Any ideas for my first ever holiday? :)

deex

Soooooo, I've never been on holiday before... despite being in my mid-20s! My family grew up poor so there was never anything there, and then I was in college so there wasn't a penny to be had, and now... I finally have a job! A fairly good job! And I think I'm finally in the position where I could take the holiday I've been dreaming about all my life... only I haven't a ****ing notion where to start

I'm planning on going during the summer, and my boyfriend's going to go with me, so it'll be a couples holiday. He's been on tons of holidays before so this is nothing new to him. My problem is I have NO idea where to go! How on earth do people choose a country, let alone a city? I mean, I've been NOWHERE, so I have literally everywhere still to visit. People are saying, oh, you could go to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Croatia, Malta, Scandinavia, Germany... and it's like... :eek:
Each and every one of those places sound fantastic! How do you know where you wanna go? If I Google Image ANY of them, the images are going to be so beautiful I'm going to want to go there!

Really I'm happy with anything at all, but I suppose if I had to try to put boundaries on my 'ideal' summer holiday, I would love to experience hot weather! Not uncomfortably hot, but I adore the days when Ireland gets 25 - 30 degree sunshine. Also, I've been dreaming about seeing those "beaches" you see in movies/postcards... the ones where the sand is white and clear and the water is deep blue and sparkling and practically see-through. And you just laze about on one of those water inflatable thingies and drink a cocktail and get a tan and all the stress just oozes out of you. And some kind of outdoor activities like kayaking or surfing or beach volleyball or anything active... Maybe a water park! And the sea is safe to swim in, and warm enough to swim in... ahhhh, just perfect.

My boyfriend, however, hates the idea of everything I've just mentioned... he wants culture. Museums! History! Galleries! Ancient cities to explore! This, to me, sounds ghastly but I suppose I love him and all, so... yeah. Gonna include that stuff for him. He's happy to do the beach-ey thing for me (even though he hates beaches, and the sea...) but I know he'd love it if we were nearby to some of "his" stuff as well.

Where do I even start? I'm fully aware my own desires (hot weather, sandy beaches, sparkly water, no stress or bustle!) apply to a hundred countries and is completely useless. How do other people decide where to go? Are there websites devoted to helping you find your perfect holiday? I've checked places like lowcostholidays but.. they all sound perfect?

Budget could be up to €1000, and about 4 - 5 days.

Thanks in advance for any guidance!

Cakerbaker

Have you looked at Italy? Maybe Lake Garda or Sicily? I find Italy does a good combination of relaxation, culture and good food and drink if you pick the right area.

eeguy

Go to Rome.

It has everything he wants and everything you want except for sand.

Check out the temperatures during Summer to find the ideal time for you.
I'd go in late spring early summer, lovely and warm and all the ice cream shops and fountains you could want to cool you down.

You can head out to Pompeii if you want sand and beaches.

fits

Dubrovnik would be lovely. Culture, great food, lovely people, nice swimming.

tabby aspreme

Barcelona, or for somewhere a little different, Tallinn , it gets quiet warm there from July to mid August

tabby aspreme

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Barcelona, or for somewhere a little different, Tallinn , it gets quiet warm there from July to mid August

I second this, great city, plenty of culture & a fab beach!

Barcelona that is!

JIdontknow

somewhere like Crete perhaps? You'd have the beaches and sand, weather etc (Weather may be little higher than you want) and he would have things like Knossos etc.

toadfly

Italy would tick those boxes for you but you may need to travel around.

What we are doing this year is Athens and Santorini in Greece. Would get the historical side in, hot weather and the gorgeous beaches of Santorini.

I have travelled a fair bit and Santorini is one of the places I have wanted to go to for a long time so am a little biased on this!

Thailand would also be amazing, Chiang Mai + Koh Tao are amazing but over your budget I would think.

solerina

Start smallish, don't go for more than a week and don't go too far. There must be some place you have always liked the sound of...Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Nice, New York etc. Once you get a taste for it the world is your oyster and you can go to more remote locations.
Personally for a first holiday I would choose Rome, Lanzarote or New York.

miezekatze

I would also recommend Barcelona, it's an amazing city with lots to see and there are beaches too. I think your money will go further there than in Italy, holidays there can be quite expensive. It's easy to get around the place too and there are lots of direct flights from Dublin.

Ryan Mac Sweeney

Hi
I have read your post. For your first foreign holiday I would highly reecommend Rome. It has everything from the Vatican to the Collessum the Trevi fountain and lots of nice restaurants to eat in. It can get very hot in the summer so the best time to go would be May or early June as it is not too warm and it will also be cheap as its low season. Malaga in Spain is also another option as it is cheap the weather is nice and warm and there is lots to do in the city such as Malaga Cathedral Museo De Piscasso Malaga Automobile Museum and Malaga Castle to which you have panaromaic views of the city. There is also lots of beaches there for to lie out and you can also get the ferry to Gibralitar for a day.

