Another trip booked

One of our goals while we are in Germany is to see as much of Europe as we can in two+ years. Since I am not able to work one of my jobs is to search for the best vacation deals to our top 16 locations. We came up with a list of some of our favorites to make sure that we do not leave all of our traveling until the end our time in Europe.

Our List:
1. Barcelona, Spain
2. Turkish Riviera
3. Madrid, Spain
4. Rome, Italy
5. Vienna, Austria
6. London, England
7. Ireland
8. Scotland
9. Prague (check)
10. Canary Islands
11. Lisbon, Portugal
12. Berlin, Germany (check)
13. Paris, France
14. Switzerland (check)
15. Amsterdam
16. Denmark

When I am not cleaning, working on German and my graduate classes or running errands, I love searching for deals and take this task very seriously. :)

After a lot of thought we decided to plan a trip to the Canary Islands. We came to this decision for a couple of reasons. The first was that we all wanted to go somewhere warm in late November. We have been told by several Germans that November is very cold, very gloomy, and the perfect time to travel......away from Germany. Another reason for choosing the Canary Islands is because it is very inexpensive right now. Since most Germans travel in August and September many of the all inclusive resorts drop their rates during the months of November and December. All of this led to our decision to cross off the Canary Islands from our list this November and enjoy the 75-80 degree temperature.

On Friday, Barb and I (my fellow bargain seeking expat) took the train down to the Nuremberg airport to hunt for deals. We have been told that the airport offers the best last minute (traveling within 45 days) packages. We walked from booth to booth asking about deals for travel to the Canary Islands. We finally reached one booth that looked promising and starting asking questions. We had done a lot of research via Trip Advisor concerning the various hotels and resorts on the islands. We had also decided that we wanted to stay on the island of Gran Canaria. Being able tell the travel agent exaclty what we were looking for really sped up the process. After searching for awhile the agent came back with a price that was about 100 euro less than the cheapest package that we had come across. This package included airfare and 7 days at a nice 4 star resort. We quickly jumped on the phone with our husbands and another couple that was also planning on joining us for the trip, and booked it.

We will be traveling to the islands at the end of November and will be returning on the first day of the German Christmas market season.

Can't wait!