I have the choice between a cheapie holiday to one of the usual short-haul destinations or driving to Austria to stay somewhere that I know well and is free
Being a bit of a snob, I'm worried about going on a cheapie and ending up in a chav's paradise with a load of oiks : yes, I know that sounds terribly aloof but let's be honest, no one wants to end up in a hotel with a load of people sporting polyester leisure wear and shouting "Charmaine give yer f!$%in' bruvver a go on the lilo and go and get me another Stella"
Anyone got any good, cheap short haul destinations OR have experience of taking a summer break in Austria rather than a beach holiday.
There's loads of cheap deals about but it's knowing where to go.
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If you want summat different, Malta has a lot of history but you do get a few chavvy sorts in the cheaper areas and to be frank a lot of it looks like Beirut but without the bombs, Valetta and Sliema are okay as is Qawra (we stayed at Bugibba) it's cheap enough and they use the euro, buses are cheap, as is car hire, but you take your life in your hands if you want to drive... But if you like history, then it's worth a look... the English are made welcome and if you need money changing then the hotels give a better rate than the local banks of Beaurau de' exchanges(or whatever you call em....) Lots of boat tours, Blue Grotto, Gozo..... diving and watersports, very hot in the summer... and reasonably cheap flights if you book direct with air Malta
To be honest if you want some history you could go to Sicily. Stay away from the cities of Catania and Palermo; you will have to fly into either one though.
On Sicily you will have one of worlds oldest tourist cities - Taoromina Syracuse was the first city the Greeks built outside of Greece. Agrigento has some really splendid Greek temples. You have mount Etna. The beaches away from Etna have beautiful sand, although those under Etna are very stoney.
Fantastic food, friendly people, good transport albeit not very punctual.
Red Monkey: thanks....l'll look at that. If I can't find a beach holiday I'll be doing the Sound Of Music tour in Austria for the wife and daughter
What, down Salzburg way? I do admit that the Sound of Music aspect might be a bit naff, but bloody hell the landscape is magnificent! It's been years since I've been in that part of the world: might go there next year with the bike if I'm not flat broke anymore...
As for Tossa (fnarr), its proximity to Lloret means that it's pretty chavvy, unfortunately
We always go to the former Yugoslav coastline and the country of a 1001 islands. Mostly Germans and Italians, very few English. Very cheap as well, especially with the Kuna getting a hammering compared to the pound recently.
I guess it depends what your idea of a holiday is RM?
Beach, snorkelling/diving, good food (nothing fancy...just good, fresh food), beer in the evening, perhaps something a bit more "touristy" one day for my daughter, boat trip etc
Went to Dubrovnic/Split/Korcula......35 years ago...it was lovely. No idea what it's like now.
Red Monkey: Went to Dubrovnic/Split/Korcula......35 years ago...it was lovely. No idea what it's like now.
Better. They've spent a fortune sorting out the tourist trade after the Balkans Conflict. You even now have war stuff to look at if that floats your boat.
we went to the algarve last year got a 1.5 miilion pound villa for £625a week , 5 bedrooms just out of town in its own grounds we felt like royalty top holiday and not a chav to be seen !
Bluelabel aka ~Aitch~: If you want summat different, Malta has a lot of history but you do get a few chavvy sorts in the cheaper areas and to be frank a lot of it looks like Beirut but without the bombs, Valetta and Sliema are okay as is Qawra (we stayed at Bugibba) it's cheap enough and they use the euro, buses are cheap, as is car hire, but you take your life in your hands if you want to drive... But if you like history, then it's worth a look... the English are made welcome and if you need money changing then the hotels give a better rate than the local banks of Beaurau de' exchanges(or whatever you call em....) Lots of boat tours, Blue Grotto, Gozo..... diving and watersports, very hot in the summer... and reasonably cheap flights if you book direct with air Malta
Thanks for that BL, my dad spent a lot of his navy time in Malta and it's the only place he wanted to go back to, but never got a chance. He once told me that the Maltese don't so much drive on the left as drive in the shade! lol We've never had a holiday as a family and now we can afford to it'd be nice to re-visit a bit of family history.
Had fun out there.... look beyond the half finished projects that litter the place and go to the known resorts and take the Bus tours... brilliant...
open top buses with headphones that give loads of info in English you can hop on and off them to your hearts content and explore the island, the blue grotto is spectacular but other than the grotto (which must be seen) is a bit barren. Gozo is pretty and a bit touristy, Valetta/Sliema (we lived there when I was a kid, my old man was a matelot) is full of vibrant shops, bars and the like, and is very colourful if you like a bit of nightlife....
Have a look at a Maltese calendar and time your hols with some of the local celebrations, they are hugely entertaining... lots of carnivals feasts and parades....
Valetta has a load of museums that are easily accessible, visit the State Rooms and the Armourie.... The War museum in the old fort is fantastic as they have one of the Gloster Gladiators that defended the island in residence... Loads of boat tours and fishing trips and I think there are loads of diving schools and diving trips to be had
z4phill: we went to the algarve last year got a 1.5 miilion pound villa for £625a week , 5 bedrooms just out of town in its own grounds we felt like royalty top holiday and not a chav to be seen !
we stopped going to the algarve....albufeura..chav central..and on the strip the russian mafia have opened brothels, and the thugs are nasty...old town is ok tho
Would love to retire down there; we go skiing at St Johann and have just come back from there. Great weather and we had the Austrian Rundfarht staying in the same hotel.
Some fantastic places to see and travel around, you will see a load of roads you would wish to ride round including the Grossglockner, their are quaint towns such as Kitzbuhel and Mayrhofen over great mountain passes but fairly close by. You can travel along the valley bottom to Neukirchen where the mad Tridays meet takes place.
Back towards Salzburg you can go inside the mountains to see the salt mine or you can go to Berchtesgaden and see the Kehlsteinhaus, Hitlers Mountain House.
We drove it was about 900 miles, took a few days on the way down and came back in a oner and we did just over 2k all in.
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