Once in a lifetime holiday?

[cjt110]

Where would you go?

We have the opportunity to have a holiday in Feb just me and DH. We have a shortlist of places but nothing final.

Our short list so far is Thailand, Sri Lanka, Mauritius. This gives an idea of what we are looking for - somewhere exotic, with experiences (Elephant trekking etvc).

We have a budget of around £2k and would preferably like to be all inclusive.

Please share with me your once in a lifetime holidays!

costa rica is amazing, also what about Cuba, havana is great and we stayed at an amazing local casa particulares by the coast, the food was amazing.

We found a stunning hotel in the middle of the jungle in Bali in our budget but the meals in the restaurant were ridiculous with one reviewer saying they paid £65 for 2 x burger, chips and a soft drink!

South America? Argentina is amazing - a few days in Buenos Aires and out in the country

I've had fab, exotic but relaxing, cheap but luxurious beach holidays (all pre-kids!) to Thailand (Bangkok, Koh Samui and Hua Hin- would love to go to Krabi), Sri Lanka and India (Goa and Kerala). Also been to the Caribbean (Barbados and St Lucia) but you definitely get more luxury for your money in SE Asia. If I were in your shoes I would definitely go to Thailand and maybe spend a few days in Bangkok then chill in a beach resort. Although if you've only got a week then you might want to limit internal flights etc as these will eat up time.

Ok, so Thailand is our front runner anyway. We looked at Phuket and more precisely the Bangla Road area. The idea of Bangkok sounds fab but I've been told things dont get going til midnight anyway?

I live in South Africa. It's amazing and I have been recommending it left, right and centre to people wanting dream holidays/honeymoons. Similarly Botswana/Namibia are awesome, as in Zanzibar.

I'd do safari (at Madikwe) and then Garden Route for beaches. At Madikwe, we spent 2 hours in a game vehicle in the middle of 50 elephants. Just the most incredible experience.

For R&R and then eating out/nights out, also look at Seminyak. You can stay in a gorgeous, private and cheap villa and be walking distance to some great beach bars and clubs.

If it's only a week, I'd think about timezones/jet lag. Bali might be a bit far.

self drive around namibia. it was amazing. driving between lodges, seeing the most amazing wild life . waking up every morning in stunning surroundings. sitting round a brai at night. excellent wine and barbeque

Goa in India?

Also just want to say don't go elephant trekking. We visited Thailand and it was horrendous to see how they are treated and then tied up next to the road in the night.

Kao Lak was nice (apart from the elephants).

www.holidayhypermarket.co.uk/search/results/performSearch?sg=46082131#sr=&searchId=46082336&pn=1&orderBy=price&orderByDir=asc

+1 for South Africa.

Beautiful, perfect weather, not super-long haul far, and no jet lag.

Has every experience you could want - , wildlife/safari (the penguins at Boulders beach are something you will never forget), wine tasting in the wine regions, bungee jumping, the garden route, sunset cruises, trip up Table Mountain, elephant feeding, thought provoking and moving history- the list is literally endless. Strongly recommend.

Hong Kong is great, and if you can get over to Macao as well, that's worth seeing.
Lombok is better than Bali in that it's less commercial but still has some great places to stay. Senggigi is better than Kuta IMO; and you can get boats out to the 3 mini islands, one of which (Gili Meno) has (or had 15 years ago anyway) komodo dragons in the lake in the centre. Fun to see but not too close!

Have you been to Goa Wankers? I know it's probably a huge distance but I am always put off by a friends experience of Delhi. She was harrassed by lots of men, even though she was dressed conservatively and was with her husband and they were also robbed.

Not sure about Thailand for a week.
When we went it was a 12 hour flight, 3 hour wait, 1 hour flight to Phuket then a final hour on a boat, so 24 hours door to door. Seems exhausting for a week.

I think I'd do a luxury 5* in Mauritius, the Maldives or the Caribbean. Love St Lucia, Grenada, the Grenadines or BVIs

Yes I've been to Goa. It was many years ago but we had a fab time - it's not really India in a way as it was a portuguese area and a lot of the population are Catholic. It's become a popular holiday destination for middle class Indians as well now but it still has a lot of hippy culture as well with markets at Anjuna etc.

We loved it - wonderful people, no hassle at all (I went with my sister and we were both in our 20s at the time), also very few beggars as the locals don't really tolerate it. It's miles away from Delhi in all ways. Cheap to hire a taxi and driver to make your own tour.

If you just head for the Cape, South Africa won't leave you jetlagged. Do some wine tours in Franschoek, go out to Robben Island, go up Table Mountain, do a little safari....loads to do. I've been a couple of times. I can't go anywhere where I would need anti-malarials or some of the other injections, so it's as exotic as I can get. Amazing, though.

We stayed in a nice hotel so we had all the facilities there and went out for some of the days to see a bit more. We had no problems of any sort in terms of crime and we were there for over 3 weeks.

Lots of inspiring suggestions!

I don't understand why this will be your last holiday alone with your H because DC will soon notice you're gone? Plenty of parents take occasional holidays without their DC!

If you only have a week then I would pick somewhere with little jetlag and an overnight flight.

So, South Africa or Tanzania would be my choices.

If you want nice restaurants then Cape Town and the Winelands would be good. Or you could do Cape Town + Safari - that would be amazing.

Though to be fair - most of the places here are holidays that you could do with children I suppose, maybe you could be looking at something more adult orientated such as a city type place? Monaco, New York, Boston, Dubai?

Personally I think travelling to thailand then down to any island is way too much for 1 weeks visit, it takes ages. I would go somewhere where you can fly direct within a reasonable amount of time. The exhaustion and jet lag will impact on your week

With your budget Sri Lanka is ideal as still very cheap. The other places are now much more expensive and aimed at tourists. Accom in SL is top end and for not crazy money. It's the most fab country. Such a relaxed vibe, interesting, beautiful. You can do amazing surfing too.

I'd go to Tokyo. It's a brilliant place

On 2k for 2 people? I don't think so!

I'd go to Thailand.

Maui?

Sri Lanka is really beautiful, dh and I went there on honeymoon.

There is an elephant sanctuary there which rescues elephants and you can watch the elephants bathing in the river, (but given what has been said I would check them out online before going now.)
The elephants there were all rescue animals and so you couldn't ride them, but for a small sum you can help wash them which is lovely.
The whole country is stunning, beautiful beaches, amazing cultural trips (the temple at Kandy is truly amazing), and their season ends in April so you would be fine to visit in February and not miss anything.

I can't wait until our kids are grown up enough to have another adults only holiday, we will definitely go back!