Off to Crete next Friday with the Mrs and kids, just seen the island has been hit by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake and there has been a tsunami warning issued....ffs!
Never planned on one this year, but following visiting more funerals than weddings, thought, fuck it. Hit the credit card and got flights to LA end of August. Not bothered about going SF, but are definitely driving to vegas Thinking about starting in Santa Monica, then Death Valley? Vegas, back? Love any thoughts, ideas? Do I stop at London Bridge? Thanks all.
How long have you got?
Places to visit - I would say north of LA then Santa Barbara is an absolute must. One of the nicest towns on the PCH. Just love the vibe of the place and the purple trees are bloody awesome. You just dont get trees like that here.
South of LA, if you can go down as far as La Jolla (just before San Diego), thats beautiful - if you like golf its right on the doorstep of Torrey Pines Golf Club. Then on the way back up, pop into Temecula, a proper old 'Western' town. San Diego is a cool city, Balboa Park is absolutely stunning but you'd need a couple of days to see it all.
I'd recommend Palm Springs and Joshua Tree national park too but its in the opposite to Vegas, along with La Jolla & San Diego.
If you've got the time and dont mind driving, a lot of it is possible.
If it was me personally, I'd probably pick start in LA, drive north to Santa Barbara, follow the PCH up to Big Sur, Monterey and San Fran then head east to Yosemite National Park then head south to Vegas through Death Valley. In August, you can take the Tioga Pass and save a couple of days driving. When we done it in May, I was driving an RV in a bloody blizzard
We went Cape Town at Easter for my mother-in-laws surprise 80th birthday treat. 9 of us went.
Beautiful 5 bed AirBnb house in Camps Bay, about 15 mins from Cape Town. Hired a guide to take us on 4/5 day trips, travelled around by Uber the rest of the time. For all 9 of us in an Uber XL to get to Stellenbosch and back (60 min round trip) was about £40-45.
Dinners for all 9 of us were working out between £180-250 with 4 bottles of wine, a couple of beers and a couple of G&Ts.
The couple of safari days we done were expensive but not eye wateringly so..
Granted its expensive to get there no matter who you fly with but its ridiculously cheap when you get there.
It was my 2nd time back in South Africa and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Off there next week, and wanna venture out the hotel for the day, experience the Souk etc, but any restaurant recommendations or what to go and see would be appreciated.
Off there next week, and wanna venture out the hotel for the day, experience the Souk etc, but any restaurant recommendations or what to go and see would be appreciated.
Yes but not since the Charlton tour in 1975, so I’m rather out of date! I do recall the Souk was fun.
We went Cape Town at Easter for my mother-in-laws surprise 80th birthday treat. 9 of us went.
Beautiful 5 bed AirBnb house in Camps Bay, about 15 mins from Cape Town. Hired a guide to take us on 4/5 day trips, travelled around by Uber the rest of the time. For all 9 of us in an Uber XL to get to Stellenbosch and back (60 min round trip) was about £40-45.
Dinners for all 9 of us were working out between £180-250 with 4 bottles of wine, a couple of beers and a couple of G&Ts.
The couple of safari days we done were expensive but not eye wateringly so..
Granted its expensive to get there no matter who you fly with but its ridiculously cheap when you get there.
It was my 2nd time back in South Africa and I'd recommend it to anyone.
South Africa is still one of my favourite holidays. Just gutted we didn't have more time there. Really liked Camps Bay and the scenery there is amazing.
We went Cape Town at Easter for my mother-in-laws surprise 80th birthday treat. 9 of us went.
Beautiful 5 bed AirBnb house in Camps Bay, about 15 mins from Cape Town. Hired a guide to take us on 4/5 day trips, travelled around by Uber the rest of the time. For all 9 of us in an Uber XL to get to Stellenbosch and back (60 min round trip) was about £40-45.
Dinners for all 9 of us were working out between £180-250 with 4 bottles of wine, a couple of beers and a couple of G&Ts.
The couple of safari days we done were expensive but not eye wateringly so..
Granted its expensive to get there no matter who you fly with but its ridiculously cheap when you get there.
It was my 2nd time back in South Africa and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Sounds like a wonderful trip!
We've not been back since we lived there for 3 years 2014 to 2017. But want to go back. The plan is to use our BA companion flight (which can be used for business class) Jan 2027 for the ENG cricket
Off to Crete next Friday with the Mrs and kids, just seen the island has been hit by a 6.0 magnitude earthquake and there has been a tsunami warning issued....ffs!
You'll be alright, just swim around it
Not sure that will work with a 4 and 6yr old mate 😂
Going to Benidorm for 2 days to watch Cheltenham on a massive hotel screen around a pool as it was about 1/3 of the price of actually going
Then Murcia with my missus' family in May and then Oz in December/January for the Ashes.
We've just been invited to a wedding in the Dominican Republic next Feb which is a belting excuse for holiday!
If you have not been to Australia for the Ashes before, it is a fantastic experience and and one you'll enjoy a lot. Melbourne and Sydney are both great cities and very contrasting.