Dodge

First of all, do what you want to do, not your BF. As you said he's been on loads of holidays and it's your first time.

I'd suggest going somewhere cheap with a beach. If you don't enjoy it, you might have enough money for a city break too.

Stick to Europe (you don't know if you'll enjoy the travel yet...) and pick somewhere you like the look of. Then have a ball.

johnire

I would highly recommend you to go to Malta.
It's gorgeous and the people are lovely. It's fantastic value for money. There's tons to see and do and beautiful weather. Whatever you do have a brilliant time.

deex

Thanks everyone! I have all the cities on my to-research list!

I know for a fact my BF will be instantly sold on Dubrovnik due to the Game of Thrones connection... :P and I'm completely won over by it.

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions, I really appreciate them - gave me a starting point!

JIdontknow

JIdontknow wrote: »

somewhere like Crete perhaps? You'd have the beaches and sand, weather etc (Weather may be little higher than you want) and he would have things like Knossos etc.

toadfly wrote: »

What we are doing this year is Athens and Santorini in Greece. Would get the historical side in, hot weather and the gorgeous beaches of Santorini.

I have travelled a fair bit and Santorini is one of the places I have wanted to go to for a long time so am a little biased on this!

I went to Crete and Santorini a couple of years ago. Been on a lot of holidays and this was my favourite! Went with my boyfriend and we got the plane to Chania in Crete from Dublin with Ryanair and then got the ferry to Santorini. Crete has AMAZING beaches, lovely food, plenty of hiking, ancient sites. Santorini is very beautiful. Beaches aren't great in Santorini, quite stoney. But still really cool! I did prefer Crete though, found Santorini a bit touristy. But it was fab, still would probably go back again. I love Greece!

I haven't been to Croatia but many of my friends have and it looks amazing. Might even go there this year. My boyfriend has already been to Dubrovnik when he was a teenager..but I'm sure he wouldn't mind going again! I would fly into Zadar, travel my way down and then fly out of Dubrovnik. I don't like staying in the one place when going on holiday, always like exploring the country a bit.

I hope you have a great holiday wherever you go. How exciting!

Strumms

deex wrote: »

Thanks everyone! I have all the cities on my to-research list!

I know for a fact my BF will be instantly sold on Dubrovnik due to the Game of Thrones connection... :P and I'm completely won over by it.

Thanks for all the excellent suggestions, I really appreciate them - gave me a starting point!

Can't go wrong with Dubrovnik... Hope you come back and tell us how you got on !

mfceiling

Rome all the way. You will not be disappointed. Food is good...you can't go wrong with pizza and pasta and gelato!! Weather will usually be glorious...flights and accommodation are normally reasonable also. I've been there 4 or 5 times and each time I see something new that blows me away!!

GAAman

eeguy wrote: »

Go to Rome.

This, I went for the first time at the end of September, at the start of December booked a week in April. Fantastic place altogether

Zaph

Not sure why people keep recommending Rome. It's an amazing city, one of my favourite places that I've ever been, but she did say in the OP that she likes beaches. Bit of a shortage of them in Rome. Dubrovnik would be an excellent compromise between what she wants and what her boyfriend wants, although afair the beaches are more pebbly than sandy. However if you go to some of the Croatian islands for a couple of days (which I would recommend) there are sandy beaches. Barcelona is the other obvious candidate. It has loads to see and do and a beach right at the end of the Ramblas.

fits

Zaph wrote: »

Dubrovnik would be an excellent compromise between what she wants and what her boyfriend wants, although afair the beaches are more pebbly than sandy. However if you go to some of the Croatian islands for a couple of days (which I would recommend) there are sandy beaches.

Lokrum is a short ferry trip out from Dubrovnik (twenty minutes i think) and the swimming is lovely out there if you dont mind getting in off nice rocks.

mfceiling

Zaph wrote: »

Not sure why people keep recommending Rome. It's an amazing city, one of my favourite places that I've ever been, but she did say in the OP that she likes beaches. Bit of a shortage of them in Rome. Dubrovnik would be an excellent compromise between what she wants and what her boyfriend wants, although afair the beaches are more pebbly than sandy. However if you go to some of the Croatian islands for a couple of days (which I would recommend) there are sandy beaches. Barcelona is the other obvious candidate. It has loads to see and do and a beach right at the end of the Ramblas.

Hop on a train and 45 mins later you are on the beach!! Plus you get all the history and culture that Rome has in abundance.

I was in dubrovnik and found it really boring. A small town with not much in it and pebbly beaches. Food wasn't great either.

deex

Thanks everyone Talking to the BF about it this weekend, will let you all know what we decide on!

My push will definitely be for Croatia... his will probably be for Rome... we'll see who emerges triumphant! :P Orrrr we'll end up compromising and going somewhere else entirely!

Either way, I'll be getting my holiday so I'm happy