Topic: Holidays 2023 - What's your plans?

[keano7]

Looking for some help folks. Sick of reading TripAdvisor reviews. Mostly fake.

Looking for a hottish getaway in mid to late May. Me, the missus and her two kids (8 and 11). We only got together during lockdown so I'm a noob at family resort holidays.

Looking for a good all-inclusive. Beach. Water slides for the kids. Decent entertainment (Football, table tennis, pool, darts etc).

Best I've seen so far within budget (Around £3k) would be this one https://www.rixos.com/en/hotel-resort/rixos-premium-seagate

Any recommendations welcome!

We stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort in Kos in October last year - https://blue-lagoon-resort-kos-island.booked.net/#w

On-site water park, 7-a-side football pitch, mini golf course, darts, volleyball, huge swimming pools and multiple restaurants so there’s absolutely loads to do. The hotel has its own private beach and bar so it’s more than ideal. Kos Town is approx 15-20 min walk away or a 5 min bus ride which stops right outside the hotel. It’ll definitely tick all your boxes and it’s not too expensive.

[ChrisOH]

We stayed at the Blue Lagoon Resort in Kos in October last year - https://blue-lagoon-resort-kos-island.booked.net/#w

On-site water park, 7-a-side football pitch, mini golf course, darts, volleyball, huge swimming pools and multiple restaurants so there’s absolutely loads to do. The hotel has its own private beach and bar so it’s more than ideal. Kos Town is approx 15-20 min walk away or a 5 min bus ride which stops right outside the hotel. It’ll definitely tick all your boxes and it’s not too expensive.

Cheers for suggestion! We ended up booking the Rixos in Sharm El-Sheikh. It's a bit more money but guaranteed weather in May, snorkeling for free in the Red Sea as part of all-inclusive package, mad water park and choice of restaurants sold it for us. Just don't want the kids to end up expecting this type of holiday every year.

[.adam]

Booked a weekend in Dublin for my birthday in Feb. Have never been before so planning to just have a wander and sit in a few pubs in the evenings.

Got a couple of good meals booked too which I'm very much looking forward to; Glover's Alley and Big Fan.

[rob1966]

4 weeks Monday til Tenerife, cannot wait

[red_Mark1980]

4 weeks Monday til Tenerife, cannot wait

21 weeks till Phuket. To say I'm ready is an understatement

[gregor]

I'm going to Gdansk for a couple of days in March for my mate's 40th.
Copenhagen in July, we've got tickets to see Springsteen there and it's somewhere I haven't been to before and neither has my wife so we're spending 4 days there too.
Last two weeks in August, we're going to drive up to Scotland and do most of the North Coast 500 - head up to Inverness for a night, then set off up the East coast, up to John O Groats and across the North, back down the West but instead of looping back to Inverness we'll head on down to Skye, then back through Glencoe and Loch Lomond, and back home from there, might stop in the lakes for a night on the way home if we have time to break the journey up.

Looking forward to all of it, nice year shaping up holiday wise.

[red_Mark1980]

Copenhagen is a great city Gregor, if you're into it there's a thriving craft beer scene, loads of fish on the menu in places and the locals are by and large chilled and pretty friendly

It's a strong economy though. We went in late 2016 I think and the exchange rate shook us all.

[redgriffin73]

Seen a few people lately saying they're going to Gdansk, might have a little look into it as a possible city break.

[Nick110581]

Off to Valencia in April

Need to sort accommodation if anyone has any recommendations

[ToneLa]

no idea

might do a mad jaunt in april

this is a going away year though

work sending me to Sofia end Jan. Any tips?

[Lfc19ynwa]

no idea

might do a mad jaunt in april

this is a going away year though

work sending me to Sofia end Jan. Any tips?

Take a hat & some gloves

[The G in Gerrard]

Don't think I'll have enough holidays this year to go abroad now & that's with buying 5 additional days through work

[SamLad]

work sending me to Sofia end Jan. Any tips?

went there on business a few years back.  kinda odd place imo.  in the taxi from the airport, my friend wanted to strike up a conversation with the driver and said "I've heard Sofia is a very nice place".

the driver didn't reply coz he was too busy pissing himself laughing at the remark.

hotel was lovely (no idea what the name was) - old, traditional but rooms very big and comfortable and super showers. hate to say  it, but from what we saw of the place overall, the city itself reminded me of Bootle in the 1950-60s to be honest.

maybe the offices we went to were in a crappy part of town. or maybe it's upgraded a lot.  I'd be interested in what you think of it when you get back.

