paulwrxboro

Well if things go to plan over the next 8 weeks i will be booking a holiday of a lifetime for me and the family wife and 2 boys age 12/13
now im after ideas

I was thinking 2 weeks in america/disney and 2 weeks in cuba /barbados so 4 weeks in total but after tonight seeing a holiday were you walk into the jungle and come face to face with the gorilas im looking for more.


can anyone recomend anything or any good ideas

KiwiGTI

SE Asia - Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Borneo (Orangutans)

Will probably cost less than US and will be a lot more interesting and give you a lot more "life experiences" to remember.

Jamesemt

Mmm depends what you want from a 'holiday of a lifetime'.

I would advise against Borneo, apparently there is a lot of trecking to get to the wild Apes (mate of mine went out there, took her 2 days worth of trecking...).

To me, there are only two options:

1: US - maybe do a fly drive and try to see every state? Or at least drive from one side to the other.

2: Something involving Egypt.

KiwiGTI

They have single day trips with no trekking for the Orangutans.

Egypt is long weekend break that you can do anytime.

paulwrxboro

MMMMMthe fly drive thing may be ok, route 66 and all that
i dont fancy the gorilla thing after seeing the presenter get charged by a silver back id have shat my pants

Apparition

Canadian Rockies are just beautiful and there's always a chance of an encounter with bears, moose,and other indigenous creatures. We did it while the kids were quite young and they loved it. Quite the adventure.
Yve

paulwrxboro

What kind of holiday was it ?how did you book?

boxst

Hello

I have been to Borneo and thoroughly recommend it: the hotels are superb, the orangutans great. I also climbed a mountain, went for a long house experience and went in caves. All in all a great trip.

Having said that, my 'trip of a lifetime' was about 4 weeks, wasn't incredibly expensive (quite expensive!) and was: London -> Bangkok -> Sydney -> Perth -> Hawaii -> Los Angeles -> London. And because it is in the same direction the flights were relatively cheap.

Steve

paulwrxboro

sounds great how did you book ? did you do it all yourself ? im willing to spend upto 10k for 4 people

i normaly only go to spain "telytext booked it packed it fooked off"

Gordo

try

http://www.reefandrainforest.co.uk/

for some ideas (sorry, don't know how to make it clicky)

Egypt is average - not holiday of a lifetime territory. US is... well it's the US isn't it.

Galapagos, Antartic cruise, Peru / Mexico. Australia (kids are just old enough to scuba dive).

Have fun!

Gordo

Reality

South Africa.

jaytc2003

iTrader: (1)

Wouldnt do cuba as it has just been hit by a storm. Mexico is okay, plenty of things that could be life changing there, there is a resort that is sort of in the jungle and you can meet all sorts of creatures inc crocs! Theres also the historic sites there as well like the yucatan peninsula, however it is now storm season (june to oct) so chance of very bad weather (once the rain stops though it is usually dry again within about half an hour)

Australia would be a good one, maybe a few days in singapore before hand, hong kong etc, maybe japan.

Also south africa and what about mauritius? They reckon that will be under water in x amount of years so could be worthwhile whilst you still can.


For the ultimate though, what about the east face of everest!!

RX--Russ

Can Come To SA if you want to play Survivor the REAL Game.

boxst

Hello

Slight correction in that we went to Cairns (Barrier Reef) rather than Perth.

I booked it with Kuoni (http://www.kuoni.co.uk/) via the telephone. The reason for this was that trying to do it all myself I could beat the Kuoni cost for a flight by about 50% but couldn't match them on price of hotels, so the cost was about the same in the end. With the added advantage that one company is responsible (and held accountable) for your entire journey and with all those flights and hotels that's a good thing.

