Holiday destionation advice for 60th.

slacker · August 2017

Viet Nam-great scenery, good food and people who share your view of Americans.

boogieman · August 2017

Teetonetal said:

octatonic said:

Go to somewhere (safe) in Africa.
Madagascar, The Gambia, Kenya etc.

Oh don't go to The Gambia. Not for a special holiday.

We went for a week in 2011. It's just horrible. Too much poverty to feel comfortable. Too many scams. Oh and the beaches are getting washed away.

We got mugged one day for 5USD... the yellow taxis are death traps. .. the green ones probably just OK. The hawking and begging is non stop.

On the plus side we met a really cool guide who took us to the nature reserve, on a boat trip and to see / stroke Charlie the crocodile.

But a place I'd never go back to.

When I went we were advised to find the biggest kid standing outside the hotel and to hire him as a bodyguard/guide. He was a nice kid as it turned out. We paid him the equivalent of 20p a day and he fended off the other kids and stopped us getting ripped off several times. He told us one day that there was a concert at the local football stadium: it turned out to be Youssou N'Dour and his band! We went along and offered to pay for the lad to get in. He kept refusing saying it was too expensive but I insisted.... it was 30p! It was an amazing gig, imagine a whole stadium packed with happy smiling Africans going bonkers and jumping around to the music.

McSwaggerty · August 2017

Alaska.
We flew to Seattle, had a few days there, then another flight to Anchorage.
Hired a car and went to Homer, Talkeetna and then to Fairbanks.
Brilliant holiday, good weather, good people, amazing scenery.....totally great experience .......

Thing is, you have got to remember you do not have to go to the other side of the world to have a great time and a good holiday......loads and loads of great places, City's, Seas and sunshine within Europe.
Glasgow, for instance.

Bellycaster · August 2017

Bora Bora (Tahiti)

boogieman · August 2017

McSwaggerty said:

Alaska.
We flew to Seattle, had a few days there, then another flight to Anchorage.
Hired a car and went to Homer, Talkeetna and then to Fairbanks.
Brilliant holiday, good weather, good people, amazing scenery.....totally great experience .......

Thing is, you have got to remember you do not have to go to the other side of the world to have a great time and a good holiday......loads and loads of great places, City's, Seas and sunshine within Europe.
Glasgow, for instance.

We did a cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver for my wife's 60th earlier this year. It's an amazing place but sadly it's not in the Caribbean (like the OP wanted.

)

hywelg · August 2017

Island hopping in Greece. Mid September to mid October is reliably warm but nowhere near as hot as August, water is the warmest of the year, tourists are thinning out and there's plenty of choice for hotels/rooms.

I can thoroughly recommend it, been going for more than 10 years now, and this year being our 40th wedding anniversary we are going for three weeks starting with a flight to Athens landing at about 4am, then the first flight of the day out to Santorini, will be there by 6am. 4 nights booked then wherever we fancy by ferry. 2 nights in Athens in the way back. All the islands are different and if you get bored you just move on. We have some favourites which we keep going back to.

Nitefly · August 2017

@hywelg that sounds absolutely idyllic! We were in Santorini about 5 years ago, and loved it.

Do you just use the scheduled ferries?

TTony · August 2017

No-ones mentioned Towcester yet???

Dodge · August 2017

Bermuda. Had my honeymoon there, going again for our 5th anniversary next year. It's got a Caribbean clinate, it's clean and perfectly manicured (unlike the Caribbean outside of the resorts), has loads of heritage and beautiful beaches.

You'll need deep pockets though!

fields5069 · August 2017

bingefeller said:

My sister went to Cancun in July and stayed for 2 weeks. She enjoyed it but said it was too long as there wasn't very much to do. She's not really into clubbing or anything like that either, she said that there wasn't that many shops around where she stayed. She also said the heat was mental, especially when she was on public transport. It would be a nice holiday if you just want to relax and do nothing.

Or make sure you're further down the coast where all the old shit is. We stayed at the Royalton, which is far enough out of Cancun to cost £40 for a round trip in a taxi, and far enough from the sight-seeing shit to be pretty expensive for day trips. I wasn't really fussed about moving much anyway, a day of walking around didn't really appeal. The temperature is "only" 31 ish in July but it's bloody oppressive heat.

We were also stretching ourselves getting there, and apart from the exit tax "only" had about £500 to spend. I reckon you'd need at least that to keep up with the Americans in the tipping league. It's not such a big deal, service never gets shit, but when a big party of gringos come into a restaurant then you notice your waiter's attention wandering away from the $5 table, i.e. us.

hywelg · August 2017

Nitefly said:

@hywelg that sounds absolutely idyllic! We were in Santorini about 5 years ago, and loved it.

Do you just use the scheduled ferries?

Yes, www.gtp.gr is pretty good at showing what goes where and when, but every island town has agencies selling tickets so it's easy to find out a few days in advance, what your options are. There are a few 'hub' Islands like Paros where there are lots of boats calling and with good connections to Athens so we always try to finish our trip on or very near one of those to ensure we can get back OK.

chillidoggy · August 2017

A friend of mine recommends Blue Waters resort in Antigua, says it's his idea of heaven, so I shall have to check that out.

As for costs, I just checked Staniel Cay, and for two weeks, it would be £5,138 plus flights to Fort Lauderdale from London. So, about £6,000 at todays exchange rate. The other thing about it is that it's booked solid for a whole year ahead, which means you have to be quick off the mark, I guess.

Maldives? What is there to do, apart from jumping in the sea, eating and drinking? Genuine question, I loved the look of the place, but have no idea what it's like.

Bermuda? Never considered it before, some legwork is also required.

