Holidays #2 - 2022 roundup and plans for 2023

[Gatsby]

London help!!

Me and my parter have one full day in London between flights we are staying at Stansted but will have the full day/evening in London City (first Saturday in December) and looking of ideas of where to go.
We have been several time seen all the touristy sights etc so this day is mostly about eating/drinking, looking for recommendations for the following:

Good food spots - looking more for street food markets etc rather than a full sit down meal

must visit cocktail bars

Good sports bar to watch the world cup

Any fun bars with interactive darts?

Any Christmassy spots we should check out?

Stansted express is the quickest way into town but check for train strikes as that weekend there are lots planned! If you go to Liverpool St there’s plenty about including Flight Club (darts) but you’d need to book. Pubs will be very busy, some you may need to book especially if England play on the Saturday.

 

[epl000]

Let us know what the Christmas markets are like. I've always wanted to do one and was thinking Berlin for next year. But if Strasbourg is amazing come and share some photos

I didn't love Berlin for christmas markets, deffo preferred visiting the city in the summer! I'd highly recommend going to frankfurt and getting the train to heidelberg which is absolutely stunning and so cute and christmassy (and frankfurt has good xmas markets too). Or Munich is great too.

 

[Shinythings]

I'm a qualified diver and I love it. I don't get to dive as much as I would like but it's such an incredible thing. Especially if you are somewhere that's rich in marine life and it's like being in an aquarium.

 

[sushimama]

We booked tickets to London for January yesterday, I really wanted to go in December but the price of everything is more than double compared to January. I'm so excited to be back again.

And it looks like we'll finally be able to go for our honeymoon in Japan this spring! We've been postponing the trip since march 2020, got married in the mean time and it's gonna be our honeymoon now haha Was just talking to my friend who went there this week and apparently it's just as crowded as it was before covid, I thought it won't be as bad until the cherries blossom but I guess because it was closed for so long people are really eager to go back. We need to book everything soon, the plane tickets went from 1100 € to 1500 € in less than a month. And to think we paid 450 € two years ago... 🥲

 

[bellinibobble]

Ooh where in the south are you looking to go?? We’re wanting to go to Florida next year then roadtripping to Nashville

That sounds amazing!! We want to do New Orleans, Miami and the Florida Keys! Just waiting for the flights to come out for mid November, so impatient!

Let us know what the Christmas markets are like. I've always wanted to do one and was thinking Berlin for next year. But if Strasbourg is amazing come and share some photos

I will do! Strasbourg is the so called European capital of Christmas so I have high expectations! We are there for 3 nights and are considering a trip to Baden Baden or Heidelberg as they aren’t far, and the last time I visited Freiburg near the Black Forest I didn’t get to have a Black Forest gateau and I really want one.. always thinking about food 🫣

We usually do a Christmas holiday, and in the past we have visited Munich, Budapest, Prague, Iceland (my favourite ever), New York, Copenhagen and Tallinn. I would recommend all of them, it puts you in such a good mood for Christmas Really missed going the past two years due to Covid!

 

[epl000]

Ooh that sounds amazing @bellinibobble definitely go to heidelberg if you can, its gorgeous! I love a christmassy holiday too.

 

[bellinibobble]

Ooh that sounds amazing @bellinibobble definitely go to heidelberg if you can, its gorgeous! I love a christmassy holiday too.

It looks so lovely! Hopefully we’ll have time

 

[Romy]

That sounds amazing!! We want to do New Orleans, Miami and the Florida Keys! Just waiting for the flights to come out for mid November, so impatient!
I will do! Strasbourg is the so called European capital of Christmas so I have high expectations! We are there for 3 nights and are considering a trip to Baden Baden or Heidelberg as they aren’t far, and the last time I visited Freiburg near the Black Forest I didn’t get to have a Black Forest gateau and I really want one.. always thinking about food 🫣

We usually do a Christmas holiday, and in the past we have visited Munich, Budapest, Prague, Iceland (my favourite ever), New York, Copenhagen and Tallinn. I would recommend all of them, it puts you in such a good mood for Christmas Really missed going the past two years due to Covid!

If you stay in Alsace, Colmar is reputed too for its Christmas market and Kaysersberg.

 

[MabelMae]

This year I did, Florida, Dubai and Dublin! Loved them all!

Next year will most likely be Spain as I’m moving out with a friend and will have no money

 

[bellinibobble]

Back from Strasbourg! It was the opening week for the Christmas markets so Saturday was crazy busy, but Sunday and Monday much more manageable. The food was amazing - did nothing but eat the entire time!

Favourite bits - the cathedral, and the architecture in general was fab.

We also visited Baden-Baden, a spa town (very much like Bath!) in Germany that took us about an hour to get to from Strasbourg. It had the classiest Christmas markets I had ever seen. Really glad we got the chance to visit but wished we had an extra day to do Colmar as well.

