Holidays 2013

It's getting to that time of year when most people think about next years hols.
Has anyone booked yet or is it still in the 'can we afford it' stage? I know it is for us!

 

Not planning a holiday for next year. Can afford it, but with the animals, it's more hassle then it is worth.

Unless I take myself off on another of my solo excursions ...

 

Always thinking about hols!

Got a plan for cycling the Danube starting from the source in S Germany. (Already done the Austrian section)

Possibly going on the train to Istanbul. Or Moscow. I love train journeys.

Or maybe going hutting in the Alps somewhere. (Same as last year)

Probably retiring in July so I'll be worried about conserving cash. So holidays may well involve tents.

Also, if I'm retired I could just stick around enjoying the UK summer/ autumn and clear off somewhere warmer in November.

 

aha same here

 

Hutting in the Alps sounds interesting Mada. I've always wanted to go here myself.

It doesn't look real but it is!

 

We haven't been away on our hols (except for a couple of overnight stays) for 3 years. Haven't been abroad for 5 years (unless you count the west country as abroad ).

I'm determined that we're going away next year though. Probably somewhere in the south west. Going abroad is ok, but it seems to me that more than half of my foreign hols have featured me fending off people who want to sell me things I don't want. Cheap (fake) designer shades, jewellery that will break before you even get home, a flower the lady even meaning she now has to carry something around with her until we get back to the digs, where it will just be left to wither, a timeshare.

 

You are clearly going to the wrong places, Clue

 

Indeed. The wrong places being Thomas Cook I think. I go in, I tell them that I want somewhere that is not a purpose built resort, has not been consumed by commercialism, retains much of its original character, and is quiet and laid back. Then they recommend to us to places like Lanzagrotty (the worst holiday of my life, and it was our honeymoon. I wanted to come home half way through). In their defence, they did also recommend Minorca, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and Zakynthos too, which was another good one, but mostly a bit poor.

When I told them I was after a honeymoon holiday, and they recommended Lanzagrotty, they told us the town they were sending us to, Costa Teguise, was a quaint Spanish/Canarian small town that was very laid back. They told us it was very traditional, and that it was where Spanish people themselves went for their holidays. What a load of utter tosh that turned out to be. It was a purpose built resort with pubs with names like the Red Lion, showing the footy on the big screen, selling discounted Stella by the jug, and the place was literally swarming with peddlers, to the point where you literally couldn't walk anyway without repeatedly saying 'no thanks', or 'NO!' or 'NO! just go off'.

Still, at least they weren't lying about their being plenty of restaurants. MacDonalds, Burger King, KFC, various pizza shops and kebab shops, a chippy, an Indian, a Chinese, the choice was endless.

Oh, and Thomas Cook even managed to pass on our details to the hotel as Mr and Miss Clue, so had the hoteliers not been experienced hoteliers (ie seen everything and no longer care), they'd have probably thought we were brother and sister and a bit weird.

So yep, I reckon I've been going to the wrong places too

 

I intend to help the Greeks out again and visit one of their beautiful islands.

 

I am going to window-view for my hols, or even costa-our-gate.

I am not sure what we are going to do next year, we always have at least one trip to Weymouth.
Our B&B landlady is lovely, we take Fred the dog, and she is happy for him to stay, she has even said if we were to do a day trip to the Isle of Wight, she would take over looking after Fred for the day.

Since coming back from Cyprus, our attitude has changed, a lot of things have happened with the OH healthwise meaning we are not able to do things as before.
Maybe if things improve, we could think again. We have quite a few friends who want to go and stay with them, so it could be a 'Staycation'.

 

booked my holidays yesterday

 

Yup. Never go to any place that features in a brochure. You don 't have to - how about this, for starters, in the heart of rural Spain. http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/spain/S2038.htm

You can book your own accommodation with car hire and flights for around the same as you'd pay for a package. You won't get a 5* hotel, of course, you'll get your own private residence instead. I have used Owner's Direct, it's very simple, as simple as renting a cottage in this country and most of them are Brits anyway. I wouldn't mind a day spent in a big resort, they have their own charm but a week, never.

Could you not find any way of entertaining yourselves?

 

Where is that, Robajobs? I love going to mountain huts but you have to be OK with sharing beds with strangers! Lots of huts just have a few big communal dorms with a pile of blankets and you get told where to lay your sheet sleeping bag. It's a real leveller, no 5* stuff which I can't afford anyway.
Some of the old-fashioned huts in Switzerland are just like scenes from Heidi.

 

Come on Sal don't leave us in suspence...where you going