which was your most surprising enjoyable holiday destination?

[ChillyPanda]

We were very surprised how easy and cheap & fabulous we found travelling between the cities of Andalusia in the cool of spring by train. Ronda to Seville then Granada & finally to Malaga . Lots to visit , great culture ..well priced food & drink ! Great holiday

I agree with this. Went for the kids but adored it. We went in winter - there were no queues - the DC just climbed off a ride and straight back on it.

Porto Cristo Majorca. Too quiet for most people but sitting on a balcony watching the town come to life and little boats bobbing past the super cruiser yachts in the distance. Perfect.

If anyone knows anywhere else similar, do please let me know.

Dubrovnik but only because we booked last minute with no research so no expectations- it was on the green list during covid so we went - one of my best holidays

Oh yes I LOVED Chicago! We want on a fascinating architecture tour there. I just loved the whole feel of the city. And had great food, jazz bars, the best!

I was there when I was pregnant with first DC and a security guard in a store yelled over to me “hey, congratulations momma!” and I’ve always really remembered it, it made my day. It was just that kind of a place, a really friendly positive vibe.

Chessington. The hotel and overnight beat some abroad holidays

I loved Tunisia so much that we went back a second time.

Loads to see and do (colosseum, sahara, camels, shopping), cheap, beautiful beach, great weather, good food.

It tends to be hated by a lot here on MN.

Continuing on a US city theme - Los Angeles. We stayed in a Airbnb in Los Feliz (where the filmed Swingers) and it was a great neighbourhood, fab bars and shops. Surprisingly easy to get around everywhere by car (was expecting gridlock). Ate some great food. Friendly, laid back vibe. Would be happy to live there based on that experience!

Other places:

-Netherlands (great family holiday destination)
-Bosnia ( history and beauty)
-Maldives (thought I would be bored stiff)
-Turkey (laid back and friendly)
-Pembrokeshire (so many gorgeous beaches)

Same. We went twice in the same year. Stayed near by and drove there. Lovely memories

Don’t forget Cordoba!

Destination, Jersey, I fell in love with the island & made friends with some of the staff at the hotel. I even thought about chucking in my job & going to work there. Holiday, a cruise to the Canary Islands & Madiera, my parents were going & asked me if I wanted to share their suite sleeping on the sofa bed, it cost me £300 for 10 nights, I fell in love with cruising, loved everything about it, the food, the ship, the entertainment, I nearly had to be dragged off kicking & screaming at the end of the cruise, I never expected to enjoy it as much as I did, normally I'm counting the days off until it is time to go home.

Ludlow - Shropshire.

Beautiful old manor house within walking distance of very quaint town. Lots of sightseeing to do locally. Brilliant weather all week!

We’ve just come back from Ypres (Leper) in Belgium. It’s beautiful. Very chilled and friendly people.

Tenby and surrounding areas - loved every holiday I’ve had ever had there.

Majorca second time round. I first went to Alcudia as a teen, it was ok.

Stayed in Puerto Pollensa 10 years later and travelled a bit around the island. Beautiful place.

Some little mounainous town in California called Truckee as a random stop off on a long trip…wanted to move there.

@Clearinguptheclutter Thank you! I’ve just booked 2 nights in Wells / Walsingham for 2 weeks time with DH and DS totally on a whim which isn’t like me at all. I got a great deal on a B&B and we can go to Colchester Zoo on the way home. I’ve wanted to book a couple of nights away somewhere near the coast that isn’t too crazy expensive and this seems ideal. Thanks!

Bilboa in Spain
Posnan in Poland
Tallin in Estonia

Hi op. Hope you can help. I have spent many hours researching getting around Andalusia for our trip later on in the year and have found public transport to be dreadful. It just doesn't seem to work for sightseeing. Am I missing something?

Marrakech! I absolutely fell in love with the city. Cheap, excellent food, great people and amazing scenery. I've been lucky enough to travel a lot and it still stays as one of my favourite places in the world.

I loved Chigago.

Had a good package holiday in Tunisia years ago.

And the cruise up the Nile when I was 18 was incredible.

hi .. the decision i made was to stay in the very central old towns so wouldn’t have to use public transport at all .. just walk everywhere. Then book ahead of time to travel by train or coach between the cities. we stayed 2 nights in Ronda 4 night in Seville 2 nights in Granada ( didn’t want to leave there) and 2 nights in Malaga . Did take a cab the first leg from Malaga airport to Ronda as we arrived late. I’m now planning Cadiz / Cordoba trip with somewhere else thrown in but i’m finding this more difficult logistically

Sal Cape Verde. After reading all the negative reviews I honestly wasn’t expecting much, apart from food poisoning and getting bitten to death by mozzies. How wrong was I!! The hotel was beautiful, the food was gorgeous and plenty of choice even for gluten free and dairy me. The puddings looked fab and judging by the amount everyone else ate they must’ve been. Yes we got bit, but to be honest I got bit far more in Salou last year. The Cape Verdeans are some of the most warmest most friendliest people I have ever met. Yeah there isn’t a great deal to do unless you do trips, and I’m not really a sit by the pool all day type of person, but this time I actually really enjoyed just having a week of full on relaxation, especially after battling with my mental health since October

This is definitely on my list .. also my sons he’s flying to Vienna and getting a bus from there apparently

Filey an unspoilt seaside town, no chip shops & amusements in every shop, quiet, unspoilt, miles of beach. Filey is where I spent the majority of my childhood holidays, it's my happy place where I have so many happy memories & it's still virtually the same over 50 years later. I took ds on my first solo holiday as a single parent & we had a great time, I took him to see all the places I had visited as a child, even the bench outside the coach station I can remember seeing my Grandparents sitting on waiting for the coach home after coming on holiday with us is still there, I get tearful every time we pass it driving into Filey.

Poland.

Can I ask if these are similar kinds of places? I was looking at Tallin for a short break and then DH said to me today that Poznan looked a nice city.