Best place for a 3 week holiday?

Holidays | 13 comments

We’re looking to go away for 3 weeks in the summer, as early as possible! Originally we we’re planning a trip to the States but the weakening of the pound has made it seem a little less attractive a proposition.

We’ve been recently thinking about a trip to Thailand, main things we’re after are warmth, nice beaches and cheapness (both for getting there from the UK and living it up whilst we’re there!).

I can think of a few places that we’ve been but it’d be great to go somewhere completely new.

Any suggestions for a ideal 3 week holiday would be greatly appreciated!

UPADATE: Booked flights to Thailand, looking at some beach action on the islands of Ko Maak and Ko lipe and some jungle fun in Khao Yai so far!

13 Comments

Geoff on January 13, 2009 at 1:50 am

Thailand sounds like a great plan, but I'd also consider Central America – most of the countries are small enough that you can see a fair bit in three weeks too. Great beaches, and very warm – only downside is it's rainy season (although that doesn't mean constant rain), and apparently the forests are much more beautiful at this time of year. Also, being the off-season means fewer tourists and more chance of getting better rates.
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- Benedict Adam on January 13, 2009 at 2:28 am
  
  Cheers Geoff, will have a little look into what kind of flight deals are available, though i'm guessing SE Asia would be a little cheaper than Central America.
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Geoff on January 13, 2009 at 2:35 am

You're probably right there – but you can get good deals to Cancun quite often (I managed to get a flight for £220 when I went), and travelling onwards to Central America from there is very easy, especially Belize (or even just stay in mexico – as long as you avoid Cancun itself, Mexico's Caribbean coast is lovely.
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jason urry on January 22, 2009 at 10:22 am

is it safe to travell on your in thailand
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- Benedict Adam on January 22, 2009 at 10:46 am
  
  If you mean travelling in Thailand on your own, I'd say its pretty safe, though I guess if your ventured to far off the beaten track or to areas in political unrest it could get a bit dodgy, but thats the same anywhere.
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Nomadic Matt on January 25, 2009 at 4:53 am

Thailand or maybe central america both sound good. How about 3 weeks in Morocco? Its wamr and different.
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Jonny on January 25, 2009 at 9:12 am

Morocco is lovely – I particularly enjoyed visiting the Cascades d'Ouzoud which are good for camping near, just a few hrs out of Marrakech
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The Bogtrotter on February 10, 2009 at 1:49 pm

How about East Africa – Kenya and/or Tanzania? The weather near the coast is fine all year round – Zanzibar is fantastic with plenty of fairly cheap accomodation and good beaches. Flights may be a bit expensive – but once you're there you can spend as much (or as little) as you want.
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USA Tours on February 16, 2009 at 9:23 pm

Hi Ben
Of course you could always visit Lewes where I live (hiya neighbour). On a serious note, I work for a tour provider and if you can get over there travelling parts of the States by car is still competitive due to car rental or hire a van and sleep in that instead of staying in hotels all the time (take a tent?). Also, rail tours are like a travelling hotel so you can get some good shut eye without paying for a hotel again. Of course food and drink are still cheap over there as they are always and there is always the golden arches if you're really skint. By the way, its always woth phoning the holiday operators to negotiate a deal as they are craving business at the moment.

Hope that helps.
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steve edenz on July 21, 2010 at 4:56 pm

I keep hearing Turkey and Mauritius are the hottest places to visit for UK holidaymakers. The Mirror website were publishing other hot trends for 2010 – but I couldnt find the link 🙁

My favourite place is Rhodes – I need a holiday too. Great website will come back and check it out soon.

Steve
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Michael on October 3, 2010 at 10:36 am

Thailand seems to be a great place to go, i’ve been to a number of sites and they all confirm it, so Thailand it is for my next holiday. Some sites also recommend India and Mauritius.
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Rick on July 2, 2011 at 8:00 pm

My vote for a 3 week Holiday is England. Here are some ideas for a 3 week trip and some guides to each of the different areas.

London:
Great sites like: Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace, National Gallery, British Museum

Windsor Castle isn’t too far either.

A couple hours away is Stratford-Upon-Avon

Stonehedge is also only a couple of hours away.

Also, check http://www.timeout.com/london/ to see if there are any festivals going on.