Would defo recommend it

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

Back from Strasbourg! It was the opening week for the Christmas markets so Saturday was crazy busy, but Sunday and Monday much more manageable. The food was amazing - did nothing but eat the entire time!

Favourite bits - the cathedral, and the architecture in general was fab.

We also visited Baden-Baden, a spa town (very much like Bath!) in Germany that took us about an hour to get to from Strasbourg. It had the classiest Christmas markets I had ever seen. Really glad we got the chance to visit but wished we had an extra day to do Colmar as well.

Would defo recommend it

Thank you so much for sharing. Did you fly? And can you recommend where you stayed or do you think there is a better area for exploring from?
I 100% want to do this next year Also how many days do you reckon I would need

 

[bellinibobble]

Thank you so much for sharing. Did you fly? And can you recommend where you stayed or do you think there is a better area for exploring from?
I 100% want to do this next year Also how many days do you reckon I would need

You’re welcome! We flew to Basel, and there was an hour’s extra travel to Strasbourg (bus then train, it was straightforward though). There were no flights directly from the U.K. to Strasbourg airport that we could see. We stayed in an Ibis a few minutes walk from the train station, cheap but modern and it was easy to walk everywhere centrally from there, so no need to use public transport. We stayed three nights, and saw everything we wanted to in two days so we decided to do a day trip on the last day, I would say two nights is probably enough if you only wanted to do Strasbourg

 

[OnlyHereForTheLolz]

You’re welcome! We flew to Basel, and there was an hour’s extra travel to Strasbourg (bus then train, it was straightforward though). There were no flights directly from the U.K. to Strasbourg airport that we could see. We stayed in an Ibis a few minutes walk from the train station, cheap but modern and it was easy to walk everywhere centrally from there, so no need to use public transport. We stayed three nights, and saw everything we wanted to in two days so we decided to do a day trip on the last day, I would say two nights is probably enough if you only wanted to do Strasbourg

Brilliant, thanks for the info. I'll probably go by Eurostar if there is no direct flights. I think your itinerary sound perfect for me.

 

[Lucie1001]

Anyone got any recommendations for which area to stay in in Dubai?
I know a lot of people don’t like the idea of Dubai, but we fancy 4 nights in January (actually only 3 full days and nights due to the flight times) but it’s doing my head in looking for a hotel.
I think I would probably like staying the JBR/marina area the best, but I don’t want to splurge on a beach front hotel since we won’t be there long but I know most of the other hotels in that area don’t get much sun on the pool areas.
But then to be honest we will probably be out and about most of the time and can always sit on the beach a bit! (As long as weather is ok).

Would like to go to
JRB/the walk
Marina
The pointe on the palm
Madinat souk
Dubai mall/burj khalifa
Tour of the creek

So probably won’t have time for a pool

 

[Eenymeenyminymo]

I like Grosvenor House, on the Marina and you can access Le Royal Meridien

 

[mcfeez]

Anyone got any recommendations for which area to stay in in Dubai?
I know a lot of people don’t like the idea of Dubai, but we fancy 4 nights in January (actually only 3 full days and nights due to the flight times) but it’s doing my head in looking for a hotel.
I think I would probably like staying the JBR/marina area the best, but I don’t want to splurge on a beach front hotel since we won’t be there long but I know most of the other hotels in that area don’t get much sun on the pool areas.
But then to be honest we will probably be out and about most of the time and can always sit on the beach a bit! (As long as weather is ok).

Would like to go to
JRB/the walk
Marina
The pointe on the palm
Madinat souk
Dubai mall/burj khalifa
Tour of the creek

So probably won’t have time for a pool

I like the marina area. Lots to do in the evenings and regardless of where you'll stay you'll need a taxi if you want to move around as it's all so spread out

 

[Former_Antelopee]

One of my flight times got changed, so had to change my transport from the airport from a $7 bus to a $114 taxi

 

[Romy]

One of my flight times got changed, so had to change my transport from the airport from a $7 bus to a $114 taxi

Don't you have Uber or Bolt or equivalent which would cost less than the taxi?

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Don't you have Uber or Bolt or equivalent which would cost less than the taxi?

They probably do but it’s a long journey and I’ve heard a lot of Ubers don’t do long journeys as they won’t have anyone to bring back so would be a waste for the driver. Also from what I’ve researched so far they only have these ride share apps in the big cities and this isn’t

 

[epl000]

One of my flight times got changed, so had to change my transport from the airport from a $7 bus to a $114 taxi

This happened to us a few years ago, it was so annoying. Instead of a 6pm flight home, it was changed to 6am so we had to get a taxi instead of public transport. I was so annoyed! We also lost that final day which was even more annoying!