Adventure travel suggestions in early April
February 24, 2019 7:21 PM Subscribe
My girlfriend and I are looking to make some semi-last minute vacation plans for around the beginning of April. We're hoping to get some help from the Hivemind!
Travel situation: both US citizens, live in Chicago. We'd like to go someplace warm. We have just over a week (Friday evening to Monday morning).
In terms of desired activities, we're much more on the "climb all the mountains" than the "lounge on the beach" side of the spectrum. Our last vacation was a week of hut-to-hut hiking in the mountains of Peru. We're interested in going somewhat off the beaten path, but we don't want to use up multiple vacation days just with traveling. In terms of budget, ideally it would be about $1,500-2,500 per person for the week, everything included (and could stretch a little higher for the right reasons).
Our main difficulty currently is the desire to go someplace warm (damn you, Chicago winter!) around early April. We don't mind staying in the US, but do like traveling abroad. Central and South America seem like they might be good targets, but we're really open to suggestions. Please be specific with suggestions if you have them. Thanks so much!
Travel situation: both US citizens, live in Chicago. We'd like to go someplace warm. We have just over a week (Friday evening to Monday morning).
In terms of desired activities, we're much more on the "climb all the mountains" than the "lounge on the beach" side of the spectrum. Our last vacation was a week of hut-to-hut hiking in the mountains of Peru. We're interested in going somewhat off the beaten path, but we don't want to use up multiple vacation days just with traveling. In terms of budget, ideally it would be about $1,500-2,500 per person for the week, everything included (and could stretch a little higher for the right reasons).
Our main difficulty currently is the desire to go someplace warm (damn you, Chicago winter!) around early April. We don't mind staying in the US, but do like traveling abroad. Central and South America seem like they might be good targets, but we're really open to suggestions. Please be specific with suggestions if you have them. Thanks so much!
Costa Rica was pretty nice around that time of year. I didn't organize my own visit to the country but there is lots of "climb all the mountains" type stuff: white water rafting, surfing, snorkling, bike trails, etc.. There's this real nice "eco tourism" place in the rainforest with ziplines and stuff... or at least there was when I was there. I can't recall the name but I think it was on the Paquare (sp?) river.
posted by some loser at 7:57 PM on February 24, 2019
posted by some loser at 7:57 PM on February 24, 2019
Consider northern Colombia - look up ciudad perdida hike. Also Cartagena is lovely, parque nacional tayrona, and a lot else. Quick flight and Bogota and Medellin are worth a trip as well with the latter having some decent hiking too.
posted by slide at 8:16 PM on February 24, 2019
posted by slide at 8:16 PM on February 24, 2019
April in Sicily is fabulous, if that's not too far for a flight.
posted by frumiousb at 8:40 PM on February 24, 2019
posted by frumiousb at 8:40 PM on February 24, 2019
I'm in Sri Lanka right now. It is very easy to get around. Its small, with only 21million on the island. You could skip Colombo and get a bus to Kandy (think Hill country/cultural spots) on the day you arrive. Maybe Kandy, Ella (I'm going to the less touristy Haputale but I hear Ella is good), Badulla, even Anuradhapura. It would be easy to have a beach day in the South or Negombo near the airport at the start or end. It is pretty calm here and a good introduction to Asia if you haven't been. For me, I'm not into it so much. Tons of natural beauty and kind people, though. I think the above suggestion of Colombia is good, but SA can be expensive to fly to. Sri Lanka will take a lot of time so it won't be a good idea if you get jet lag. You could easily eat well and stay in good places for under $50/day total. I'm eating and sleeping for $10-$15/day . Transport is cheap and alcohol, tours or entry fees will be more of course.
I see some China Eastern flights for $759 and likely much more comfortable Emirates flights for $1024. I can email you a PDF of the 2018 Lonely Planet Sri Lanka guidebook.
posted by maya at 10:36 PM on February 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
I see some China Eastern flights for $759 and likely much more comfortable Emirates flights for $1024. I can email you a PDF of the 2018 Lonely Planet Sri Lanka guidebook.
posted by maya at 10:36 PM on February 24, 2019 [1 favorite]
What about El Hierro and Tenerife in the Canary Islands? Parts are very resorty and overtouristed - Tenerife especially - but it's very easy to get off the beaten path, especially on the islands that don't have direct flights from mainland Europe.
The islands are about as far south as Orlando, so they'll be warm in April when the rest of Europe might still be quite cool, and the easy links between the two islands give you a few different options for hiking. Here's a recent story from the Guardian on El Hierro and here's one on the more rugged northern part of Tenerife.
posted by mdonley at 11:52 PM on February 24, 2019
The islands are about as far south as Orlando, so they'll be warm in April when the rest of Europe might still be quite cool, and the easy links between the two islands give you a few different options for hiking. Here's a recent story from the Guardian on El Hierro and here's one on the more rugged northern part of Tenerife.
posted by mdonley at 11:52 PM on February 24, 2019
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posted by notsnot at 7:53 PM on February 24, 2019