Heartland

Favourite - Austria Austria Austria. Going there for summer holidays for the 18th time this year (and bear in mind I'm only 21). I've spent roughly one in forty of my days alive there, so it's branded on my soul.
Lakes, stunning mountains, beautiful sunny days followed by huge thunderstorms, standards and facilities that just make you ashamed to be British, amazing food, people speaking the lovely German all around you, what more could you want? Oh yeah, that wonderful feeling that you know something other people don't, since most people don't really know Austria for very much other than winter sports. I can't ski to save myself.

I would love to go to Scandinavia (Iceland especially), Japan - heck, pretty much the whole of Asia, except for the South-East (which wouldn't really be happening anyway at the moment). I also want to go to Antarctica and p-p-p Pick Up A Penguin. Literally!

I haven't had any really bad holidays, to be honest. We had our car stolen on the way back from France one time, suitcases in the back, but that doesn't reflect on France itself because the car got stolen at a service station just outside Preston. Bloody Northerners!

Favourites: Kho Phangan island in Thailand (one remote little beach in the North East to be precise).
Rome.
Amsterdam.
La Paz.
Kaikora, NZ.
The Black Isle, Scotland.

Least Fav's: France.

Paris isn't all bad.
Some of the rollercoasters at eurodisney are quite good...

Not too many people saying England, is there...? I quite liked the Lake District, and spent a great deal of time falling off tall hills. Lovely scenery, very placid...until I come stomping down the road, deafening myself and everyone within ground zero with my walkman of doom!

Favourite in my dreams: the place with a lot of sunshine and strange drinks. Favourite in reality and I hope I'll go there again as soon as possible: anywhere with a Sisters gig, regardless of the weather.
Least favourite: any proper holidays wherever with boring people and no exciting plans ^.

Fav: WHITBY
Least Fav: Clacton.

d00mw0lf wrote:Paris isn't all bad.
Some of the rollercoasters at eurodisney are quite good...

One of my least favourite cities.

Top class racing!

I prefer Chantilly and the south of France Cagnes sur Mer by the Med myself.


Never been to Eurodisney.

France seems to be the least Favourite country so far.

I've heard good reports about The Isle Of Man.

Britain has some beautiful places to visit too, shame about the weather.

North Yorkshire Is one of my favourites.
York, Richmond, Harrogate.Whitby is very *goth* and has spectacular views.

Northumberland a lovely county with wonderful coastline.Holy Island a very spiritual place.
Shame it's so cold up there!

Hampshire/Dorset ......New forest, Lulworth cove and I have relations who live in Poole(Dorset) who I like to visit on a regular basis.

I do like the traditional seaside beach huts that you get in Britain

elamanamou wrote: Richmond

NOOOOOOOOOOO

Richmond is full of Tea rooms, Purple rinses and a great big fat ugly kiddy catcher.

Nice Castle, but loads of places do.

Do NOT mention that twit of a place again please and thank you.

Kiddy catcher?

Never mind. Just avoid the place.

elamanamou wrote:North Yorkshire Is one of my favourites.
York, Richmond, Harrogate.Whitby is very *goth* and has spectacular views.

Don't forget Wetherby Very nice there I hear

Wetherby is fine.

Mrs RicheyJames wrote:Wetherby is fine.

I'm so glad I took your advice and stayed well clear of Selby when I was house hunting, wouldn't have found this place if I hadn't

See?? Not ALL bad am I?? LOL

elamanamou wrote: Northumberland a lovely county with wonderful coastline.Holy Island a very spiritual place.
Shame it's so cold up there!

OOoh I loved Holy Island. There's lots of mead to drink there
VIKINGS VIKINGS VIKINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

elamanamou wrote: I do like the traditional seaside beach huts that you get in Britain

We had one of those on the beach in Sheringham (where I live) when I was younger. They're excellent

Goa was fantastic, but we were in the north. the sea was perfect and so were the dolphins.

rome, venice.... mmmm. naples.... fantastic.

New York was great. even, or praps especially, in oct 2001.

i hated tunisia. pah. it rained for a week.

Favourites UK: Southwold, Suffolk coast. Happy family holidays as a kiddie. Went back last summer and was relieved to find it's still lovely. Pity my car decided to spew the contents of its radiator all over the carpark for the second time this summer.

