The dreaded holiday planning season is upon us. I find myself bereft of ideas, having decided not to disappear into rural France for a change. Any ideas for a week in late May welcome. Thinking the Med but not fixed on it. Other ideas very welcome.
ATM Where shall we go!?
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My younger colleague is just back from a week in Albania with his Albanian lady. The holiday snaps look lovely – like the Scottish highlands with much better weather (Albania is next to Greece and roughly parallel with Naples).
Albania is the new fashionable place to go to I believe. I’ve also been told that Montenegro is as beautiful as Croatia but cheaper and less developed.
My sister has spent quite a bit of time there, initially she went to have affordable cosmetic dental work but she raves about the place now.
Montenegro more beautiful than Dubrovnik that’s for sure with its overcrowded gaggle of nutters who think they can ably re-enact Game of Thrones.
British Tourists? Aren’t we just great.
Was quite impressed with the tranquility of Madeira and its absence of lager louts.
Split is a good place to visit also. A bit more real than Dubrovnik. Nice to sit on the sea front with a beer or two.
I had a summer holiday in Split in the late-70s when my dad, a rail union man, wangled a sort of behind-the-iron-curtain inter-rail trip.
On the way there, we went to Warsaw – it was mostly grey, concrete, and raining. I’m sure the old town is lovely, but the area round the railway station isn’t great when it is pissing down.
On the same trip, on the way back, we stayed for a few days in a static caravan outside Interlaken. I preferred Switzerland, tbh.
I very much like Crete. Somewhere around Chania or Rethimno is nice if you just want a proper do nothing holiday If swimming in the cold sea is not a turn off, the Algarve is good – Lagos is well situated and with easy travel to beaches and a nicely busy town.
San Sebastián is the best food and drink place I’ve ever been to and there is a lovely bay for some sun. The Guggenheim in Bilbao is an easy travel and a fab bit of culture.
Yes I know Crete pretty well and I agree on areas. Ta for the other tips.
I’d second San Sebastián and Bilbao. We did both place a couple of summers ago as part of a four centre trip. We flew into Bilbao and then bused to San Sebastián, Biarritz and Bordeaux, from where we flew home. I had a plan to go between these places by rail but its pretty much impossible, so Flixbus it was.
Of the four, the only place I’d not bother going back to would be Biarritz. It didn’t do much for me. It’s faded glamour was a bit too faded. Bordeaux was great – a real surprise as I was a bit undecided before we went. It’s a super place with a great town centre and trams!
We did a Bordeaux San Sebastián double header last year. Nice mix between the elegant and quiet streets of Bordeaux and the more exuberant vibe of SS. Loved it and did travel by train which we found relatively straightforward .
Blackpool?
Actually looking at Canada for the summer!
Nice. Quebec City/Montreal/Ottawa/Toronto/Niagara Falls is doable on a fairly short visit, and you can do it by train if you like. Also nice to get out of the cities too, but you would need a car for that. We can have a beer in Ottawa if you make it here.
Twang if you fly to Canada fly into Montreal- those planes keep flying off the end of the runway at Pearson.
That’s at least 3 I know and I have had 3 aborted landings there too. The airport gives me the heebee Jeebees.
Depends what kind of hols you like of course, but Spain has so much to offer beyond the East and South coasts (though there’s plenty of good places there). Northern Spain – Asturias across to Galicia is fascinating, though probably not the best beach holiday area. We loved Mallorca when we went a few years ago – beautiful coasts, not all of it spoilt, mountains and attractive small towns. Our last European holiday was Sicily – over in the east, in and around Siracusa. Great combination of beach, ancient history, architecture, good food etc. We went in May as you’re planning to do – interestingly the season had barely started – everywhere was open but it was surprisingly quiet.
Another up for Sicily. As you say @blue-boy it’s pretty much got everything. Climate, culture, food and drink.
We generally like a lot of walking but Mrs. T broke her ankle last summer and is still unable to walk much without it swelling up so that’s off the agenda for now. Otherwise attractive cities, art, old buildings, scenery etc. No clubbing etc!
Some good ideas there BB thanks.
Canvey?
I want to go to Seville and the Alhambra at Granada. We are more into the idea of shorter breaks now as we find more than a week in one place doesn’t suit.
Mrs F’s Spanish side of the family are from near Vigo. It’s lovely, and reminds me of south Devon – lush, green, red cliffs – with better weather.
Spent a fair bit of time working in Sicily. Great food, great weather, but the worst drivers I have ever witnessed. And beware of Mount Etna
Have you ever been to New Dehli?
Yes, but I’ve never been to me.
Georgia
South Georgia?
…on my mind?
I’ve just set up my itinerary for late June, doing a multicentre round the interior of Portugal. I would have preferred late May, but other commitments dictated June. I reckon May would be ideal for Portugal.
Did this in January – started with a very long list which gradually got whittled down (or in the case of my suggestions of Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland moved instantly).
