Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[AjcW]

8 minutes ago, Sambiasso said:

Does anyone actually use Air BnB? 

 

We need a base down Southampton/Portsmouth way for 10 days, somewhere that has cooking/washing facilities etc but prices are eye watering. 

 

Lots of avaliable properties in our time frame but majority are charging more than the Hilton. 

 

Stick unique or quirky in the title and its an extra £60 a night 

As an actual reply though.... booking.com have more than enough self catering options now, so I don't really bother with AirBnb, also offer good payment options.

[Sambiasso]

2 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I do hope you're not ****ing thinking about going away and enjoying yourself before September 2nd....

I've been forbidden in mentioning anything regarding incoming and outgoings by the guvnor unless I out my source.

 

Shame really I've got so many puns I could have used in all those threads  Atleast when I was dropping info there was actually a discussion taking place.

 

Anyway not my intention to derail this topic.

 

Will check out Booking.com 

[VLC86]

25 minutes ago, Sambiasso said:

Does anyone actually use Air BnB? 

 

We need a base down Southampton/Portsmouth way for 10 days, somewhere that has cooking/washing facilities etc but prices are eye watering. 

 

Lots of avaliable properties in our time frame but majority are charging more than the Hilton. 

 

Stick unique or quirky in the title and its an extra £60 a night 

I use them a fair bit, depends what places you are looking at on either side really but generally speaking I find something cheaper than any hotel otherwise I book a hotel.

[AjcW]

16 minutes ago, Sambiasso said:

I've been forbidden in mentioning anything regarding incoming and outgoings by the guvnor unless I out my source.

 

Shame really I've got so many puns I could have used in all those threads  Atleast when I was dropping info there was actually a discussion taking place.

 

Anyway not my intention to derail this topic.

 

Will check out Booking.com 

The Guvnor is under a lot of external pressure these days  

 

Maybe... do some holiday destination related puns linked to our incomings  

[FoxesDeb]

1 hour ago, Sambiasso said:

Does anyone actually use Air BnB? 

 

We need a base down Southampton/Portsmouth way for 10 days, somewhere that has cooking/washing facilities etc but prices are eye watering. 

 

Lots of avaliable properties in our time frame but majority are charging more than the Hilton. 

 

Stick unique or quirky in the title and its an extra £60 a night 

We haven't used Air bnb for ages now, they have become far too expensive. We mostly use booking.com, and occasionally expedia.

[Izzy]

1 hour ago, Sambiasso said:

Does anyone actually use Air BnB? 

 

We need a base down Southampton/Portsmouth way for 10 days, somewhere that has cooking/washing facilities etc but prices are eye watering. 

 

Lots of avaliable properties in our time frame but majority are charging more than the Hilton. 

 

Stick unique or quirky in the title and its an extra £60 a night 

We've used Air BnB four times and three of them were absolutely shite.

 

Despite good reviews, I thought they were dirty and horrible - and a complete rip off.

 

Maybe my expectations are too high but I won't be using Air BnB again. 

[Izzy]

Any Iceland experts here?

 

Just booked 5 nights end of October for the family just outside of Rejkyavic

 

I assume you just hire a car and do various day trips to the blue lagoon etc?

 

 

[Balders65]

You’ll love it, bloody expensive about 8-10 quid for a pint, locals lovely. Car rental is fine, plenty of places within Reykjavik however the weather changes in a second, if you are out when a snow storm hits you could end up severely stuck, listen to the locals if they say the weather is going to be bad then don’t go too far. Probably best to get one of the bus trips from the central bus station to the Golden circle or Blue lagoon to be honest. Book trips in resort they are generally cheaper and widely available at all hotels in the area. 
Enjoy your holiday. 
 

[FoyleFox]

48 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Any Iceland experts here?

 

Just booked 5 nights end of October for the family just outside of Rejkyavic

 

I assume you just hire a car and do various day trips to the blue lagoon etc?

 

 

We just went to the tourist information place and booked trips from there. A couple of tours of the island which were just in small mini buses, so no mass coach trips.  We went up into the mountains to see the Northern lights and a snow mobile tour. All of which were excellent. 

Oh, if you're planning on eating and drinking, extend the limit on your credit card 😂

[VLC86]

52 minutes ago, Izzy said:

Any Iceland experts here?

 

Just booked 5 nights end of October for the family just outside of Rejkyavic

 

I assume you just hire a car and do various day trips to the blue lagoon etc?

 

 

Not an expert but I went for 3 nights a few years ago and we hired a car to do the Blue Lagoon and the Golden Triangle, was really easy but that was May and I’ve heard the roads can get very dicey in the winter.

