Spec me a holiday destination

Kingy

Kingy

Kingy

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Joined
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Leicester
I've got 7 weeks until I start a new contract, and am looking for a nice relaxing holiday destination for me and my better half in the meantime.

We both like English food and culture, but would like it somewhere a little warmer for a fortnight or so, so no Far Eastern exploits are on the agenda. Not massively fussed about sightseeing, but would like a nice hotel, good food (reasonably priced beer, so the Emirates are out), close to a nice beach / with a nice pool. Not interested in going clubbing, but some sort of nightlife/entertainment would be good. I'd love a crack at Jet-Skiing, and swimming with dolphins would be good too. Kids, or at least badly behaved kids should be avoided at all costs.

I've not been abroad much, and am completely ignorant on what to expect in different locations, but am trying to build a shortlist, which so far includes (in no particular order):-

Florida
The Carribean (sp?)
The Canaries
Gibraltar
Cyprus
Malta
A cruise

Are there any places I should add/remove to/from my shortlist?

Am we likely to need a visa, or can we rock up with a passport and explain that we're on holiday? Are there any vaccination requirements for any of these places?

Any hotel reccomendations or other ideas would be very welcome... :)
 
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Aero said:
Might be worth posting a budget :)
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I'm not really sure...

We've had a few cheaper holidays to Cornwall, but I've been working a lot over the last few years, and the opportunity for a fortnights break hasn't come up often. Now it has, I'm inclined to throw what's required at it to make it special.

A case of champagne taste and beer money I'm afraid. On a cruise I'd like a balcony, and in a resort I'd pay extra for a nice location and a sea view.

I can't afford 5* in Barbados, but setting a price usually means spending hat amount regardless. If 3* Barbados is great then brilliant, but if 5* Dominican Republic is just as good and cheaper, then I'm open to that too.

I'd love a Med cruise (maybe not at this time of year though?), but a P&O balcony is going to run to the thick end of £2k each I imagine. That sort of money is probably best case though and would depend on getting some good RKH news next week.

Our normal Cornwall holidays are usually ~£500-£700 each for a week, and great as the are, we'd need to be incredibly lucky weather/temperature wise at this time of year.
 
Kingy said:
We both like English food and culture, but would like it somewhere a little warmer for a fortnight or so, so no Far Eastern exploits are on the agenda.
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From your list, Cyprus. Full of fat tattooed English people and has mostly 'English' food. Failing that, Benidorm in Spain.
 
Forget Florida imo, brits in Florida is so cliche, there are so many much better states imo, try the lesser visited states, Wyoming, Ohio, Virginia, Montana and in particular Colorado
 
Aero said:
Why not experience some different culture? Take the opportunity to broaden your horizon's?
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I've absolutely no interest in that. Happy to be labelled ignorant or small-minded or whatever, but I really don't care. I've no interest in new languages or ways of living. I quite happy with a copy of the telegraph, a cold European beer, and epic surroundings.

I don't want to learn something new, I'm tired and want to relax somewhere nice and warm (but not HOT).
 
Justin said:
From your list, Cyprus. Full of fat tattooed English people and has mostly 'English' food. Failing that, Benidorm in Spain.
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Tombstone said:
Forget Florida imo, brits in Florida is so cliche, there are so many much better states imo, try the lesser visited states, Wyoming, Ohio, Virginia, Montana and in particular Colorado
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Maybe I'm creating the wrong impression?

I don't want a cheap or chavvy holiday. (I know how that sounds, but I honesty don't mean to sound like an arse). If what I've posted has portrayed a desire for 8for1 pitchers of Fosters, and being surrounded by people whose every other word is "innit", then that was entirely unintentional.

It's Friday evening and it's dark. It's 7pm. That's crap. I'd like to have a BBQ but it's too cold. I'd like a good steak, but I want it on my doorstep so I can have a drink. In the morning I'd like Sausage Bacon and Eggs cooked for us, and washed up for us. Then I'd like to go for a splash in the pool and chuck a ball around. If I could swim up to a bar for a beer / shade break and a little peace, that'd be very nice. If we felt doing something special and there was the opportunity to have a play on a Jet Ski or a swim with Dolphins, that'd be lovely.

