Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[whoareyaaa]

Don't go to Japan in the summer, it's bad enough in April and October!! My Japanese friends laughed in my face when I suggested visiting in July. It's a time when the locals just want to veg out all day in the air con.

If you've been to Hong Kong, it's comparable. I went to Hong Kong in July, that was hard work!

I'm going back to Tokyo next year in April / May. It'll be tshirt weather without being insufferable. Last time we went was in Sept/Oct and it was still shorts and tshirts every day, sweating like a bastard, 90% humidity.

 

Nice one for the advice the earliest we could probably go would be at the start of June would it still be visable? planning to spend maybe 7/8 days over there visiting two citys Tokoyo being the last stop as we will be flying to the US after what other city would you recommend visiting?

 

and any must dos?

[whoareyaaa]

I am looking at some potential honeymoon destinations for 2017 April / May time, probably looking to go east to Thailand or Bali - anyone been? If so can you recommend Thailand itself or Phuket? Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Avoid Phuket at all costs horrible place imo, especially for a honeymoon Phi Phi Islands are nice although not all of them have recovered from the tsumani but its still beautiful, never been Bali so can't comment on that.

[Soar Fox]

Benidorm, Cyprus and Las Vegas next year.

Might try and have a long weekend in Dubai to visit my sister, though I'm not that bothered Dubai. The place doesn't really appeal to me.

[ousefox]

Benidorm, Cyprus and Las Vegas next year.

Might try and have a long weekend in Dubai to visit my sister, though I'm not that bothered Dubai. The place doesn't really appeal to me.

Same, it seems like such a boring, unimaginative place to go on holiday

[Ric Flair]

s fa

 

Nothing concrete yet but most definitely Cape Town & Durban. Johannesburg was a possibility too .

 

One of my friends we're going with has a friend out there who is a game-keeper and has acres and acres of land with a huge villa in the middle. So we're planning on staying there for about 5-6 days and do some safari adventures. 

 

Flights now are only about £600 return

 

Oh yes, get up there for some safari's just don't bother with Johannesburg itself as it's absolutely horrid. I went to the Kruger which is about 4-5 hours away from Joburg and stayed on a private game reserve for 5 nights. It was absolutely incredible. I was fairly disappointed with Sun City mind you, I am a big golf fan so played a couple of the courses and they even had the Nedbank Challenge on the week afterwards but it's not in anyway the Vegas of Africa, it's poxy.

 

Cape Town is sublime, breathtaking. Get yourself 20 mins up the coast to Bloubergstrand where the beaches are sensational and the views of Table Mountain are unrivalled. We stayed there for a week as i've friends who live there and it was a great base. Not a great deal to do there though so it's only somewhere you'd use as a base or visit for the day and enjoy the views. Clifton is where all the rich and famous hang out, it's very busy around there but worth visiting, as is Hout Bay another lovely beach. Cape Town the city is superb, so much to see and do and the surrounding areas are beautiful. If you want to go whale watching or even great white shark diving which I did, then get yourself down the garden route to Hermanus. That is a lovely place and then you can do shark cage diving in Gansbaai which is only a short drive away. I wish we'd stayed in Hermanus longer or at least carried on the garden route further. I could easily do another month out there just in Cape Town and the garden route.

 

Yeah flights are mad, mine were £519 return with Luthansa last November. The exchange rate is phenomenal as well, it was 18 rand to the pound but now it's something crazy like 20+?? A beer is about 7-10 rand so you'll be laughing. A fillet steak is about 100-150 rand as well so in the end you can't even spend your money, it just goes so far.

 

The best thing we did was go on a wine tram tour in Franschheok, which might be one of the most beautiful places i've ever been to. You visit around 6 vineyards all on this 18th century style tram and the views are mind blowing. It costs less than a tenner and you drink the equivalent of about 5 bottles of wine each over the course of a day, it's immense! Even if you don't want to drink it's a great day out and isn't full of drunken idiots except when I was there and I was the drunken prat

 

Enjoy mate, it's unreal.

[bovril]

Going to southern Greece over Christmas and new year. Hoping things will be open. If anyone wants to rob my flat you'll be disappointed.

[Nick]

Going to southern Greece over Christmas and new year. Hoping things will be open. If anyone wants to rob my flat you'll be disappointed.

 

I'll be the judge of that.

 

What's your address?

[Turtles Head]

I am looking at some potential honeymoon destinations for 2017 April / May time, probably looking to go east to Thailand or Bali - anyone been? If so can you recommend Thailand itself or Phuket? Any advice would be appreciated.

Definitely avoid Phuket. I'd go Ko Samui for a honeymoon, really nice & chilled.

[Thracian]

Handsworth's quiet this time of year.

 

None of those stupid songs playing in your earhole about "let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....."

