Has Anyone Booked a Holiday Yet?

[Stadt]

12 minutes ago, bovril said:

No I probably said the opposite 😂 I love Italian pizzerias but they need to be in non descript housing blocks on the outskirts of town, if you go to a posh one in the historic centre it'll probably be underwhelming. 

 

Spanish food is maybe my favourite in Europe because they are happy to experiment more. I do love Italian food but the whole 'omg nonna would never make it like this' is very cringey and boring. They have great produce though especially in the south. Fruit and veg in Sicily is unmatched. And superb cakes and desserts in the north. 

Ah right, I knew it was something slightly disagreeable with Italian cuisine though!
 

Yeah it makes sense northern Italy is good with cakes, a U shape around the Alps is like the pastry belt of Europe. I’m no coffee snob  generally but the quality in Italy is really and unsurprisingly brilliant.

[bovril]

3 minutes ago, Stadt said:

Ah right, I knew it was something slightly disagreeable with Italian cuisine though!
 

Yeah it makes sense northern Italy is good with cakes, a U shape around the Alps is like the pastry belt of Europe. I’m no coffee snob  generally but the quality in Italy is really and unsurprisingly brilliant.

Breakfasts are what I miss the most from living there, for which my Italian friends think I'm mental. But a long coffee and pastry just hits different man. Goated breakfast. 

[Unabomber]

4 hours ago, cambridgefox said:

Book Trattoria Za Za for a meal.

very nice,but you will have to book well in advance.

we did a food and drink walking tour.Planned on eating that evening,but we were stuffed.

 

Cheers, booked a table 

[SemperEadem]

Slightly niche but does anyone any good central spots for breakfast in Cologne? A few of us land there very early ahead of a Bochum game that night.

[VLC86]

27 minutes ago, SemperEadem said:

Slightly niche but does anyone any good central spots for breakfast in Cologne? A few of us land there very early ahead of a Bochum game that night.

I don’t think you can go far wrong with anywhere along the river, although I was there in the summer. I haven’t got anywhere specific though as it was heaving due to the euros when I was there.

[cambridgefox]

4 hours ago, Unabomber said:

Cheers, booked a table 

Good lad.

it was very good

[FoyleFox]

Just returned from our trip to Senegal. It was lovely. Unfortunately, due to illness we didn't get to explore as much as we'd hoped but, we enjoyed what we did see.

 

I had been looking at South America and Antarctica for early 2027 but the dates don't work. I'm looking at Asia late spring instead.

I've found a cruise package deal with flights to Tokyo and 3 nights in Tokyo but I think it would be a lot cheaper to book separately, based on the Emirates flight costs for this May.

For those that have been to Tokyo, it's it easy to navigate transport i.e. Airport to hotel and arrange trips/excursions when there?

We'd disembark in Seoul, has anyone been there, it's it worth staying a few days there?

[FoxesDeb]

1 hour ago, FoyleFox said:

Just returned from our trip to Senegal. It was lovely. Unfortunately, due to illness we didn't get to explore as much as we'd hoped but, we enjoyed what we did see.

 

I had been looking at South America and Antarctica for early 2027 but the dates don't work. I'm looking at Asia late spring instead.

I've found a cruise package deal with flights to Tokyo and 3 nights in Tokyo but I think it would be a lot cheaper to book separately, based on the Emirates flight costs for this May.

For those that have been to Tokyo, it's it easy to navigate transport i.e. Airport to hotel and arrange trips/excursions when there?

We'd disembark in Seoul, has anyone been there, it's it worth staying a few days there?

Glad you enjoyed Senegal, sorry you were unwell though, that's always rubbish but even worse on holiday.

 

@leicsmac might be able to help with your Seoul question

 

We have booked our next cruise for 2027, Singapore to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Very excited already, again they are all new places for me 

[ajthefox]

3 days on the isle of Arran at easter. Looking forward to going somewhere quiet.

[bovril]

6 minutes ago, ajthefox said:

3 days on the isle of Arran at easter. Looking forward to going somewhere quiet.

Wonderful place! But Easter is early this year so pack well...

[FoyleFox]

7 hours ago, FoxesDeb said:

Glad you enjoyed Senegal, sorry you were unwell though, that's always rubbish but even worse on holiday.

 

@leicsmac might be able to help with your Seoul question

 

We have booked our next cruise for 2027, Singapore to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Very excited already, again they are all new places for me 

Thanks, fortunately I wasn't too ill, the other half, not so great. They're great places to visit. We did a repositioning in 2020 from Singapore to Dubai, calling at those. Obviously, not an ideal time for an Asia cruise but it was lovely and quiet 😊 

We missed Japan so, looking at this for next year to catch up

Edited 14 February by FoyleFox

[Stuntman_Mike]

Eindhoven and Genk next weekend 😃

[Stuntman_Mike]

On 01/02/2026 at 08:13, Filbert_Ross said:

Me & two mates going Vienna to see a band in August. Going for 4 nights.  Band is playing Arena Wien Open Air.  
 

ideally we want to stay that side of Vienna which is same side as the airport. 
any areas anyone would recommend with bars etc and got transport links ? 
don't want to end up staying in some business district. Ha. 

If you didn't already know and time allows it, Bratislava is only a hour away and worth the visit for cheap beers/another country to tick off.

[RowlattsFox]

Sunday beers in front of the TV talking but fancy going on a skiing/winter trip, possibly next Feb half term with the kids. 

 

Where would someone go on a beginners trip, with primary school age children? I went skiing with school in chatel 20 years ago but can't remember much. 

