Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[Tommy G]

20 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Going to New York in September from Heathrow. Driving down anyone know what the best thing to do is re parking? Book a hotel and parking deal? 

Either, just book both plenty in advance. I've only ever done T5 though.

[jonthefox]

On 26/03/2023 at 18:35, Unabomber said:

Going to New York in September from Heathrow. Driving down anyone know what the best thing to do is re parking? Book a hotel and parking deal? 

Book it through Top cash back. I got nearly £30 back . 

[Glenny24]

Going to Icmeler in Turkey for week at Easter which was booked long before the earthwake and flood.

Reluctant to go and relax knowing the devastation further down the coast, but after my OH was speaking with her Turkish boss, he's said to go as they need the tourism to generate income to help with the rebuild.

[CosbehFox]

After the success of Vienna last week, the OH wants Italy - which is quite simply my favourite place. Difficulty that there is too much to choose from. 

[bovril]

10 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

After the success of Vienna last week, the OH wants Italy - which is quite simply my favourite place. Difficulty that there is too much to choose from. 

My favourite parts:

 

Sicily - just an amazing place. Combination of food, weather, natural beauty and in my opinion the greatest history in Europe.

Abruzzo - very underrated. Good food, stunning landscapes and in my experience some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

Puglia - great coast and really interesting history, a bit more crowded.

Umbria - very beautiful landscapes and historic towns but landlocked. 

Friuli Venezia Giulia - I love Trieste, and the interior of the region is really beautiful and an interesting mix of Italian, Germanic and Slavic.

[CosbehFox]

4 minutes ago, bovril said:

My favourite parts:

 

Sicily - just an amazing place. Combination of food, weather, natural beauty and in my opinion the greatest history in Europe.

Abruzzo - very underrated. Good food, stunning landscapes and in my experience some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

Puglia - great coast and really interesting history, a bit more crowded.

Umbria - very beautiful landscapes and historic towns but landlocked. 

Friuli Venezia Giulia - I love Trieste, and the interior of the region is really beautiful and an interesting mix of Italian, Germanic and Slavic.

These are the two areas which really stand-out at the moment. History of Umbria is incredible. 

[bovril]

5 minutes ago, CosbehFox said:

These are the two areas which really stand-out at the moment. History of Umbria is incredible. 

The art and architecture there is incredible and never as busy as Tuscany. I remember having the Baglioni chapel to myself for an hour accompanied only by a slightly autistic guide who kept asking me about Teresa May. Even Perugia as the biggest town is never that crowded, and it has one of the best galleries I've ever been too. The Valnerina is a really beautiful part too.

 

If you're not bothered by beaches I'd always recommend Umbria.

 

Puglia is great especially if you're into medieval history. Barletta is a lovely town. And the weather and beaches are superb obviously. 

Edited 28 March 2023 by bovril

[RowlattsFox]

How does anyone afford to take their kids on holiday during the summer holidays, or any other holidays. Prices for a week are scandalous. Begrudge paying over 2k for your average at best hotels. I do have a caravan holiday booked, which they will love, but I would love to take my 2 young boys (1 of which is in year 1) abroad on holiday but it's impossible. Looked at short city breaks too but flights once you start adding kids are ridiculous. 

 

I don't want to take them out of school, but I see no other option if I want to take them abroad. 

[Jattdogg]

Not staying over night in manchester. Bloody £1 visitor tax!  Lol

[slymunn]

28 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

How does anyone afford to take their kids on holiday during the summer holidays, or any other holidays. Prices for a week are scandalous. Begrudge paying over 2k for your average at best hotels. I do have a caravan holiday booked, which they will love, but I would love to take my 2 young boys (1 of which is in year 1) abroad on holiday but it's impossible. Looked at short city breaks too but flights once you start adding kids are ridiculous. 

 

I don't want to take them out of school, but I see no other option if I want to take them abroad. 

If you can avoid the typical summer holiday destinations that helps alot.

