Holidays 2023

Skiiing end of March, small boat cruise Croatia end of August, Crete September and something in June together with a couple of city breaks
 
I'm currently looking into 2 days in Skegvegas in March for myself and my lead support worker, premium prices in March because of its proximity to Easter? You what?
 
We usually go the eastern end of Weymouth. That's where I've managed to book next year. We left it late to book this summer just gone & ended up with a flat in Bridport! Was nice, but didn't have the holiday feeling that you get from a caravan! We spent most of our days on Hive beach. Shot Milky Way one night there too. Also Colmer's Hill is nice for sunrise & sunset although sunrise can sometimes give you some nice mist below.

I booked early July as my son is in year 11 so will be finished his GCSE's by then rather than paying school holiday prices :)
been going to west bay for 50+ years now go at least once or twice a year , nice campsite park the car and everything in walking distance .. my oldest lad lives in weymouth so we will be going there as well ..know the area extremely well
 
been going to west bay for 50+ years now go at least once or twice a year , nice campsite park the car and everything in walking distance .. my oldest lad lives in weymouth so we will be going there as well ..know the area extremely well

I think anywhere from Lyme Regis to Swanage is lovely! And I still need to shoot the Milky Way from Durdle Door one night!
 
I’m all set to spend next weekend in Spain. Easier this time with no need to do a fit to fly test, and no need to do a day 2 PCR (I’ve already organised the day 2 LFT).
Time for a couple of days of winter sun.
 
Well, luckily we had a plan D, as the 2 weeks in Scotland got screwed after catching covid so now on the sister in laws drive in the motorhome after celebrating her 60th (which we should have done last week). Last night was the Ladybower inn

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had a lovely meal, great sleep in the car park though ran out of gas at about midnight but was already asleep and cosy with the wife under the sleeping bag so didn't have to deal with it until the morning :-)

As I say, right now, Manchester on sister in laws drive, tomorrow, heading for lake windermere (y)
 
Probably Cornwall again. Next overseas holiday we had planned 2 years ago was a big one like Oz or US. Not doing that with all the risk. Neither am I going to spend 3 or 4k on a week in Greece and all the risk about red lists.

So I then book a week in Greece in June!!!
 
We just booked for 7 nights in Turkey in August. So bloody expensive as it’s in the school holidays but looks great. Only 212 days to wait…
 
We just booked for 7 nights in Turkey in August. So bloody expensive as it’s in the school holidays but looks great. Only 212 days to wait…

Maybe its me but I found prices in school hols to be better this year than previous years?

Anyone have any good recommendations for travel insurance which offers best protection against covid (can't travel due to us being ill, getting ill on holiday) as I know some are better than others for this? Would want an annual policy as may go for a week in Jersey too this summer.
 
Maybe its me but I found prices in school hols to be better this year than previous years?

Anyone have any good recommendations for travel insurance which offers best protection against covid (can't travel due to us being ill, getting ill on holiday) as I know some are better than others for this? Would want an annual policy as may go for a week in Jersey too this summer.

I use https://www.moneymaxim.co.uk/travel to find the best travel insurance for me. (also great for car hire/insurance!)
 
We just booked for 7 nights in Turkey in August. So bloody expensive as it’s in the school holidays but looks great. Only 212 days to wait…
And that right there's my problem with booking Holidays, I'd love to know how the companies get away with charging 3 times the price during Holiday season as they would during the rest of the year?! Should be illegal IMO.
 
And that right there's my problem with booking Holidays, I'd love to know how the companies get away with charging 3 times the price during Holiday season as they would during the rest of the year?! Should be illegal IMO.

Supply and demand like any other business. I am sure that a wedding tog would do a cheaper wedding package for a Weds in November than they would for a Sat in June?

It annoys me having 2 kids but that's the way to is.
 
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Anyway, to go with the week in Greece in June, now have a week in Jersey in August to look forward to. Was a hard choice between that or Cornwall but have done Cornwall a lot so a nice change.
 
And that right there's my problem with booking Holidays, I'd love to know how the companies get away with charging 3 times the price during Holiday season as they would during the rest of the year?! Should be illegal IMO.

Thats capitalism 101. Supply and demand and a limited window when children are not in school.

Think of the summer price as the normal price and the rest of the time its discounted to a greater or lesser degree.
 
I'd pay extra to go on holiday when kids are in school!
 
We had originally booked to go to Costa Rica 2020 for our 25th wedding anniversary, but Covid put paid to that, we re-booked the same hotel for 2021, Covid again scuppered that one, rebooked the same hotel for 2022, then my daughter's graduation date was released, and it would have clashed, so we cancelled that one, so now with fingers and toes crossed it's going to be Grenada in September, only a few years late for the anniversary.
 
I'd pay extra to go on holiday when kids are in school!
And that's what a lot of people do, they know they'll get fined for taking the kids away during term time but most of the time it works out cheaper to pay the fine, take them anyway, than pay triple the price for the same Holiday when the schools are shut.
 