Whenever I get my compensation I'm planning on getting trains all the way from London to Bodo, with a few nights stop in each city. Here to Brussels, then onto Hamburg (via Cologne), from there to Copenhagen, to Gothenburg, onto Oslo then Trondheim and Bodo. Plan is to then fly up to Tromso and possibly to Svalbard. Should get some decent Northern Lights action if the weather is perfect.
That is a fantastic trip, try and get a train to Bergen if you can, absolutely stunning.
who do you all book your holidays through?.......... we are looking to get away in June - not sure where to go yet
In the past I have used Flight Centre in Bromley, they have helped many times.
Nowadays I book flights through Skyscanner, and accommodation through hotels.co.uk
Both good sites, but if one component goes wrong (your flight doesn’t take off or when you get there the accommodation has an issue) you have no financial protection as you would have if you had booked an ATOL protected package (as would have typically been provided by Flight Centre).
who do you all book your holidays through?.......... we are looking to get away in June - not sure where to go yet
In the past I have used Flight Centre in Bromley, they have helped many times.
Nowadays I book flights through Skyscanner, and accommodation through hotels.co.uk
Both good sites, but if one component goes wrong (your flight doesn’t take off or when you get there the accommodation has an issue) you have no financial protection as you would have if you had booked an ATOL protected package (as would have typically been provided by Flight Centre).
Agreed.
Normally go direct to respective airline once I have seen the details.
Just got back from Croatia. Had a fantastic week staying on Koločep, near Dubrovnik. Brilliant holiday for middle-aged to older couples. Thoroughly recommend.
Was it practical to visit Dubrovnik for a day trip whilst staying on Koločep?
Not sure how the ‘islands’ lend themselves to easily / cost effectively seeing more of Croatia.
Yes, there's a very good ferry service or if you want, you can hire a taxi-boat. I've no idea what the private boats are like as we didn't use them, but the ferry was cheap and reliable. Also the holiday company (TUI Blue) organised our boats as part of the airport transfer and this was very smooth.
We went on a day trip to Dubrovnik and had plenty of time to explore the old city and take a trip on the cable car. From memory it was 12€ for two of us to go to Dubrovnik and back. TBH, I wouldn't have wanted more than a day in the city itself as it was too crowded and too pricy for my liking. The islands are far more relaxing and the prices more reasonable, especially if you have an all-inclusive deal . On another day we took the ferry in the other direction to the island of Šipan. The ferry price here was just 10€ for us to both spend the day in Suđurađ (Šipan). You might struggle if you want to explore some of the other islands though; I personally wanted to visit Mljet because the island is a nature reserve, but there's not a direct ferry between Koločep and Mljet. The time taken to go to Dubrovnik and change boats wouldn't have made the journey worth it. But ultimately there was enough wildlife on Kolocep to keep me happy, without going anywhere else.
We also took an organised day trip to Lake Kotor (Montenegro). This was a great trip and again the boat transfer was absolutely fine. There were various other trips on offer including a visit to Mostar, but I can't comment on these as we didn't do them.
Just got back from Croatia. Had a fantastic week staying on Koločep, near Dubrovnik. Brilliant holiday for middle-aged to older couples. Thoroughly recommend.
Was it practical to visit Dubrovnik for a day trip whilst staying on Koločep?
Not sure how the ‘islands’ lend themselves to easily / cost effectively seeing more of Croatia.
We also took an organised day trip to Lake Kotor (Montenegro). This was a great trip and again the boat transfer was absolutely fine. There were various other trips on offer including a visit to Mostar, but I can't comment on these as we didn't do them.
Found the submarine docks that were cut into the mountain as you go into Kotor very interesting. Should anyone fancy a stay here, got a good direct contact with someone who rents a lovely 2 bed lakeside villa with pool.
Just finished arranging our honeymoon for October.
A week in Cambodia, split between temple time, feet up on an island, then finishing in Phnom Penh for city exploring.
Nice. I loved Angkor Watt, did 2 full days of temples, it was amazing. Also visited the floating village nearby which was fascinating, if a bit depressing in terms of some of the poverty.
Just got back from Croatia. Had a fantastic week staying on Koločep, near Dubrovnik. Brilliant holiday for middle-aged to older couples. Thoroughly recommend.
Was it practical to visit Dubrovnik for a day trip whilst staying on Koločep?
Not sure how the ‘islands’ lend themselves to easily / cost effectively seeing more of Croatia.
We also took an organised day trip to Lake Kotor (Montenegro). This was a great trip and again the boat transfer was absolutely fine. There were various other trips on offer including a visit to Mostar, but I can't comment on these as we didn't do them.
Found the submarine docks that were cut into the mountain as you go into Kotor very interesting. Should anyone fancy a stay here, got a good direct contact with someone who rents a lovely 2 bed lakeside villa with pool.
Just googled the submarine docks as never heard of it before. Looks like a fascinating place to visit!