Steve

Apparition

Hi Paul,
We booked it all ourselves (me being an ex travel agent ), Flew to Vancouver business class.....that was a treat in itself, Met by a stretch limmo. 5 days in Vancouver staying at the West End guest house http://www.westendguesthouse.com/ ....pure decadence.
Then took the Rocky Mountaineer train across the Rockies to Jasper where we collected our MPV which we then drove the rest of the way to Calgary, stopping off here and there for the night to savour the mountains and what they had on offer. Highlight was probably the Athabaska Glacier....won't be there much longer the rate its melting !! The kids , mostly, were totally taken up with the whole adventure...specially the Capilano Suspension bridge that they couldn't get Mum (moi) onto for love nor money. Few boring bits for them, but then, it was a FAMILY holiday so , you can't please ALL the people ALL the time !
Yve
PS Even tho' I'm now divorced from their dad and they are now parents themselves....we all recall THAT holiday with fond memories....Loads of them .

speed demoness

this all sounds so interesting

makes my 2 weeks in Kephalonia seem paltry !

i'm sure you'll enjoy wherever you choose

Kieran_Burns

iTrader: (1)

For that kind of money I'd be looking at New Zealand myself - I'd personally spend most of it in Queenstown.. bungee, shot over rapids... and don't forget New Zealand is where they filmed Lord of the Rings...

powerwrx

iTrader: (11)

2wks in cancun on a relaxin 5* holiday (ive been)
Then fly up the coast to newyork and see the city that never sleeps.(ive been) its fantastic

King RA

10k would buy alot of fun in Prague.

KiwiGTI

IMHO it's the worst time of year to travel - Southern Hemisphere is cold, Northern Hemisphere is high season and everything is expensive and busy.

That's why I still think somewhere in East or SE Asia.

Personally I don't think the US is different enough, New York is great but again it's something that can be done anytime on a long weekend.

Gordo

We were VERY disappointed with NZ - think Scotland on a bigger scale but without the stark scenery and you'll have the right mental picture.

i.e. it's cold, wet (we were there late Spring) and no very exciting, even if you're into the so-called white knuckle stuff. We did most of them - the only one that gave us a flutter was a bungee from a cable car near Queenstown. If you love walking and bird-watching do the West Coast of Scotland. It's cheaper and IMO much better.

I'd be Asia somewhere for that money or on safari.

G

paulwrxboro

CHEERS everybody some great replys and food for thort /sp
i am after a hoiday the kids will never forget and talk about for years
i think there at that age not to young and not to old...if you know what i mean
i will be checking out them websites and will let you know how it gos

Stephb1986

my aunty went to kenya for 3 weeks her and her kids loved it aged 9 and 13 two lads, seen lions and elephants and alsorts she said it was the best holiday ever

ive been to egypt dont get too see many animals though, the valley of the kings was more like the valley of the steps, got to see many camels (dead with the guts hanging out) apart from that it was really good

Da Booga

If it's a holiday for the kids to remember then i'd definately say America/Florida. I went with my family 10 years ago (for my 17th birthday) for 3 weeks in a villa in Kissimee and still talk about it to this day! Even though we had 3 weeks we didn't do everything we wanted and the theme parks are out of this world!

Getting married this year but already looking on going back next year with the missus and a couple of friends as been wanting to go back for the last 10 years and can now finally afford it LOL

Jamesemt

There seems to be a few people on here thinking that a holiday of a lifetime must involve something dangerous...

IMHO by definition it should be something that you cannot easily repeat - be it from a money point of view or a time point of view.

I think you need to ask yourself what you really want from it - is it more of a self discovery thing? Relaxation? Exploration?

Already done our holiday of a lifetime (in the US ). Nothing can beat the huge scale of Vegas, or the Grand Canyon. If we didn't have family in the UK, we would have already emigrated there - and we don't even gamble

Reality

I've been Lucky enough (and am Old enough ) to have done the following;

New York - Several times
Vegas, San Francisco & Grand Canyon
3 week caribbean cruise
3 weeks Australia (over Christmas & New Year)
Florida - Several times
New Orleans
Bognor Regis
Great Yarmouth
West Coast of Scotland

Without a shadow of a doubt the most memorable holiday I've ever been on was a 3 week South African Holiday. Tour a few Cities, do a weeks Safari and a week north of Durban on the Indian Ocean swimming in the same waters as the Great Whites. On the safari we stayed in an unfenced camp - when the elephants came through one night it was very "interesting" .

2nd best was the Cruise.

Don't do Florida as a once in a lifetime holiday - you'll come home knackered and you'll go again at some point - although the kids would probably enjoy this the most - depends what they're into .

ps If you were going on your own I would have said New Orleans (but that was before Katrina).

pps I reckon somewhere like China is gonna be my actual holiday of a lifetime - just not got round to doing it yet