Holidays 2024

[Alex 35155]

All I know is that the ones with tallest masts aren’t always the best. 
Btw, that was all over the news and that might be the first mention of it on here. Odd that the media saturation didn’t translate into anyone giving a fuck. Not just on here, I never even heard anyone mention it in passing at work or anything like that 

[Meenzer 15596]

5 minutes ago, Alex said:

All I know is that the ones with tallest masts aren’t always the best. 
Btw, that was all over the news and that might be the first mention of it on here. Odd that the media saturation didn’t translate into anyone giving a fuck. Not just on here, I never even heard anyone mention it in passing at work or anything like that 

 

I think it's down to a combination of people (right-minded ones anyway) feeling uneasy about the comparison with small boats in the Channel, and, as dark/morbid as it may be to say so, a sense that we've done the "rich people/gruesome death" media thing quite recently with the Titan submersible and this wasn't anywhere near as inherently fascinating by comparison.

[The Fish 10895]

17 hours ago, Renton said:

No safety wink required. It's kind of what I mean. These are out of the range of even top grade professional jobs. So that leaves inherited wealth, celebrities, and CEO types. How many of those are there really in the world? 

 

This is a million quid yacht. You'd probably need to be worth 10 million to consider such an extravagance. And it's pretty puny really. 

 

Aren't loads of those yachts owned by people/companies who let them out for holidaying morons? Paying for themselves quick time.

[Renton 21736]

14 minutes ago, The Fish said:

Aren't loads of those yachts owned by people/companies who let them out for holidaying morons? Paying for themselves quick time.

 

But you'd have to be extremely wealthy even to charter these as you need to pay all the overheads including staff. 

Hey, I'm just asking questions.

 

[Alex 35155]

A boss from a previous job got his skipper qualification (day skipper I think). I don’t think the course was that cheap. But it allowed him to hire a sailing yacht and do a holiday in the Mediterranean without needing to pay for crew. Just the yacht hire, etc. Even then it was a canny bit of money at that time. About 15 years ago, ie a lot more than a week abroad. And he did it in Croatia which was, at that time, the cheapest option in the Med. So, aye, even the least expensive option will cost a lot, plus the hassle, responsibility etc. 

Fish is right, in that even most people who them will rent them out when they aren’t using them. But Renton is correct to point out they’ll charge a fortune for the privilege 

Edited September 5 by Alex

[Howmanheyman 33382]

There is cheaper options, have you seen my ship called 'dignity' yet? 

 

[Alex 35155]

3 minutes ago, Howmanheyman said:

There is cheaper options, have you seen my ship called 'dignity' yet? 

 

That ship has sailed, mate 👍🏻

 

[Howmanheyman 33382]

2 minutes ago, Alex said:

That ship has sailed, mate 👍🏻

 

 

So true.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13909]

Cancun Airport. Fucking shambles. 9 and a half hours to be launched into carnage. The Pina Coladas better be good 

[Ayatollah Hermione 13909]

Also, Mackems on holiday update: no football tops but they were near us on the plane. Clapped when the plane landed, cheered when the rep read out their hotel name on the transfer and spent an hour pointing out words on road signs that were similar to English ones  

[Ayatollah Hermione 13909]

Looking at holidays for next year in this immediate post-holiday depression. Anyone been to Madeira? It’s tickling my fancy when I look at the area and food and the hotels aren’t pisstakingly expensive where we can get a good, smaller hotel and not get our eyes ripped out. Expensive when you’re there etc?

 

Also, anyone got any unheralded places to stay in this British hellscape? Not necessarily in the sticks but coast towns/smaller cities that I may not have considered. Fancy a few days away somewhere in February

[Gemmill 45235]

The wanderer returns! 

[Billy Whitehurst 901]

1 hour ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

Looking at holidays for next year in this immediate post-holiday depression. Anyone been to Madeira? It’s tickling my fancy when I look at the area and food and the hotels aren’t pisstakingly expensive where we can get a good, smaller hotel and not get our eyes ripped out. Expensive when you’re there etc?

 

Also, anyone got any unheralded places to stay in this British hellscape? Not necessarily in the sticks but coast towns/smaller cities that I may not have considered. Fancy a few days away somewhere in February

We went a few years ago. The landscape is stunning but it is a fucking boring Island. The average tourist there is about 90 years old too.

 

It’s also not that warm and it rains a lot. The main city (Funchal) felt a bit run down. That said, there is a Cristiano Ronaldo museum which is as snidey as the man himself.

 

We ended up just getting mortal on Poncha as there wasn’t much else to do.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13909]

 Fuck it, we’ll just go to Greece again 

[The Fish 10895]

5 hours ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

Looking at holidays for next year in this immediate post-holiday depression. Anyone been to Madeira? It’s tickling my fancy when I look at the area and food and the hotels aren’t pisstakingly expensive where we can get a good, smaller hotel and not get our eyes ripped out. Expensive when you’re there etc?