Never planned on one this year, but following visiting more funerals than weddings, thought, fuck it. Hit the credit card and got flights to LA end of August. Not bothered about going SF, but are definitely driving to vegas Thinking about starting in Santa Monica, then Death Valley? Vegas, back? Love any thoughts, ideas? Do I stop at London Bridge? Thanks all.
How long have you got?
Places to visit - I would say north of LA then Santa Barbara is an absolute must. One of the nicest towns on the PCH. Just love the vibe of the place and the purple trees are bloody awesome. You just dont get trees like that here.
South of LA, if you can go down as far as La Jolla (just before San Diego), thats beautiful - if you like golf its right on the doorstep of Torrey Pines Golf Club. Then on the way back up, pop into Temecula, a proper old 'Western' town. San Diego is a cool city, Balboa Park is absolutely stunning but you'd need a couple of days to see it all.
I'd recommend Palm Springs and Joshua Tree national park too but its in the opposite to Vegas, along with La Jolla & San Diego.
If you've got the time and dont mind driving, a lot of it is possible.
If it was me personally, I'd probably pick start in LA, drive north to Santa Barbara, follow the PCH up to Big Sur, Monterey and San Fran then head east to Yosemite National Park then head south to Vegas through Death Valley. In August, you can take the Tioga Pass and save a couple of days driving. When we done it in May, I was driving an RV in a bloody blizzard
Going to start in Santa Monica just to get over the flight, will take your advice with Santa Barbara, night or two in Death Valley, couple of nights in vegas, then head inland to lake havasu to look at London Bridge, then whatever’s left coastwards towards Palm Springs.
To be honest, apart from flights and three nights in Santa Monica, will wing it from there.
Off there next week, and wanna venture out the hotel for the day, experience the Souk etc, but any restaurant recommendations or what to go and see would be appreciated.
Take the train to Tunis and visit Carthage...was there early 90's so has probably changed a fair bit since we were there.
I’m currently in Lake Itasca state park in Minnesota, head waters of the Mississippi River, following the great river road down to St Louis, then coming back next year to complete the bottom half all the way to New Orleans
Comments
Places to visit - I would say north of LA then Santa Barbara is an absolute must. One of the nicest towns on the PCH. Just love the vibe of the place and the purple trees are bloody awesome. You just dont get trees like that here.
South of LA, if you can go down as far as La Jolla (just before San Diego), thats beautiful - if you like golf its right on the doorstep of Torrey Pines Golf Club. Then on the way back up, pop into Temecula, a proper old 'Western' town. San Diego is a cool city, Balboa Park is absolutely stunning but you'd need a couple of days to see it all.
I'd recommend Palm Springs and Joshua Tree national park too but its in the opposite to Vegas, along with La Jolla & San Diego.
If you've got the time and dont mind driving, a lot of it is possible.
If it was me personally, I'd probably pick start in LA, drive north to Santa Barbara, follow the PCH up to Big Sur, Monterey and San Fran then head east to Yosemite National Park then head south to Vegas through Death Valley. In August, you can take the Tioga Pass and save a couple of days driving. When we done it in May, I was driving an RV in a bloody blizzard
9 of us went.
Beautiful 5 bed AirBnb house in Camps Bay, about 15 mins from Cape Town.
Hired a guide to take us on 4/5 day trips, travelled around by Uber the rest of the time. For all 9 of us in an Uber XL to get to Stellenbosch and back (60 min round trip) was about £40-45.
Dinners for all 9 of us were working out between £180-250 with 4 bottles of wine, a couple of beers and a couple of G&Ts.
The couple of safari days we done were expensive but not eye wateringly so..
Granted its expensive to get there no matter who you fly with but its ridiculously cheap when you get there.
It was my 2nd time back in South Africa and I'd recommend it to anyone.
Off there next week, and wanna venture out the hotel for the day, experience the Souk etc, but any restaurant recommendations or what to go and see would be appreciated.
We've not been back since we lived there for 3 years 2014 to 2017. But want to go back. The plan is to use our BA companion flight (which can be used for business class) Jan 2027 for the ENG cricket
Love it, just don't want to retire there!
If you have not been to Australia for the Ashes before, it is a fantastic experience and and one you'll enjoy a lot. Melbourne and Sydney are both great cities and very contrasting.
Normally go direct to respective airline once I have seen the details.
We went on a day trip to Dubrovnik and had plenty of time to explore the old city and take a trip on the cable car. From memory it was 12€ for two of us to go to Dubrovnik and back. TBH, I wouldn't have wanted more than a day in the city itself as it was too crowded and too pricy for my liking. The islands are far more relaxing and the prices more reasonable, especially if you have an all-inclusive deal
We also took an organised day trip to Lake Kotor (Montenegro). This was a great trip and again the boat transfer was absolutely fine. There were various other trips on offer including a visit to Mostar, but I can't comment on these as we didn't do them.
Should anyone fancy a stay here, got a good direct contact with someone who rents a lovely 2 bed lakeside villa with pool.
Nice. I loved Angkor Watt, did 2 full days of temples, it was amazing. Also visited the floating village nearby which was fascinating, if a bit depressing in terms of some of the poverty.