I spent a fortnight in Crete aged 18 exploring classical sites, I got the bus into Heraklion every day and then out to another part of the island. Really saw a different side to the island as was a long way off the tourist trail. Was a wonderful trip care of a school travel grant.
Do you disapprove of people who are planning an overseas holiday this summer?
- Thread starter Elpenor
- Start date
existentialist
Tired and unemotional
I've always quite liked the idea of going to Greece, or more particularly one of the islands. What are they like for solo travellers?
I don't think I'll be going while this Covid thing is going on, but it might be nice to think about something for the future.
I don't think I'll be going while this Covid thing is going on, but it might be nice to think about something for the future.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Yeah, I have wanted to go to Crete after reading about the WW2 stuff there. Have images of evenings spent eating sardines and drinking the local spirit in a small village by the sea. Surprised some people here haven't enjoyed it there.
Glitter
Goddess of rock!
We stayed in Rethymnon. It was really quiet but we could find a party if we wanted one.
I love Greece and the Greek Islands tbf. I go to Spain regularly (in normal times) as my folks have a place there, so it’s easy and convenient, but I love Greece much more than Spain.
Πολύ καλα. Και οι Έλληνες είναι πολύ ευγενικοί.
smmudge
i know the smudge is true
Yeah we stayed in Heraklion rather than a tourist resort which I think helped for us. Still visited Agios Nikolaos and Elounda, and a trip up the mountains to Lasithi plateau plus some other trips. And there's a couple of beaches you can get to quite easily from Heraklion, it's a good base I reckon.
wemakeyousoundb
hopefully not gimboid
Colombia is great, I think the chances of finding yourself in the middle of a gang or rebel/army/police shoot out have gone down massively since I was there too.Piece of piss, don't tell anyone but Colombia is the place to be. Fly to Bogota (via Madrid is cheaper), then to Providencia via San Andres (boat from there or fly if flush). The most perfect Caribbean island with no Euro/US pricks:
View attachment 281916
^^^an islet off Providencia, but you get the idea...
Providencia - Wikitravel
Providencia [http://www.providenciaespasion.com/eng/] is a Caribbean island, and a part of the San Andres and Providencia Archipelago. It is politically a part of Colombia, but is geographically closer to Nicaragua. It is attached by footbridge to a smaller island, Santa Catalina.wikitravel.org
Then on to Cartagena for some culture and if you must you can do a jungle trek, I don't care much for spiders so will opt not to join you on that.
Starting with the beach eases you in to the culture/environment the other way around is a headfuck.
There is an unreported national shortagetoday is day 2 since my return and no test kit has arrived yet, not sure what if anything i'm supposed to do about that
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
Surely that needs posting to some conspiracy theory group suggesting she's the real power behind the communist GREAT RESET.
miss direct
misfungled
I'm keeping a closer eye on the red/amber/green list changes as I have a trip coming up. I have a feeling Turkey will change to amber before I come back, but if it doesn't, I have quite an impressive choice of places to come back via. Thinking either Romania or Ukraine as never been to either.
The Brits in Turkey are understandably really pissed off to still be on the red list when India isn't.
The Brits in Turkey are understandably really pissed off to still be on the red list when India isn't.
miss direct
misfungled
Well, my flight to Istanbul just got cancelled, along with all other Pegasus flights from the UK to Istanbul until at least the end of the month. I've rebooked with Turkish Airlines but will have to go to London. If that doesn't also get cancelled. If that cancels I will give up.
elbows
Well-Known Member
PHE have at least one Katie Hopkins.
Katie Hopkins
I am a Clinical Scientist working at Public Health England based in Colindale, London. I graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Microbiology in 1997 and obtained my PhD from the University of Birmingham in 2001. My interests focus on mechanisms of resistance to key antimicrobials within the...
www.researchgate.net
wemakeyousoundb
hopefully not gimboid
I suppose you could always fly to an amber country and from there to Turkey if you need to go, but a bit of a faff to be sure.
Numbers there have been going up again in the past couple of weeks.
