Holidays 2024

PragueAddick said:

General car hire tips:

Haven't hired one for years so I took the advice of Which mag. and used Zest Car Rental to book and manage.

Absolutely excellent service all round, they actively assist you in avoiding being scammed into unnecessary extra insurance when you pick up you car, and if you have any questions you can call and an actual human who works for them  immediately answers your questions faultlessly. When we got back and on their feedback form I complained that we'd ordered a Corolla and got a Hyundai Bayon, they actually picked it up and wrote back that if something like that happens again I should call them first before accepting a car. I mean this is just all how it should be, but in 2024, how often do you get this level of service? And obviously, you don't have to be a UK resident to use them.

One of the issues was that in France (and other countries, I'm told) you must have a credit  card with you on pick up because they assert that they cannot use a debit card to block an amount for damage. I had to get a credit card just for this. Which mag told me it's a known problem but that as it's foreign territory they have no influence.  As it happens when I picked up the car, I found to my horror that I hadn't noted the PIN of my new card in my passport app. However the nice lady at Europcar looked at my debit cards and liked the look of the HSBC Global one because it was Visa, and used that (I had paid for the basic rental and extra driver using my Mastercard debit card with a euros currency partition) So I'm generally pro Europcar but of course it can vary by country or just the person on the counter. Shows the credit card thing is a load of bull, tho"....

Chaz Hill said:

stoneroses19 said:

Solidgone said:

My annual visit to Gandia in Spain for a month in October booked. Am also thinking of nipping over to Budapest for 5 days in September (never been). Any recommendations on the most convenient place to stay…I’ve heard the Jewish quarter is central?

I stayed in District 5 last year and it was perfect for visiting a lot of places on foot, and there was a decent amount of restaurants/cafes/night food market all within a few streets too. 

You can take a local bus to other side of river, takes around 10 minutes, and from there hop on the funicular railway, best panoramic view of the city is at the top. 

Szechenyi (Chain) Bridge designed by an English engineer, surname Clark, and built by Scotsman also with the surname Clark opened in1849. 

PrincessFiona said:

usetobunkin said:

Got a 2 day stopover in Singapore, next April . Any suggestions to make the most of the short time in Singapore?

Cable car to Sentosa & Clarke Quay. I was going to say Raffles is iconic but expensive, but Singapore is all expensive - Raffles is ridiculously expensive! 

MrOneLung said:

PrincessFiona said:

usetobunkin said:

Got a 2 day stopover in Singapore, next April . Any suggestions to make the most of the short time in Singapore?

Cable car to Sentosa & Clarke Quay. I was going to say Raffles is iconic but expensive, but Singapore is all expensive - Raffles is ridiculously expensive! 

Gotta have one Singapore sling and some monkey nuts in Raffles

Chijmes is an old monastery near Raffles hotel that has quite a few restaurants and bars in it, some with live music.

Also the night safari isn't too bad

gotta have some chillie crab

usetobunkin said:

Got a 2 day stopover in Singapore, next April . Any suggestions to make the most of the short time in Singapore?

se9addick said:

stop_shouting said:

se9addick said:

Ah I’m so jealous of all your plans, just back from my hols and have proper post holiday blues!

We spent 2 and a bit weeks in the Southern US. Started out with 5 days in New Orleans, then took the train travelling up through the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, stopping over in Jackson, Mississippi for a couple of days before heading to Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis was amazing). Then we weren’t to Nashville for five days (inc July 4th, which is also our wedding anniversary) before stopping off in New York on the way home for 48 hours.  

Was a great trip, but have nothing planned now and am feeling very sad about the matter!

Fair play to you. Jackson, New Orleans and Memphis three of the most dangerous cities in the US. Did you feel safe?

Yeah, absolutely no problems at all. We took the same precautions you should take when you visit any city, we weren’t exactly wandering around the back streets and we’ve travelled a lot so have fairly good instincts. Jackson, particularly has a bad rep (murder capital of the US or something), even people from New Orleans were trying to talk us out of it! 

All I can say is the parts of Jackson we visited were incredibly friendly (especially as I don’t think they had ever seen a British person in their lives before!). New Orleans you need to be careful straying too far outside the French Quarter or Garden District. This was our third time visiting NOLA but first time was a few years ago when we had relatively less money so we stayed in a fairly dodgy neighbourhood. Nothing happened, but it wasn’t my brightest idea. It was my first time in Memphis and we didn’t see any issues nor did we experience anything negative at all (though we were strictly in the touristy areas in Memphis). 

It was a great trip, I’m just gutted it’s over! 

usetobunkin said:

Got a 2 day stopover in Singapore, next April . Any suggestions to make the most of the short time in Singapore?

stonemuse said:

Justin20474 said:

I’m off to Mauritius on 1st October for 10 nights staying in the north of the island near Grand Baie, we have hired a car for four days in the middle of the holiday to look around the island, any recommendations v

So much to see, it’s a great place. 

Black River National Park, Chamarel Waterfall, Pamplemousses, North West beaches, Port Louis. 

And for a fun day out, go to Champ de Mars Racecourse. If you can get a seat in a box, even better, it’s very enjoyable … and I’m not even a racing fan!

usetobunkin said:

Got a 2 day stopover in Singapore, next April . Any suggestions to make the most of the short time in Singapore?

cafcnick1992 said:

se9addick said:

stop_shouting said:

se9addick said:

Ah I’m so jealous of all your plans, just back from my hols and have proper post holiday blues!

We spent 2 and a bit weeks in the Southern US. Started out with 5 days in New Orleans, then took the train travelling up through the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, stopping over in Jackson, Mississippi for a couple of days before heading to Memphis, Tennessee (Memphis was amazing). Then we weren’t to Nashville for five days (inc July 4th, which is also our wedding anniversary) before stopping off in New York on the way home for 48 hours.  

Was a great trip, but have nothing planned now and am feeling very sad about the matter!

Fair play to you. Jackson, New Orleans and Memphis three of the most dangerous cities in the US. Did you feel safe?

Yeah, absolutely no problems at all. We took the same precautions you should take when you visit any city, we weren’t exactly wandering around the back streets and we’ve travelled a lot so have fairly good instincts. Jackson, particularly has a bad rep (murder capital of the US or something), even people from New Orleans were trying to talk us out of it! 

All I can say is the parts of Jackson we visited were incredibly friendly (especially as I don’t think they had ever seen a British person in their lives before!). New Orleans you need to be careful straying too far outside the French Quarter or Garden District. This was our third time visiting NOLA but first time was a few years ago when we had relatively less money so we stayed in a fairly dodgy neighbourhood. Nothing happened, but it wasn’t my brightest idea. It was my first time in Memphis and we didn’t see any issues nor did we experience anything negative at all (though we were strictly in the touristy areas in Memphis). 

It was a great trip, I’m just gutted it’s over! 

I went to New Orleans in December 2021. Girlfriend and I thought it was pretty horrible. We went back to our hotel (French Q) one night and there were about 8 of the most dangerous looking blokes just sat around a car outside the lobby. We went for another pint and came back later.

I've never feel unsafe in US cities as a fairly large 6 foot 4 man, but NOLO is the exception.

DaveMehmet said:

CheshireAddick said:

Anyone been to Kuala Lumpur?. We're stopping off for 3 days in January en-route to Melbourne. Any tips of where to visit/ restaurants would be much appreciated. Thank you

I was there over 30 years ago so not up to date with restaurants etc. However, there’s some great architecture to look at, including some really lovely colonial buildings. Highlight is the Sultan Abdul Samad building. Naturally the main train station is also worth a visit. The central market is also good.