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Thommo

Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

By Thommo, in General Chat

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Stadt

Stadt

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, bovril said:

Worth going just for the food. North West European cuisine is some of the best in the world, don't let generation Z spicy slop merchants convince you otherwise. In Paris you regularly find dishes that sound or look like something a half decent English country pub would serve, but elevated by superior ingredients and techniques. Also one of the best big cities for nightlife I've been to. Still loads of very laid back places frequented by locals and students even in the touristy parts. Far better than London in that sense. 

I get the impression it feels much more ‘lived in’ than swathes of London. That being in Paris is incidental to great gastronomy and drink.

 

Really ought to go as I went on a completely shit school trip about 12 years ago it has probably unfairly tainted my view. 

bovril

bovril

Posted
Posted
8 minutes ago, Stadt said:

I get the impression it feels much more ‘lived in’ than swathes of London. That being in Paris is incidental to great gastronomy and drink.

 

Really ought to go as I went on a completely shit school trip about 12 years ago it has probably unfairly tainted my view. 

Definitely feels more lived in and more like a coherent city with character to me which is probably a lot to do with it being more centrally planned.

There are many places in London I love but I find it a bit weird. Many of its inhabitants and our elected officials clearly want it to be the ultimate global city and at times that works but often it just feels a bit soulless and lacking identity now. Even half the big sporting events are now American. I'm sure many French would complain that process has probably happened to some extent in Paris but it's nowhere near the same. Somehow I was surprised to find good French restaurants full of locals in the middle of their capital city. Imagine that! 

  • Like 2
CosbehFox

CosbehFox

Posted
Posted
10 hours ago, bovril said:

Definitely feels more lived in and more like a coherent city with character to me which is probably a lot to do with it being more centrally planned.

There are many places in London I love but I find it a bit weird. Many of its inhabitants and our elected officials clearly want it to be the ultimate global city and at times that works but often it just feels a bit soulless and lacking identity now. Even half the big sporting events are now American. I'm sure many French would complain that process has probably happened to some extent in Paris but it's nowhere near the same. Somehow I was surprised to find good French restaurants full of locals in the middle of their capital city. Imagine that! 

What Paris and by extension France has done well is not converting itself over to an English language first city/country for the purpose of business (cough Amsterdam cough). I think that then begins to feed into the culture. It's not a truly global city and it's better for it in my opinion. 

 

I think another dimension in recent years is that the city is expanding past the ring road and that's been supported by investment on infrastructure (the Grand Plan). There is no longer than any fear about living in the suburbs. 

 

The only minor criticism was that it's probably 5% to 10% more expensive than London. 

  • Like 1
Stuntman_Mike

Stuntman_Mike

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, SickoDicko said:

Tirana this weekend, thought i'd missed the chance when we didn't get to the final there

We booked Tirana for the final when the price was lower, just in case City made it and went for the trip anyway. 

 

Durres is only 40 mins away if you fancied getting to the coast. Taxi was well priced.

 

  • Like 1
grobyfox1990

grobyfox1990

Posted
Posted
11 hours ago, bovril said:

Definitely feels more lived in and more like a coherent city with character to me which is probably a lot to do with it being more centrally planned.

There are many places in London I love but I find it a bit weird. Many of its inhabitants and our elected officials clearly want it to be the ultimate global city and at times that works but often it just feels a bit soulless and lacking identity now. Even half the big sporting events are now American. I'm sure many French would complain that process has probably happened to some extent in Paris but it's nowhere near the same. Somehow I was surprised to find good French restaurants full of locals in the middle of their capital city. Imagine that! 

Funnily enough you could pretty much exactly swap Paris/France for London/England in your post and that would be verbatim what my colleague Vincent in the French firm would say about his city. Familiarity breeds contempt and going to a city for a few days every year builds an unrealistic picture of what it actually is.

That said I have been to Paris 3 times this year and it defo feels like it has cleaned up significantly. Obvs it cannot compare to the talk about about Texas/New Orleans above which is world renowned vibes and culinary delights, but it is not trying to.

