Ace towns/cities you've holidayed at in Europe.

[RJ Fan club]

Croatia is not blessed with many sandy beach resorts, but if you can live with stone beaches or a quay side with rocks then there are plenty to consider. It would depend on other criteria though, whether you’ll get a hire car, can do an onward ferry, age of kids etc

 

I’d choose Split over Dubrovnik, plenty in the city to keep you going, some great coastline. Trogir is good for a smaller town and close to Split and the airport. Okrug Gornji has a decent beach and walkable to Trogir

 

Zadar is good with some good resorts and beaches near Zaton to the north. Likewise Pula

 

Island wise, Havr, Brac are good, I prefer Korcula, it’s a 4hr ferry from Split though. Lumbarda on Korcula is quiet and has probably the best sandy beach in Croatia, not sure I’d drag my kids there as it’s a long journey and the town is limited for kids stuff, but nice fishing and great windsurfing etc.

 

Montenegro, Kotor is a good, Budva was nice but full of Russians. I liked Ulcinj in the south near the Albanian border but not sure that would be your thing 

 

Italy, can’t recommend beaches as I’ve not done those, but the Lakes have lots of options with swimming and  ‘beaches’ Garda is full of options. Pescheria Del Garda the most obvious, we took our lads there last year, drove down, stopped in Germany and Switzerland, the Dijon on the way back. Having the motor really opened it all up.

 

Were driving again this year and doing a week near Saarbrucken then a week in Berchtesgaden this summer 

[chrisbonnie]

7 minutes ago, RJ Fan club said:

Croatia is not blessed with many sandy beach resorts, but if you can live with stone beaches or a quay side with rocks then there are plenty to consider. It would depend on other criteria though, whether you’ll get a hire car, can do an onward ferry, age of kids etc

 

I’d choose Split over Dubrovnik, plenty in the city to keep you going, some great coastline. Trogir is good for a smaller town and close to Split and the airport. Okrug Gornji has a decent beach and walkable to Trogir

 

Zadar is good with some good resorts and beaches near Zaton to the north. Likewise Pula

 

Island wise, Havr, Brac are good, I prefer Korcula, it’s a 4hr ferry from Split though. Lumbarda on Korcula is quiet and has probably the best sandy beach in Croatia, not sure I’d drag my kids there as it’s a long journey and the town is limited for kids stuff, but nice fishing and great windsurfing etc.

 

Montenegro, Kotor is a good, Budva was nice but full of Russians. I liked Ulcinj in the south near the Albanian border but not sure that would be your thing 

 

Italy, can’t recommend beaches as I’ve not done those, but the Lakes have lots of options with swimming and  ‘beaches’ Garda is full of options. Pescheria Del Garda the most obvious, we took our lads there last year, drove down, stopped in Germany and Switzerland, the Dijon on the way back. Having the motor really opened it all up.

 

Were driving again this year and doing a week near Saarbrucken then a week in Berchtesgaden this summer 

 

Are you driving there from the UK? That's some bloody trek if so. 

 

Stayed in peschiera ourselves last year. Couldn't fault it. 

 

I wanted to go back, but the missus wanted to go to centre parcs...... She won..... Surprisingly...... 

[Carvalho Diablo]

Florence and Prague, loved them both.

[RJ Fan club]

33 minutes ago, chrisbonnie said:

 

Are you driving there from the UK? That's some bloody trek if so. 

 

Stayed in peschiera ourselves last year. Couldn't fault it. 

 

I wanted to go back, but the missus wanted to go to centre parcs...... She won..... Surprisingly...... 

 

Yeah, but we are in the South East/Coast about an hour from the Tunnel, so we get a head start.

 

It’s still a proper trek. Driving to Garda was fine, we stopped for a night in the Black Forest, so 8/9 hr to there, then another 5/6 to Garda 

 

Having a car made the holiday tbh, meant we could get round all the lakes, drove to Venice but got a bus to Verona. It was worth the drive, which I wasn’t sure I would have agreed with till I did it 

 

Journey back was a killer, the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed and we wanted to go to Interlaken and the scenic route which threw us out on the non motorway roads to Djion.

