Topic: Holidays 2024 - What's your plans?

[jason42]

Change of plans it seems...

Looks like Turkey is off the menu with Cyprus coming to the party, specifically Paphos.

[rob1966]

Paphos is nice

[SamLad]

holiday related ....

never, ever, ever use Trip.com.  ever.  they are lying cheating bastard thieves.

I won't bore you with why I'm saying this (long story and a bit confusing) but I'll just mention that Tripadvisor has close to 1500 posts from ppl who've used them, and most are from ppl wouldn't touch them again with a 10-foot pole.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Agree with Rob, Paphos is a good spot

[rob1966]

Change of plans it seems...

Looks like Turkey is off the menu with Cyprus coming to the party, specifically Paphos.

Theres a really good water park, Aphrodite, my teenage kids love it. Book it online and pre-pay for the food, saves you money. We stayed at Avanti Holiday Village last year and the Aliathon a couple of years before, it was about a 15 min walk to the waterpark, but there is a bus you can get on Poseidonos Ave that goes straight there - taxis are fucking expensive, like 10 euros to go a mile.

Theres some lovely looking hotels overlooking the beach if you want 4/5* and Stavros Flatley from BGT has a watersports place going there

[jason42]

Theres a really good water park, Aphrodite, my teenage kids love it. Book it online and pre-pay for the food, saves you money. We stayed at Avanti Holiday Village last year and the Aliathon a couple of years before, it was about a 15 min walk to the waterpark, but there is a bus you can get on Poseidonos Ave that goes straight there - taxis are fucking expensive, like 10 euros to go a mile.

Theres some lovely looking hotels overlooking the beach if you want 4/5* and Stavros Flatley from BGT has a watersports place going there

Thanks Rob. Just had a look at the waterpark and it is a 15 minute walk from the hotel we are thinking of booking - https://www.leonardo-hotels-cyprus.com/hotels-in-paphos/leonardo-cypria-bay

[rob1966]

Thanks Rob. Just had a look at the waterpark and it is a 15 minute walk from the hotel we are thinking of booking - https://www.leonardo-hotels-cyprus.com/hotels-in-paphos/leonardo-cypria-bay

That looked a lovely hotel that, we stayed right opposite in the Aliathon Resort the first time we went. There's a lovely long path that goes at the back next to the beach and you can walk all the way to the Harbour. The bus stops outside if you aren't in the mood to walk. Took me by surprise that they drive on the left in Cyprus, when in Spain, Greece etc I naturally look right when crossing, had to really think about it over there.

There's a pub called the Wild Horse over the road where you can watch footy, we went further up and used to watch at the Crocodile - beer was cheaper and the bar staff were great, one was a right laugh. They did nice food too and the gyros from the shop around the corner were ace.

[kop306]

if anyone goes to new york make sure you go to the intrepid museum where concorde is

[rob1966]

Heard an advert for Emirates today, waffling on about BBQs on the beach and other outdoor stuff, then it said Visit Dubai this summer. Like fuck they do BBQs in the summer, its  48/49c of a day and over 40c of a night

[Qston]

Slightly mixed feelings, but this year it will be the first proper holiday (not just long weekends) that my wife and I have had without kids. When we got together she already had a 5 year old son so holidays have always fitted around what the kids would like and during school holidays. I am lucky enough that a close mate of mine has a lovely house near the Dordogne which is in beautiful countryside and has said we can stay there for 2 weeks. We are going the last 2 weeks of June. It is an old farmhouse with a lovely pool and covered seating area outside with all the mod cons.

Mixed feelings because it will feel odd without the kids, but the thought of just being able to do what we want and when we want is liberating. My only real concern is that my 18 year old daughter has her head permanently in the clouds because she is glued to her phone. She regularly does daft things like leaving her keys in the front door or leaving the oven on, so I just hope we have standing home when we come back !  I am sure a few of you on here have finally made that decision to leave a child at home and have been through the usual worries

[Crosby Nick]

2 weeks with just you and your wife? When will you run out of things to talk about?

