as spectacular hiking. We added 4 days in Kyoto on our own, and found that very easy to manage. I am just mentioning this as an option, if you are not enjoying the planning process.

It appears you will postpone visiting Peru, which is wise. But you could still go to Ecuador and the Galápagos Islands. Those are best done with a reputable tour group, and while companies like National Geographic/Linblad, MT Sobek, Wilderness Travel, Smithsonian, etc. charge $7,000-$10,000 for a Galápagos cruise (WWF offers one at $5000), I found this with a UK company for £2950. They fly to the islands and stay on land, rather than cruising there. It includes some days in Ecuador in the cloud forest.

https://www.hfholidays.co.uk/holidays-and-tours/ecuador?format=pdf&vid=333

HF Holidays is a member-owned cooperative that focuses on active walking holidays in the UK, and also offers active guided tours all over the world. One need not be a member to participate in their trips. We have done several with them in the UK, and have really enjoyed our experiences. We might use them for a walking trip in Portugal in the future, and I would certainly consider them for the Galápagos if we wanted to go there.

I’m not sure what problems are affecting the countries in SA that would cause folks to write off the entire continent. I for one am looking to explore new places and also avoid Europe. I’ve currently got two trips booked to SA for 2023 - parts of Colombia next thanksgiving and a longer trip to Bolivia and Paraguay inJuly with a short detour to see Iguazu falls from both the Brazilian and Argentine sides.

To the OP, do your research and don’t be put off by your news stories you hear today. Lots will change by the time your travel comes around

I don’t see where people advised skipping all of South America; just Peru. There is more going on there than a few tourists being stuck at Machu Picchu. The government has declared a state of emergency and there are disruptive demonstrations.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/14/peru-state-emergency-pedro-castillo-protests

Yesterday the US Embassy issued an alert warning of such demonstrations, updating a Level 3 warning issued earlier in December. Parts of the country are at Level 4, ‘Do Not Travel” (open the alert at the top of this page:

https://pe.usembassy.gov/demonstration-alert-u-s-embassy-lima-peru-december-30-2022/

But I would not hesitate to visit Argentina, Chile, Colombia, or Ecuador.

Hopefully things will be better in Peru by 2024. We had an amazing holiday there.

I covered the Galapagos as part of an Ecuador trip. For the Galapagos, choice of boat and duration is key - the smaller boats take longer to get from A to B (they sail overnight) but once there, you get more time on the islands as you don’t have to wait an hour or more for everyone to get on and off the boat. We did a longer 10 day cruise as we reckoned we would only do it once, so see as many islands as possible.

I was contemplating Japan this time next year, but there seems to be so much pent up demand for it that we are going to postpone heading there. I have looked at Argentina, but travel logistics aren’t ideal and dealing with the blue dollar exchange seems challenging.

It’s difficult to get excited about trips 2 years away and with all the upheaval and cancellations of the past 3 years, planning with any certainty is a challenge.

Iceland/Greenland/Faroe Islands, Ireland/Scotland, Netherlands/Belgium, Croatia/Slovenia? You can do a lot of "branching" without leaving Europe cause you only scratched the most heavily touristed part and still have the other two thirds. Having said that I loved Egypt, Israel and South Africa.

If you are able to visit Peru, Machu Picchu, Cusco and the Amazon, all are great places to visit. I’ve done it as well as the Galapagos. We consider our visits to each as one of our best vacations. We’ve been to Europe, Asia, and Africa many times, and enjoyed those trips as well. We also needed a change from Europe and chose to head to Peru/ Ecuador and the Galapagos.
We weren’t disappointed.

We did a great 7 day cruise of the Northern route of the Galapagos Islands in May with Celebrity Cruise lines (also three days in Quito).

It was great, but expensive.

Hi, I'm trying to find out the current level of safety for tourists in Israel. Yes, I read the state department's information but it was from October 2022 and I want more current information. I want to hear "on the ground" information.

In my opinion, you are safer in Israel than in most of the large cities in the USA.

One footnote, avoid going to the west bank, except perhaps to see Bethlehem.

Mister E makes a good point, perhaps planning to visit some of the lesser known places of Europe will be more rewarding?

Nothing can quite describe the feeling of hiking in the rugged Carpathian Mountains where European bears, forest bison, and wolves still roam wild, having your own private Fjord as a backdrop while you picnic in rural Norway, or being the only tourist exploring the vast ruins of the ancient Roman city of Segobriga on the La Mancha plateau.

