Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[Guest Manini]

Booked to go to Krakow in December. Any recommendations of places to eat drink and see much appreciated. 

[LVFox]

Granted it's not until next September, but me and the mrs have just booked our first holiday abroad together.

Little one will be 18 months old by that point too, so i'll be spending the next year getting way too excited than I should be for the Costa del Sol with a toddler.

[Nalis]

29 minutes ago, Manini said:

Booked to go to Krakow in December. Any recommendations of places to eat drink and see much appreciated. 

If you are doing Auschwitz, do it as early as possible in the trip as its obviously a bit sombre and as harsh as it sounds it allows you to get it out of the way and focus on the more fun parts for the rest of your time there.

 

Salt mines were interesting.

[Guest Manini]

8 minutes ago, Nalis said:

If you are doing Auschwitz, do it as early as possible in the trip as its obviously a bit sombre and as harsh as it sounds it allows you to get it out of the way and focus on the more fun parts for the rest of your time there.

 

Salt mines were interesting.

Completely get that, hard to say you’re looking forward to going but feel like it’s a massive part of history that should be taken in and understood at face value, so we will do that. 
 

Salt Mines look really cool, so I’ll add that to the list as well. 

[Unabomber]

1 hour ago, jonthefox said:

Four days in the Lake district. Leaving in an hour.

Where you going? I was in Keswick in April and it was bloody amazing 

[RowlattsFox]

Have some easyJet flight vouchers to use, original flights to Budapest in 2020  eventually used them to book Belfast for August but that has now been cancelled too..annoying because the value I have barely gets you anywhere with their current flight prices. 

 

Anyway, struggling for leave days so was thinking off going somewhere with the Mrs in between Christmas and New year when I'm already off work. 

 

Any recommendations in Europe that are good value for that time of year? Don't mind cold but don't want weather to be too bad. 

 

 

[FoxesDeb]

Faro in the Algarve, Malaga on the Costa del Sol and Malta are all still fairly mild in December 

[grobyfox1990]

2 hours ago, LVocey said:

Granted it's not until next September, but me and the mrs have just booked our first holiday abroad together.

Little one will be 18 months old by that point too, so i'll be spending the next year getting way too excited than I should be for the Costa del Sol with a toddler.

I had no idea you could book trips that far in advance, is it a lot cheaper? I dont really want to google flights as it will mess up my cookies/search history etc. But wondering if its worth booking something quite far ahead and then if plans change, ditching it, may be worth the risk if a decent chunk cheaper.

[jonthefox]

2 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Where you going? I was in Keswick in April and it was bloody amazing 

Staying at Bowness. 

[LVFox]

35 minutes ago, grobyfox1990 said:

I had no idea you could book trips that far in advance, is it a lot cheaper? I dont really want to google flights as it will mess up my cookies/search history etc. But wondering if its worth booking something quite far ahead and then if plans change, ditching it, may be worth the risk if a decent chunk cheaper.

No cheaper really - just something we've always talked about and found reason to put off, so decided it was time to get it sorted.

Only real benefit is now not feeling as jealous when I see people's holiday snaps!

[Guest Manini]

As an aside - looking at doing a trip across northern Italy in March for my mrs birthday. 
 

Plan is to fly in to Turin, couple of days there, train to Milan, few days there, then Venice for the rest of the week before flying home. I’ve been to Milan and Venice before, we’ll also squeeze a day in Milan to go to bergamo so that will be more than enough time, has anyone been to Turin? Is it a place with plenty to see? 
 

@Costock_Fox @bovril(I think you’ve lived in Italy before? Ignore me if not) have either of you been? 

Edited 15 July 2022 by Manini

[bovril]

39 minutes ago, Manini said:

As an aside - looking at doing a trip across northern Italy in March for my mrs birthday. 
 

Plan is to fly in to Turin, couple of days there, train to Milan, few days there, then Venice for the rest of the week before flying home. I’ve been to Milan and Venice before, we’ll also squeeze a day in Milan to go to bergamo so that will be more than enough time, has anyone been to Turin? Is it a place with plenty to see? 
 

@Costock_Fox @bovril(I think you’ve lived in Italy before? Ignore me if not) have either of you been? 

Turin is very nice, much nicer than Milan. Verona and Vicenza are also lovely.

 

From Turin you can explore some villages further towards the Alps. 

[VLC86]

44 minutes ago, Manini said:

As an aside - looking at doing a trip across northern Italy in March for my mrs birthday. 
 

Plan is to fly in to Turin, couple of days there, train to Milan, few days there, then Venice for the rest of the week before flying home. I’ve been to Milan and Venice before, we’ll also squeeze a day in Milan to go to bergamo so that will be more than enough time, has anyone been to Turin? Is it a place with plenty to see? 
 

@Costock_Fox @bovril(I think you’ve lived in Italy before? Ignore me if not) have either of you been? 

Yeah, was never lucky enough to go to Turin but it does look great.

 

If you are going to Venice I would recommend going to Verona as well which is stunning. I did a lot of the lakes and small towns/villages further north than Bergamo towards the Swiss boarder which were really nice as well. 

[Guest Manini]

5 minutes ago, bovril said:

Turin is very nice, much nicer than Milan. Verona and Vicenza are also lovely.

 

From Turin you can explore some villages further towards the Alps. 

Lovely thanks. I could take or leave Milan but my girlfriend has never been, and I didn’t go to the San Siro when I went so want to check that off before it goes. Also a good excuse to go and eat some casoncelli in Bergamo. 

[Guest Manini]

1 minute ago, Costock_Fox said:

Yeah, was never lucky enough to go to Turin but it does look great.

