Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[slymunn]

58 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Was looking last night for somewhere to take the kids the last week of August (unfortunately only time me and the Mrs can both get off this summer holidays) but begrudge paying 3K for a week beach holiday in a shit-hole or £1500 for a half decent caravan in a ridiculously busy holiday park.

So I looked at City Breaks instead, cheapest option was comfortably Hamburg so booked 4 nights there. Kids are 8 and 4 and will be the first time we've taken them abroad for a City break. 

Looks to be some reasonable kid friendly stuff, miniatur wonderland looks ace, but any suggestions for family friendly bars and restaurants would be handy. Probably not the Reeperbahn I'd guess  

Another idea for you could be looking at city breaks with a beach nearby, so you cover both...Gdansk, Barca, Porto Nice for example

I can't help with Hamburg as I've not being haha 
 

[Daggers]

2 hours ago, slymunn said:

Another idea for you could be looking at city breaks with a beach nearby, so you cover both...Gdansk, Barca, Porto Nice for example

I can't help with Hamburg as I've not being haha 
 

Hamburg has mini beaches set up by the river

[ajthefox]

3 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

Was looking last night for somewhere to take the kids the last week of August (unfortunately only time me and the Mrs can both get off this summer holidays) but begrudge paying 3K for a week beach holiday in a shit-hole or £1500 for a half decent caravan in a ridiculously busy holiday park.

So I looked at City Breaks instead, cheapest option was comfortably Hamburg so booked 4 nights there. Kids are 8 and 4 and will be the first time we've taken them abroad for a City break. 

Looks to be some reasonable kid friendly stuff, miniatur wonderland looks ace, but any suggestions for family friendly bars and restaurants would be handy. Probably not the Reeperbahn I'd guess  

You guess correctly!

 

I can't recommend much family stuff as I went boozing/looking at buildings with mates but I will say it's a cool city, the metro is great for getting around. Miniatur wonderland is awesome, and the area around there/ the Elphilharmonie is quite nice.

 

There are some boat rides you can do on the lake adjacent to the main train station. There's also a church tower you can go up that has great views of the city if that interests...

https://www.st-michaelis.de/ 

 

[goose2010]

Anyone been to Lapland at Christmas time? My daughter will be 4 next Christmas and her last one before she starts school. 

 

If you have been, would you recommend doing it as a tour with a itinerary each day or just doing it all your self?? 

[brookfox]

32 minutes ago, goose2010 said:

Anyone been to Lapland at Christmas time? My daughter will be 4 next Christmas and her last one before she starts school. 

 

If you have been, would you recommend doing it as a tour with an itinerary each day or just doing it all your self?? 

Went with ours kids a few years ago. Flew in and out in a day one some package deal (eg Tui) which wasn’t as horrific as it sounds. From memory we had about 6hrs there, play in the snow, husky ride, skidoo, ice hotel then a sleigh to see Santa (the real one!) in his grotto in the dark. All food and warm clothes provided. Long day but the kids loved it so could recommend it. Think ours were maybe 5 and 7.

[FoxesDeb]

3 hours ago, goose2010 said:

Anyone been to Lapland at Christmas time? My daughter will be 4 next Christmas and her last one before she starts school. 

 

If you have been, would you recommend doing it as a tour with a itinerary each day or just doing it all your self?? 

I haven't been myself but I work for a well known UK tour operator and the prices we charge for Lapland excursions are absolutely eye watering. A 15 minute ride in a sleigh behind some huskies for example can cost around £150- £200 each.

 

It's very easy and much cheaper to book your own activities on Get Your Guide or Viator, just need to do plenty of research, there are lots of Facebook groups where people give advice and swap ideas about doing Lapland on your own, and you can save a fortune 

[goose2010]

12 minutes ago, FoxesDeb said:

I haven't been myself but I work for a well known UK tour operator and the prices we charge for Lapland excursions are absolutely eye watering. A 15 minute ride in a sleigh behind some huskies for example can cost around £150- £200 each.

 

It's very easy and much cheaper to book your own activities on Get Your Guide or Viator, just need to do plenty of research, there are lots of Facebook groups where people give advice and swap ideas about doing Lapland on your own, and you can save a fortune 

Thanks for the info I will have a look at those sites and see what I can find! 

 

 

[Unabomber]

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

[Chris_OGrady]

3 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

Yeah, it's really nice. One of the best places to visit in Italy.

Edited 8 January by Chris_OGrady

[bovril]

3 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

Great city, and lots of beautiful places nearby. 

[Unabomber]

13 minutes ago, Chris_OGrady said:

Yeah, it's really nice. One of the best places to visit in Italy.

 

12 minutes ago, bovril said:

Great city, and lots of beautiful places nearby. 

Thanks both. We are looking at Italy for late April and unsure where to go. Did Rome last year and were are also looking at Florence, but Verona looks nice. We want somewhere a bit quieter but still with plenty to see and do nearby. Where would be good nearby? 

Edited 8 January by Unabomber

[bovril]

15 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

 

Thanks both. We are looking at Italy for late April and unsure where to go. Did Rome last year and were are also looking at Florence, but Verona looks nice. We want somewhere a bit quieter but still with plenty to see and do nearby. Where would be good nearby? 

It's a beautiful city with as usual for Italy lots of great places to eat and drink. Then nearby you've got...

Venice - About 1hr 20 mins by slower and cheaper regionale train. 

