Retirement holidays.....

SMcGill

Having retired a whole 3 weeks ago I’m beginning to find myself scouring holidays in the way I used to scour Rightmove for my next house move! 

I’m currently planning a trip to Iceland. Day one is already fixed, a 2 mile hike across a lava field and then a 6 mins cage lift descending 400 ft into a dormant volcano. Day two is snorkelling in an underwater ravine where the North American continental plate meets the Eurasian plate. Any suggestions for days three to six are welcome!

Horses for courses and all that … enjoy your trains! 

Time4T_Accounts

Just got back from our first trip abroad since Covid - 7 nights Eurocamp staying in an air-conditioned tin can In Luxembourg.  A wonderful place for walking - gorgeous, peaceful countryside with well marked trails; WW2 history if you’re interested in that sort of thing (Ardennes, 1944 - the landscape itself tells the story); and Luxembourg City itself is really interesting to visit on (quite literally) a variety of levels. A snip at £479, including Eurotunnel.

westv

Not really a retirement holiday as neither of us has retired just yet but we've booked a week in Tarragona, Spain for later this year.

bluenose1

I intend to have decent holidays before I retire to treat myself for still being in FT work. 
We are off to Porto for a week in June and have booked 2 weeks to Universal, Florida for September.  Did a week in cottage in the Lakes earlier this year. Also have been on one Warner weekend break and have two more booked for later this year.
Hoping to have many more holidays when I do actually retire. 

cfw1994

SMcGill said:

Having retired a whole 3 weeks ago I’m beginning to find myself scouring holidays in the way I used to scour Rightmove for my next house move! 

I’m currently planning a trip to Iceland. Day one is already fixed, a 2 mile hike across a lava field and then a 6 mins cage lift descending 400 ft into a dormant volcano. Day two is snorkelling in an underwater ravine where the North American continental plate meets the Eurasian plate. Any suggestions for days three to six are welcome!

Horses for courses and all that … enjoy your trains! 

A delayed reply here....spent last 7 days pedalling between the last two iron viaducts (Meldon & Bennerley) - 360miles, 19,000ft upwards, mostly all great fun until my pal wiped out just before Ironbridge and broke his arm 😱

Iceland is *awesome* - I would return in a heartbeat, ideally for a few weeks!
We had a week there about 10 years ago, and had a brilliant time.

• Many people go to the Blue Lagoon for a hot swim - I would recommend you hunt out the Secret Lagoon - a great experience, Icelands oldest pool in Iceland!
• Take a walking tour round Reykjavik - learn loads, it's very small to walk around!
• Check what is on at Harpa Concert Hall - if no big events, go watch "How to be­come Icelandic in 60 minutes" - a VERY funny show!
• We had hired a tired Subaru from Sadcars.is - slightly tatty older motors but less pressure on any marks afterwards....we took it to the the DC Plane Wreck in the south of the Island, but I *think* they may have made that harder to do: worth seeing, IMHO, and you can stop off near the huge waterfall on the way....
• Perhaps a trip to Thingvellir National Park, where you can see the tectonic plates out of the water (although I envy your dive!)
• Look out Bobby Fischer's grave in a tiny church....bit of history around that too!
• Have a hot dog at the stand Clinton used!
  
  

Enjoy!

(next up for us....IOW Festival then a fortnight down there, Latitude in July....might need a rest in August!)

sheslookinhot

Officially retired 5 May, but with annual leave and a retirement day since February, effectively stopped work end February. We were in Nerja for 10 days in March and just back from Monte Gordo after a week with Son and Daughter and their partners. Very relaxing and enjoyable, especially a boat trip up the Guadiana river.

Next planned trip will be the Camino Frances (500 mile walk) in September/ October and the shorter Ayrshire Coastal Path in June, if we don’t get a cheap deal somewhere warmer. 

It’s fantastic to becoming home with no thoughts of returning to work life.

cfw1994

sheslookinhot said:

Officially retired 5 May, but with annual leave and a retirement day since February, effectively stopped work end February. We were in Nerja for 10 days in March and just back from Monte Gordo after a week with Son and Daughter and their partners. Very relaxing and enjoyable, especially a boat trip up the Guadiana river.

