The best winter getaway?

Mrs. Laikom and I are trying to make a decision about where to go for our winter getaway. I’ve read through most posts on vacationing to beaches, islands, warm destinations. It's a difficult choice!

The bottom line for me I’m just want an answer to a simple question. If I could only go to one place before I die.. Is there a warm “foodie” destination that is a “NOT TO BE MISSED” place to visit?

The boards might be biased toward these, but Mexico and Thailand would seem to the the obvious credited responses.

do you have a money/time budget?

no budget, thailand, no question.

if you are looking to keep it in this hemesphere, Buenos ares, Sao Paolo, Cartagena.

BA is most expensive, but a great food expereince
Soa Paulo, not cheap, but fantatic food city
Cartegena, very pretty, warm, beach, old city, pretty good food, food fish and sea food

Thanks guys. I didn't want to include a budget becuase i didn't want this thread to be too mine, rather a place we can share info for the board. Let's just say cheaper is a bonus. Personally at $900 pp, Bangkok may be a bit high, but if we could make that up with cheap hotels and expenses, it may be doable! It's definately sounds worth putting it up there as an option.

thanks again.

At the same time, i think mexico could be awesome. I've been a couple times but it was always limited. I'd like to have a more adventurous trip this time around.

What are your favorite food destinations in mexico? I guess i can probably explore the boards more on that subject, but to have it here too wouldn't be bad i suppose.

Been to PV several times and there is a lot of posts on Vallarta on the board. actually a great one recently, not as touristy and still has a lot of old Mexico charm and great food!
We went to Cancun this year and loved that with the direct flight out of Ohare we could be on the beach by 1:30 in the afternoon. It is not the party destination of old and we found some great little seafood restaurants. From here you can always rent a car for a day or 2 and head to Tulum and Playa Del Carmen and do some exploring on your own!!
Danny

I like Mexico and Mexican is by far my favorite food but when it comes to winter getaways I have a hard time not doing the Caribbean. Part of its the lifestyle and nightlife (I'm 28) and the other part is the food. Specifically Jamaica but I will do up all the islands before its all said and done. More on Negril here.

laikom wrote:Thanks guys. I didn't want to include a budget becuase i didn't want this thread to be too mine, rather a place we can share info for the board. Let's just say cheaper is a bonus. Personally at $900 pp, Bangkok may be a bit high, but if we could make that up with cheap hotels and expenses, it may be doable! It's definately sounds worth putting it up there as an option.

thanks again.

about 12 years ago I went to Thailand on a budget, and had a blast. the island that I went to was pretty much unknown at the time, and now was in the NYT as one of the hot places of 2010.

if you don't mind a little primative living, you can go to thailand, stay on an island in a bungalo on the beach, eat great food, hang out in the warm weather, and not spent more than 50 bucks a day per couple, plus airfare. the bonus is that thailand is clean and safe, even when you are traveling on a budget

We've gone to Jamaica around this time of the year and have enjoyed it. We try to get out and not eat at the resort as much as possible. Love trying the little roadside stands!

I've been to Mexico about five times now and have loved each visit. The quality of the food really varies, though. Cabo is a wonderful place, but not for food. Puerto Vallarta and Baja California both had excellent food (with PV having many upscale options).

Da Beef wrote:I like Mexico and Mexican is by far my favorite food but when it comes to winter getaways I have a hard time not doing the Caribbean. Part of its the lifestyle and nightlife (I'm 28) and the other part is the food. Specifically Jamaica but I will do up all the islands before its all said and done. More on Negril here.

And just for the record I would recommend Negril (west coast) first and foremorst for all single travelers, Its as commercial free as you can get for a popular vacation destination and has vacationers from all walks of life. If your traveling as a couple I would still do Negril first and then either Ochos Rios (North coast) or Port Antonio (The east coast). Dont bother with Montego Bay, its a city and it shows, polution, crime etc...and the beaches arent anything (mostly dirty with lots of rocks) like the 7-mile beach in Negril. As far as food goes, you'll eat well wherever you are on the island.

We stayed at Rose Hall which is about 10 miles out of Montego Bay. Lovely property and very quiet. It's now all inclusive but at the time we went it was not. We could arrange small van tours that would take us to lunch or dinner where ever we wanted or they would suggest even if it was a small jerk shack.

http://www.rosehallresort.com/

Super recommendations! I am not sure why, but I would have never excpected jamaica to be such a great place to vacation and eat. I guess that's the exact reason I made the post!

The second idea i had which may be too crazy, and less relaxing (not sure if the mrs. will go for it) was to go to mexico rent a car in; then pick a beach starting with amazing seafood (PV?), then drive to mexico city stopping in small towns along the way, then fly home from mexico city. Maybe even hire a local guide (craigslist or something) who is knowledgeable about food!

But first i'm going to do some reading up on jamaica since it's been mentioned a few times here.

thanks again guys!

Jamaica is a blast, Grand Cayman is also a good time.

Ive had great winter trips to Key West, FL.(good food, warm weather, still in the U.S.)

If $$ isnt a big issue Hawaii, its paradise, and there is good food to be found.

laikom wrote:At the same time, i think mexico could be awesome. I've been a couple times but it was always limited. I'd like to have a more adventurous trip this time around.

What are your favorite food destinations in mexico? I guess i can probably explore the boards more on that subject, but to have it here too wouldn't be bad i suppose.