Looked at Sicily …
Looked at Dubovnik …
Looked at Ballearic Islands …
Looked at Greek Islands …
Looked at Portugal …
All these remain on the “must visit” list (which does still include Iceland)
Being overly picky about flights, dates, hotel ratings, “stuff to do”, finally settled on Barcelona
(or the coastal part – about 40 minutes from Barcelona city)
Son spent a year abroad in Iceland so have a lot of info on there. Once you get past the expensive price – food especially- it’s an amazing place.
Another vote for Iceland. It’s some 30 years since I visited – it was end of September and the nights were closing in very quickly – but it remains my most memorable visit to date.
My son has lived in Reykjavik for last 6 years. Once you get out of city it becomes much more interesting.
Not many Icelandic people though.
I was there in November and went to two fantastic art exhibitions.
Mrs Beezer is still temporarily invalid after a huge operation a few years ago, and my slowly improving lumbar issues are still… er… an issue (I’ve written on this on an older thread and all of you were kind), but! We’re in the process of renewing our expired passports with the aim of returning to our international jet set lifestyle.
The current idea is to take a train journey all the way down France, tipping out at Nice or. Cannes or somewhere for a day or two. Then back up again. Or, similarly, across to Annecy for a few days of short walks and cafés.
Or, again.possibly a train journey all the way across to Trieste. I’ve read a lot of Eric Ambler!
Something of that ilk anyway. What I’m – eventually- suggesting is you may like to try exploring Europe by train. The options are vast.
We did a very nice European rail odyssey a few years ago starting in Brussels via Eurostar and going via Bremen Cuxhaven and Hamburg to Copenhagen over a week.
We did a great trip about 10 years ago – Eurostar to Paris, overnight train to Munich* and then a magical train journey through the Alps to Verona. Four nights seeing the sights and stuffing ourselves in Verona, then the journey back. Really memorable, met some charming fellow travellers and the journey became part of the holiday.
* afraid to report that nobody was talking ‘bout pop music.
Inter rail is hugely appealing and just a little nostalgic for me. I did it when I was 20 in 1976 and remains one of the most fun things I ever did. Now there is no age restriction but it is set up differently. You have travel days so for example I am looking at 15 days of travel in 2 months and the cost for that 2 months is circa €700 which is remarkably cheap.
I had a few days in Budapest in April last year. Lovely architecture and food, warm, civilised, and safe. Lots of unfamiliar history – KGB museum definitely a sight to see. A good city centre for walking. Easy to get out – I went to the bear farm; wild bears lost in the city get taken to a large field with trees and a pond, and do what bears do – swim, sleep, climb trees, wrestle. There were 20 people there, so it was the bears and me. Required a train ride and a 40 minute walk, which justified those beers (beers for bears?) and sausages.
I’m just about the only visitor I know who didn’t take to Budapest. I went in March, but winter had lingered and everything was sleety and grey. I found the people quite cold too, and couldn’t grasp enough Hungarian to even say ‘Hello’ ‘Please’ ‘Thank you’ and ‘beer’, my usual minimum vocabulary.
I also fell ill on my last day there, not helped by the combined smells of sugary pastries, cheap meat and tramp piss in the metro stations, then the worst flight of my life running into a heavy storm over Germany on the way home.
Is it true that if you speak Hungarian you can make yourself understood in Finland and vice versa? They have the same roots according to my dad, who is no longer around to be challenged in it.
No, it’s not true. This according to my wife’s Hungarian work colleague.
As I understand it from old work colleagues, Finns and Hungarians can learn each others language more easily than other nations.
“A Finnish speaker, even though he does not understand Hungarian, or vice versa, a Hungarian speaker with no knowledge about Finnish, is charmed by the fact that both in Hungarian and in Finnish the vowels and consonants are evenly distributed, in contrast with Slavic or Germanic languages in which heavily packed groups of consonants could be met. Three successive consonants could be considered as a rarity and in everyday speech one of them is usually removed, “swallowed”. Two consonants in the beginning of a word exist only in loanwords, and often their effect is somehow smoothed”
Like Dutch and Doric : my dad said that his fellow POWs in Burma could make themselves essentially understood, whether from Aberdeen or Amsterdam.
Here we are. Slightly true then… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages
For sure, the grammar remains pretty similar, which will help, but the languages share next to no common words, so it would take some time.
@vincent Budapest is my second home. I love it, but I did live there in the late 90s to mid 2000s and (c.f. @gatz) I do speak the language. I didn’t know about the bear farm. I’m going to investigate next time I’m there.
@gatz I know what you mean about the smells of sugary pastries and of some of the metro stations. There are certain parts of the city that do not show Budapest at its best, especially when the weather is not up to much either. We were there at Christmas and it was lovely and sunny for the most part – cold, but sunny.
The sickly sugary pastries were probably the so-called “chimney cakes” (kürtőskalács) which seem to have become a real tourist thing in the last four or five years. When I lived there, yes, you could buy kürtőskalács but only from a cake shop. Now it seems that every street in the centre has a number of little wooden kiosks selling the things. They seem to be popular … they sell like hot cakes (ha ha).
Those chimney cakes are seen in other countries, too. I found it easy to resist. Real goulash or the fish soup, though… lovely.