 

Airline companies will put the prices up for a typical 'brits abroad' holiday destination against somewhere they wouldn't really consider one as such.

 

Some great places about away from those destinations that might be worth looking into. Try cities that have beaches near to combine both types of holidays or looking away from the normal summer holiday areas. 

[Wortho]

I'm off to Benidorm in May with the other half!!

[RowlattsFox]

8 minutes ago, slymunn said:

If you can avoid the typical summer holiday destinations that helps alot.

 

Airline companies will put the prices up for a typical 'brits abroad' holiday destination against somewhere they wouldn't really consider one as such.

 

Some great places about away from those destinations that might be worth looking into. Try cities that have beaches near to combine both types of holidays or looking away from the normal summer holiday areas. 

Yeah definitely have to think more outside of the box. Booking flights separately is a hassle when you have to start adding luggage and all that, goes from being reasonable to ridiculous. 

 

If i'm going to be paying a fortune I'd rather go less often and make sure its somewhere nice. 

[FoxesDeb]

36 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

How does anyone afford to take their kids on holiday during the summer holidays, or any other holidays. Prices for a week are scandalous. Begrudge paying over 2k for your average at best hotels. I do have a caravan holiday booked, which they will love, but I would love to take my 2 young boys (1 of which is in year 1) abroad on holiday but it's impossible. Looked at short city breaks too but flights once you start adding kids are ridiculous. 

 

I don't want to take them out of school, but I see no other option if I want to take them abroad. 

Are you in Leicestershire? I always used to take mine abroad in the first week of the school summer holidays, and/or October half term, both times most other schools are still open so the prices were much cheaper. 

 

If you fancy doing a Eurocamp holiday you can book them through the Sun newspaper holiday offer, all the European breaks through the Sun are with Eurocamp. I did these for years with my children in school holidays and my husband and I still do them now, it's a really cheap way to holiday in some great places, and kids love it. Thankfully you don't need to buy the paper, either, it's all done online.

[RowlattsFox]

3 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

Are you in Leicestershire? I always used to take mine abroad in the first week of the school summer holidays, and/or October half term, both times most other schools are still open so the prices were much cheaper. 

 

If you fancy doing a Eurocamp holiday you can book them through the Sun newspaper holiday offer, all the European breaks through the Sun are with Eurocamp. I did these for years with my children in school holidays and my husband and I still do them now, it's a really cheap way to holiday in some great places, and kids love it. Thankfully you don't need to buy the paper, either, it's all done online.

I'm in Blackpool so not sure how the dates compare to Leicestershire. We have 2 weeks end of May/Start of June which has been our go to the last couple of years but even that has increased this year. 

 

I will look into eurocamps with the sun, something we'd definitely do. Cheers

[slymunn]

12 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Yeah definitely have to think more outside of the box. Booking flights separately is a hassle when you have to start adding luggage and all that, goes from being reasonable to ridiculous. 

 

If i'm going to be paying a fortune I'd rather go less often and make sure its somewhere nice. 

Thats the thing. It's worth weighing up the options and if you could get away with two big cases..instead of the 4 that a package would automatically add on. That could be up to a couple of hundred saved for example.

 

Had a quick look on skyscanner and there's alot of countries in August for under 100pp flight wise (from Manchester) Adding a bag will increase that but if you can be flexible you can really save.

[The Blur]

3 hours ago, bovril said:

The art and architecture there is incredible and never as busy as Tuscany. I remember having the Baglioni chapel to myself for an hour accompanied only by a slightly autistic guide who kept asking me about Teresa May. Even Perugia as the biggest town is never that crowded, and it has one of the best galleries I've ever been too. The Valnerina is a really beautiful part too.

 

If you're not bothered by beaches I'd always recommend Umbria.

 

Puglia is great especially if you're into medieval history. Barletta is a lovely town. And the weather and beaches are superb obviously. 