Bath:
Check out the Roman Baths in the town of Bath. Here are some of the main attractions:
http://visitbath.co.uk/site/things-to-do/attractions

Chester:
Chester has a rich history and some great historical attractions. The Roman Amphitheatre and City Walls are two of the more impressive attractions.
http://www.chesterhotels.org/Attractions

Lake District:
If you are going to the lake district, it is probably for the natural attractions. Here is good page describing the best things to do outside.
http://www.you2uk.com/natural-attractions/index.html

I think a 3 week trip here offers some beautiful nature and some rich history.

I hope this has been helpful.
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steve on May 30, 2013 at 12:45 pm

I would go to India, and Nepal and then finish off in Goa for a week, take the train and see a lot of India
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Getting around

On Raratonga there is a bus that runs fairly regularly (every 30 mins) in an anticlockwise direction around the island. You can higher motorcycles from most hotels. We hired bikes and managed to cycle the 20km around the island in the blazing midday sun. not the best of ideas!

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Costs

The cook Islands aren’t cheap, being a popular holiday destination with the Kiwi’s and its geographical location (a lot of things are imported from New Zealand) result in high living costs. We managed to live cheaply by staying in a dorm in Tiare Village cooking for our selves sometimes using fruits and vegetable’s picked from the wild.

Where to stay

Backpacker or budget accommodation is difficult to find on Raratonga. We opted for Tiare Village. Situated on the north side of the island, Tiare Village is set in a wonderful lush tropical garden setting. The lady which ran the hostel was one of the best things about the place. She was friendly, learnt everyone’s names and made you feel really welcome. Tiare village unfortunately was a bus ride away from the beautiful lagoon.

A dorm bed in the main house cost NZ$20, not exactly cheap but one of the cheaper places on the Island.

New Zealand quick guide

Getting Around New Zealand

Probably the best way to travel would be to hire a camper van. We didn’t go for this as we thought it would be cheaper to rent a car and stay in hostels. The advantage of having you own transport is you can really get of the beaten track and see some really great places. It also means you can stop when you like and get that photo of the beautiful scenery whenever you want.

Where to stay in New Zealand

We stayed in all sorts of places form cheap dorm rooms in hostels to bedrooms in ancient hotels. Its all about finding the cheapest place for the night.

New Zealand Costs

New Zealand is cheaper than Australia, but when you compare it to South-east Asia its pretty expensive. To try and cut down on the costs we stayed in the cheapest Hostels we could find and cooked all our meals ourselves. This does mean however that often you’ll be staying at the non party orientated hostels as the real popular ones charge a lot more.

Indonesia mini guide

Getting Around Indonesia

Bus Travel in Indonesia

Probably the cheapest way to get around but also probably the slowest and most trouble. A lot of tourist offices offer to book your buses for you, all they do is charge you more than it would cost if you just turned up and put you on the worst bus possible.

The other option is a ‘tourist shuttle’ bus, this will cost you more but you’ll hopefully be picked up from you hostel and dropped off where you want all trouble free. Obviously its not as character building as haggling your bus ticket, being lied to, ripped off, crammed in, sharing your with chickens and bags of onions and finally your bus setting on fire.

To make your way to a bus station it will usually mean you’ll need to hop in a bemo. Bemos are little mini buses and each one is customised to their owners tastes often with ridiculously loud sound systems installed.

Bemos will fly around the cities and towns, one guy hanging out the open door touting for customers. The problems arise when you need to get in one with your backpacks, Bemos are very cramped for a westerner anyway but with a large bag (and guitar) its pretty awkward. With taxis costing comparably so much more they are you only real option when on a budget. The guide books give you costs for bemo rides but you’ll nearly always have to pay twice as much. This is probably due to the backpack taking up space.

Flights

Cheap flights can be found fairly easily. In some locations it can be hard to find somewhere to book a flight but it’ll save you a lot of time. We travelled overland from Bali to Flores and flew back with Merpati as the overland trip took days. The trip overland was one of the best experiences but very tiring.

Travel by Ferry in Indonesia

If you’re travelling overland you’re going to have to get a ferry if you want to hop between the thousands of islands. There are many ferry routes going from many times a day to monthly. Ferries are a great experience, there not very comfortable (we spent one night sleeping on the concrete floor as cockroaches rang around us) but you will see some memorable things.