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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

Can anyone help - midway between Uk and Aus holiday needed!

27 replies

HarrogateMum · 26/02/2010 10:14

DH is an Aussie and we try to meet up with his sister and family every couple of years...in the last 10 years we have been to Aus 3 times and once to Thailand and once to Borneo to meet up with them.

We plan to do something again probably in late Oct early Nov but SIL has suggested Thailand again...which is lovely but means 3 planes for us (one to London, one to Bangkok, one to whichever resort). I would love to go somewhere that involved only one plane trip or max two....but it has to be reachable from Brisbane too... welcome any recommendations/suggestions for "halfway" houses at that time of year...I was thinking Dubai (as thats closer to us!) but its just sooooo expensive! We are 2 adults and 3 kids and they are 2 and 2. Any thoughts gratefully received!

PS we also do not have a never ending budget...

OP posts:
Original poster
HarrogateMum · 26/02/2010 12:09

hmmmmmmmmm

OP posts:
Original poster
HarrogateMum · 26/02/2010 21:19

bumping for aussie crew!

OP posts:
gottasmile · 26/02/2010 21:23

How about Japan?

Original poster
HarrogateMum · 26/02/2010 21:24

gottasmile...never ever thought of that...? Concern would be cost...isnt Japan like INCREDIBLY expensive?

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mememe30 · 26/02/2010 21:26

Hope you get some good answers. I'm interested too as my brother and his family live in Perth. We are in the south of England. Need a place to meet so we don't have to go all the way to them again!!!

Original poster
HarrogateMum · 26/02/2010 21:31

mememe30...I am pretty sick of having to make the most effort (and cash)...by always going to Asia..dont get me wrong I love Thailand..it is just so far for us! So am looking forward to seeing if we get any replies!

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duckyfuzz · 26/02/2010 21:39

HM what about Kenya or Indonesia?

FlyingDuchess · 26/02/2010 21:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

mumoverseas · 27/02/2010 05:35

Singapore. You can (IIR) fly direct there from both Australia and LHW

mathanxiety · 27/02/2010 06:05

Hawaii. Nice weather, nice beaches, loads of places to stay, speak English...

pavlovalover · 27/02/2010 06:20

What about Malaysia? We spent a few days in KL and then had a lovely family holiday on Langkawi Island.

HappyBump · 27/02/2010 06:25

There are loads of choices ... I guess it depends how adventurous you want to be with the family holiday.

Hong Kong - it's got a Disney ... can be expensive though

Vietnam - there are beaches plus cultural things

Malaysia - Langkawi (fly to KL direct then take a short flight to Langkawi). Beach resort place

Singapore - very close for them and direct flight for you, if you want beaches then you could either stay on Sentosa Island (very man made) or take a short ferry ride to Bintan

Indonesia - Bali? direct flights to Singapore/KL then change planes?

Sri Lanka - lots to do beaches/cultural, tea plantations, elephants, etc. (harder for them to get to from Brisbane, probably have to fly via Singapore or Dubai)

India - Goa/Kerela ...

Hope that helps rather than confuses!

ArcticFox · 27/02/2010 06:41

I probably wouldnt do HK with children. It's a nice place to live but not great for a holiday IMO.

  1. Very expensive accomodation
  2. Apart from Disney (small- 1 day) and Ocean World there's not a whole lot for kids to do.
  3. Getting around could be a bit of a pain, especially if your children are little and you dont want them in cabs unrestrained.
  4. The beaches are ok but nothing to write home about.

I would second Sri Lanka (2 flights each)or Goa.

WebDude · 27/02/2010 09:28

Not sure what ages the youngsters are, or views on visiting the USA, but would have suggested LA or San Francisco (or perhaps San Diego given that it can get damp in San Fran).

Checked a few flights and found SFO was possible from around 500 per adult, while LAX was from 800 (yelp! - a few years since I have been there to visit friends).

I used Kelkoo to do sesrch for flights and saw one of the cheaper options was outward from the UK on Air France, and coming back with flights from KLM. Outbound seemed quite good, with 90 minutes to change planes in Paris, but the return journey (perhaps because of the dates I used, in late October, early November) was likely to fill you with horror...

Option 1 - approx 4.5 hours in JFK airport, New York

Option 2 - oh dear... almost 24 hours between arrival and departure at JFK

Option 3 - 19+ hours between arrival and departure at JFK

Option 4 - over 12 hours from 07:15 to 19:40 ( book a hotel room and "chill" or watch TV, or shower, ) before going back to the airport, or perhaps - if you slept from SFO then 4 to 6 hours on a tour of New York...

castlesintheair · 27/02/2010 09:33

Fly direct to Jakarta or Bali

amicissima · 27/02/2010 21:35

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mememe30 · 27/02/2010 22:47

Great ideas!!! I really think we are going to meet my brother somewhere next time. It just seems the fairest way!!

Original poster
HarrogateMum · 28/02/2010 18:13

they are all good ideas..its just the blardy cost!

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Jen74277 · 08/03/2010 16:04

Hi, Did you get anywhere with your planning? I'm Aussie, also from Harrogate, and need to travel to Brisbane late September with my DH and DD who will be aged 21 months by then. Want to break-up the trip back as was just too much travel last time. Have ruled out Thailand and SE Asia due to wet season, so maybe Dubai (but what to do with a toddler?) or US west coast. Budget is also a factor! Have just started planning, so interested to know if you found anything good? Prefer to fly from MAN than travel down to London.

Original poster
HarrogateMum · 28/04/2010 14:53

Hi Jen..sorry I only just saw your note...no still not decided! New thinking is Florida but for them that is a long hop to LA then another one...dont know why I feel bad about that given the hops we have done in the past! Have you made any decisions?

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jen74277 · 29/04/2010 14:14

We're going to spend a week in far north queensland instead, and then just a night in Singapore on the way back. We'll fly out of London (going down the night before) to save some money (about £400 cheaper!) and then back into Manchester.

Florida would be great, and still fairly warm early Nov. Hawaii would be my pick if it wasn't so expensive and involved so many flights.

abitlostandconfused · 30/04/2010 06:33

I'd say Singapore. 12 hours from London and probably 8 or so from Brissy. You've got shopping, weather and the beach.

Or Hong Kong? Slightly longer to get to from Brissy but you also have Disney there too.

I Love Hong Kong.

Drayford · 02/05/2010 22:35

California, Mexico, Costa Rica??

You can fly the other way around the world too....

ivykaty44 · 30/08/2010 17:08

Hawii or Fiji, vancover?

do you wnat winter sun or snow?

You can ski in vancover and shop and probably hire a place to stay for all of you

forevared · 31/08/2010 16:12

I'd also suggest West coast of Canada or USA.
We're about to fly to vancouver in 3 weeks ourselves. 10 hour flight, £1800 for 4 of us with Canadian affair who use Thomas cook airlines, and have booked rental accommodation rather than a stupidly priced hotel. So a much cheaper option than some.

I really wouldn't recommend Vietnam with kids in tow unless you're very adventurous and have endless patience!