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 Travel & Outdoors | July 2005 
Those Side Trips Can Make or, Break, Your Time Away
 Sam Ion - myKawartha.com
| | The Isla Rio Cuale, reached by the stairs that lead down from either bridge over the river, is a beautiful and peaceful area that is rarely mentioned when speaking of "What to see and do in Puerto Vallarta." |
Most of us spend lots of our after-tax dollars on family holidays and, as such, put in plenty of time before booking the right resort or destination.
However, when we get there, all bets are off.
Excursions beckon and we're often left wondering if we should shell out more money to take one? Well, it all depends.
If your destination is a strange city, a city tour can be a real blessing. It can give you a handle on how the city works and helps you decide what sights you want to spend more time seeing.
Think of your interests and decide whether you want a whole day trip. Maybe you'd be just as far ahead to find your own way there and pick up a guided tour of the castle or cathedral once you've paid your entrance ticket.
Sometimes, with little inconvenience, you can take a bus or find another couple and share a cab, thus seeing the sights and saving big time.
When you've paid for an all-inclusive resort on a good beach, it frankly doesn't make sense to pay for a day trip that's claim to fame is a to-die-for beach. However, popular excursions to nightclubs in Puerto Vallarta are tremendously successful as there's a feeling of safety in a group.
On the Mayan Riviera, most Canadians go on at least one excursion, most often to either Xcaret or Xel-Ha. Both are theme parks where you can do various things and the snorkeling is great.
The Mayan ruins at Tulum and Chichen Itza is another fascinating way to spend time. You can save big time if you take a local bus to either site, pay your own entrance fee and hire a guide.
Two of us took a local bus to Chichen Itza and stayed overnight at a lovely resort right next door. That meant we could enjoy it in the cool of the morning and late afternoon, and catch the sound and light show at night, all for the price of a day ticket.
In the heat of the day, when 100 or so day trip tour buses turned up, we were floating in the pool, admiring the poolside gardens.
We figured it cost about the same amount of money and our enjoyment of climbing the pyramid without the crowds was worth five times what we paid.
If you've dreamed of seeing something of special interest, you should consider staying overnight in a hotel that is close to it.
That way you can savour the experience and avoid crowds.
A close friend took a European coach tour and was terribly disappointed in the Rome portion.
"It was so overrun with tourists; I couldn't enjoy it the way I did when I was there 35 years ago," she said.
Hello! She could have arranged to either start in Rome or go back at the end of the trip to see the sights during quieter times.
Excursions off a cruise ship can double the cost of the cruise. Some are worth it, others are not.
In Barcelona, for example, you can get off the ship and can walk or take a quick cab to everything. But seeing Rome from a ship requires a tour. The best thing to do is to read up before you board the ship.
In the Caribbean, ships usually dock very close to the capital.
In Aruba, for example, it's just a five-minute walk to the major shopping district of downtown Oranjestad. If you're looking for a beach, local buses are reasonable and excellent.
Barbados has many attractions and, again, local buses are excellent. But many passengers have discovered if two couples share a cab and agree to the fare in advance, it's a fun way to see the attractions. You can chat with the driver, who is usually very knowledgeable, leave when you're ready and save money too.
Any holiday in Varadero, Cuba should include a day trip to Havana. You can take a Viazul air-conditioned coach and, armed with a good guidebook, save big money.
In the Dominican Republic, Punta Cana's Outback Jungle Safari tours get rave reviews from everyone that isn't bothered by the rough ride.
It has a taste of adventure and gives you a chance to see some of the rural areas. You can meet, and learn about the life of, the locals.
If fishing, golfing, diving, sailing or some other special interest is your reason for going to a destination, do some research before you book the destination's offerings to make sure they're what you want and that you're going at the right time for what you came for.
A tour guide is another way you can make or break an excursion.
Ask around to see who has been on the tour, and what they thought of both the excursion and the guide.
My husband and I once went on an all-day excursion on Margarita Island and we still talk about our guide. He was just fabulous.
Sam Ion is This Week's regular travel writer. She can be reached at sion10@cogeco.ca |
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