to never want to go to the same place twice for a holiday?

[Mintyy]

as we have a reasonable summer fortnight budget?

We don't have a huge or unlimited budget, far from it. But we are lucky enough to be able to go more or less anywhere within Europe for a couple of weeks in middle of the road self catering accom.

So aibu to think that it's not terribly imaginative to keep going back and back again to the same place in these circumstances?

Ours is in between Lagos and Praia da Luz Portugal

With small dc we've stuck to the same place in Spain for the past couple of years for our cheap sun holiday. It's just not worth the hassle to go to a different place when I am still going to get a beach, sun and hot temperatures.

When we were childless and went to explore different places and rarely went back to the same destination.

When we always go back to my home country, we always go to a different area/town along with my home town.

My in-laws used to go to the same hotel in Falmouth every year in May half term (years after their kids had grown up) and I used to think like you, OP. That said, we used to go to Scotland a lot, not always to the same place although we often used to stay on one particular B&B for part of the trip and then go somewhere else for the rest of the trip.

Then we discovered a fantastic hotel in Jersey and had the most relaxing holiday ever. That was in 2010. Since then I've been back three times and am going back next May half term. I also spent Easter on Guernsey and am going back next Easter too - same hotel, same everything. I've also been back to the same B&B in the Rye area twice this year. If I like places, I go back.

But we tend to have a few short breaks through the year rather than one big holiday. In July we went to Germany, next summer the intention is to go to the South Tyrol area of Italy (haven't booked yet) - I have been there twice before but the last time was in 1998 so I think we're allowed to go back. Two weeks in one place is too boring for me, I'd rather go somewhere for a week, somewhere else for a long weekend, somewhere else Mon to Fri, that sort of thing. This year we've had about 5 short breaks of up to 4 nights each.

I like going to places I've been before because you know the places to go, the nice places to eat, and you don't have to rush around being a tourist, you can enjoy the area more like a local does. I wouldn't want to buy a holiday home because I'm not into self-catering, I like being in a hotel and being looked after.

*I just think life is short and the world is immense.
*
So where in the world have you been, seems like you haven't been any further than Europe? Please tell me you don't consider each of the Spanish Costa's a different location.

As other people have said, you don't really get to know an area by just making one visit there and then leaving the place behind you.

It's when you've gone past the 'tourist attraction' stage that you often become really familiar with a foreign town or city, and that only really happens if you return a few times and get to know the quirky back streets and non touristy shops etc. To me that's more imaginative than jetting off to a different country every year.

But to each their own.

At various times Dorset Devon and Disneyland Paris (mid winter)

I used to have a bucket list and aim to do one thing off the bucket list every year. But frankly life over the last two years has been hard and I am tired. I want something unchallenging and simple where I can just be happy and relax

(Not all the repeat visitors are the bucket a spade brigade)

Nerja - Costa del Sol. There is so much to see we have already planned where we want to go on the next visit. Alhambra palace for one.

I live in Portugal. I have lived in the UK for many years.

For the beach I'd rather stay in Portugal/Algarve. They are nice enough.

I like going to new places and I'm lucky to travel for work, but always try to fit in an extra day to visit the place.

We do a combination
Our time is even sparser than our money. And if we're going peak season, it's simply unaffordable to take a punt. A few years as a family with primary school aged children back we rented a villa with one loo, loads of ornaments on every surface and the main bedroom was a hut in the garden. And it was noisy. For ££££ It was ok, but has made us risk adverse.
We're lucky to go away in various permutations. Over the last year DD2 and I stayed in the same hotel in NY that I had forensically researched 2 years previously with DD1 (a complicated algorithm which factored cost/ Manhattan location/ not sharing a bathroom with strangers)
We went away last Christmas somewhere amazing and long haul, and are returning this New Year, albeit half not full board; we went camping in Germany, to the same campsite as last year- we could only get away for a week and didn't want to risk a duff one. And I'm going to Florence for a few days in a weeks time as my parents are staying there, it's lovely, and I had a great time last month

Onmy
Please would the posters who really love the places they go to again and again be kind enough to share the locations?
We've stayed in several different places at all price levels around Salcombe and would recommend them all- from here eyewateringly expensive to the most beautiful youth hostel at Overbacks, here and several times here, self catering with indoor pool

Both DH and I have busy FT jobs, and limited annual leave.
We book our summer hols almost as soon as we get home from the last one!

We get a lot of pleasure out of looking forward to it, and imagining ourselves there.
The combination of happy children (who can roam free, go swimming every day, make new friends etc etc) and happy grownups (who can have a cold beer on the fecking in the afternoon whilst enjoying a heavenly view, eat yummy cuisine, soak up the rays and enjoy day trips) makes it a no brainer.