 

Would you still recommend these places for those who are not interested in art?  

[bovril]

30 minutes ago, The Blur said:

 

Would you still recommend these places for those who are not interested in art?  

Yes, as with everywhere in Italy there's great food, history and landscapes. If hiking is more your thing then Veneto and Trentino are really good.

[CosbehFox]

1 hour ago, The Blur said:

 

Would you still recommend these places for those who are not interested in art?  

Worth watching Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy on iplayer if you love food. Includes a bit on history and architecture too. Both of those areas are featured in Series 2. 

 

Perugia is a big university city, so has quite a lively nightlife. 

[lcfc278]

22 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

How does anyone afford to take their kids on holiday during the summer holidays, or any other holidays. Prices for a week are scandalous. Begrudge paying over 2k for your average at best hotels. I do have a caravan holiday booked, which they will love, but I would love to take my 2 young boys (1 of which is in year 1) abroad on holiday but it's impossible. Looked at short city breaks too but flights once you start adding kids are ridiculous. 

 

I don't want to take them out of school, but I see no other option if I want to take them abroad. 

It is mental. We booked 2 weeks away in July this year as soon as we got back off last years holiday last August, it cost just over £1600 which at the time we thought was expensive but just went for it - we looked out of interest how much it was at the start of this year and the cheapest we could find basically the same holiday was just over £2200.

 

We basically end up paying off a holiday each month, all year round. It's annoying but does feel worth it when it rolls around. Although if prices are likely to be the same or more next year we might have to rethink.

[Wolfox]

On 28/03/2023 at 09:52, bovril said:

My favourite parts:

 

Sicily - just an amazing place. Combination of food, weather, natural beauty and in my opinion the greatest history in Europe.

Abruzzo - very underrated. Good food, stunning landscapes and in my experience some of the friendliest people I've ever met.

Puglia - great coast and really interesting history, a bit more crowded.

Umbria - very beautiful landscapes and historic towns but landlocked. 

Friuli Venezia Giulia - I love Trieste, and the interior of the region is really beautiful and an interesting mix of Italian, Germanic and Slavic.

I’m fortunate to work in Trieste on the odd occasion…. I was there the week before last…. It’s such an overlooked town 

 

it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and only went back to Italy after the First World War…. It was the principal sea port for Vienna…. And, if you look at the architecture, it doesn’t half remind you of Vienna….  The main square overlooking the Adriatic sea is stunning 

[bovril]

49 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

I’m fortunate to work in Trieste on the odd occasion…. I was there the week before last…. It’s such an overlooked town 

 

it was part of the Austro-Hungarian empire and only went back to Italy after the First World War…. It was the principal sea port for Vienna…. And, if you look at the architecture, it doesn’t half remind you of Vienna….  The main square overlooking the Adriatic sea is stunning 

You are extremely fortunate. It's got an atmosphere all of its own.

[Sly]

Just booked two weeks in Dominican.  

[Jattdogg]

5 hours ago, Sly said:

Just booked two weeks in Dominican.  

Nice where you going exactly? Punta Cana?

 

I can barely handle 1 week in the Caribbean (if on a resort gets boring). 6 days is about right but then again it's inly a 3 to 4 hour flight from here. 

 

Actually am debating going down there this summer. Don't normally go to the Caribbean  in the summer as i prefer to go when its snowing over here lol.

[Sly]

2 hours ago, Jattdogg said:

Nice where you going exactly? Punta Cana?

 

I can barely handle 1 week in the Caribbean (if on a resort gets boring). 6 days is about right but then again it's inly a 3 to 4 hour flight from here. 

 

Actually am debating going down there this summer. Don't normally go to the Caribbean  in the summer as i prefer to go when its snowing over here lol.

Yes, Punta Cana. 

 

The flight is a bit longer from the UK 

[Stephen Hughes]

Brussels in April and Geneva in August. Ticking off my 35th and 36th European country in the process to travelling to every country in Europe.