Big shout for Northumberland. I could tell you about lots of other lovely places in the north-east, but I don't want lots of "foreigners" cluttering up God's chosen land. Teesside is there for a good reason. Southerners see it and turn back, thus leaving us in peace. Can't believe even a Celtic fan would consider it for a holiday

Fave worldwide: you lot probably know about my enthusiasm for Russia by now, though a lot of it could be placed under worst destinations as well. Especially if you like taps that consistently deliver water. But for the chance to see a culture both alien and recognisable at the same time it's fascinating; for the sense of history in a town like Suzdal it's unbeatable; for the vast tracts of untouched countryside there's nowhere close.

Iceland gets an honourable mention at this point. Two skidoos and a lump of ice the size of North Yorkshire. Good hangover cure! Venice is the most beautiful city I've seen, but it's like a museum rather than a place. The city I'd be most able to live in is probably Copenhagen.

Least fave, UK: can't stand Birmingham, but that's not really a holiday destination. Was disappointed last time I was in Edinburgh, but loved it when I was younger (and it was summer, and not freezing cold, and the festival was on). Didn't much like living in Devon, but enjoy Dartmoor for a visit. Don't have much time for the Welsh (Cardiff is the only city where I've been offered violence in a pub, largely due to having an English accent. Given the choice, I moved to Glasgow and had no trouble with the same accent proving that Scots are generally OK), but haven't seen enough of the "country" to judge its merits as a destination. Reporting on a football team means I've seen most of the towns you'd never want to go near. Perversely I quite like Rotherham, Manchester does nothing for me, Wolverhampton has no discernable reason to exist.

Least fave worldwide: Australia has no appeal for me, neither does the Gulf or much of SE Asia (irrespective of recent events). NZ could tempt me, but it seems like a long way to go and see a recreation of Scandinavia!

As for places I've actually _been_ Milan was a big disappointment. Dirty, ugly and alarmingly bereft of style. And the Duomo was covered in scaffolding. High-tailed to Lake Como and found the villa I will buy when I win the lottery. Didn't warm to Amsterdam, either. Might have been the uneasy sense that I was sharing a city with every Aussie backpacker in the known universe.

Paris was fairly neutral, though I was very young when I last visited. Aix-en-Provence was a disappointment (worse attitude than Paris!) but Marseilles was fun. Nice average, Monaco hilarious (girlfriend proved annoying on that trip, prompting an impressive bust-up on our return to Stansted!).

Ask me in the autumn and I'll tell you about Siberia, Mongolia and Beijing! Hopefully.

Nepal was also a great place to see, although the current civil war makes it less than safe at the moment. Kathmandu is OK for a couple of days, but after that it gets overbearing. Pokhara, a smaller town to the west of Kathmandu is highly recommended. OK - the electricity goes off several times a day, but most places have got generators that they start up when the mains goes off.

Rome was OK (apart from the bastard kids who tried to steal your camera/cash/wallet ever 5 mins). Stockholm's quite cool from what I remember (I went there back in 83).

I could never go to Kathmandu. The place has been ruined for me forever by that bloody poem about the Little Yellow Idol.

Mention Nepal and I'm transported back to a traumatic school production featuring Katherine Abel failing to be as cute as she thought she was.

This is why I shouldn't go back to Durham for Xmas - the memories haunt me still!

andymackem wrote:Teesside is there for a good reason. Southerners see it and turn back, thus leaving us in peace. Can't believe even a Celtic fan would consider it for a holiday

I grew up and lived there until 4 and a half years ago, so it's not a holiday by choice, more a family commitment

(but it's not too bad on a sunny day when the winds blowing in the right direction)

d00mw0lf wrote:Paris isn't all bad.
Some of the rollercoasters at eurodisney are quite good...

My work sent me to Eurodisney a couple of years back for being a "star" ( ).

Great fun but I felt I was in an American theme park - didn't feel like being in France at all...

d00mw0lf wrote:Paris isn't all bad.
Some of the rollercoasters at eurodisney are quite good...

The Space Mountain is great.

elamanamou wrote:

Marocco isn't very nice either. Spent a Christmas there with my family 1981. I had an earring and the locals hit on me as much as they did on my older sister.

Animals!

A day is enough in Tangier... I fell off a camel, "Come into my shop" is all I got from the locals and to end an eventful day I had a snake charmer put this slimey snake round my neck!

Snakes!

Yeah, Morrocco is a s**t. You'll spend exactly half your time fending off carpet sellers and the other half running for the toilet.

Tokyo is a s**t, but for different reasons. And Rome - I though Italians were supposed to possess some kind of charm, but you end up feeling mugged every time you get your wallet out. No thanx.

My favourite... going to Puerto Rico in 4 weeks, so keeping my fingers crossed.

I live and learn