Going back to the same place you know is lovely children building memories etc yes can see why people do it.

Personally have itchy feet and subscribe to the world is big place so much to see school of thought. No one is right or wrong though!

That said the one time our extended family went back to a fab place it was a disaster. We had an idyllic first holiday but the following year the weather was appalling (rained every day and stormy) and the boiler broke so we had no hot water. Never gone back anywhere since.

If it was just dh and I (only a few more years to go....) we would just get plane tickets and rock up somewhere we liked the look of! Last May, we actually got a child free week and went to a really tiny place in Greece. With the children (or child, now!) it would have been a nightmare :( she would have been really bad tempered as all we wanted to do was go for really long walks and then sit and read/relax. It may seem dull to do the same thing but with children it really is easier!

We'd never done it, until last month, when we went to the same resort in the exact same week as the previous year.

It was fantastic. The kids (preschoolers) remembered it, and basically ran from the transfer bus to the beach, so our holiday began INSTANTLY. No settling in, trying to work out where everything is, we just jumped straight in and made it feel like 8 days of holiday rather than 6.

There are whole continents I've never been to, and still want to, but with 2 under 4s it's all about making life easy and enjoying ourselves on holiday right now.

The only other exception is skiing - we've been back to the same resort a few times because different runs tend to be open, or the weather's different, or we're with different people, so it feels like a different holiday - but again you don't spend the first day trying to work out the lift passes and kit hire and all the rest of it.

We did Florida 3 times, the same area of Majorca 6 times. It was great knowing we'd get off the plane and we'd have a great time with the kids. We've been elsewhere too.

Last year DH and I went to Cape Verde I was gutted I was too ill to travel that far this year. We'll definitely go back many times again.

We used to go regularly to the same place in Majorca when my MIL owned an apartment there (since sold, and MIL died in early 2014).

We all got to know a lot of staff and local people, plus a lot of the expats who had moved there too. What's not to like?

We went on other holidays when we could afford it too, but that was always there to go back to and it was a home from home.

Each to their own! Some places I can go time and time again and never have enough - maybe Barcelona or Paris or different parts of France or the UK.

On the other hand put me in a different 'hotel centred' beach resort every year and I'd hate it! It might be in a different location but it's still basically sand heat and sea none of which I like for more than a day or so!

We keep going back to France, but different areas (although have been to Nice twice, but won't return for a few years now). This year we went to south western France, which we loved. We'll go back again next year but to a different campsite a bit further north. We do it because we tow a caravan and it's the most affordable family holiday for us. If we flew somewhere we'd only afford a week and tbh I'd rather have a longer holiday. Definitely want to see more of the world when our ds has flown the nest, but happy with the family holidays in France for now (maybe Germany/ Holland another year). When I was younger and only had myself to think about and pay for I've been to Mexico, Texas, Cyprus, and the Netherlands. Would love to visit New Zealand and China one day. That said, I've never even been to Ireland, which is a lot closer to home!

I think, with kids in particular, there's something nice about arriving at your holiday destination every year and recognising the same familiar landmarks on the way and building up traditions that have to be respected every year "but we always have a picnic at craggy rock the day after we arrive" "but granny has to come swimming with us. It's tradition etc. etc.

It might look boring to others, but I think it allows children to build up a lovely store of memories.

One place I really want to go back to is Berlin.

I was last there a couple of years before the Wall came down, and would be fascinated to visit again now that it is reunited and again the capital of a unified Germany.

And what wellies said - my sisters and I always talk about our childhood holidays to the same place in southern France. We had some fantastic times and made some lovely memories there, such as heading through the Alps and singing "She'll be coming round the mountain".

If I found the perfect place for our family, I would happily go back again and again. Like AF, I want to switch off on holiday and totally relax but I can understand that others may want something different from their holidays.

I was always adamant I wouldn't go to the same place twice, but some places have just been so astoundingly spectacular I've revisited them.

In Italy I love Venice for a long weekend. It's not suitable now I have toddlers but I'm sure that when they are teens we will return.

Easyjet and Ryanair have bargainous flights to Marrakech, if you book early enough it's £50 return. And hotels out there are super cheap as well so that is a fantastic thing to do for 4 days. It truly feels like you are in a different world.

For long haul the only place we consistently return to is thailand. It was a perfect destination for backpacking in my early 20s, romantic when I first went with dh, and now I've just spent the summer there with my 2 dc. Renting a private villa with a pool next to the beach for a month, plus flight and spending money came to less than we spent going to France for 2 weeks the summer before. It is paradise and we are planning to do it again next year.

I live in Carvoeiro in the Algarve