1. Valencia is the new Barcelona
photo by Toni Rodrigo
March is an especially good time to try a holiday in Valencia, as that is when Valencians celebrate Las Fallas, Europe’s greatest street party. Valencia is also the home of the paella, and as it is situated on the coast you are sure to be able to choose from a number of great seafood restaurants. As you see from the photo there is some stunning architecture as well. There are plenty of airlines that fly to Valencia (airport code VLC) all year round, so getting there should not be a problem.
2. Low-season is the new season
Avoid the crowds and get cheaper flights and hotel stays by travelling off-peak. The summers are getting too hot anyway.
3. Yosemite National Park
photo by chucklepix
One of the great great places in the US, it is often overlooked by travellers who think they must visit New York or Las Vegas. Yosemite is quite simply a stunning park, great for seeing wildlife, hiking and camping or slow walks with breathtaking views. Visit nps.gov for more information.
4. Syria. Seriously.
Syria has some great sites, and is criminally overlooked as a tourist destination. The souks in Damascus alone are worth a trip. Take a look at this Guardian article on The best of Damascus. Or this one, where the blogger finds himself having to make excuses:
“My apologies for another post on how friendly Syria has been but it is the kindness and warmth of this country that has honestly defined my stay so far!“
(from A US Citizen in the ‘Axis of Evil, a post by Wandering Earl.) He also has a post on how much it costs to travel in Syria, here.
5. Chiang Mai
Chiang Mai is a beautiful city in northern Thailand, often overlooked because it is not a beach town. Nothing we can say about it, however, will be better than this blog post on the Loy Krathong Festival.
6. South America
South America is the new south Europe. Or something like that. There are great places to visit and the best part is that it is still very cheap. Hotel nights and a great meal cost surprisingly little. Argentina, Chile and Peru are great places to go when you need a longhaul holiday, with lots of sights, sounds and smells, where your money will last and last and last.
7. Norway
Fjord is a word that is thrown about quite a bit these days, but what does it really mean? Take a look at this. Now, Norway has plenty to offer in terms of fishing and hunting, culture in Oslo, skiing or… “culture” in downtown Oslo. It’s people are friendly (and pretty) and they like to sing to tourists. The only downside to a holiday in Norway is that it’s far from cheap. Still, you can’t take it with you !
8. Cruise Holidays
Cruises are a completely different type of holiday – they are a very nice way of seeing a number of different countries in one trip. Apart from that cruise ships are way more comfortable than most aeroplanes, trains and buses and even nicer than 92% of all hotels*.
(*made up statistic)
9. Australia
photo by aussigal
Because everyone needs to see the Sydney Opera House. And the Aussies have kangaroos and koala bears. OK it’s a crazy long way away from the UK but the A380 planes make it a bit more bare-able. If you go on holiday to Australia, your best bet is to go for at least three weeks, and the more the better really.
10. Domestic Travel
You live in a wonderful country (probably). So many of us immediately think of foreign places when we consider holidays but some of the best places are often right in our backyard, just please don’t use the word Staycation !