  • Like 1
  • 2 weeks later...
Chris_OGrady

Chris_OGrady

Posted
Posted

@bovril@westernpark I believe you are our resident Norwich experts! I've got a weekend there with family in May. What would be the best areas to stay? For pubs I've got Fat Cat and Ribs of Beef as a must, but will need places a bit more female friendly too. Also restaurants recommendations would be great (I like all cuisines) and any general good stuff to do in the city 

bovril

bovril

Posted
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, Chris_OGrady said:

@bovril@westernpark I believe you are our resident Norwich experts! I've got a weekend there with family in May. What would be the best areas to stay? For pubs I've got Fat Cat and Ribs of Beef as a must, but will need places a bit more female friendly too. Also restaurants recommendations would be great (I like all cuisines) and any general good stuff to do in the city 

Norwich is one of the places in Norfolk I know the least. I'd add the Adam and Eve for historic value but haven't been there for years. I've heard good things about the White Lion. No idea about places to eat unfortunately. 

 

If you're in Norfolk you need to do church art and architecture, we have some of the best in Europe. The cathedral obviously but also St Peter Mancroft has some of the best of the medieval Norwich School of stained glass. St Peter Hungate also has great stained glass. The area north and south of Norwich has possibly the highest concentration of complete medieval churches in the world. In May it'll be lovely. 

Edited by bovril
  • Thanks 1
westernpark

westernpark

Posted
Posted
On 21/12/2025 at 13:55, Chris_OGrady said:

@bovril@westernpark I believe you are our resident Norwich experts! I've got a weekend there with family in May. What would be the best areas to stay? For pubs I've got Fat Cat and Ribs of Beef as a must, but will need places a bit more female friendly too. Also restaurants recommendations would be great (I like all cuisines) and any general good stuff to do in the city 

I have been going to Norwich for years because family lived nearby but only been adulting there since Covid really! If I still had untappd! There have been some great suggestions already but for female friendly stuff- the market! The sandwich shop, craft beer place there etc are great for instagram(if that’s what female friendly means) and felt unique for Norwich and other similar cities in the UK.


Make sure you go to yalm(food hall)- probably best for breakfast and the newly refurbished Castle is better than I remembered it as a kid.

Hopefully I don’t sound too Partridge!

  • Thanks 1
Stuntman_Mike

Stuntman_Mike

Posted
Posted

Looking at Mexico (Cancun or Playa Del Carmen) early November so it's something to look forward to well in advance, some winter sun and time to pay off.

 

Would be nice to tick off Chichen Itza, Day of the Dead is being celebrated the dates we'll be there and Xcaret Park looks authentic enough for the type of place it is.

 

Happy for any do's and don'ts. I've seen about the seaweed issue, which should be ok for the time we're there! 

grobyfox1990

grobyfox1990

Posted
Posted
52 minutes ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Looking at Mexico (Cancun or Playa Del Carmen) early November so it's something to look forward to well in advance, some winter sun and time to pay off.

 

Would be nice to tick off Chichen Itza, Day of the Dead is being celebrated the dates we'll be there and Xcaret Park looks authentic enough for the type of place it is.

 

Happy for any do's and don'ts. I've seen about the seaweed issue, which should be ok for the time we're there! 

Chicken itza is great, cancun is exactly what you see on Google, a big American resort. If you’ve any time go to Mexico City. An incredible and exhilarating city, genuinely an assault on the sense with world class cuisine and bars. Go to a luche libre event, I went to a match at the Azteca which was cool 

SecretPro

SecretPro

Posted
Posted

Got bored on Boxing Day so booked a week in Seville in March. Will use the trains as usual to travel around, probably take in Cadiz and Cordoba at least. Should be around 17-21c in the day which is perfect for me wondering around and travelling etc. 