This brings up a broader question as to whether it is better to visit lesser known sites in Europe v/s bigger/better known sites in the rest of the world. Places that come to mind include Petra, Iguacu Falls, Christ the Redemptor, Macchu Pichu and the Inca ruins in Peru (once the current unrest dies down) + umpteen other sites in the rest of the world. I know for a good number of folks on this forum it will be Europe or bust.

Jennifer, I just stumbled upon your post and it really resonated with me about your lack of excitement planning the South American trip. A few weeks before the Machu Picchu issue with tourists being stranded, we had to cancel our trip to South America due to a medical issue (not super serious, but made travel too hard at that time, now all is well) my husband experienced. While planning this trip (Cusco, Machu Picchu, Santiago, and Buenos Aires), I, too, was not super excited as I usually am. I usually begin research about a year out and begin narrowing down options-----it is usually so enjoyable. The trip was higher up on my husband's list than mine---so that might have been part of it. The other part was simply the difficulty in transiting---unlike Europe where we can just take a train everywhere, the flights were not always at good times, etc. So I know how you felt. I have no doubt South America is wonderful and when we start planning again, will probably focus on Patagonia & B.A., maybe the Amazon. I also read plenty of women's reviews who were concerned about Peru's overall lack of public toilets. Sorry to be crass, but that is a concern to me, it's stressful to me to try to find a toilet. I'm not concerned about it being fancy, I've gone in a hole in the floor at a train station in Italy, and many times in the Middle East, but I just want to be able to find one without feeling panicked and maybe holding other people up on any type of tour.
I do highly recommend Israel---when we first visited a few years ago, we assumed it would be a one and done, checking it off our list. It was so fascinating that we returned 2 years later and included Jordan (Petra) and places in the West Bank that another poster had warned against. I never felt worried about my safety, so many people don't get to see the Ibrahimi Mosque and the tomb of the Patriarchs, or Jacob's Well in Nablus---which is also known for their fabulous knaffeh dessert! We also stayed over night with a Palestinian Christian family, so eye-opening.
Besides a 6 week trip to wrap up places we haven't seen in Central Europe (and the lavender fields), we're going to Tahiti and now planning a Good Earth tour to Africa.
If the planning isn't exciting---to me, that's an indication that maybe you should just shelve South America until you've hit some other countries that make you more excited. I breathed a sigh of relief honestly, when we had to cancel our trip and my husband was much, much more upset than I was! Start planning another trip somewhere else and see if you get that feeling back!

Wow! Thank you all so much for the advice, suggestions, and reassurance. I've loved reading through each of the replies. My travel bucket list keeps growing :) Thanks again!

Carlos, I like your term "lesser known" as opposed to less interesting or secondary. I can go to Western Europe any time I want (and have); but Eastern Europe is so much more interesting and so much more generally enjoyable.

If the OP is interested I can provide my list of "I want to go back". Beats the hell out of Latin America (where I have also traveled a little).

I don't know whether there is a lot to add to the many comments above, except maybe these:
Whether it's "normal" to feel unexcited about planning a South America trip is a question only social research can answer, but my guess would be "no." I, for one, enjoy planning my Latin America trips almost as much as I do actually going there.
And while I suppose there are tourists who keep comparing their non-European destinations to what they've seen in Europe, for me it's always been the other way around -- I keep comparing what I see in Europe to my Latin America experiences, and finding Europe lacking. I can't go into detail in a short forum reply; I'll just say I find Latin America more authentic: there is an abundance of rewarding destinations still well off the tourist paths, where I can feel more like a real traveller, rather than like another one of the daily thousand tourist-consumers (as in so many European destinations).

Repeatedly on his television shows, the sponsor of this forum has shown European destinations with thick crowds and long queues, for which he advises you to buy tickets well in advance. There may be some places like that in Latin America as well, but they're not the norm; and in that part of the world I've treasured the many instances on which I have traipsed right up to the ticket window at a great ancient or historic site, bought my ticket, and walked right in, finding myself one of only a few visitors, and on some memorable occasions, the only one.

Not to discount Europe at all, but traveling to Asia opened our eyes and is our new favorite travel destination. SE Asia, China( 3 trips in the past but can’t visit there now), and Japan, our new favorite.