[rob1966]

Don't think I'll have enough holidays this year to go abroad now & that's with buying 5 additional days through work

Do you get sick pay? I'd go on holiday using booked time/the 5 days and go sick for the 5 days you bought, or fuck it throw a fortnight in

[The G in Gerrard]

Do you get sick pay? I'd go on holiday using booked time/the 5 days and go sick for the 5 days you bought, or fuck it throw a fortnight in

Just moved jobs so won't get sick pay until summer. Need any sick days later in the year

Shite really as we'd been looking forward to a trip abroad. What I thought I was getting I'm not so having to use leave elsewhere.

[Chakan]

In Bogota now for a weeks vacation, wife is visiting her sister and her new born baby. I’m still not used to how loud it is at night, specially in the airbnb we are staying out. It’s like living next to a racetrack. Really screwing with my sleep.

[kavah]

^ I look out for the weather every day in Bogota (I've never been there like) on Sky or BBC World because it never seems to change - always 18ºC 
Hope you get some sleep - also heard it's great for BBQ 

[.adam]

Really enjoyed Bogota, perhaps not as much as Medellin though. I remember wandering around and finding ourselves in little 'areas' of the city which specialised in a certain industry/service.

Car repair shops all bunched together, then woodworking, then steel work, then things started getting seedy and we found the cross-dressing prostitute district

Cracking view point from Cerro de Monserrate which is worth a look. Wear sun cream though! Even though it was cool (18 degrees ) we still burned, must be due to the altitude.

[Chakan]

Yeah it’s constantly 18 deg here and rains almost every day around 2-4ish in the afternoon. Least that’s what my weather app says. Sunday night was better for sleeping, I think everyone was at church so the roads are less busy. We went to the gold museum and the art gallery yesterday which was a lot of fun.

Wife and her sister are doing a spa day today. Forgot to say we’re not actually staying in bogota, we’re in masquera. So lots of stacked apartment living.

My wife actually grew up closer to Medellin, so I’ve been there once. Find it more peaceful than bogota.

[AlphaDelta]

Off to Malta for a week in late March so hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Not too scorching but not lashing down either.

Gonna try for Denmark in June and fancy going over the bridge and seeing what Malmo is all about and then September, 10 days in the USA, back to Pennsylvania, exploring Maryland and West Virginia, can't wait.

[lfcmaster45]

seville in march going to watch a match while i am there

texas in may

[lfcmaster45]

Off to Valencia in April

Need to sort accommodation if anyone has any recommendations

valencia is one of the best places i have been to

expedia is my go to site for booking hotels

[lfcmaster45]

Yeah. We recently went to Boston and while it's probably cheaper than NYC, it still can be pricey compared to Canadian cities like Toronto or Montreal, or some Midwestern U.S. cities.  But the missus and I found out a few years ago when going to Chicago that the U.S. isn't as cheap as it used to be, especially for meals and snacks.


Like with a lot of North American cities like Toronto, hotels can be very expensive. Although in Boston's case, they are cheaper in the winter, but costly once spring hits. Also a lot of U.S. hotels tend to now charge a separate "resort/facility fee" that covers things that used to be free like wi-fi and bottled water.

That said Boston has plenty of free or low cost activities. Walking the Freedom Trail is free. You can pay to go into some of the locations. For example, we went into Paul Revere's House for a break from the rain, but it is was definitely nor worth the time to go in. If you go on the weekend, you can get a Weekender commuter rail pass for $10 per person, which is separate from the 7 Day Charlie card, which allows unlimited travel for the weekend on the commuter rail system. That would enable trips to places like Salem at a small discount from the regular fare.

A surprising amount of Boston's activities are outside, so the weather may be a factor. Boston feels like a big town and a lot of the tourist sites are close together, so a lot of it is walkable. Also the public transit is hit or miss. There are a lot of stations close together, particularly if you stay near Faneuil Hall, but some of the lines are much slower than others (we found the Red line to Harvard to be surprisingly very slow; the Orange and Green lines moved quite quickly). Depending on what someone wants to do and the weather, Boston is definitely doable in two full days with a third to go somewhere like Salem.

The biggest recommend for Boston would be the Italian restaurants in the North End, which are fantastic; some of the best can be found in the side streets along Hanover Street where the bulk of the restaurants are. We were also surprised at how early a lot of the restaurants were turning people away from the rest of the evening (5pm on a Friday) because of reservations.

i went to chicago for a second visit last year,  not many people have it on there bucket list when going to the states

[gjr1]

Off skiing in Italy last 2 weeks of march.

Then I have a few days in Milan after that. I just bought a ticket to Inter V Fiorentina on the 2nd of April. Would of preferred to see AC I think but they are down in Napoli on or around the same day.