 

Also, anyone got any unheralded places to stay in this British hellscape? Not necessarily in the sticks but coast towns/smaller cities that I may not have considered. Fancy a few days away somewhere in February

 

Loads of places in Devon/Cornwall, Abersoch or St Davids in Wales?

[Meenzer 15596]

Wales is a good call generally I'd say. The Pembrokeshire coast is gorgeous (St Davids as Fish says, or Tenby as a more touristy base but one that should have plenty of holiday lets), or if you want somewhere easier to get to, there's some nice spots along the north coast (Anglesey is very nice, Llandudno is old-fashioned in a good way and a good jumping-off point for exploring the region), though there's some absolute tat around there too.

 

I've heard horror stories about Devon and Cornwall ever since the Covid staycation boom, but I suppose it'll be all right in February as long as it's not half-term?

[Monkeys Fist 42560]

Depending on what kind of UK break you’re after Ayatollah, Dumfries and Galloway is really nice, 2hrs in the car, and has some really nice accommodations if you hunt about, if you’re after a get-away-from-it-all break. 
 

If you’re after a more city based thing, Bristol is really nice, albeit a bit of a fuck-on to get to. 
 

I’d agree with the lads above, North Wales is great, relatively easy drive to get there, and plenty to do. 

[Meenzer 15596]

1 minute ago, Monkeys Fist said:

If you’re after a more city based thing, Bristol is really nice, albeit a bit of a fuck-on to get to. 

 

SleazyJet do it from Newcastle. The environment is overrated anyway.

[ewerk 30744]

If you’re going in February then why not Northern Ireland? The cold and the constant rain will mean you’ll be much cheerier when you then get home. None of these post-Mexico blues.

[Ayatollah Hermione 13909]

6 minutes ago, ewerk said:

If you’re going in February then why not Northern Ireland? The cold and the constant rain will mean you’ll be much cheerier when you then get home. None of these post-Mexico blues.

TBF, I had considered doing a few days in Belfast but something along the lines of what has been suggested seems more likely. I’m about 5 years away from being a total social hermit anyway so I’ll look at Wales/Scotland/The late 1970s

[Billy Whitehurst 901]

2 hours ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

 Fuck it, we’ll just go to Greece again 

Other people may have been to Madeira and enjoyed it. I doubt it though.

 

In fairness, I got off to a bad start as my wife had booked us a surprise holiday for my birthday. She only told me the rough time of the flight and the airport. After some research, I had it in my head that we were going to Côte d’Azur as there was a flight to Nice at that time.

 

Imagine my surprise when I arrived at the check-in desk to find out that we were flying to Funchal and that all the other passengers looked like extras from Jason and the Argonauts.

 

I have been to the Côte d’Azur since and can confirm that it is a significant step up from Madeira.

[wykikitoon 20315]

Devon is stunning.  We have friends who live there which is handy as they know all the places.  Only ball ache is getting down there.

 

Next month were off to Wales for a week.  Only time I have ever been is to mountain bike or climb Snowdon so will be nice to do some other exploring.

[wykikitoon 20315]

2 hours ago, Meenzer said:

Wales is a good call generally I'd say. The Pembrokeshire coast is gorgeous (St Davids as Fish says, or Tenby as a more touristy base but one that should have plenty of holiday lets), or if you want somewhere easier to get to, there's some nice spots along the north coast (Anglesey is very nice, Llandudno is old-fashioned in a good way and a good jumping-off point for exploring the region), though there's some absolute tat around there too.

 

I've heard horror stories about Devon and Cornwall ever since the Covid staycation boom, but I suppose it'll be all right in February as long as it's not half-term?

 

We're staying in Betws-y-Coed.  What recommendations have you got?  We were gonna go to Llandudno or Caernarfon for the day.

[spongebob toonpants 4011]

I'm in an airbnb I  Devon at the moment and it's been fantastic. 

 

Only problem is every time I go for a piss I think of @Gemmill

 

 

[Meenzer 15596]

10 minutes ago, wykikitoon said:

 

We're staying in Betws-y-Coed.  What recommendations have you got?  We were gonna go to Llandudno or Caernarfon for the day.

 

Day trip to Llandudno sounds good to me if the weather is with you. Have a walk up and around the Great Orme headland, which is really nice. The North Shore beach and promenade are full-on old-school seaside town (complete with pleasure pier), while the West Shore beach is more rustic and has a decent enough café. Then pop to Conwy while you're in the neighbourhood - an hour is enough to walk on the town walls a bit, mooch around the waterfront, look at the castle, and stock up on sweet and savoury stodge at the Popty Conwy Bakery (if you can get past the daft name).