I’m going to Camborne. Not tomorrow, obviously, that would be crazy.
Mrs Pajp and I had a long weekend in Bologna a couple of years ago. That was great. At other times in Italy, we have stayed in a place and then used it as a base to do day trips from on the very good Italian railway system. We’ve used both Milan and Bari as a place for doing that kind of thing.
Edit: Just remembered, we are going to Valencia in late May. Never been before, so fingers crossed.
If you’ve never been to Barcelona, you really should. It’s five different cities in one and a beach resort.
Aren’t they standing by to repel boarders, as in Venice?
Trying, so far failing, to outlaw , quite rightly, Airbnb. Until they get that right I’d say sadly, because it is a fabulous city, Barcelona is best avoided – it’s just too damned crowded.
We went to Barca last year (my daughters choice) – having been several times before I was not very interested about going again coupled with the concerns of being abused by the locals. Couldn’t have been more wrong. We stayed away from the centre in the Gracia area in an Airbnb (gulp). But the locals were really friendly and the immediate area was quiet with loads of lovely little squares with cafes/bars aplenty. The Metro system is brilliant and as mentioned above you can get to great beaches very quickly and feel like you are in a different place entirely.
We are looking at Morocco. Not Marrakech (already been), maybe the coast.
Saw this in the Grauniad today
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2025/feb/22/hidden-morocco-beaches-citadels-desert-dunes-wild-guide
Me too. Agadir or Essouira is the current, altho’ a little bit of me fancies the faded (probably gone) decadence of Tangier.
Agadir
Push pineapple shake the tree.
Sorry.
I was there too.
My diary entry for June 1989 in the Northern Territory was ‘Kakadu-du-du etc.’
Hate to give away secrets but Northern Costa Brava is an utter delight. Not cheap anymore but the food is amazing, the beaches are generally small and always beautiful and the Dali Triangle is a must. Try Calella, Cadaques or Llafranc (fly into Girona or Barcelona or take a train all the way through France.)
Another vote for Llafranc. Get a henna tattoo from the lovely Roma girls at the top of the beach, if they are still there. Take a decent snorkel – lovely warm clear water – and deep right off the beach at the marina end – loads of fishes and you can see all the way down to the sandy floor – stay the right side of the buoys and you won’t get run over!
Ssssshhh!
You goddamn Brits and your proximity to a multitude of countries. Nearest from me is an 8 hour flight.
Nearest town I assume?
Overseas holiday location. But that was wrong. New Zealand is closer. Otherwise it’s Bali, Vanuatu, Nauru,, Singapore. Heading south I suppose there is Antarctica but those trips go via Chile.
It is why Aussies often take longer holidays – it takes so long to get anywhere in the first place. Especially if you are down at the southern tip.
I’ve seen ads for flights to Antarctica from, I think, Sydney. Not exactly a holiday destination though.
I’ve always had a slight yen to go to New Caledonia. An outpost of France, must be a strange place. A mere 3 hours from Brisbane.
I’d like to visit Antarctica…
@fitterstoke here you go…🤨
If you fancy a six-month paid holiday there, I know the BAS are always looking for people.
And ask penguins questions…(from Private Eye).
Hmm , must be the trips on icebreakers that go via Chile.
New Caledonia tres cher I believe.
Friend of mine did it, said it was fabulous.
Croatia.
Depending on how long you have and cost.
Avoid the obvious southern resorts and use Pula as a base and explore the north, an amazing country.
If you want sand and sea then try the island of Rab. As a family we go every year (17) as the mother in law lives there. It is a beautiful place to see.
We went to Pula years ago after plans for our original destination fell through at the last minute. We had never heard of it, but there’s a Roman amphitheatre, Venetian era palace, great coastal cruises. It was out of season for a visit to Rovinj but we were kept occupied for few days we were there.
Rovinj is also a great place to visit for a day, nice cheapish restaurants on the bay, and well worth the walk up the hill to see the castle.
I would recommend Rijeka – but perhaps not if walking is a problem, I believe it’s quite hilly in most places.
My dad grew up there, back when it was called Fiume. They lived there until the Italians were driven away in 1943 and I grew up hearing all about what a magical place it was…I haven’t been, but many in my family have and loved it (including my dad and his sisters after the break-up of Yugoslavia) and it looks gorgeous in photos.
Ms TK is Polish, so I am going to give Gdansk a shout out.
Is it down to the lake I fear?
What do you fear about it?
Cricket jumpers and safari hats.
Did you go off to the right
Without saying good, goodbye?
Aye.
Hydrophobia?
Through certain half-deserted streets, the muttering retreats of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels and sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells?
Sicily – far too hot in July/August – would be perfect in late May. If you love the Montalbano books and tv series, you can stay at Casa di Montalbano – https://www.lacasadimontalbano.com/
I always say September is the best time to holiday in Southern Italy. I find it a bit of a sad month cos you start to see the summer coming to a close, but the weather is often perfect and the sea pleasantly warm and there are fewer tourists. Last week of September first week of October I reckon is the ideal two-week holiday.