 

Kept the cost down though, Tesco vouchers paid the train, about £300 in diesel and two nights in hotels enroute maybe £300. Compare that to £1k for flights for the four of us and the hiring a car for 2 weeks, boys had an adventure and Switzerland was amazing, they’ve got a deal with the devil that lot, political neutrality, hidden bullion, multi functional knives, perfect publish transport, cuckoo clocks and the prettiest countryside in the world. Bastards 

 

We’re going to a centre parcs near Saarbrucken, for a week which will take us about 7 hours to drive to. Then our final week is another 7/8 hours from there. Luckily I’ve got quite a big comfy car that eats the miles and the kids are good for it.

 

The German centre parcs that week is literally a third of the cost of the Thetford one for the same week. And I won’t have to spend the week with British tryhard pretending to be middle class types 

[elvis]

18 hours ago, Section_31 said:

Warnemunde has got a nice beach if that's what they're after. The village/town is picture perfect.

 

 

Looks beautiful 

[VladimirIlyich]

2 hours ago, RJ Fan club said:

 

Yeah, but we are in the South East/Coast about an hour from the Tunnel, so we get a head start.

 

It’s still a proper trek. Driving to Garda was fine, we stopped for a night in the Black Forest, so 8/9 hr to there, then another 5/6 to Garda 

 

Having a car made the holiday tbh, meant we could get round all the lakes, drove to Venice but got a bus to Verona. It was worth the drive, which I wasn’t sure I would have agreed with till I did it 

 

Journey back was a killer, the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed and we wanted to go to Interlaken and the scenic route which threw us out on the non motorway roads to Djion.

 

Kept the cost down though, Tesco vouchers paid the train, about £300 in diesel and two nights in hotels enroute maybe £300. Compare that to £1k for flights for the four of us and the hiring a car for 2 weeks, boys had an adventure and Switzerland was amazing, they’ve got a deal with the devil that lot, political neutrality, hidden bullion, multi functional knives, perfect publish transport, cuckoo clocks and the prettiest countryside in the world. Bastards 

 

We’re going to a centre parcs near Saarbrucken, for a week which will take us about 7 hours to drive to. Then our final week is another 7/8 hours from there. Luckily I’ve got quite a big comfy car that eats the miles and the kids are good for it.

 

The German centre parcs that week is literally a third of the cost of the Thetford one for the same week. And I won’t have to spend the week with British tryhard pretending to be middle class types 

They also use their lakes or 'sees ' as swimming pools in Germany. Probably save on a heated swimming pool in the warmer weather. Got to admit that I'll be interested to hear how wannabe middle class Germans behave though.

[chrisbonnie]

3 hours ago, RJ Fan club said:

 

Yeah, but we are in the South East/Coast about an hour from the Tunnel, so we get a head start.

 

It’s still a proper trek. Driving to Garda was fine, we stopped for a night in the Black Forest, so 8/9 hr to there, then another 5/6 to Garda 

 

Having a car made the holiday tbh, meant we could get round all the lakes, drove to Venice but got a bus to Verona. It was worth the drive, which I wasn’t sure I would have agreed with till I did it 

 

Journey back was a killer, the Mont Blanc tunnel was closed and we wanted to go to Interlaken and the scenic route which threw us out on the non motorway roads to Djion.

 

Kept the cost down though, Tesco vouchers paid the train, about £300 in diesel and two nights in hotels enroute maybe £300. Compare that to £1k for flights for the four of us and the hiring a car for 2 weeks, boys had an adventure and Switzerland was amazing, they’ve got a deal with the devil that lot, political neutrality, hidden bullion, multi functional knives, perfect publish transport, cuckoo clocks and the prettiest countryside in the world. Bastards 

 

We’re going to a centre parcs near Saarbrucken, for a week which will take us about 7 hours to drive to. Then our final week is another 7/8 hours from there. Luckily I’ve got quite a big comfy car that eats the miles and the kids are good for it.

 

The German centre parcs that week is literally a third of the cost of the Thetford one for the same week. And I won’t have to spend the week with British tryhard pretending to be middle class types 

We're heading to one near eindhoven. So a flight from Dublin is next to nothing in cost, then renting a car at the airport. 

 

I won't lie, I'd rather be heading back to Italy.... 