[reddebs]

Slightly mixed feelings, but this year it will be the first proper holiday (not just long weekends) that my wife and I have had without kids. When we got together she already had a 5 year old son so holidays have always fitted around what the kids would like and during school holidays. I am lucky enough that a close mate of mine has a lovely house near the Dordogne which is in beautiful countryside and has said we can stay there for 2 weeks. We are going the last 2 weeks of June. It is an old farmhouse with a lovely pool and covered seating area outside with all the mod cons.

Mixed feelings because it will feel odd without the kids, but the thought of just being able to do what we want and when we want is liberating. My only real concern is that my 18 year old daughter has her head permanently in the clouds because she is glued to her phone. She regularly does daft things like leaving her keys in the front door or leaving the oven on, so I just hope we have standing home when we come back !  I am sure a few of you on here have finally made that decision to leave a child at home and have been through the usual worries

She'll surprise you, a bit like Kevin in Home Alone but without the fighting off criminals 😁

[Qston]

2 weeks with just you and your wife? When will you run out of things to talk about?

Day 2.,......but I have an emergency back up plan. Books and my sky card. My mate has a sky box and I just need to slot in my card.

[Qston]

She'll surprise you, a bit like Kevin in Home Alone but without the fighting off criminals 😁

She surprises me all the time Debs with either a comment where I think "you're more intelligent than I thought"......or she does something where I think "you're incredibly stupid".

She isn`t a party kinda girl, but she is so friggin dopey

[Graeme]

No masks at all required in the Canaries now, just had a week in Tenerife and its fine. They're struggling with a drought though on Tenerife, so do wonder if they'll try and discourage tourists in the summer.

We're going to Tenerife in June and I did spot recently they've been re-introduced in certain settings - hospitals, clinics etc.

[reddebs]

She surprises me all the time Debs with either a comment where I think "you're more intelligent than I thought"......or she does something where I think "you're incredibly stupid".

She isn`t a party kinda girl, but she is so friggin dopey

She's just a typical 18yr old mate.

[Drinks Sangria]

Just got back from Berlin. Didn’t enjoy it as much as we do usually enjoy a city break; mainly because the scorching hot hotel room meant we didn’t sleep at all so were knackered during the day. I did my best to take things in on a history tour and at some of the museums, but having been before about 10 years ago it fell a bit flat.

I enjoyed Kreuzberg and there was some good bars and restaurants there, but I think, for me, Berlin has the same issue as somewhere like Helsinki - both nice, clean cities that seem good to live in, but have been rebuilt so frequently over and over that they’ve lost something intangible that other cities retain. Like how there’s so little left preserved of the awful but very interesting history of WW2 and the Berlin Wall etc; of course you can learn about these things and I understand the collective guilt in wanting to scrub these things out of visibility, but it does take away something. Maybe that’s unfair of me but that’s my feeling of the place. Like the museums about it could be anywhere.

We’ve the Costa Brava booked for a week in July for a friend’s wedding, as I’m looking forward to a lazy week in the sun at an all inclusive. I’d like to get away again this year aside from that, maybe some sun around early winter, but as we want to do a big trip next year, it probably won’t be financially possible.

[rob1966]

I lived in Berlin for a month in Sept 2002, when we were rolling out our system and they wanted a dev who spoke a bit of German to go out, stayed in a Marriott in Kopenik. I'd like to go back and see if its changed, as it was still very East Germany back then, it was like two different worlds, especially when you sort of crossed from the East to the West. There was still adecent amount of the wall left back then and where it had been demolished, you could still see where it ran, has that changed?

Missus has been looking at Turkey for Oct 25, she found a self catering place in Marmaris, £1200 for the 4 of us, that's cheap that.

[kesey]

India for a month in September. Not travelling mad like just doing a few beaches . Maybe Arambol again in Goa , three day psy trance party in Little Vagator then Gokarn to do a bit Shiva worshiping then onto Kerela.

[Crosby Nick]

Just got back from Berlin. Didn’t enjoy it as much as we do usually enjoy a city break; mainly because the scorching hot hotel room meant we didn’t sleep at all so were knackered during the day. I did my best to take things in on a history tour and at some of the museums, but having been before about 10 years ago it fell a bit flat.

