What does a holiday mean to you?

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A holiday to me is being able to do one of my regular sports/activities but just in a nicer location with better/consistent weather.

I plan my holidays around a chosen outdoor sport. So choose the sport first, then the location, then accommodation and means of travel.

I don’t mind doing all the normal boring stuff such as supermarket shop, cooking, laundry etc

Yeah, i get that. But you shouldn’t expect it.

I prefer to self cater as not keen on more than a night or two in a hotel. We usually eat out a fair bit though, but I don’t mind cooking a couple of nights. It’s the location for me - I like peace and quiet. Countryside, but driving distance to a beach and a nice view.

A holiday for me is a city break

Im a londoner born and bred and moved very rural 20 years ago

So I love a city break. A couple of days of civilisation, good eating places, good theatres and evening entertainment, lots of sights, museums and galleries

It can be UK or Europe , doesn't matter. Krakow in March, Prague for October and then probably Liverpool ( again ) for next march as we are changing it up for July and heading to Harrogate

I love where I live, and would never want to move back to a city, even the thought of having to move to a town is making my toes curl. But for 4 nights, I love a city

For me it's about seeing the place I'm staying in and surrounding areas. Tasting the food by eating out and not just eating at a hotel. I love some relaxation time too at the beach 🙂

We have different types of holidays but August family holiday is lies ins, relaxing round the pool, playing and relaxing on the beach, finding lovely local restaurants for nice seafood and local food lunches, getting dressed nicely for dinners in the evening and walks along the seafront for a cocktail and ice creams.
We go next Monday for two weeks with the four youngest kids and I can’t wait!

I get different things from different types of holiday. I could totally see planning a holiday around a hobby I do several times a week normally (I don’t do sport anymore, but think this is my equivalent). A time to focus on something I enjoy, even if I do it a lot in the rest of my life, would be great. But I also enjoy city breaks looking around places I’ve never been before, camping in gorgeous countryside, luxury hotels and exotic locations. I tend to prefer a bit more luxury and lazing than day to day life, but I’ll put up with a dive if there are other pay offs.

Nothing wrong with hoping for it though, my DCs had some lovely times with new friends made on campsites when they were young. I can imagine it's even better if you only have one DC. I've always liked getting to know other people on holiday too though, never stayed in touch with anyone or taken contact details but I enjoy hearing about where they're from, other places they've travelled etc. Having said that we're also happy in our own company.

Three years ago I made a friend with an American lady when I was in Asia and we’ve actually managed to holiday together once a year since then meeting at different places in the world.

A holiday for me is going somewhere I haven't been before, where the weather is nice, and I can do some sightseeing, spend time relaxing, and eat out every day, hopefully trying some new dishes.

We took our baby to Vienna last year when she was 16 weeks. Also had our (then) three year old with us. It was great :D

Holiday is a relaxing break somewhere different. Usually in a hotel - I’m not interested in the drudgery of cooking and washing up. I want to feel a bit taken care of and luxurious.
I do ‘holiday’ at my sisters in another country though, where it is obviously more of a shared thing the cooking and cleaning.

I like to test my limits. I like to pack as little as I can and try to get from one end of somewhere to another, doing as many new and exciting things as I can. I think I do this as a test, and because every day life is boring. That’s why you see so many middle class people wild camping or backpacking around Asia, whilst bricklayers and hairdressers put their feet up and eat well.
Holidays are, quite simply, a break from the humdrum.

Depends. If it's a short break/city break to somewhere new I love exploring, walking, sightseeing.
Our longer breaks are usually a month or so to somewhere warmer than the UK where we can be outside more in autumn/ winter. Don't do long haul so that limits us to Southern Spain and the Canaries, must have prom /beach suitable for early morning/ evening walks and good cafes and bars. Almost always self cater partly due to the length of the holiday.
Retired so switching off from work is thankfully no longer a requirement.

