Holidays #4 2024 onwards

[ElectricDreams]

We have spent the last couple of weeks planning our summer holiday for 2025. We're doing something totally different and going interrailing through France, Italy and Switzerland. It's been stressful trying to come up with an itinerary and getting all the trains and hotels to line up but I think we've got most of it covered!

I knew Switzerland was expensive but wasn't prepared for quite how much it would cost to stay there! It will be our biggest chunk of our journey but I figure we'll probably never go there again so it's worth the expense.

Hoping to get a cheap last minute cruise to the canaries in March too, we keep an eye on the prices just in case!

 

[Former_Antelopee]

I saved £600 for extra spends money for the holiday I just went on just incase I needed it. I didn't need it. I think I'm going to put it towards a holiday for next year even though I should probably put it into savings

 

[Notorious PIG]

I dunno if anyone’s mentioned these things yet, but within the past year or so I’ve discovered a couple of very useful tools. Some of you are most likely aware of these, but for anyone who’s not:

Get Your Guide app - very useful for booking day trips. Put in your destination and see what comes up. If you have a bunch of upcoming vacations, it’s good to keep your day trip bookings all in one spot. You can book group or private tours. Also can book taxis for airport to hotel. Another alternative app is Viator.

Airolo - eSim. This is a godsend. We last went to USA in Oct 2023 and it was such a pain in the ass having to go to a phone shop and waste time faffing about with getting a USA SIM card and setting that up and then swapping it back to fly back home to Europe. Last summer we discovered eSims and we set that up for our trip to Turkey. So easy, cheap and very little faffing about. So we were set up with mobile phone/data service as a soon as we landed in Istanbul. Airolo is just one of many eSim companies, so take your pick. (Edit: it works in loads of countries worldwide).

 

[Lucie1001]

Not particularly country music fan but very randomly I quite fancy Nashville
Has anyone been that can advise of things to do that aren't country music related please ? Or am I best to avoid

I went last November with a group of friends for 5 nights. I had a great time but it is very alcohol/bar heavy as the Main Street is just full of bars. They all have live music and are a lot of fun, the majority of them all have rooftop bars aswell.
I would say in my personal opinion there is not much too do if you don’t want to do the country music museums etc.
I did the hop on hop off trolley which was a good way to spend half a day/a day and we went to NFL game that was great fun and they have all drinking and activities outside the stadium before hand.
If you do go I would take an uber to the 12 South street, it has quirky little shops and cafes and lots of murals on the walls.
Here are photos from a Saturday when it was also nice weather so the bars were absolutely rammed! Too busy

There were other areas that we didn’t go to such as German town which is meant to be a nice area! You can also do a day trip to Memphis but need to book with get your guide or a website like that
Luke Coombs bar ‘Category 10’ is good fun, loads of people line dancing and downstairs in laney Wilson’s bar there is a dueling piano bar that was great!

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

1 more day then I'm off to Americaaaaa - I am so excited. I feel like I have been doing the countdown for this trip forever so the fact it's so close has me giddy

 

[Shinythings]

I had that issue in Turkey when I was a young teenager on holiday with my parents in a resort! I wasn't wearing anything even remotely revealing but I had run on ahead of them to look at something and I got touched up multiple times in seconds as I got surrounded by 3 men. Luckily my Dad dealt with it straight away but I was absolutely terrified!

 

[Miss polar]

Looking forward to our first trip of 2025 in a few days. Couple of nights away in the Cotswolds in a lovely hotel with fancy dinner one evening.
Copenhagen in Feb, and canaries in March.
Lots more to come!
Hope everyone is gearing up for a great 2025 for holidays.