I enjoyed Kreuzberg and there was some good bars and restaurants there, but I think, for me, Berlin has the same issue as somewhere like Helsinki - both nice, clean cities that seem good to live in, but have been rebuilt so frequently over and over that they’ve lost something intangible that other cities retain. Like how there’s so little left preserved of the awful but very interesting history of WW2 and the Berlin Wall etc; of course you can learn about these things and I understand the collective guilt in wanting to scrub these things out of visibility, but it does take away something. Maybe that’s unfair of me but that’s my feeling of the place. Like the museums about it could be anywhere.

We’ve the Costa Brava booked for a week in July for a friend’s wedding, as I’m looking forward to a lazy week in the sun at an all inclusive. I’d like to get away again this year aside from that, maybe some sun around early winter, but as we want to do a big trip next year, it probably won’t be financially possible.

My son is off to Berlin on a Histoey trip in a couple of months, hopefully I haven’t wasted my money!

[Drinks Sangria]

I lived in Berlin for a month in Sept 2002, when we were rolling out our system and they wanted a dev who spoke a bit of German to go out, stayed in a Marriott in Kopenik. I'd like to go back and see if its changed, as it was still very East Germany back then, it was like two different worlds, especially when you sort of crossed from the East to the West. There was still adecent amount of the wall left back then and where it had been demolished, you could still see where it ran, has that changed?

Missus has been looking at Turkey for Oct 25, she found a self catering place in Marmaris, £1200 for the 4 of us, that's cheap that.

I think the starkness has absolutely gone - at least where I went - the area around Friedrichshain is basically mega gentrified now, with a load of new hotels, music and sports venues and open malls, food halls etc, it’s like a German Cheshire Oaks around the East side gallery. I get the intent to improve but the city has lost something for it I think. When you push further South East you can start to tell you’re in the old east, but there’s definite clear efforts to homogenise the city and present a more modern capital.

A bloke I was speaking to who went to Uni in Manchester funnily enough said to me ‘Berlin is not Germany,’ and having travelled Germany extensively for work and specifically spending a lot of time in Cologne, Leverkusen and Munich, Berlin is quite different in that it doesn’t feel that culturally unique. Of course I’m basing my experience off of two visits a decade apart for a combined 8 days or so, so obviously the city has plenty to offer I haven’t experienced, but that’s very much my surface experience.

My son is off to Berlin on a Histoey trip in a couple of months, hopefully I haven’t wasted my money!

If it’s specifically for WW2 or post-WW2 segregation there’s loads to sink your teeth into, and to be honest stuff like the Topography of Terror was the most interesting thing there. I think because his trip has focus he’ll enjoy it.

[RedSince86]

Just got back from Berlin. Didn’t enjoy it as much as we do usually enjoy a city break; mainly because the scorching hot hotel room meant we didn’t sleep at all so were knackered during the day. I did my best to take things in on a history tour and at some of the museums, but having been before about 10 years ago it fell a bit flat.

I enjoyed Kreuzberg and there was some good bars and restaurants there, but I think, for me, Berlin has the same issue as somewhere like Helsinki - both nice, clean cities that seem good to live in, but have been rebuilt so frequently over and over that they’ve lost something intangible that other cities retain. Like how there’s so little left preserved of the awful but very interesting history of WW2 and the Berlin Wall etc; of course you can learn about these things and I understand the collective guilt in wanting to scrub these things out of visibility, but it does take away something. Maybe that’s unfair of me but that’s my feeling of the place. Like the museums about it could be anywhere.

We’ve the Costa Brava booked for a week in July for a friend’s wedding, as I’m looking forward to a lazy week in the sun at an all inclusive. I’d like to get away again this year aside from that, maybe some sun around early winter, but as we want to do a big trip next year, it probably won’t be financially possible.

Have you been to Vienna, thats a pretty good City for a City break?

[jason42]

That looked a lovely hotel that, we stayed right opposite in the Aliathon Resort the first time we went. There's a lovely long path that goes at the back next to the beach and you can walk all the way to the Harbour. The bus stops outside if you aren't in the mood to walk. Took me by surprise that they drive on the left in Cyprus, when in Spain, Greece etc I naturally look right when crossing, had to really think about it over there.

There's a pub called the Wild Horse over the road where you can watch footy, we went further up and used to watch at the Crocodile - beer was cheaper and the bar staff were great, one was a right laugh. They did nice food too and the gyros from the shop around the corner were ace.