Hands down, Oaxaca. I'm not one to travel to the same place twice (too many places to go, not enough time/money to get to them all), but I would gladly return to Oaxaca for the food. I say that even though my favorite restaurant there, El Naranjo, had it's chef/owner Iliana de la Vega leave to become an instructor at The Culinary Institute of America in San Antonio. My understanding is that the restaurant has opened under new ownership, but even if it's terrible now, there are countless eating opportunities in Oaxaca (street food, upscale and everything in between) that make it very much worth checking out.

I should note I am speaking only of the city of Oaxaca. I'm unfamiliar with the rest of the state.

I can't believe this topic has not come up more often as I frequently consider this same issue. A lot will depend on what you want to do - do you prefer big crowds or uncrowded beaches? Natural beauty and immersing yourself in the culture or just sitting by a pool or on the beach? Scuba diving/snorkeling or more land based? And what type of food - Asian, Mexican, American, West Indian, etc.

My usual stops have been the Caribbean and Mexico, and the price is right for both now. My personal preference is the Caribbean for what I believe is a more lush and interesting setting and clear and motionless water. Many locations in the Caribbean have become a little more expensive to fly to as the airlines have limited their leisure routes. On the flip side, this has resulted in a reduced number of visitors and some Caribbean hotels have severely discounted their rates.

In the Caribbean, I've stayed on St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Martin, St. Barths, Aruba, St. Lucia, Barbados (some multiple times, mostly St. Kitts), and they all have a lot to offer food-wise (except Aruba, in my opinion). My favorites for West Indian influenced food are St. Kitts and Barbados (although St. Barths offers some of the very best dining in the world, you'll find little in the way of simple presentation and limited West Indian influences).

For me, St. Kitts wins out in terms of stunning natural beauty and views, absolutely perfect weather, friendly people, lack of crowds, great food and you can get some amazing hotel deals there right now (e.g., I recently saw Ottley's Plantation, an amazing converted sugar plantation, offering rooms at about $200/night).

Here's a link to my trip report for St. Kitts.

Hopefully you'll end up somewhere great and share pictures and stories from your trip.

Not great for dining out, but I love the Florida Keys (Islamorada in particular) for the access to terrific seafood and produce, and plenty of relaxing beachfront accommodations with kitchens and outdoor cooking facilities.

South Florida is a great place to eat. I found this post to help get your mouth a-waterin'

viewtopic.php?f=15&t=24583&hilit=south+florida

If nothing else, Joe's Stone Crab is the greatest restaurant in the USA (yes greatest is not the same thing as best)

I recently went to Key West for a week. While there's little out of the ordinary to recommend food-wise (other than breakfast at Blue Heaven), it was very relaxing and lots of fun.

The florida kays was actually my first choice. I was almost set on it, then i looked at the average temperatures during February and realized maybe what really wanted wasn't to be warm but to be HOT! Hmm..

So with the current long thread about the area of puerto vallarta... I decided since it was the current place being talked about, that all the recommendations would at least be current.

Mariscos El Veneno is actually one of my favorite places to eat in East Uke Village. (Tierra Caliente is my #1 favorite place in the city, so Mariscos doesn't get best in the area, maybe second.. i'd have to think about it.) Anyhow, seeing as how there's a Place by the same name and reportedly the same owners, I'd love the idea of visiting, if nothing else but for the novelty of the idea.

So Bucerias is where we're going to be staying with plans to make day trips to the small towns up in the Sierra, A trip to Tepic and san blas, and who knows what else.

Originally I thought about driving all the way to Mexico City, but decided i didn't have enough time... I strategically planned a huge layover in Distrito Federal (Mexico City). I think it's about a 24 hour layover so we plan to get a hotel room then explore while we're awake before making it back to catch our connecting flight. If you know me you know I get a thrill out of finding a cheap way to do thing, so i'm pretty excited that i get a bonus mexico city trip from my $250 RT ticket! A RT ticket from chiago to mexico city is on it's own is twice that.

I did the same layover thing on my trip to china with a bonus layover in Seoul. Much to my dismay i planned it poorly and it landed on Chusok: The Korean Thanksgiving, and the entire city was pretty much closed down for the holidays. But that's another story and it ended up being a very memorable layover! I do owe it to LTH to get a trip report for my china trip in another thread, but I'm a slow poke and haven't gotten it together yet.

I'll carry on any other conversations about the PV area on the PV thread, as well as mexico city on the mexico city threads.

Thanks again!

I just came back from another wonderful ten day excursion of doing absolutely nothing in Isla Mujeres. The Island is beginning to change as more large resorts seem to spring up every year that I visit (this is my third consecutive winter here). The combination of tourist restaurants and local food give one the opportunity to sample an awful lot of good things, bith traditional and non-traditional.

A run in with a coral reef while snorkeling on this trip also afforded me the knowledge that the island has a very competent doctor too.

St Martin as in French side. Beaches, sun and GREAT food.

rhinopias wrote:St Martin as in French side. Beaches, sun and GREAT food.

I wholeheartedly agree, especially this place. Due to the exchange rate at the time, it was really expensive. But I can still taste that lobster long after I've forgotten the price.

Paul SL wrote:

rhinopias wrote:St Martin as in French side. Beaches, sun and GREAT food.

I wholeheartedly agree, especially this place. Due to the exchange rate at the time, it was really expensive. But I can still taste that lobster long after I've forgotten the price.

And, of course, this place.