 

The Cumbrians must be loving that!

[VLC86]

Back from having a fantastic time in Mauritius. Stunning country with really friendly people, the weather was very good but the only let down were the stray dogs. Apparently the country has over 200,000 of them, most are in good condition and well looked after but I saw a few really horrific sights.

The hotel I stayed in does work with a charity to feed them etc but I found a couple of lovely young dogs who were very skinny and spent the last 3 days of my holiday stealing food from dinner to give to them when I could find them again. So sad.

[MooseBreath]

Anyone been to Ecuador?

[Buce]

Anyone been to Ecuador?

Yeah, but about thirty years ago.

[Haydos]

Slovenia... Hit me. Flights are booked, 5 nights staying in Ljubljana in March. I hear you can get to Bled and Rijeka pretty easily from there.

Any recommendations?

[BeerMe]

Visited my dad's side of the family in Hong Kong and Shanghai over the previous summer. Still clearing my lungs out. This summer I hope to go visit my mom's side in Israel but I have to get approved for travel and I'm not sure that will happen. Pushed my luck with China despite being half-Chinese. Chaps my hide because my grandparents there are nearing 90 so I need to see them soon.

[tripe]

Slovenia... Hit me. Flights are booked, 5 nights staying in Ljubljana in March. I hear you can get to Bled and Rijeka pretty easily from there.

Any recommendations?

 

Bled def for a day. An amazing place. 

 

Near Ljubljana is Postojna where the Postojna Caves are. It's, most probably, the most visited place in Slovenia. 

 

I'd recommend a day trip to Istria (rent a car in Ljubljana). It's an hours drive to Koper (a border town between Slovenia and Croatia),  and from there you've got Istria on a plate (Koper is also a part of Istria, but slovenian Istria. Istria is 90% in Croatia and 10% in Slovenia). Istrian inland is great, Toscan-like. Hilltop cities (Motovun, Groznjan, Momjan), excellent food (truffles) and good wine (Malvasija . white, Teran - red). A few nice cities on the west coast (Porec and Rovinj) to see.

 

Rijeka isn't too touristy, but you can always catch a game.

Edited 3 January 2016 by tripe

[bovril]

Slovenia... Hit me. Flights are booked, 5 nights staying in Ljubljana in March. I hear you can get to Bled and Rijeka pretty easily from there.

Any recommendations?

 

Drive to Trieste for a bit, more interesting than Rijeka in my opinion. There are some amazing little restaurants in the hills around the Italy / Slovenia border, I can give you some names if you're interested.

[Haydos]

Bled def for a day. An amazing place. 

 

Near Ljubljana iz Postojna where the Postojna Caves are. It's, most probably, the most visited place in Slovenia. 

 

I'd recommend a day trip to Istria (rent a car in Ljubljana). It's an hours drive to Koper (a border town between Slovenia and Croatia), a and from there you've got Istria on a place (Koper is also a part of Istria, but slovenian Istria. Istria is 90% in Croatia and 10% in Slovenia). Istrian inland is great, Toscan-like. Hilltop cities (Motovun, Groznjan, Momjan), excellent food (truffles) and good wine (Malvasija . white, Teran - red). A few nice cities on the west coast (Porec and Rovinj) to see.

 

Rijeka isn't too touristy, but you can always catch a game.

 

I'm already excited about the caves, I notice there's Skocjan and Postojna, the Skocjan ones look amazing, are the ones you mentioned more impressive? Lake Bohinj also looks amazing, as does the rest of the national park. Any tips in that area?

 

You've both mentioned hiring a car actually, maybe i'll look into it a bit more. 

 

Drive to Trieste for a bit, more interesting than Rijeka in my opinion. There are some amazing little restaurants in the hills around the Italy / Slovenia border, I can give you some names if you're interested.

 

Tbh we don't have plans to hire a car but it's something to consider for a day. Trieste pips it then? 

[bovril]

Tbh we don't have plans to hire a car but it's something to consider for a day. Trieste pips it then? 

 

It's one of my favourite cities in Europe. Very different to the rest of Italy, has a very interesting mitteleuropean feel with lots of different influences. Like I said, I know some great places to eat and drink there if you want. I think there are plenty of buses from Ljubljana and back, takes about 90 minutes.

Having said all that, it will probably be ****ing freezing in early March.

[katieakita]

Roads in Ljubjana very quiet,drove up to Bled and hardly came across a car, liked Ljubjana Castle and did the Istria thing down as far as Pula.May be cold in March though.

[jonthefox]

Booked Costa adeje in Tenerife today . Anyone been ?.