For me:

A beautiful beach - rotating between a bit of sunbathing, reading/ napping in the shade and swimming in the sea

Not having to think about shopping for and making dinner every night (I’m easy either way about hotel/ villa re breakfast and easy/ picky lunches)

‘Magically’ clean towels/ sheets etc

Being ‘abroad’ with different/ yummy food.

So interesting how people vary!

Generally I want a bit of everything, but if I had to prioritise:

-experiencing places / activities that I love or are new (e.g. hiking somewhere beautiful or exploring a new country)
-connecting with family/friends or with myself (on rare occasions I get to travel alone!) - which can be about having time to relax or be about sharing joint experiences.

Oh also I hate being in really heavily touristed places if I can avoid it so I plan timings and locations to try to avoid that.

I will usually plan in a bit of chilled time into a longer holiday but generally our holidays are busy and active and I’ll happily compromise on eg self catering or more basic accommodation to stretch the budget to experience new places etc.

Generally it's about lying on a sun lounger in a hotter place than where I live, reading my kindle, moving very little, eating food that I haven't cooked every day & getting enough sleep. That's my dream holiday & one I try really hard every year right create (got it right the last 5 years!)

My normal life is so manic that I rarely get a chance to do anything other than work, cook, clean, ferry children to school, activities, walk the dog, do the food shop etc. And I definitely do not get anywhere near enough sleep at home!

Exploring places that are different e.g. rainforest and wildlife. Ideally active. Prefer less people in location though not too bothered in hotel. Prefer to be catered for in food and drink. Weather not that bothered by.

Though when children were younger and life was very full-on I just wanted to relax, swim and be catered for and have fun with the kids - something like a waterpark with days out. Now they are young adults prefer adult based.

I think the bit of child-free holidays I miss most is nice restaurants and bars - you can eat out and have a drink with DC but it’s not the same. Fine dining and propping a cocktail bar is out!

But city breaks can be successful, they just look slightly different!

Used to always be a boutique spa hotel adult only with activities and site seeing to do.

Now with an 18 month old it’s just chaos! Self catering with outdoor things for my child to run around in.

We are similar OP. Pre-kids our holidays revolved around stuff like cycling.

We still cycle on holidays now but it’s family rides not epic mountain climbs!

Now with a young family our holidays revolve around around stuff like beach time, swimming, paddleboard, cycling, hiking. We’re not really into “big ticket” events or attractions as they rarely live up to expectations and are always too busy.

On the rare occasions I get to go away with friends (without kids) I like it to involve cycling or running.

I don’t see the point in long haul with youngsters it just sounds stressful to me. Our best holidays with kids have been Wales, New Forest, Isle of Wight.

My friend just did Rome in the summer heat with young kids - I could think of anything worse!

Self catering accommodation wasn’t my thing until the kids were older. Now instead of a hotel we tend to get a cheap villa. Nothing fancy but with our own pool. No worrying about getting a sun bed. But mainly it’s for the space. But I absolutely do not cook. I don’t mind a wander to the local bakery in the morning for a few baguettes and some fruit (and paprika Lays) for lunch and the odd croissant for breakfast but that is my limit. We eat out every night. I’ll be honest though I will do washing while I’m away. Takes 10 mins to sort and then just bung on an airer outside. Saves a huge pile when we get home and also dramatically cuts down on what we take with us.

I want to do different things, eat different food, visit interesting places

No working, no work phone, no cooking, no cleaning, no urgency.

That said, I cannot do one of those all inclusive lie by the pool and never leave the resort for the full week holidays - that's my idea of hell. I like to go places and explore. If I wanted to just sit on my ass, I can do that at home.

Adult only accommodation, great variety of places to eat/ drink, books, culture, no cruise ships. And an itinerary! We go away regularly so not " a rest".

We've had some really good experiences on group holidays both as adults and with DC. I think it helps when it's a holiday that attracts people with similar interests - so you've got something in common to talk about and you're more likely to be like-minded. Things like staying in a group chalet when skiing.

I'd rather that than be in a hotel or resort with lots of people but not really be interacting with them. Either I prefer people you can meet and make friends with, or as few people as possible!