Looking now as if it will just be me and the missus so we have changed the criteria for the hotel and found this one  - https://theivimare.com/en/ adult only hotel.
We figure we may as well go somewhere nice for our 30th wedding anniversary next June.

[rob1966]

Looking now as if it will just be me and the missus so we have changed the criteria for the hotel and found this one  - https://theivimare.com/en/ adult only hotel.
We figure we may as well go somewhere nice for our 30th wedding anniversary next June.

Thats looks stunning. I remember walking past it on the way to the Water Park

[tray fenny]

Ibiza at least 3 times, again 💃🏾🕺🏻. Although Defected Malta & Croatia are also tempting.

[CHOPPER]

Bergamo for 4 days, then either Lisbon or Marseille for a few days, then I'd like to think I can get to Dublin for a long week, hopefully a couple of London trips, then all going well, a couple of days in Warsaw.

[SamLad]

Have you been to Vienna, thats a pretty good City for a City break?

seconded.

[rob1966]

seconded.

thirded

[Drinks Sangria]

Have you been to Vienna, thats a pretty good City for a City break?

Yes, I went in December 22 for the Christmas Markets and the Basquiat exhibit at the Albertina. Cheap Gosser everywhere, loved it.

[Ab125]

Sa coma Majorca end of Majorca for 10 nights and a long weekend in the caravan somewhere possibly Haggerston.

[Henry Gale]

Cala en Bosch in September, not a huge fan of really hot weather so I thought September would be a better options that August 

[bradders1011]

Heard an advert for Emirates today, waffling on about BBQs on the beach and other outdoor stuff, then it said Visit Dubai this summer. Like fuck they do BBQs in the summer, its  48/49c of a day and over 40c of a night

It'll be some wanker-filled BBQ Experience full of influencers and the sort of beaked up, too tight shiny suit-wearing, carpet-carrying types who get into fights at Cheltenham. And you just know that knobhead Salt Bae will be involved.

[rob1966]

It'll be some wanker-filled BBQ Experience full of influencers and the sort of beaked up, too tight shiny suit-wearing, carpet-carrying types who get into fights at Cheltenham. And you just know that knobhead Salt Bae will be involved.

I'd love to watch the fuckers passing out from the heat

[Son of Spion]

Cala en Bosch in September, not a huge fan of really hot weather so I thought September would be a better options that August 

We went there in September too. Weather was nice.

This year we're trying Majorca. I've never been. Either Cala D'or or Soller. Probably the former for the coves to snorkel in. September again. Once the kids have all gone back to school and it's quieter.

[jason42]

We went there in September too. Weather was nice.

This year we're trying Majorca. I've never been. Either Cala D'or or Soller. Probably the former for the coves to snorkel in. September again. Once the kids have all gone back to school and it's quieter.

We went to Cala D'Or some 25ish years ago when the kids were little and it was lovely. No idea if it has stayed lovely though.

[bradders1011]

We went to Cala D'Or some 25ish years ago when the kids were little and it was lovely. No idea if it has stayed lovely though.

It was lovely when we went in 2017.

[Terry de Niro]

We went there in September too. Weather was nice.

This year we're trying Majorca. I've never been. Either Cala D'or or Soller. Probably the former for the coves to snorkel in. September again. Once the kids have all gone back to school and it's quieter.

Been to Santa Ponsa a few times and love it there.

[rob1966]

It was lovely when we went in 2017.

My mate only sold his Villa there in the past couple of years and it was still lovely

Been to Santa Ponsa a few times and love it there.

Been once, loved everything except piggybacking the youngest up the big hill in 90f temps of a night cos he was tired, I was drippingby the time we got to the hotel

[Son of Spion]

Thanks for those replies on Cala D'or. We've been to Ibiza, Formentera and Menorca, but I've never tried Majorca. Mrs S has but not Cala D'or. I've always thought it looked really nice when I've seen pictures. It's got the coves we like for snorkelling too. Flights are booked. We're just shopping around for accommodation now.

[Terry de Niro]

Been once, loved everything except piggybacking the youngest up the big hill in 90f temps of a night cos he was tired, I was drippingby the time we got to the hotel

Aye, cardiac hill. The Missus and I always got cabs up there, day and night, but especially nights after a drink or 12.