Sonny holiday
ONE in four millennials is still holidaying with their parents – and letting them foot the bill.
Royal Caribbean found nearly half of parents fork out up to £740 for each of their children aged 25-plus to join them on holiday.
And sons cost an extra £260 more than daughters, with parents spending on average £870 and £610 respectively.
BUDGET airlines such as Jet2, easyjet and Ryanair have expanded their horizons so much that their list of destinations reads like a geography test. But some of the most offbeat sounding places are gems waiting to be discovered. This week we take a round-up some of the more intriguing getaways served by Ryanair.
By gosh Bydgoszcz, Poland
Start with a tongue-twister. Pronounced “beed goshed” the city is new to Ryanair, with flights starting in April. But it is surrounded by well-established destinations such as Polish capital Warsaw, baroque Wroclaw and the seaside resort city of Gdansk to the north.
Sitting as it does on the Vistula and Brda rivers, Bydgoszsz has a lot in common with Gdansk, with riverside warehouse conversions, boat trips, and a subtitle as Poland’s Venice.
It is a place of classical music and opera and concert halls with low-ticket prices. It also boasts the world’s only Soap and Dirt Museum. All good clean fun.
GO: Flights are from Stansted. See ryanair.com. The four-star City Hotel has good-value doubles from £38. See city-hotel.pl.
Not split Zadar, Croatia
With a name that sounds like a science-fiction kingdom, this city on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast is emerging from the shadows of its famous neighbours to the south, Split and Dubrovnik.
Its mix of Venetian trading port, 19th-century Austro-hungarian resort and 1960s communism makes it an unpretentious place where ferries and fishing boats come and go from the quay. It also has an extraordinary sea organ under the promenade, whose concrete pipes harness the sea’s movement to make otherworldly music.
Some 24 big islands lie offshore and the glorious white beach of Sakarun on the island of Dugi Otok is just a short ferry ride away.
GO: Flights from Liverpool, Manchester, Stansted. See ryanair.com. Boutique-style Teatro Verdi has doubles from £76. See teatro-verdi.com.
Deep train Kyiv, Ukraine
The city, now trying to shake off the Russianinspired spelling Kiev, has started to appear on the tourist map thanks to the proximity of Chernobyl, now a popular day trip from Kyiv following the TV series.
It is a city of cobbled squares and lanes, lorded over by the fabulous azure and white belltower of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral and the golden domes of Saint Michael’s Monastery.
Main boulevard Khreschatyk is walled with imposing architecture and Andriivs’kyi
Descent is lined with bars and galleries. On the very cheap metro, Arsenalna is the world’s deepest station. The network will take you out to ex-president Viktor Yanukovych’s Mezhyhirya Palace, outrageously opulent and built secretly at the expense of his people.
GO: Flights from Manchester and Stansted. See ryanair.com. The monstrous Soviet-style Hotel Ukraine is good value in the heart of town. Doubles from £64. See ukraine-hotel.kiev.ua.
Lava tube Terceira Lajes, Azores
The third largest island in this Portuguese archipelago out in the Atlantic, Terceira is a mix of extinct volcanoes and fertile volcanic plateaux, where most of the farming and wine-making takes place. It is a summer destination for the airline, for those interested in hiking, history, and getting away from it all. Walk inside a volcano in the Algar do Carvao, a lava tube that burrows down into the rock to the rainwater-fed lagoon that marks its deepest point. Main town Angra do Heroísm was Unesco registered in 1983 and is a place where festivals and traditions still dominate the calendar.
GO: Flights are from Stansted. See ryanair.com. Hotel Beira Mar has doubles from £61. See hotelbeiramar.com.
Uncle Vlad Cluj, Romania
This modest city is worth coming to for its location in mid-transylvania, which has to be one of the most unspoiled landscapes in the