[tripe]

Postojna caves are more famous, let's say touristy, but the Skocijan ones, are, perhaps more "real", more wilder. They are on the road to Trieste so if you opt to go to Trieste (by car) you could do that in a single day. As bovril said, Trieste's got more charm then Rijeka and is worth a visit. He is spot on with the restaurants near the Slo/Ita border. Brilliant. Again, you need a car for them. 

 

Weather wise it all depends. Trieste is quite famous for the strong northern wind bora (bura, burja). Going there on a windy day isn't really recommended. March is the month that bora is most common on the northern Adriatic. That's, more or less, the only factor which is important as bora gives you a feel that it's ten degrees less then it really is. It's already pretty warm in March (12-14 C) so if there's no wind it's ok. 

 

Istria, even though it's only a couple od dozen kilometers from Trieste has a milder climate as it's shielded from the winds. Again, to do an Istria trip you really do need to take a car as the highlights are the small hilltop towns, wineries and restaurants that you can't reach by a bus. 

 

My recommendation is to take a car. You'll get much more done, see much more and be more free in you travels.

 

Bohinj is nice but it's a day trip again. If I had to pick between Bled and Bohinj, for a first time visit, it would be Bled. 

[Haydos]

It's one of my favourite cities in Europe. Very different to the rest of Italy, has a very interesting mitteleuropean feel with lots of different influences. Like I said, I know some great places to eat and drink there if you want. I think there are plenty of buses from Ljubljana and back, takes about 90 minutes.

Having said all that, it will probably be ****ing freezing in early March.

 

 

Roads in Ljubjana very quiet,drove up to Bled and hardly came across a car, liked Ljubjana Castle and did the Istria thing down as far as Pula.May be cold in March though.

 

Okay, so the guy I'm booking the AirBnB with has recommended a car as well to explore the rest of the country a bit so he's getting a quote for us on that, if it's not too dear then we'll likely end up doing that and I'll probably message you soon Bovril, cheers mate

 

Not too fussed about the cold, I like wrapping up warm and going for a wander, just crossing my fingers we avoid most of the rain.

[Haydos]

Postojna caves are more famous, let's say touristy, but the Skocijan ones, are, perhaps more "real", more wilder. They are on the road to Trieste so if you opt to go to Trieste (by car) you could do that in a single day. As bovril said, Trieste's got more charm then Rijeka and is worth a visit. He is spot on with the restaurants near the Slo/Ita border. Brilliant. Again, you need a car for them. 

 

Weather wise it all depends. Trieste is quite famous for the strong northern wind bora (bura, burja). Going there on a windy day isn't really recommended. March is the month that bora is most common on the northern Adriatic. That's, more or less, the only factor which is important as bora gives you a feel that it's ten degrees less then it really is. It's already pretty warm in March (12-14 C) so if there's no wind it's ok. 

 

Istria, even though it's only a couple od dozen kilometers from Trieste has a milder climate as it's shielded from the winds. Again, to do an Istria trip you really do need to take a car as the highlights are the small hilltop towns, wineries and restaurants that you can't reach by a bus. 

 

My recommendation is to take a car. You'll get much more done, see much more and be more free in you travels.

 

Bohinj is nice but it's a day trip again. If I had to pick between Bled and Bohinj, for a first time visit, it would be Bled. 

 

Fantastic mate, thanks for the info, like I put in the other post, our host is getting some car hire quotes for us so it sounds like it could be a goer. Getting excited for it now, sounds like there's a lot of potential. I'll be back to bother you soon

[bovril]

Okay, so the guy I'm booking the AirBnB with has recommended a car as well to explore the rest of the country a bit so he's getting a quote for us on that, if it's not too dear then we'll likely end up doing that and I'll probably message you soon Bovril, cheers mate

 

Not too fussed about the cold, I like wrapping up warm and going for a wander, just crossing my fingers we avoid most of the rain.

 

Feel free. I might well be in Trieste in March but I doubt your girlfriend will want to sit and discuss Leicester's top-4 push over beers...

 

 

He is spot on with the restaurants near the Slo/Ita border. Brilliant. Again, you need a car for them.

 

I spent a few days going round the gostilnici just north of Trieste in June and thought I'd quite like to relocate there for some time. Lovely, peaceful area. Last week I was in and around Pristina, which is a very energetic and interesting city, but it's amazing to think they were once part of the same country.

[kingcarr21]

Looking to book a trip to New York for the wifes 30th birthday. Anybody got any tips of places to visit? Obviously you have the main attractions but wondering if there are any hidden gems.

 

Due to going New York were taking our kids on british trips this year. Going Butlins in February half term but also yesterday booked a 4 night stay in a bungalow down in Devon at a hoseasons caravan site. Went to one in Great Yarmouth last year and was quite good for the price. Summer Half Term (30th May-3rd June) for £265 for the 4 of us. Thought that was a great price and should hopefully be sunny.