 

If you are going to Venice I would recommend going to Verona as well which is stunning. I did a lot of the lakes and small towns/villages further north than Bergamo towards the Swiss boarder which were really nice as well. 

Two votes for Verona then so we’ll keep that in mind. Lakes - Como/Garda? I always thought they were a bit further out, would you be able to do that from Milan in say a day? 

[VLC86]

47 minutes ago, Manini said:

Two votes for Verona then so we’ll keep that in mind. Lakes - Como/Garda? I always thought they were a bit further out, would you be able to do that from Milan in say a day? 

If you are in Venice for a week 100% do Verona.

 

Yeah Como and Garda are doable from Milan for sure if you have a car. Como is about 40 mins from Bergamo centre.

[Guest Kopfkino]

Got a trip to Lisbon and Porto coming up in October - has anyone got any recommendations for places to eat and wine bars?
Just want proper authentic grub - have already lined up Loco in Lisbon at €140 tasting menu so I’m not looking for any of the fancy stuff.
 

I guess a fair few have been to Porto albeit a few years ago now.

[oakman]

3 hours ago, Manini said:

As an aside - looking at doing a trip across northern Italy in March for my mrs birthday. 
 

Plan is to fly in to Turin, couple of days there, train to Milan, few days there, then Venice for the rest of the week before flying home. I’ve been to Milan and Venice before, we’ll also squeeze a day in Milan to go to bergamo so that will be more than enough time, has anyone been to Turin? Is it a place with plenty to see? 
 

@Costock_Fox @bovril(I think you’ve lived in Italy before? Ignore me if not) have either of you been? 

If you've got time in your itinerary to get to Lake Garda, definitely worth it.

[Voll Blau]

16 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

Got a trip to Lisbon and Porto coming up in October - has anyone got any recommendations for places to eat and wine bars?
Just want proper authentic grub - have already lined up Loco in Lisbon at €140 tasting menu so I’m not looking for any of the fancy stuff.
 

I guess a fair few have been to Porto albeit a few years ago now.

Make sure you go for a Francesinha in Porto - we went to a great place called Cafe Santiago. You probably won't need to eat for the rest of the trip though!

 

Only going off our Champions League visit but the bars in the Galeria de Paris were great, cheap and full of friendly people.

[Stadt]

47 minutes ago, Kopfkino said:

Got a trip to Lisbon and Porto coming up in October - has anyone got any recommendations for places to eat and wine bars?
Just want proper authentic grub - have already lined up Loco in Lisbon at €140 tasting menu so I’m not looking for any of the fancy stuff.
 

I guess a fair few have been to Porto albeit a few years ago now.

Guindalense Football Club is a local team's clubhouse which was cheap for pints and has great views of the bridge in Porto. The Bonaparte was a class bar too.

 

I've been thinking about doing Lisbon recently, probably the cheapest western European capital so it's appealing.

[Guest Manini]

 

7 hours ago, Costock_Fox said:

If you are in Venice for a week 100% do Verona.

 

Yeah Como and Garda are doable from Milan for sure if you have a car. Como is about 40 mins from Bergamo centre.

Think it will be more like 2 days in Venice, need to work it out properly - we’ve just got a flight and a hotel in Turin sorted for now so we’ve got a blank canvas to sort out the rest of the week. Thanks for the tips. 

Edited 15 July 2022 by Manini

[VLC86]

5 minutes ago, Manini said:

 

Think it will be more like 2 days in Venice, need to work it out properly - we’ve just got a flight and a hotel in Turin sorted for now so we’ve got a blank canvas to sort out the rest of the week. Thanks for the tips. 

Nice. It’s a very cool part of the world, I’m hoping to get back at some point soon.

[Soup]

On 15/07/2022 at 10:35, RowlattsFox said:

Have some easyJet flight vouchers to use, original flights to Budapest in 2020  eventually used them to book Belfast for August but that has now been cancelled too..annoying because the value I have barely gets you anywhere with their current flight prices. 

 

Anyway, struggling for leave days so was thinking off going somewhere with the Mrs in between Christmas and New year when I'm already off work. 

 

Any recommendations in Europe that are good value for that time of year? Don't mind cold but don't want weather to be too bad. 

 

 

I've spent Christmas 5 out of the last 6 years in Valencia. The weather is very good to be honest, afternoon's are mostly low to mid 20's. The mornings and late evenings a bit fresh but certainly not cold, everybody still has breakfast outside and the terraces are packed way in to the night. Loads of Christmas lights up so it feels really festive. Loads going on in the city or if you wanna chill pick up a bike and head to the beaches to the south, a gentle 30/40 minute ride away and you'll have your own beach for a picnic. The sea is cold but definitely worth a dip on a sunny day. 

Edited 16 July 2022 by Soup

[RowlattsFox]

8 minutes ago, Soup said:

I've spent Christmas 5 out of the last 6 years in Valencia. The weather is very good to be honest, afternoon's are mostly low to mid 20's. The mornings and late evenings a bit fresh but certainly not cold, everybody still has breakfast outside and the terraces are packed way in to the night. Loads of Christmas lights up so it feels really festive. Loads going on in the city or if you wanna chill pick up a bike and head to the beaches to the south, a gentle 30/40 minute ride away and you'll have your own beach for a picnic. The sea is cold but definitely worth a dip on a sunny day. 

Sounds good to me, will definitely take a look. Cheers. 

[FoxesDeb]

3 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Sounds good to me, will definitely take a look. Cheers. 

I can't believe I didn't mention Valencia, we loved it so much we're moving about half an hour away in a couple of months time  We were there Christmas time 2020, and I can second @Soup. We had a great time, the city has a great vibe and the weather was mild too.