If that is cliche, then I despair, but continue anyway...

What is in Wyoming, Ohio, Virginia, Montana and in particular Colorado that makes it a better bet than Florida? Genuine Question, my Geography is shockingly poor. :o

Thanks for the replies... :)
 
Well I didn't say you were cliche. I said that brits in Florida were. Often stacks of them plodding about in flip flops, wearing I love Florida tourist shirts, getting plastered.

As to what is in the states I mentioned, peace and quiet, tranquility, stunning terrain and locations, more of a feeling of seeing the real us country rather than the tourism centric us. All depends what you are looking for really. I was going on you saying a nice relaxing vacation, rarely have I been as relaxed in life as I have been in the rockies of Colorado or the forests of Wyoming.
 
Tombstone said:
Well I didn't say you were cliche. I said that brits in Florida were. Often stacks of them plodding about in flip flops, wearing I love Florida tourist shirts, getting plastered.

As to what is in the states I mentioned, peace and quiet, tranquility, stunning terrain and locations, more of a feeling of seeing the real us country rather than the tourism centric us. All depends what you are looking for really. I was going on you saying a nice relaxing vacation, rarely have I been as relaxed in life as I have been in the rockies of Colorado or the forests of Wyoming.
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Sorry, I didn't mean to appear over sensitive, it just narks me slightly that things have got to such a state where a holiday that doesn't embrace new horizons is by default a chavvy disrepectful affair. You're right of course, but we're looking for a relaxing zero responsibility break, not a zero respect for others break... :)

Cheesy shirts (or preferably cheesy Hawaiian shirts), flip flops and being mildly inebriated for much of the time is very much in scope, but that's not to say I want to promote the 'going overboard, brits abroad' disrespect for others that (I think) was implied in some replies...

A mate of mine swears by the rockies, and the occaisional dog walk through a nearby forest is very nice, but one of my great passions is digging a huge hole (or re-channelling pools of sea water) on a sandy beach, preferably followed by admiring the finished product of such an epic display of manliness with a beer/meaty snack... :cool::p:D
 
Kingy said:
Sorry, I didn't mean to appear over sensitive, it just narks me slightly that things have got to such a state where a holiday that doesn't embrace new horizons is by default a chavvy disrepectful affair. You're right of course, but we're looking for a relaxing zero responsibility break, not a zero respect for others break... :)

Cheesy shirts (or preferably cheesy Hawaiian shirts), flip flops and being mildly inebriated for much of the time is very much in scope, but that's not to say I want to promote the 'going overboard, brits abroad' disrespect for others that (I think) was implied in some replies...

A mate of mine swears by the rockies, and the occaisional dog walk through a nearby forest is very nice, but one of my great passions is digging a huge hole (or re-channelling pools of sea water) on a sandy beach, preferably followed by admiring the finished product of such an epic display of manliness with a beer/meaty snack... :cool::p:D
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I can see why your friend swears by the rockies, been to 14 countries around the globe and Colorado is above all my favourite destination, however you're right , there isn't a great deal of opportunity there for digging holes on beaches :D

On the other hand , they do much better meaty snacks than Florida :)
 
You'll like Cyprus, they even drive on the left. My English Aunt's lived there for over 20 years and loves it.
If you want nice surroundings but a small amount of tack, go for Paphos in September. There are some gorgeous beaches within a quick drive and some of the hotels have their own beaches. You can always get the English papers and Paphos even has a Debenhams.
 
Kingy said:
I've got 7 weeks until I start a new contract, and am looking for a nice relaxing holiday destination for me and my better half in the meantime.

We both like English food and culture, but would like it somewhere a little warmer for a fortnight or so,

<snip>

Florida
The Carribean (sp?)
The Canaries
Gibraltar
Cyprus
Malta
A cruise

Are there any places I should add/remove to/from my shortlist?
:)
Click to expand...

I'd ditch Gibraltar - two days would see it all IMHO. We spent a day there two years ago and wouldn't hurry back.
 
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