Holidays

[Gazzer]

I am envious sometimes when i hear of some of my dads early foreign holidays as they wer unspoilt resorts. Ok maybe not so well catered for as you are today but back then you didnt expect it anyway.
Anyone have any hidden gems of places to go that havent gone the commercial route ?
Also when away what sort of person are you?
Do you insist on an english breakfast etc...generally moaning that the PG tips aint the real stuff etc or do you take on the role of " when in Rome, do as the romans do.
Are you a sunbed person or an explorer ?

Me, i like to experience the culture of the country. Never use same restaurant/bar twice ( hotel excepted).
Rarely am i found lounging around the pool all day, more the wander around and see the real country.

 

[mikethetile]

I like France , its unspoilt and you can just absorb the real france only downside is you cant find a decent beer

 

[SandyFloor]

I like France , its unspoilt and you can just absorb the real france only downside is you cant find a decent beer

Ah but that's what Neale's talking about. In France you should be drinking wine or brandy:lol:

 

[mikethetile]

I have to

I cant get a decent beer

the wines lovely though

 

[CCTiling]

Went to Cornwall and Devon a few weeks back and had a pasty in Cornwall and some Clotted Cream Ice Cream in Devon.....Sorted!! :smilewinkgrin:

 

[mikethetile]

I had snails and horse in france

 

[doug boardley]

Norway has been my favourite holiday, stunning scenery, plenty of outdoor activity without being commercialised. We took our car over on the ferry from South Shields, laden up with grub and a little bit of vino, (and i do mean a little!). One day we went sea kayaking down Sognesfjord, the longest, deepest fjord in Norway, and it was amazing to see really big cruise ships heading towards you through some very narrow straits.
I like to get out and about on my hols and absorb a bit of local culture and language, can't be doing with lying about on sun loungers or owt like that!

 

[SandyFloor]

I get bored easily on holiday. A suntan to me should be incidental and not become a duty. If you look at some of the locals they think the Brits are nuts trying to be something they're not by lying and suffering in the direct sun trying to convince themselves it's glorious. It stems from the early days when holidays in the sun were extremely expensive and therefore a tan was prestigious and fashionable. Activity is a must now whether cultural or sporty such as diving or like my last hol in Egypt kite surfing (I was useless).

The full breakfast I can eat all year round if I want so I like a fair amount of variation. A change is as good as a rest, they say. Some places further afield you can't eat like the locals simply because our wimpy constitutions can't deal with the different level of hygiene. I've been to India and you have to be really careful.

I'm off to Oludeniz in Turkey in a couple of weeks and the wife says it's relatively unpoilt but will let you know on my return

 

[kilty55]

yugoslavia before the war happened was a great holiday as i remember,,un commercialised and local food,,i would go back as i still dont think its been tapped into as much as some places,

a mix of relaxation at the pool/bar and going to see things is generally what i do,i like tasting the local drink as well as its cheaper lol

 

[Rob Z]

One of the nicest vacations we have ever had was our honeymoon in 1994. It was totally unscripted and we didn't do a single "touristy" thing for three-plus weeks.

Christina and I are baseball fans and decided to do a honeymoon trip out along the West Coast, from San Diego all the way up to Seattle, seeing all the sights and going to MLB games in every stadium from Southern Cal up to Washington. We flew in to Los Angeles and just then Major League baseball went on strike for the rest of the 1994 season. :mad2::incazzato::furious3:

We still had a great time. Our rental car got upgraded to a Ford T-Bird. We racked up 3000+ miles and went out in to desert in California, went to the observatory at Mt Palomar, saw the redwoods and sequoias, the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz, ate a ton of seafood in San Francisco, visited Mt St Helens in Washington and Crater lake in Oregon, the Space Needle in Seattle, drove the Pacific Coast Highway, visited Pebble Beach and maybe a hundred other great places. In the early 90's the "micro-brew" thing was getting started and we hit a bunch of microbreweries, particulary in Oregon, that have now become famous and have commercially successful beer that is sold all over North America and maybe even overseas.

We went through Salt Lake City on the way home and visited one of Christina's friends from school. The Great Salt Lake is really salty. :smilewinkgrin:We hiked all over the mountains and trails that were later part of the 2002 Winter Olympics.

We always indulged in one great meal per day and only went to "hole in the wall" places where the food was great and non-commercial. The highlight of the trip might have been the balloon ride we took from San Diego eastward into the desert. This was fantastic, and my initial trepidation was overcome when I learned that all the balloon operators are legitimate pilots certified and licensed by the FAA.

By the time we got home at the end of August, we were worn out, ready to be home and had to go back to work. We fantasized about selling the house and moving out to San Francisco, but those thoughts stayed merely as idle chatter because our intitial searches for real estate outside of San Francisco revealed that dumpy shacks we wouldn't want to live in were on the market for the then-staggering sum of $300,000 (this was before the ridiculous market bubble in real estate here in the US....I've been told since then that those same houses were looked at for $300,000 ended up at well over a million bucks during the bubble :yikes::yikes.

So, good memories of a good trip.

Here is a picture that I took from the ballon ride at ~4000 feet, looking west at sunset, over the Pacific.

 

[mikethetile]

Nice trip Rob

my mate and his son did route 66 in a rental, he loved it

thats the sort thing I would love to do

chelles been to las vegas and a few other places , I cant remember now

but I would like to see the real us, I want to visit the lovett estate and see what its like now, ive only seen pics of when it was first built

 

[Pebbs]

Along the lines of Mike, one of the best holidays I ever had was the time I drove from Houston to Mexico, and then to New Orleans. We had gone to visit our friends there, and on the second day I was bored. I cant do all this coffee and cake and polite chat for to long, so we set of on an adventure. No plans, no map no nothing, I would have stayed longer but had to get back to work. I went to South Padre Island, and raced along the sea front in a beach buggy (umm till I crashed it in a sand dune), went to San Antonio where after drinking to much tequila fell in the river, and ended up eating real mexican food in a little town over the border (we're talking hyper hot). I even went fishing for catfish...watch them whiskers! The best holidays are the ones with no agenda. Id recommend this type of trip to anyone, get a flight hire a car and get out there.

Pebbs

 

[Spud]

best holiday I have had was Thailand, closely followed by Las vegas ,I have been to loads of different holidays and all have had their own merits some times its great just to chill out on the beach other times its great to do the activities