Padova - About an hour by train. Very beautiful city with Giotto's amazing frescoes in the Scrovegni chapel.

Vicenza - about 45 minutes by train, very pretty town.

Lake Garda - very easy to get to from Verona, bus and train.

Trento - about 1hr 20 minutes by train, beautiful town surrounded by mountains, quite different from the rest of Italy.

Bolzano - maybe just over 2 hrs by train but surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in Europe, easy to get a bus from there to the valleys all around.

Parma and Modena - both great cities with plenty of sites and great food but don't think there's a direct train, will probably be a Flixbus.

Ravenna - an absolute must see in Europe imo, but don't think there's a direct train. Again, there could be a Flixbus.

Venice for me is still the most beautiful city in the world and it's worth going to that region just to spend some time there.

Late April will be wonderful.

 

 

Edited 8 January by bovril

[Unabomber]

6 minutes ago, bovril said:

It's a beautiful city with as usual for Italy lots of great places to eat and drink. Then nearby you've got...

Venice - About 1hr 20 mins by slower and cheaper regionale train. 

Padova - About an hour by train. Very beautiful city with Giotto's amazing frescoes in the Scrovegni chapel.

Vicenza - about 45 minutes by train, very pretty town.

Lake Garda - very easy to get to from Verona, bus and train.

Trento - about 1hr 20 minutes by train, beautiful town surrounded by mountains, quite different from the rest of Italy.

Bolzano - maybe just over 2 hrs by train but surrounded by some of the most stunning scenery in Europe, easy to get a bus from there to the valleys all around.

Parma and Modena - both great cities with plenty of sites and great food but don't think there's a direct train, will probably be a Flixbus.

Ravenna - an absolute must see in Europe imo, but don't think there's a direct train. Again, there could be a Flixbus.

Venice for me is still the most beautiful city in the world and it's worth going to that region just to spend some time there.

Late April will be wonderful.

 

 

That’s great thanks really appreciate the reply and I think that’s our mind made up. We were thinking of going to lake Garda and Venice anyway, but will definitely look at the other places you mention. 

[FoxesDeb]

48 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

We stayed in Peschiera on Lake Garda and went to Verona for the day, it's only about half an hour by car and is lovely, as is Lake Garda

[Lionator]

1 minute ago, FoxesDeb said:

We stayed in Peschiera on Lake Garda and went to Verona for the day, it's only about half an hour by car and is lovely, as is Lake Garda

Was going to recommend Peschiera! Verona is gorgeous.

[Lionator]

Has anyone ever been to Galway/Connemara? What are the highlights?

[Unabomber]

1 hour ago, FoxesDeb said:

We stayed in Peschiera on Lake Garda and went to Verona for the day, it's only about half an hour by car and is lovely, as is Lake Garda

Sounds great we will definitely do that day out but the other way around!  

[FoyleFox]

Porto is lovely, stayed for 5 or 6 nights when we played them. Found it an unexpectedly great city. 

 

Hamburg is also lovely. I can also recommend miniaturewonderland. Book tickets and allow plenty of time. There's a small but good car museum and a Russian submarine that you can tour. I'd comment on the lake tour but we'd been travelling all night, boarded the boat and went to sleep. Missed the whole thing 😂 I'm going back in 3 weeks and weather permitting, will try again. 

 

Galway is pretty. Nice beaches and stunning landscapes. It was very flooded the last time I visited so can't recommend or remember much.

[VLC86]

3 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

As others have said, it’s great and well worth a visit. I always try to persuade people who say they are going to Milan to head that was instead.

[Unabomber]

Booked the week in Verona today. 

[bovril]

3 minutes ago, Unabomber said:

Booked the week in Verona today. 

Always used to go to Pizzeria Bella Napoli when I was in Verona. Old school pizzeria run by southerners, nothing spectacular but great if you want a reliable, cheap pizza and cold beer. Their half metre pizzas were always good. Tosca cafe was always really good for coffee and lunch, in a nice square by the river, away from too many tourists. There are some good pubs we used to go to as well, I'll see if I can remember them. It has a bit more of an alpine, central European feel than many Italian cities, so lots of good places to drink beer.

[Unabomber]

33 minutes ago, bovril said:

Always used to go to Pizzeria Bella Napoli when I was in Verona. Old school pizzeria run by southerners, nothing spectacular but great if you want a reliable, cheap pizza and cold beer. Their half metre pizzas were always good. Tosca cafe was always really good for coffee and lunch, in a nice square by the river, away from too many tourists. There are some good pubs we used to go to as well, I'll see if I can remember them. It has a bit more of an alpine, central European feel than many Italian cities, so lots of good places to drink beer.

Nice one cheers sounds great. Anything you remember let me know please. 

[FoyleFox]

I'm now wondering if my Panama Canal booking was wise 

[STEVIE B]

On 08/01/2025 at 19:36, Unabomber said:

Has anyone been to Verona in Italy? 

Went there in May. Absolutely loved it. Not a massive city & not as touristy as Rome/Florence. 

Managed to see Verona v Inter too ! 

Along with Naples, Verona is top of my list of favourite Italian cities.

[boots60]

On 08/01/2025 at 20:29, Lionator said:

Was going to recommend Peschiera! Verona is gorgeous.

Booking for 20th wedding anniversary in September.

Looking at going for a week.

What would be the ideal stay?

The whole week in Peschiera with a day trip to Verona or a 3 or 4 night stay in each?