dream holiday ... will it be ?

elantan

Hi all,

as my friend says i have a dilema, but what a nice dilema to have ( not from where i'm sitting it isnt lol)

really looking for advice and ideas tbh, ( i think this thread may last a while) ... i have written before and the situation still hasnt changed too much (only got a little bit harder)

the story so far is this ....

went to Florida in april, returning in may, as our flight was overbooked we were offered free return flights with the airline(virgin atlantic) to anywhere they fly to (except Australia)....next year is my 40th birthday, so this was ideal for us, we accepted the offer

we need to book these flights soonish but we really cant decide where to go, i did fancy India, so i got in touch with a travel company telling them what i was looking for and they responded with what i can only describe as a nightmare of a trip costing £7858 for 22 nights (not including flights)

oh and i talked it over and India now seems to be a bit out of the picture so we thought of China instead Beijing looked interesting, the great wall, tianeman (sp) square, forbidden city, pottery warriors etc , but i think we would get fed up after a while, so we thought then ...

5 days beijing, down to hanoi city for a couple of days ho chi min city for a couple of days pomh penh ( sorry about the spelling) then back to beijing before going home ... then we watched the idiot abroad ... ok i know we shouldnt compare what we might experience to what someone else says ... but i think Karl pilkington had a point, knowing the type of person i am i would also stand on the great wall of China and think erm this is it ? they rebuilt it in the 50's and the 80's it aint even the origonal ? i can see it from space but i aint in space so ....we went (years ago) to see the niagra falls and were really disapointed

i thought then though hey atleast i get to see tianeman square ... and then i thought well... tianeman square really is just a bit of concrete in the middle of a town ... not got as much in it as leicester square ( and that bored the pants off of me) yep i would enjoy it , it's history etc for say a whole 30 mins , then i think i would be like ok whats next then

we then thought of Hong kong for a couple of days followed by Australia for two weeks before back to Hong kong and home , but where in Australia do we go to? and what do we do when we are there?

there is also the U.S.A that we could go to but where to go and what to do ... sigh

i'm also kinda concerned with booking something now with the latest news about Thomas Cook.. i'm sure they wont be the last that is going through what they are, i have booked holidays myself for the last few times anyway so am kinda used to it.

the things we dont like to do on holiday are: ( its easier for me to say what we dont want to do rather than what we do)

constant beach holidays ( a couple of days is ok)

night time bars ( my idea of hell would be a kareoke bar, or someone impersonating someone else... or Xfactor type things)

going on day trips to watch people in native costumes making paper out of things like elephant dung ( i mean come on seriously... not everyone in Scotland wears a kilt and hunts haggis, am i expected to believe that other nations do similar)


i'm sure there are more things we dont like but thats a kinda good start

what i really want help with ( if you could) is ideas of where we could go and things we could do

what would be your dream holiday type ideas

sorry this is all confusing and a bit rambled if you have any questions i will answer no problems

dzug1

You could do worse than South Efrica - fair bit of variety there, beaches, wilderness, safaris, wild life

Do tend to agree with you about things folklorique though. I'm sure a lot of it is made up for tourists

elantan

Thanks...any particular place in S.Africa?

we did The Gambia years ago ... an experience which was both wonderful and hell at the same time, kinda avoided the idea of Africa since ... but it may be worth our while rethinking it

delwynshd

South Africa is nothing like the Gambia, muc h more up market destination, you could spend some time in Cape Town, head along the Garden Route, then up to Kruger for a safari

Plenty to do out there

Del

elantan

thanks ... just having a little look and it looks interesting, have just discounted Africa before ( after The Gambia experience) am glad i have asked...

ok S.Africa questions, what is the best time to go? anything we shouldnt miss? any recomendations on accomadation?

claire16c

Id go to Maui, Hawaii because thats my favourite place. Tons of stuff to do there.

I also had a really nice time when we went to Vietnam which you mentioned. We spent 2 weeks travelling from Hanoi to Ho chi Minh

isplumm

claire16c wrote: »

Id go to Maui, Hawaii because thats my favourite place. Tons of stuff to do there.

I also had a really nice time when we went to Vietnam which you mentioned. We spent 2 weeks travelling from Hanoi to Ho chi Minh

Hi,

Funnily enough that is where we are going next year - it is my wife's 40th as well - going to Honolulu, then Maui ..... i assume that you need to fly to somewhere like SF / LA - then get a cheap flight to Honolulu .... as Virgin don't fly to Hawaii.

Mark

elantan

thanks they all sounds like great ideas ... i think this is the annoying thing with getting free flights ... i am grateful dont get me wrong ... but it opens so many possibilities up to us ... and i want to travel the world so i want to go everywhere ( just maybe not for my 40th)

mgdavid

we need some help:
- do you want one city / base or multi-centred?
- do you like driving yourself lots abroad?
- are you independent travellers or prefer conducted tours?
- happy with motels + eat out / apartments + self-cater, or want hotels eveywhere?
- where do your interests lie? outdoor sports? art and culture? 'the tourist sights'? UNESCO world heritage sites? history / ruins? shopping? are you fit(ish) i.e. up for long walks?

and of course, if the flights are free, what budget are you working to for the rest?

elantan

mgdavid wrote: »

we need some help:
- do you want one city / base or multi-centred?
- do you like driving yourself lots abroad?
- are you independent travellers or prefer conducted tours?
- happy with motels + eat out / apartments + self-cater, or want hotels eveywhere?
- where do your interests lie? outdoor sports? art and culture? 'the tourist sights'? UNESCO world heritage sites? history / ruins? shopping? are you fit(ish) i.e. up for long walks?

and of course, if the flights are free, what budget are you working to for the rest?

hi thanks ... will answer as best as i can

i dont mind multi centered as long as it isnt 12 centres in 22 days ( like the quote i was given) say 3 centres over a three week period is ok ... i dont mind re packing but dont want to have to live out of a suitcase

when we go to the u.s we always drive ... have no real problem with driving abroad as long as it aint too stressful ( India looks to be a tad insane for driving to me ... and Bangkok was insane for driving when we were there)

dont mind either being an independant traveller or going on a conducted tour ... althougth probably better independant ... as we dont like being rushed around and shown things like " and on your left is where so and so lives "

accomadation .... i dont like huge hotels ... too impersonal and it reminds me of herding ... other than that as long as it is clean and relitively well kept were ok ... sc is a possibility hubby is an amazing cook so enjoys having a tinker with food ( we usually try and get a cookery course every where we go)

dont mind unesco sites , culture, sports , walking (we like hillwalking) history infact all that you have suggested apart from shopping .... i cant stand shopping

budget ... we havnt set one yet ... we want value but do understand we will need to pay money so as long as it isnt too expensive and a rip off were happy ...

thanks for the help :T

elantan

http://www.2inn1.com/ i like a hotel something like this ... (doesnt have to be this ... but it gives you an idea) its £128 a night which aint cheap but not as dear as other hotels can be


http://www.merlinphuket.com/merlinbeach/index.html have stayed here before ... this is my fav hotel ever ... ok it is big ... but it is laid out in such a way that it looks and appears anything but ... service was out of this world as well ... i could go on and on about the hotel tbh lol