What about Costa Rica?

fnpt · August 2017

hywelg said:

Island hopping in Greece. Mid September to mid October is reliably warm but nowhere near as hot as August, water is the warmest of the year, tourists are thinning out and there's plenty of choice for hotels/rooms.

I can thoroughly recommend it, been going for more than 10 years now, and this year being our 40th wedding anniversary we are going for three weeks starting with a flight to Athens landing at about 4am, then the first flight of the day out to Santorini, will be there by 6am. 4 nights booked then wherever we fancy by ferry. 2 nights in Athens in the way back. All the islands are different and if you get bored you just move on. We have some favourites which we keep going back to.

We did this too. It was fantastic, Naxos and Paros are quite different from Santorini and were worth the visit as well. We booked everything through an agency in Athens by e-mail and it went flawlessly, they were at Athens airport at our arrival waiting with all the vouchers for hotels, ferry and transfers.

boogieman · August 2017

chillidoggy said:

A friend of mine recommends Blue Waters resort in Antigua, says it's his idea of heaven, so I shall have to check that out.
As for costs, I just checked Staniel Cay, and for two weeks, it would be £5,138 plus flights to Fort Lauderdale from London. So, about £6,000 at todays exchange rate. The other thing about it is that it's booked solid for a whole year ahead, which means you have to be quick off the mark, I guess.
Maldives? What is there to do, apart from jumping in the sea, eating and drinking? Genuine question, I loved the look of the place, but have no idea what it's like.
Bermuda? Never considered it before, some legwork is also required.
What about Costa Rica?

The Maldives is great for diving and snorkelling if that's your thing. Otherwise, yup, it's just incredibly pretty and not much else. Number one wished-for destination for honeymooners apparently. You could spend your three weeks shagging I guess?

tone1 · August 2017

Have you tried the Saga website?

hywelg · August 2017

fnpt said:

hywelg said:

Island hopping in Greece. Mid September to mid October is reliably warm but nowhere near as hot as August, water is the warmest of the year, tourists are thinning out and there's plenty of choice for hotels/rooms.

I can thoroughly recommend it, been going for more than 10 years now, and this year being our 40th wedding anniversary we are going for three weeks starting with a flight to Athens landing at about 4am, then the first flight of the day out to Santorini, will be there by 6am. 4 nights booked then wherever we fancy by ferry. 2 nights in Athens in the way back. All the islands are different and if you get bored you just move on. We have some favourites which we keep going back to.

We did this too. It was fantastic, Naxos and Paros are quite different from Santorini and were worth the visit as well. We booked everything through an agency in Athens by e-mail and it went flawlessly, they were at Athens airport at our arrival waiting with all the vouchers for hotels, ferry and transfers.

Problem with the prebooking thing is that unless you've been before you don't actually know which islands/places you will like. So its much easier just to go with the flow. For many years we just turned up at an island and all the ferries were met by room/hotel owners. We'd just take what was on offer after a few pertinent questions like location and price and never had a bad experience, some interesting ones but never 'bad'. But such is the unbiquity of the likes of Booking.com that its just as easy to sit in a bar and see whats available for accommodation and just book it.

The complete contrast of places like Naxos and Koufonisi is what makes it interesting. If we'd had to spend a fortnight in either we'd have been bored within a week. The bustle of a busy small town followed by the relaxation of an island with almost nothing to do than swim off fabulous beaches and eat in a superb traditional Greek cantina, then add in going somewhere new and exploring is what makes it an ideal holiday for us.

Nitefly · August 2017

chillidoggy said:

What about Costa Rica?

When my daughter went a couple of years ago, it was in a small group of 10 or 12, ranging in age from 20's up to 70. There were a couple of jeep safaris, caves to explore, zip-wire(!), and all sorts of wild-life to see - it's mostly jungle, after all!
She said that they did an activity most days, but were always done by mid-afternoon, after which it was just beer and laziness...

She also said she drank the best coffee she'd ever tasted there.

So, possibly a little more "active" than you'd like at your age (young man!). If you want to know more I'll ask her.

EricTheWeary · August 2017

Nitefly said:

chillidoggy said:

What about Costa Rica?

When my daughter went a couple of years ago, it was in a small group of 10 or 12, ranging in age from 20's up to 70. There were a couple of jeep safaris, caves to explore, zip-wire(!), and all sorts of wild-life to see - it's mostly jungle, after all!
She said that they did an activity most days, but were always done by mid-afternoon, after which it was just beer and laziness...

She also said she drank the best coffee she'd ever tasted there.

So, possibly a little more "active" than you'd like at your age (young man!). If you want to know more I'll ask her.

My sister and brother in law were looking at Costa Rica for a 'big' holiday but it eventually clicked that with his phobia of spiders it might not work out that well.

Lots of escorted tours at different price levels so for three weeks with a decent budget maybe one of those plus a week on a beach - three weeks in one place is just a bunch of routine however nice it is. Also one of those occasions when seeing a decent travel agent might work out better than internet searches.

If we ever do something like this I suspect it'll be a US road trip so MrsTheWeary can revisit the places she knew in Arkansas and beyond. She's still got her Arkansas number plates somewhere.

markslade07 · August 2017

We stayed in the Hotel Atlantis in the Bahamas as part of our honeymoon a few years back, was really nice, lots to do, though perhaps it would only be part of a multi-centre holiday. We also did New York for 5 nights, 7 nights in Florida, then finished with 6 in Bahamas.
http://www.atlantisbahamas.com

boogieman · August 2017

Do you just want to slob out or do you want to be more active and see culture and history? My missus and me have done a few organised guided tours with a company called Explore.
https://www.explore.co.uk/

They do lots of different trips, some are more full on walking or cycling tours, but we've always done the slower paced and more comfortable ones. You go in a mixed group, usually 12-16. We've made some good friends of people we met on the trips.

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Holiday destionation advice for 60th.

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