 

It’s a very cool country, Reykjavik is quite small so you are doing right by staying outside it. The Blue Lagoon is cool but there are other pools with hot springs which are much cheaper and well worth a visit as well.

[Wymsey]

1 hour ago, Izzy said:

Any Iceland experts here?

 

Just booked 5 nights end of October for the family just outside of Rejkyavic

 

I assume you just hire a car and do various day trips to the blue lagoon etc?

 

 

Me and my partner are going there on Friday for 5 nights.

 

We wanted something 'off the beaten track'-type holiday and thought why not go here.

[Jattdogg]

11 minutes ago, Wymsey said:

Me and my partner are going there on Friday for 5 nights.

 

We wanted something 'off the beaten track'-type holiday and thought why not go here.

Come to Ontario, we have those everywhere

[Izzy]

6 hours ago, Wymsey said:

Me and my partner are going there on Friday for 5 nights.

 

We wanted something 'off the beaten track'-type holiday and thought why not go here.

Nice one mate, let us know how you get on 

[Strokes]

On 23/08/2023 at 14:37, Sambiasso said:

I've been forbidden in mentioning anything regarding incoming and outgoings by the guvnor unless I out my source.

 

Shame really I've got so many puns I could have used in all those threads  Atleast when I was dropping info there was actually a discussion taking place.

 

Anyway not my intention to derail this topic.

 

Will check out Booking.com 

You could post the information anonymously on Twitter and then share the Twitter or something and then link the post. 

[fox_up_north]

Airbnb - had mostly positive experiences but I find it best to go with locals and ones where people are IN the building/ greet you.

 

Had a stunning one in Genoa, part of the old town and the lady made me breakfast and coffee every morning. In Basel, we were in a kind of hippie type place with a lovely host who showed us all places to go.

 

If you can, avoid ones where it's clearly just a bloke letting out a holiday apartment with a bunch of people.

[Tommy G]

Any recommendations of where to stay in Majorca. Looking for a Villa to sleep 6-8, with a pool - nowhere near Magaluf. Thanks 

[fox_up_north]

3 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Any recommendations of where to stay in Majorca. Looking for a Villa to sleep 6-8, with a pool - nowhere near Magaluf. Thanks 

Avoid Arenal. It's the German Magaluf.

We were in an area called Sa Torre. It was a bnb but quite good. Very quiet and near the sea.

[UniFox21]

12 hours ago, Izzy said:

Any Iceland experts here?

 

Just booked 5 nights end of October for the family just outside of Rejkyavic

 

I assume you just hire a car and do various day trips to the blue lagoon etc?

 

 

I booked all my trips through an excursion company, made life much easier when I was a bit concerned on weather and driving abroad. Found it much easier personally, especially with the guides provided taking you to bits and pieces you'd otherwise miss.

 

Absolutely beautiful country, just way more Americanised than I'd expected 

[UniFox21]

14 minutes ago, Tommy G said:

Any recommendations of where to stay in Majorca. Looking for a Villa to sleep 6-8, with a pool - nowhere near Magaluf. Thanks 

Stayed in Cala D'or in April, nice little area with a nice amount of restaurants around, if not a bit quiet if you're wanting a big night life. 

[BKLFox]

2 hours ago, Tommy G said:

Any recommendations of where to stay in Majorca. Looking for a Villa to sleep 6-8, with a pool - nowhere near Magaluf. Thanks 

 

1 hour ago, UniFox21 said:

Stayed in Cala D'or in April, nice little area with a nice amount of restaurants around, if not a bit quiet if you're wanting a big night life. 

I've stayed in Cala D'or a couple of times in a small gated community of villa's which was less than 100m to a square of bars, restaurants, supermarket, ice cream parlour etc, 3-5minutes to a nice little cove with beach bar & maybe 10mins to the marina which then had a load of bars, resturants & shops all the way around it.
It was perfect for our needs, at the time 2 youngish kids 9-12ish (i think), under 50 minutes from the airport, we were south of the marina so not central Cala D'or but there was a 'noddy' type road train that took us from where we were into the centre for a couple of euros & there you got more bars, restaurants & shops. You could easily walk this as it was the other side of the marina so walk there have a drink, walk around the other side have a drink & pop out into the centre(ish) then 'noddy' it back.
 

[Wymsey]

10 hours ago, Izzy said:

Nice one mate, let us know how you get on 

Thanks, will do.

 

We're going to the Grandi by Centre Hotels.