 

[Rippedjeanmaybe]

Is it just me if I can't sleep I research holidays (for 2026)

Definitely me! I just booked Japan and Hong Kong for next year…

 

[HoGi]

Off to Cape Verde (again) on Monday. Can't wait

 

[NoHintOfDrama]

Very late response if you've already been to Howth at this stage but I'll respond any way in case any one else in curious and is possibly travelling to Dublin... yes very hero complex of me

Howth is nice but FULL of tourists/student groups especially on weekends and some tourist trap fish restaurants - not all of it is bad and if I were to recommend somewhere for eats it'd be Wrights. There's some nice scenic walks and fresh food (especially fish) too

Other places I recommend when it comes to beach walks around Dublin would be Sandymount, Sutton, Skerries, Killiney - all can be accessed by the DART or a majority of buses from the city centre. Dun Laoighaire is fine, it's sort of dilapidated and Bray is kind of a kip (even though it's not in Dublin but a portion of the people from there and Greystones like to pretend they're an extension to the Dun Laoighaire-Rathdown area LOL, also some of the weirdest people I know are from Bray/Greystones )

My mate was married to a fella from Bray, they lived in London. He went out one Sunday "for the Irish papers" and she genuinely never saw him again. 3 kids! He just left!

 

[NoHintOfDrama]

They said that for America though didn't they? I remember them saying it was going to be very bad and the worst storm etc and then it downgraded by the time it got to land

It has made landfall in Jamaica now with 185mph winds. People have already been killed.

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Does anyone get terrible anxiety before a big holiday thinking of everything that can go wrong and how they don’t deserve to go on the holiday I have been waiting all year so excited now it’s the week before I am riddled with anxiety. I’m not an anxious person but every time before I go away is the same

We go away quite a lot and every single time this is how I feel, its a mixture of anxiety about leaving the cats, anxiety about making sure I have the best time as I've been looking forward to it for so long, anxiety about what could go wrong, anxiety about something happening with family at home and having to travel back... the list is endless!

 

[Former_Antelopee]

Told myself I'd book less holidays this year and I have 4 booked and another planned to be booked. At least 3 are cheap, only a two nights away ones. No more now

 

[louG74]

Hiii, booked my first holiday abroad last year for April 25, to Majorca. I’m a nervous nelly

 

[Kittylover2019]

Can I add my two pennies regarding travel insurance.

You should really get it in place as soon as you book your holiday. If for any reason you need to cancel beforehand you won’t be covered for a refund.

 

[NoHintOfDrama]

Carry on! Love talking about holidays!
---
So far this year:

Been to Lanzarote once and going again in Nov
Cyprus in June/July

Planning for next year, long weekend in Trieste. Lanzarote in Feb (I do like it there!).
Family holiday potentially Crete or another Greek island (been to loads of them already!).

Then planning a month in Australia in 2026.

 

[idk21]

Any suggestions on apps/websites to book activities in advance?

We’ve used GetYourGuide a few times and found it to be quite useful

 

[SharkAttack]

Does anyone get terrible anxiety before a big holiday thinking of everything that can go wrong and how they don’t deserve to go on the holiday I have been waiting all year so excited now it’s the week before I am riddled with anxiety. I’m not an anxious person but every time before I go away is the same

Yep. And I get obsessed by the idea I will get ill just before we go away. Once I caught covid getting my nails done two days before a holiday - it’s left me paranoid so now I go on hols with nails undone!

 

[Tinkerbell cat]

Would anyone recommend Krakow? We’re considering going mid-October (if I can get my leave approved) and we’re able to get it pretty cheap too (I was actually shocked at how cheap).

If we go, is there anything that anyone would recommend we definitely do/places to see/places to eat x

I loved krakow, although we went in July but I loved to go again around Christmas time. Fabulous city.

We stayed in hotel saski just off the main square and couldn’t fault it, it was stunning. Such a good location too.

Recommend pimiento Argentino If you like a good steak restaurant, it was a little pricey but easily one of the best steaks I’ve ever had and that’s a bold statement to make. But after 4//5 days we just really fancied some proper food.

The only thing I wasn’t fussed about krakow was the horses for the tours in the main square, I’m sure they’re really well cared for but as I said, we went in July and it was very hot. Some horses were stood there for hours in the heat and it was quite sad.

have a great time though, fab city x

 

[HMC]

I blinkin love planning holidays. In the last 12 months we’ve visited South Korea, Egypt, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and Florida. All on a budget, there’s no big spending here!

I need some inspo for 2025.