Fly to Cyprus and cross over via Ledara to the northern half?
planetgeli
There's no future in England's dreaming
Crete's ok, it's big enough to have nice places as well as the awful stuff. I hired a car and drove all over, really enjoyed it. Then our flight got delayed and they put us up in a town called 'Gas' or 'Oil' or 'Shell' which looked exactly as you'd expect. That wasn't so good.
I love Greece though, been a few times. For the sun, not the ancient culture. I think Skiathos was my favourite, but it helped that with our accommodation/allocation on arrival £99 for a week holiday we got dumped for some reason in a 3 star hotel on the beach. Literally on the beach, it's where we ate breakfast. And Skopelos is right next door so you can get two islands for the price of one.
Been to Colombia, loved Colombia, but I've never seen so many sub machine guns on the street in my life. That was 2008 though. Colombia is a beautiful and interesting country.
All I'd say is going all the way to S.America and not seeing Machu Picchu just means you're going to have to go all the way back again one day.
I love Greece though, been a few times. For the sun, not the ancient culture. I think Skiathos was my favourite, but it helped that with our accommodation/allocation on arrival £99 for a week holiday we got dumped for some reason in a 3 star hotel on the beach. Literally on the beach, it's where we ate breakfast. And Skopelos is right next door so you can get two islands for the price of one.
Been to Colombia, loved Colombia, but I've never seen so many sub machine guns on the street in my life. That was 2008 though. Colombia is a beautiful and interesting country.
All I'd say is going all the way to S.America and not seeing Machu Picchu just means you're going to have to go all the way back again one day.
miss direct
misfungled
It's already going to be a ridiculous rigmarole coming back (tests, 11 nights in Amber or green country, trying to find somewhere with reliable Internet so I can work). I'm only really willing to go if I can fly direct, so just hoping my rebooked flight will go ahead. I'll keep an eye on the flight I've booked to see if it's being cancelled or not in the upcoming weeks..not excited about five hour coach journey to Stansted.
Kevbad the Bad
Amiable Bowel Syndrome
Why don't we all fly to Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, California, Siberia and the Russian Far East this summer, and then down to Australia in the winter? We'd best get a move on, mind you, because they won't be worth visiting in a few years, what with rising temperatures, catastrophic fires and all the attendant destruction and disruption? Plus, when populations start emigrating elsewhere there won't be so many locals to serve us drinks.
prunus
Tick tock.
Shhhhh! We don’t tell people about it! Especially not the Old Fenix hotel.
MickiQ
In My Defence I was left Unsupervised
Our next planned holiday activity is a day trip to Whitby next week so no it doesn't
krtek a houby
Anger is Hi-NRG
As long as Whitby is fine, that's the main thing
miss direct
misfungled
Personally, no. A very small amount of Turkey is on fire (and I think the majority of the forest fires are under control). Life goes on largely as normal there.
LDC
On est tous des pangolins
I have flown a lot in my life, for work as well as not, but I have stopped flying in Europe the last 6ish years (I still would if it was urgent though, like a family/friend emergency). It's impacted on how I go away on trips. I used to go to Berlin or France or similar a few times a year for long weekends or a week. I now go less (once a year maybe?), I stay longer when I do go, and I get the train (or sometimes drive) there. It's for me a much more enjoyable way of doing it. And yes, I know not everyone can do that, and no I don't think it's an important change to make, and nor do I tell others to do similar.
Really?
Fires rage around the world: where are the worst blazes?
"Turkey - Blazes have swept through swaths of the southern coast for the past 10 days, killing at least eight people. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes, and fire has devastated vast tracts of pine forest and agricultural land. Rain brought some respite over the weekend."
miss direct
misfungled
Its hard to know for sure due to difficulties reporting in Turkey. But in a country of 80 million, it's not directly affecting the vast majority of people. Not downplaying it, it's devastating but I dont see why the fires would mean people shouldn't go to another part of a vast country.
Many places depend on tourism. I'm not personally travelling for the purpose of a holiday but I wouldn't judge someone who was.
I was thinking more about avoiding unnecessary travel, especially flights, because of awareness of its environmental impact, rather than simply not flying to places that are currently on fire.
Spymaster
Plastic Paddy
What's unnecessary travel?
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