Where to go outside Europe fro Summer Holidays

ulinbac

My OH and I have started to think about summer holidays and where to go during the the last 2 weeks of August (only time we could get the same time off).

We have been around Europe and want to go to Asia/Africa/South America. We know its not a long time to go that far but might as well try. We are quite active and like to see the place where we go.

Any recommendations appreciated.

ardmacha

Probably easier if you gave some indication of what you like to do e.g. lounge on a beach or tramp around looking at things.

South East Asia, Mexico, South Africa spring to mind.

endabob1

Winter time in the SH, rainy season in SE Asia, gets a bit blowy in central America...

Outside of Europe it's a tricky time, maybe the US, west coast, bit far for 2 weeks?

ulinbac

ardmacha wrote: »

Probably easier if you gave some indication of what you like to do e.g. lounge on a beach or tramp around looking at things.

South East Asia, Mexico, South Africa spring to mind.

If we went somewhere for 2 weeks we would probably spend are 2/3 days lounging around and the rest looking at places. Our last sun holiday we went kayaking, cycling etc. so like to keep active. We are recently back from a ski holiday so we are pretty fit and willing to do anything outdoors. I know its quite vague but we are not too sure wht these places have to offer. Once there is a bit of adventure. Budget is probably around €3600 between us if that helps. Can be stretched if necessary but not by too much.

We wouldn't mind the west cast of America but would probably prefer something like Vietnam. Not too worried about the rainy seasons.

endabob1

Went Vietnam a few years ago, awesome place. There is great kite surfing up the coast around Mui Ne f you like that type of thing. We went around March time and it was hot and humid but a great trip.

orchidsrpretty

How about a trip to the Middle east? Not too far for travel and you could visit a few different countries? Iseral/ UAE/ Saudi etc. Would be a great trip!

bbam

orchidsrpretty wrote: »

How about a trip to the Middle east? Not too far for travel and you could visit a few different countries? Iseral/ UAE/ Saudi etc. Would be a great trip!

Must be getting old..:(
I look at that region and think... not now, its not stable enough..

Tombo2000

two weeks is a short enough time to be going to South America or Asia.

You will lose two days Travel plus jet lag.

I would recommend Morocco or Turkey as they are both easy to get to, Morocco is fascinating. Ditto, a trip to Israel and Jordan could be very exciting, I've always wanted to go to Petra.

problem with these places is that you couldnt go in August.....would have to be Sept or Oct, or it would be just too hot.

I presume you would plan to travel around a bit when you get there? It would be unusual to go to say India and stay in the one spot for two weeks.

Another good trip if you could do it would be to fly into Cancun and fly home from Mexico city and see some spots in between. (note that if you do fly into Cancun imho you would be better off staying in Playa Del Carmen further down the coast.

ulinbac

Put the Israel/Jordan holiday to my gf and she is definitely not up for there.

We went down to the travel agent this morning and spent a while googling and going through brochures, just to get an idea as we probably won't book anything until March.

We had a look at Morocco and were initially thinking Marrakesh, with a lot of party and a bit chav. We did find this link http://www.dunesdesert.com/eng/ which seems really good. From the brochures in Thomas Cook we found a company called Neilson Holidays; slogan "relax as hard as you like" . Everything from waterskiing/kayaking/trekking etc. though is in a few places we have been. Not a big fan of Turkey but they have some really interesting activities with the chance to explore and history of Turkey.

We have looked at asia also but a friend of my gfs is going there for 2 weeks in late spring so will be interesting to see how they find the jet lag with going back to work. We have found a 13 day trip (3 different places) to include 2 of the following Hanoi, Hoh Chi Min, Pengang (I think thats them all but gf has the stuff on it for the week) and somewhere else ending with 3 days in Bangkok. We are quite wary of the amount of flying that is involved and the length of the flights. This is something we will have to look at. We have loads of time so not going to rush it either.

They are all about about €1,500 pp though Turkey includes breakfasts and a few dinners, whereas Asia is without food. Morocco includes breakfast but with with the other stuff we want to do there we reckon it is around this figure +/- €150

ardmacha

I wouldn't go the Middle East in August. You could fry an egg on the sands out there. Go in March.

zac8

ulinbac wrote: »

We had a look at Morocco and were initially thinking Marrakesh, with a lot of party and a bit chav.

What does that mean?

ulinbac

zac8 wrote: »

What does that mean?

Badly written on my part. Meant to say that we had thought of Marrakesh initially as a party place which is what we do't want. We find party places (Majorca, Tenerife etc.) quite annoying, rough and in parts chav. Have seen party/clubbing trips for Marrakesh and didn't want to get caught up near that type of holiday.

Been on 4 of those type of holidays when I was younger (though in my mid-twenties we feel like we have outgrown them) and its essentially the same strip, different country. We like to go on holiay and feel like we have done something and relaxed, but each to their own.

jam_mac_jam

Morocco will be very very hot in August. Marrakesh is great place though, not chavy party place not at all really you would have to look for that aspect of it.

Tombo2000

Marrakech is in no way a party town a la Ibiza or Malaga........

Its a lovely town, really nice architecture, very interesting to walk around, fascinating bazaar.

However my one big gripe with Marrakech was the amount of.....I dont know what the term is......guys whose job it is to go around trying to hassle money out of tourists.

For example in the main square there are always a few street entertainers at night; usually there might be a crowd of Moroccans around them, but if I stopped to watch for even ten seconds there would be some guy running over demanding money for my having watched the show. Didnt enjoy that part of it. Marrakech is a more spectacular town, but personally I preferred Taroudannt to the south of it, as it is also very interesting but didnt have the same hassle factor.

I believe Fez to the North is very nice, and Essouira.

endabob1

Ibiza isn't really a party place away from San Antonio, actually it's a rather beautiful place, very under estimated