Hoping to go to Umbria this year, which got cancelled in 2020 and 2021. Not booked anything yet, and need to renew my passport.
Passport booked, week in Umbria booked for end of June :D
 
Just booked a week at Lake Garda. Bring it on.

I love Lake Garda, been there twice, 10 years apart. Last time did train trips to Verona and Venice for a day each as well, but there are so many towns around its shores to visit a week could be filled just with those.

And that right there's my problem with booking Holidays, I'd love to know how the companies get away with charging 3 times the price during Holiday season as they would during the rest of the year?! Should be illegal IMO.
Easy to avoid the school holidays. Don't have children. Otherwise accept you're going on holiday in the same six weeks as everyone else that has school age children and since there will be loads of people competing for the same rooms in the same hotels the price will go up. Or do what my parents did for cheap holidays when we were at school, by a third hand CI Sprite caravan and tow it around with the family car (a 1300cc Hillman Avenger, not some huge turbo diesel SUV as it was the 1970s) to certified locations, which are very cheap even in August. About £15-20/day for the pitch.

Imagine nowadays most people would refuse to tow with anything that wasn't 4wd and about the size of a range rover, and would expect the caravan to be the size of a small house though as they look massive nowadays compared to have we had.
 
Back in the '70s, turned over caravans were a daily occurrence on Haldon Hill (A38, just West of Exeter) due to badly loaded caravans behind inadequate towing vehicles. Less common now but still happens!
 
Well, we've got SF coming up in April finally.. to say beyond excited is an understatement!

I take it you mean San Francisco? If so its amazing, went twice in 2019. Got an Uber to the other side of Golden Gate and then walked back over. Alcatraz is a must see! Lots of street photography there too
 
I take it you mean San Francisco? If so its amazing, went twice in 2019. Got an Uber to the other side of Golden Gate and then walked back over. Alcatraz is a must see! Lots of street photography there too
Yes, can't wait! Been to the LA side and the east coast loads, but decided to go a little further out this time!
 
Back in the '70s, turned over caravans were a daily occurrence on Haldon Hill (A38, just West of Exeter) due to badly loaded caravans behind inadequate towing vehicles. Less common now but still happens!
Getting the nose weight right is important, even if you're towing with a Land Rover or something else rated for 3500kg a badly loaded trailer can fishtail. I have towed up and down that stretch, but with a car on a trailer rather than a caravan. It was very slow going up with my Volkswagen Caravelle, think I was down to under 30mph by the top. Less than 1000kg of load with a tow vehicle rated for 2000kg, but it did struggle up hills.

One of the real problems back then was the tyres, people still fitted crossplies on the caravan wheels rather than radials and then left them to sit on the same patch under load for a year between holidays, which meant when there was a good chance the tyre would fail at speed, and that often ended up with the caravan on its roof with the tow vehicle still attached. Our caravan always went up on axle stands after holidays and dad always bought radials for it for that very reason.
 
I have booked a couple of more things today.

A hotel in Snowdonia on Friday 18th so I can spend some time riding around the mountains on my motorbike.

A hotel in Annecy, France, in June that I’ll use as a base to motorcycle all around The Alps.
 
Just booked myself the Eurostar to Paris and back for May for five nights, Will find a hotel later. Louvre and Musee D'Orsay are my mine targets but lots of other places I want to visit too.
 
We're off to Namibia in June, looking forward to that. As I had BA vouchers I wanted to use up we fly via J'Burg, so I am hoping the testing requirements in SA ease up a little bit before then.

Then to Austria (Tyrol) by car sometime in August/September. Carrefour raid before getting back on the boat too,
 
And that's what a lot of people do, they know they'll get fined for taking the kids away during term time but most of the time it works out cheaper to pay the fine, take them anyway, than pay triple the price for the same Holiday when the schools are shut.
Yeah, I know people that have done that, but to be honest, its not something we believe in doing, even if it does save some money. We accept that if we want to go on holiday when the schools are closed, that we will have to pay for the privilege. Its a definite 'hit' in the pocket, but hey, it is what it is.
 
Yeah, I know people that have done that, but to be honest, its not something we believe in doing, even if it does save some money. We accept that if we want to go on holiday when the schools are closed, that we will have to pay for the privilege. Its a definite 'hit' in the pocket, but hey, it is what it is.

Thing is it is one of the most stupid rules and had no bearing on the attendance or how well the child is doing. We have taken them out for 2 weeks at a time - had we not done that our holiday to the US would have been at least 2k more, something we couldn't afford, and we believe the quality of family time and cultural learning is more beneficial.

It is easy to tweak though - our Greece holiday means they miss just 1 day of school but save something like £800 on a day either side.
 
Not a holiday as such but have one night in Koln at end of March. Been there a few times and there is something about the place I just like (mainly the Kolsch beer!). But this will be the first time solo so taking camera gear this time!
 
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