Next planned trip will be the Camino Frances (500 mile walk) in September/ October and the shorter Ayrshire Coastal Path in June, if we don’t get a cheap deal somewhere warmer. 

It’s fantastic to becoming home with no thoughts of returning to work life.

Sounds perfect!
500mile walk: is that the hike the film The Way was about?   500miles is a huge challenge, sounds a blast!!
We will need to spend some time planning our interrail adventure: likely next Feb/Mar/Apr time (tbc).
some caring duties (elderly MiL) make that a little trickier….but Portugal & some of Spain is likely on the agenda!

zagfles

cfw1994 said:

SMcGill said:

Having retired a whole 3 weeks ago I’m beginning to find myself scouring holidays in the way I used to scour Rightmove for my next house move! 

I’m currently planning a trip to Iceland. Day one is already fixed, a 2 mile hike across a lava field and then a 6 mins cage lift descending 400 ft into a dormant volcano. Day two is snorkelling in an underwater ravine where the North American continental plate meets the Eurasian plate. Any suggestions for days three to six are welcome!

Horses for courses and all that … enjoy your trains! 

A delayed reply here....spent last 7 days pedalling between the last two iron viaducts (Meldon & Bennerley) - 360miles, 19,000ft upwards, mostly all great fun until my pal wiped out just before Ironbridge and broke his arm 😱

Iceland is *awesome* - I would return in a heartbeat, ideally for a few weeks!
We had a week there about 10 years ago, and had a brilliant time.

• Many people go to the Blue Lagoon for a hot swim - I would recommend you hunt out the Secret Lagoon - a great experience, Icelands oldest pool in Iceland!
• Take a walking tour round Reykjavik - learn loads, it's very small to walk around!
• Check what is on at Harpa Concert Hall - if no big events, go watch "How to be­come Icelandic in 60 minutes" - a VERY funny show!
• We had hired a tired Subaru from Sadcars.is - slightly tatty older motors but less pressure on any marks afterwards....we took it to the the DC Plane Wreck in the south of the Island, but I *think* they may have made that harder to do: worth seeing, IMHO, and you can stop off near the huge waterfall on the way....
• Perhaps a trip to Thingvellir National Park, where you can see the tectonic plates out of the water (although I envy your dive!)
• Look out Bobby Fischer's grave in a tiny church....bit of history around that too!
• Have a hot dog at the stand Clinton used!
  
  

Enjoy!

(next up for us....IOW Festival then a fortnight down there, Latitude in July....might need a rest in August!)

Iceland's somewhere I've been meaning to go for years - one of the few European countries I've not been to. Been put off by the cost, then the Icesave scandal, then went to NZ and did loads of geothermal stuff like hot pools, hot water beaches, lava fields etc (at probably a fraction of the cost of Iceland!). But snorkelling/diving in Thingvellir sounds brilliant! And some other interesting suggestions above.

Lifematters

Does anyone know if the Eurail pass covers train travel from your home town to a European destination, not just from London. For instance, I would need to take a couple of trains from UK to reach a European destination and not sure if Eurail pass covers this. 

Would love to know if anyone has already planned or done Europe by rail and would be kind enough to share their itinerary  / experience’s.  Looking for inspiration and am grateful to those that have already posted, thank you. Loving this thread! 

Marmaduke123

SMcGill said:

Having retired a whole 3 weeks ago I’m beginning to find myself scouring holidays in the way I used to scour Rightmove for my next house move! 

I’m currently planning a trip to Iceland. Day one is already fixed, a 2 mile hike across a lava field and then a 6 mins cage lift descending 400 ft into a dormant volcano. Day two is snorkelling in an underwater ravine where the North American continental plate meets the Eurasian plate. Any suggestions for days three to six are welcome!

Horses for courses and all that … enjoy your trains! 

Definitely drive or take a tour along the south coast as far as the Glacier Lagoon! Amazing scenery, like nowhere else! Might be a bit of a rush given your timescale.