 

It seems like a hotel chain, but it looks OK and has good reviews on TripAdvisor.

[STEVIE B]

Flying out to Italy in May. 

Bari for a couple of nights, then jump on a train to Naples for 3 nights, next it's Rome for a night.

A couple of nights in Florence is hopefully followed by 3 in Verona.

Finally we fly home after spending 2 nights in Venice. 

Love a bit of train travel. Trains seem very cheap in Italy, if you book early enough.

Any tips or advice, very welcome. 

Edited 29 August 2023 by STEVIE B

[bovril]

15 hours ago, STEVIE B said:

Flying out to Italy in May. 

Bari for a couple of nights, then jump on a train to Naples for 3 nights, next it's Rome for a night.

A couple of nights in Florence is hopefully followed by 3 in Verona.

Finally we fly home after spending 2 nights in Venice. 

Love a bit of train travel. Trains seem very cheap in Italy, if you book early enough.

Any tips or advice, very welcome. 

I love everything about Italian train travel. If I were richer and had no ties I'd happily spend the rest of my life pottering about Italy on trains. 

 

Near Bari I'd recommend Barletta and Trani and their medieval monuments. If you're interested in the Normans there are many sites round there associated with them.

 

Don't know Naples very well. But I bet the train from Bari to Naples goes through some beautiful scenery and it's a part of Italy I'm absolutely fascinated about, but unfortunately haven't explored.

 

In Rome I'd recommend as a lesser known church Santa Prasede and its mosaics.

 

In Florence you should definitely go to San Marco - an old convent that houses some of the most beautiful early renaissance paintings you'll see.

 

Venice is maybe my favourite city in Europe. I like to wander around Canareggio, especially early in the morning or in the early evening. It's quieter than the central parts, very beautiful, and there are some decent restaurants around the Fondamenta della Misericordia, like Paradiso Perduto. One of my favourite churches in Madonna del Orto. Murano is also beautiful and has a superb central duomo and a good pub nearby also called Duomo. 

 

If you're in Verona for that amount of time, I'd thoroughly recommend getting the train up to Trento, which is a beautiful town, or Bolzano, and from Bolzano getting a bus or cable car up to a village in the Tyrol. Really beautiful landscapes and a totally different experience from the rest of Italy. After Napoli you'll find it hard to believe you're in the same country. 

Edited 30 August 2023 by bovril

[Voll Blau]

On 23/08/2023 at 10:06, Sol thewall Bamba said:

Prague in a few weeks, does anyone have any tips for bars/restaurants that aren't the usual tourist/stag do haunts? 

Been years since I went but there were a lot of really cheap pizzeria/cafe-type places that did cheap pints and were happy to just let you drink and people-watch outside. Mind you, we were all 17/18 and on a school trip so just wanted to find somewhere to get smashed without the teachers noticing. Those places fit the bill nicely.

 

Would thoroughly recommend an evening at Ungelt Jazz & Blues Club in the Old Town. Ended up having my 18th in there. Had an absolute blast, great beer and unreal musicians.

[STEVIE B]

20 minutes ago, bovril said:

I love everything about Italian train travel. If I were richer and had no ties I'd happily spend the rest of my life pottering about Italy on trains. 

 

Near Bari I'd recommend Barletta and Trani and their medieval monuments. If you're interested in the Normans there are many sites round there associated with them.

 

Don't know Naples very well. But I bet the train from Bari to Naples goes through some beautiful scenery and it's a part of Italy I'm absolutely fascinated about, but unfortunately haven't explored.

 

In Rome I'd recommend as a lesser known church Santa Prasede and its mosaics.

 

In Florence you should definitely go to San Marco - an old convent that houses some of the most beautiful early renaissance paintings you'll see.

 

Venice is maybe my favourite city in Europe. I like to wander around Canareggio, especially early in the morning or in the early evening. It's quieter than the central parts, very beautiful, and there are some decent restaurants around the Fondamenta della Misericordia, like Paradiso Perduto. One of my favourite churches in Madonna del Orto. Murano is also beautiful and has a superb central duomo and a good pub nearby also called Duomo. 

 

If you're in Verona for that amount of time, I'd thoroughly recommend getting the train up to Trento, which is a beautiful town, or Bolzano, and from Bolzano getting a bus or cable car up to a village in the Tyrol. Really beautiful landscapes and a totally different experience from the rest of Italy. After Napoli you'll find it hard to believe you're in the same country. 

Thanks for your detailed reply. Will definitely take it on board. I'm hoping to hire a Vespa in Verona as there is so much to see in the surrounding area. Be rude not to !