[bovril]

15 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Sunday beers in front of the TV talking but fancy going on a skiing/winter trip, possibly next Feb half term with the kids. 

 

Where would someone go on a beginners trip, with primary school age children? I went skiing with school in chatel 20 years ago but can't remember much. 

Know nothing about skiing but I know a lot about Bulgaria and South Tyrol, the latter being close to where the winter Olympics are being help. Bulgaria is a pretty laid back, good grilled meat and beer kind of place, probably quite busy and surprisingly expensive, but with some good sights and landscapes nearby the main ski towns. South Tyrol is an upmarket area especially for skiing, lots of good wine and expensive portions of German-like cuisine, very pretty in places with some lovely towns to explore. 

[leicsmac]

On 14/02/2026 at 14:26, FoyleFox said:

Just returned from our trip to Senegal. It was lovely. Unfortunately, due to illness we didn't get to explore as much as we'd hoped but, we enjoyed what we did see.

 

I had been looking at South America and Antarctica for early 2027 but the dates don't work. I'm looking at Asia late spring instead.

I've found a cruise package deal with flights to Tokyo and 3 nights in Tokyo but I think it would be a lot cheaper to book separately, based on the Emirates flight costs for this May.

For those that have been to Tokyo, it's it easy to navigate transport i.e. Airport to hotel and arrange trips/excursions when there?

We'd disembark in Seoul, has anyone been there, it's it worth staying a few days there?

 

On 14/02/2026 at 15:34, FoxesDeb said:

Glad you enjoyed Senegal, sorry you were unwell though, that's always rubbish but even worse on holiday.

 

@leicsmac might be able to help with your Seoul question

 

We have booked our next cruise for 2027, Singapore to Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. Very excited already, again they are all new places for me 

Apologies for not getting back on this one until now.

 

Seoul is definitely worth a few days, there's a lot of things to see and do there depending on what you're after. Feel free to inbox with any specific questions, but off the top of my head Gwanghwamun Palace, Namsan Tower and looking around the traditional market in Dongdaemun are all worth a look, as is the Buddhist temple near the last one of those. But, as already said, it's down to your individual ideas. 

[BrummieFOX]

On 05/02/2026 at 10:25, Stadt said:

I'm sure it's @bovril that said (paraphrasing) you'll get the worst pizza of your life in Italy.

 

To this end I think Spanish food is incredibly underrated, it's always fantastically fresh and cheap.

Completely agree. The concstency of it as well, you do well to get a bad meal and I also love the tapas culture of moving round different bars drinking and snacking. Particularly good in the Basque region and Andalucia. 

[kingcarr21]

Going on a Caribbean cruise end of March to celebrate mine and my wifes 40th birthdays. I turned 40 last November and the wife is this coming November. 

 

Some of you know about my son Ashton and his additional needs. He has now got into the habit of squealing when he gets excited when watching his Ipad. So the flight is going to be so much fun. Honestly its so high pitched and loud i think i need to bring hundreds of earplugs to hand out to people  

[FoyleFox]

16 hours ago, leicsmac said:

 

Apologies for not getting back on this one until now.

 

Seoul is definitely worth a few days, there's a lot of things to see and do there depending on what you're after. Feel free to inbox with any specific questions, but off the top of my head Gwanghwamun Palace, Namsan Tower and looking around the traditional market in Dongdaemun are all worth a look, as is the Buddhist temple near the last one of those. But, as already said, it's down to your individual ideas. 

Great, thank you. We're definitely doing the trip ourselves so, will have the option to add 2 or 3 nights in Seoul. It seemed a shame to land and leave. It's not until June 2027 but I'm sure I'll have more questions 😀

[splinterdream]

Anyone been to Sicily? Big fan of the Godfather, but is there much else going for it?

[bovril]

4 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

Anyone been to Sicily? Big fan of the Godfather, but is there much else going for it?

Greek and Roman ruins, Norman cathedrals, great landscapes, fantastic food, some incredible beaches. 

[MaidstoneFox]

On 15/02/2026 at 20:14, RowlattsFox said:

Sunday beers in front of the TV talking but fancy going on a skiing/winter trip, possibly next Feb half term with the kids. 

 

Where would someone go on a beginners trip, with primary school age children? I went skiing with school in chatel 20 years ago but can't remember much. 

Depends what your criteria is and how you want to get there (drive, train, fly). 

 

We went to La Norma in France, a few years ago, but we wanted to take the train and it was very reasonable, booking well ahead. We got the the Eurostar to Paris, then changed to get the train to Modane and a short bus transfer. La Norma is great for kids, they had beginner's lessons and we hired all equipment there, so we didn't have loads of baggage for the transfers. Aussois was somewhere else I looked at with the exactly the same transport and route. I reckoned at the time it was similar travel time to flying because of less time in airports, getting to and from airports etc, and with a more scenic route, but we are based in the south-east, close to Eurostar.

Edited 22 February by MaidstoneFox

[VLC86]

31 minutes ago, splinterdream said:

Anyone been to Sicily? Big fan of the Godfather, but is there much else going for it?

Much else going for it? 😂 other than the food, the weather, the incredible towns, the great cities and great beaches. Nah not much.

[VLC86]

27 minutes ago, bovril said:

Greek and Roman ruins, Norman cathedrals, great landscapes, fantastic food, some incredible beaches. 

But other than that though?

[bovril]

Thinking of going to England this year anyone been? Big fan of the films of Guy Ritchie, is there anything else going for it I should be aware of?