[Anubis]

Prague is lovely.

 

Grenada in Spain and the Alhambra if they’re still letting visitors in.

 

Marrakech is brilliant.

[Bjornebye]

17 minutes ago, Anubis said:

 

 

Marrakech is brilliant.

Camping in the atlas mountains and getting beheaded in your tent, not so much 

[Chip Butty]

Luca in Italy is well nice. Porto is another great place but my personal favourite would have to be Krakow, lots to do and see and still reasonably priced for food and drinks.

[cloggypop]

Krakow is boss as soon as you convince your mates to move from that square in the middle. 

[Bruce Spanner]

57 minutes ago, Chip Butty said:

Luca in Italy is well nice. Porto is another great place but my personal favourite would have to be Krakow, lots to do and see and still reasonably priced for food and drinks.

Dont be telling people about Lucca, the less people know the better.

[Anubis]

4 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Camping in the atlas mountains and getting beheaded in your tent, not so much 

That’s why you take a first aid kit on holiday.

[VladimirIlyich]

15 hours ago, Bjornebye said:

Camping in the atlas mountains and getting beheaded in your tent, not so much 

It's easy to find your way around though.

[Harry Squatter]

San Sebastian 

Milan/Lake Como

Florence/Pisa

Lisbon 

Barcelona 

 

 

My mate went to Bratislava last week - £40 flight and £40 a night hotel. Said it was cheap and Most places it was less than 2 Euros a pint. You can also combine it with Vienna which is a short train/ferry ride away. 

[Bjornebye]

16 minutes ago, Harry Squatter said:

San Sebastian 

Milan/Lake Como

Florence/Pisa

Lisbon 

Barcelona 

 

 

My mate went to Bratislava last week - £40 flight and £40 a night hotel. Said it was cheap and Most places it was less than 2 Euros a pint. You can also combine it with Vienna which is a short train/ferry ride away. 

Wasn’t too keen on Pisa. Apart from the square with the leaning tower it looks a bit of a shithole. I was only there a few hours though. The car park was moody as fuck. 

[Remmie]

19 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Wasn’t too keen on Pisa. Apart from the square with the leaning tower it looks a bit of a shithole. I was only there a few hours though. The car park was moody as fuck. 

Yeah I didn't rate Pisa either, but if like me it followed Florence, then that is a hard act to follow. 

 

 

[AngryOfTuebrook]

32 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Wasn’t too keen on Pisa. Apart from the square with the leaning tower it looks a bit of a shithole. I was only there a few hours though. The car park was moody as fuck. 

Same here.

 

You mentioned Siena before; absolutely wonderful place (and a lot less hectic than Florence).

[Bjornebye]

8 minutes ago, AngryOfTuebrook said:

Same here.

 

You mentioned Siena before; absolutely wonderful place (and a lot less hectic than Florence).

Yeah beautiful place. Florence is one of my favourite places in the world though. Agreed it’s hectic. I’ve got a mate who lives there so got to see off the beaten track in Tuscany. Amazing. 

[Harry Squatter]

48 minutes ago, Bjornebye said:

Wasn’t too keen on Pisa. Apart from the square with the leaning tower it looks a bit of a shithole. I was only there a few hours though. The car park was moody as fuck. 

All I did was go the tower and just got back on the train to Florence. Its good just to go and see it but apart from where the tower was there's nothing else there.

 

I would have liked to have gone to Siena but never had the time. 

[halewood pete]

Lindos, Rhodes.

[lifetime fan]

No mention for Valencia? 

[Section_31]

Can't beat a bit or GF advice.

 

"Anyone know anywhere off the beaten track with a beach?"

 

"Vienna."

"The outer hebrides".

"Ice station zebra."

 

 

[John102]

https://www.capovaticanoresort.it/en/index

 

I went here a couple of years back. Full of Italians, if you don't mind that sort of thing, and next to a campsite with lots of Germans, so you may have to lock your kids up, but other than that, was lovely.

[Captain Howdy]

On 05/05/2024 at 15:29, YorkshireRed said:

 

 

Barcelona never fails to give you the lot. 
 

 

 

 

 

Yeah just got back from a week there. Magnificent city