Might go up to Como if I can… Doesn’t seem too far

Would really like to go to Florence for a day / night but no idea as yet on the price. Always wanted to see the arty stuff they have there

[AndyMuller]

Just booked Puerto Rico for 10 days from 1st June.

Been to PR a few times and it’s great for weather.

[Nobby Reserve]

Off to Malta for a week in late March so hopefully the weather will be kind to us. Not too scorching but not lashing down either.

We went last summer for a long weekend and it was too hot.

March should be fine. It's such an amazing place with so much to see.

Fort St Elmo is a museum set up to cover all the ages.

Tucked away in one corner is the very chapel where the last Hospitaller defenders of the Fort against the Ottomans were slain. They bought enough time, though, to allow the other two Hospitaller forts to hold out till relief arrived.

The WW2 stuff is almost as fascinating.

Can recommend Wigi's Kitchen (steak, meat) in St Julians, and Aki (Japanese, not Purple) in Valetta.

[harryc]

Off to Malaysia during Easter inc Angor Watt, Singapore and climb up Mt Kinabalu in Borneo.

[gazzalfc]

Any tips for Cancun? Hotels etc

Obviously avoid spring break and hurricane season.

[Crosby Nick]

Booked 3 weeks in NZ and then Sydney for next Christmas. Gulp.

[rob1966]

Any tips for Cancun? Hotels etc

Obviously avoid spring break and hurricane season.

Have they fully sorted the drugs gangs killing people on the beaches? We cancelled last year due to that.

Check that the hotel is fully open, the one we were going to wasn't offering a lot of what they normally do due to covid.

[rob1966]

Booked 3 weeks in NZ and then Sydney for next Christmas. Gulp.

Sunbathing on Christmas Day  

You'll get Xmas day and New Year at least 11 hours before all of us back here.

[Brissyred]

Coming back to the UK in May for 5 weeks.
Going to be spending a lot of time with the express reading, brexit voting, johnson worshiping, rascist, tory inlaws. Really looking forward to it.............

[CheshireDave]

Booked 3 weeks in NZ and then Sydney for next Christmas. Gulp.

Amazing. When do the Ashes tickets go on sale?!

[Crosby Nick]

Amazing. When do the Ashes tickets go on sale?!

Think I’m a year early! Maybe I should have said this Christmas (one for another thread!). Going December 2023.

And not complaining Rob, but think it will ‘only’ be about 20 degrees in NZ at Christmas. Will still feel weird I’m sure.

[rob1966]

Think I’m a year early! Maybe I should have said this Christmas (one for another thread!). Going December 2023.

And not complaining Rob, but think it will ‘only’ be about 20 degrees in NZ at Christmas. Will still feel weird I’m sure.

I thought it would be warmer than that, Australia would have been better wouldn't it?

Will Santa be getting legged by Orcs and the Nazgul?

[Crosby Nick]

I thought it would be warmer than that, Australia would have been better wouldn't it?

Will Santa be getting legged by Orcs and the Nazgul?

Yeah, head to Sydney just after and will be there for New Year. Can get very hot at that time, can get the odd wash out too.

NZ is a lot cooler in general. Think the North Island gets the warmer of the weather, but it’s a more Mediterranean climate rather than nothing really hot and tropical.

[rob1966]

Yeah, head to Sydney just after and will be there for New Year. Can get very hot at that time, can get the odd wash out too.

NZ is a lot cooler in general. Think the North Island gets the warmer of the weather, but it’s a more Mediterranean climate rather than nothing really hot and tropical.

I've never been, missus has once as she has family out in NZ, I think they live on the North Island. One of my cousins lived there at some point, not sure if he's still there or living in Brazil now.

I'd be happy with 3 weeks away from the UK in December

[Nobby Reserve]

Booked 3 weeks in NZ and then Sydney for next Christmas. Gulp.

I think NZ is my #1 'I wanna go there' place.

It just looks amazing. Think I'd need at least a month - and a lot of money - to experience everything, though.

[Nobby Reserve]

Managed to iron out the VRBO issues (no thanks to them, the knobheads) so booked a villa on the SW Brittany coast. Ferry over on the Thursday night, drive to Versailles to stay over in a hotel that allow dogs. Train into Paris for the afternoon & evening (dogs allowed on all public transport) then back to hotel. The missus & girls are going round the Palace next morning, then onwards to Brittany.

Will see just how dog-friendly Paris is!!

[duvva 💅]

Booked 3 weeks in NZ and then Sydney for next Christmas. Gulp.

Sounds amazing Nick. Love Australia, travelled there for 9 months in 2000 will get back there one day hopefully. So much to do and see, however long you have it never seems enough time