  • Like 1
FoxesDeb

FoxesDeb

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, SecretPro said:

Got bored on Boxing Day so booked a week in Seville in March. Will use the trains as usual to travel around, probably take in Cadiz and Cordoba at least. Should be around 17-21c in the day which is perfect for me wondering around and travelling etc. 

If you can, try to visit Cadíz on a day when there are no cruise ships in port

  • Thanks 1
1972 Fox

1972 Fox

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, SecretPro said:

Got bored on Boxing Day so booked a week in Seville in March. Will use the trains as usual to travel around, probably take in Cadiz and Cordoba at least. Should be around 17-21c in the day which is perfect for me wondering around and travelling etc. 

 

2 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

If you can, try to visit Cadíz on a day when there are no cruise ships in port

I'm also looking at a visit to Seville/Cadiz and that part of Spain around September 2026.

 

How would you find out which days there or no cruise ships in the port at Cadiz @FoxesDeb?

  • Like 1
STEVIE B

STEVIE B

Posted
Posted

Off to Sri Lanka in January. 

Colombo & Kandy, to see England's cricket tour. 3 x T20s & 3 x ODIs. Plenty of spare time to get about too. 

Love a bit of winter sunshine.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated. 

  • Like 3
FoxesDeb

FoxesDeb

Posted
Posted
35 minutes ago, FoyleFox said:

How was your South America cruise @FoxesDeb 

Did you go to Cartagena and Panama?

It was amazing thank you! Yes we did, both were lovely, Panama we did the canal visit which was great and then had a brief stop in the city on the way back, and Cartagena we went sightseeing in the city. Both beautiful places.

 

It was an amazing holiday over all, we now have lots more places we'd love to return to to spend more time seeing them properly, that will probably have to wait for retirement though!

 

 

  • Like 1
Chris_OGrady

Chris_OGrady

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, STEVIE B said:

Off to Sri Lanka in January. 

Colombo & Kandy, to see England's cricket tour. 3 x T20s & 3 x ODIs. Plenty of spare time to get about too. 

Love a bit of winter sunshine.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated. 

I did 2 weeks in Sri Lanka in October.

 

Colombo - go up the Lotus Tower for good views, Galle Face Hotel for an evening drink, and the Red Mosque is worth a look at.

 

I only spent 1 night in Kandy, but you get a great view up Sri Maha Bodhi Viharaya.

 

It you want to get about the place you can get a driver for about £50 a day (the hotels have drivers quarters). I used Kangaroo cabs- would highly recommend. My favourite part was the drive from Kandy to Nuw Eliya, where you work your way up into the hills and can stop off at the tea plantations. Nuw Eliya was the British town and almost feels like you're at some Victorian seaside resort (even though it's not on the coast). Some great hikes round there too and a more temperate climate. Would also recommend doing Sigiriya and getting down to Mirissa if you can which is more of a surfer town. 

  • Thanks 1
FoyleFox

FoyleFox

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

It was amazing thank you! Yes we did, both were lovely, Panama we did the canal visit which was great and then had a brief stop in the city on the way back, and Cartagena we went sightseeing in the city. Both beautiful places.

 

It was an amazing holiday over all, we now have lots more places we'd love to return to to spend more time seeing them properly, that will probably have to wait for retirement though!

 

 

Fabulous. I'm on countdown for our trip, still 16 weeks to go. It'll be our first time in SA so, we're excited, too.

We sail through the canal so think we'll just do Panama City. Did you do an organised tour in Cartagena? I wasn't sure about walking around downtown Colombia but it looked much nicer than I expected on Race Across the World. 

Chiltern Fox

Chiltern Fox

Posted
Posted
On 29/12/2025 at 20:18, STEVIE B said:

Off to Sri Lanka in January. 

Colombo & Kandy, to see England's cricket tour. 3 x T20s & 3 x ODIs. Plenty of spare time to get about too. 

Love a bit of winter sunshine.

Any recommendations would be much appreciated. 

Make sure you try the local lion beer. Bowl of cashews on the side.

  • Thanks 1

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