holidays THE LET B EG IN
School’s out and it’s time for some family fun
KEEP your eyes on the prize. That’s my advice if you’re heading off now that schools have broken up for summer.
Yes, there will be long queues at airports (though weren’t there always, if we’re honest?).
Yes, it’s stressful worrying your flight may be cancelled (though, statistically speaking, it won’t).
Yes, random events may complicate matters (I’m thinking of the false fire alarm that had Manchester’s Terminal 3 evacuated this month, and the water leak that saw the taps dry up at Gatwick two weeks ago).
But, through it all, the prize remains the chance to go away on holiday. And I’ll stand in any queue for that!
SMILING THROUGH
In the real world, far from Twitter and the relentlessly negative news reports, there are plenty of other positives to find this summer.
My first shout out goes to two quite separate ‘red teams’. Book a Jet2 holiday, and you’ll see its Red Team the minute you get inside the airport terminal. They’re the smiling staff in red T-shirts, who walk the lines and answer questions before you even get to check-in.
From Newcastle to Belfast and from Bristol to Leeds Bradford, I’ve seen how much reassurance they give.
It’s the same for Virgin Atlantic customers at Heathrow and Manchester airports. Ladies in red – and gentlemen in purple – are on hand to guide you to the shortest check-in lines. Somehow, they can also make us feel like a million dollars, even if we’re heading for a middle seat in the last row of economy!
NEW VIEWS
What else cuts the stress out of a holiday nowadays? Having the holiday come to you, rather than the other way around. That’s what fans of ocean cruises like – unpacking once and then waking up to a different view every day.
It’s what we also get on the best river cruises. And this red-hot summer, I’ve got my eye on two in particular.
I’m daydreaming that this is the year I get to see the Rhine in Flames festival – the firework show that drenches the hills and skies of Koblenz in colour every August. Friends say there’s nothing like seeing the lights reflected on the water of the Rhine, especially with a glass of local wine in hand and a comfy cabin on a ship such as TUI Maya to return to afterwards.
Or are we all in need of a few laughs this summer? Then I can’t stop smiling at the thought of a different Tui river cruise, the wonderfully named Chateaux & Gateaux holiday. It sails seamlessly through Switzerland, Germany and France, with Black Forest and many other gateaux tastings included.
FAR-FLUNG
Elsewhere in this mid-summer issue of
Check In, we’ve got plenty of holiday ideas from our friends at Titan Travel.
Where’s popular? When it comes to 2023, it seems long-haul holidays are winners.
Australia and New Zealand top a lot of ‘book early’ lists. It seems we’ve really missed big bucket-list holidays, so Titan’s 26-day Grand Antipodean Odyssey tour that takes in Sydney, Uluru, the Great Barrier Reef, Milford Sound, the Franz Josef Glacier and more could be the one we all want.
Or will it be Wild Borneo, with its famous orangutans? Is it time for Cairo and the River Nile? To take a coast-to-coast train ride across Canada?
FULL FLIGHTS
The Caribbean is the reliable destination that we’re flocking back to. Seats are selling fast on direct flights to the likes of Barbados, Antigua and St Lucia, and some hotels have already put up the ‘no vacancies’ sign.
So how about widening the net to find greater availability? Cuba offers a unique holiday experience, with its Cadillac cars and old-fashioned cigars. Or find a patch of paradise in the Dominican Republic.
I first visited decades ago, and while it’s raced up-market ever since – it’s not everywhere that’s got a hotel designed by Oscar De La Renta – it is beautiful, affordable and has attractions to suit pretty much anyone.
Closer to home, turn to page 6 to read about a very special day out: driving a stunning Porsche from London to Le Touquet in France. Driving holidays, like no-fly cruising, have the advantage of sidestepping crowded airports in the peak summer season.
But if flying it is, then bring it on. Throw queues, delays and even cancellations my way. Evacuate the terminal and turn off the water.
I’ll take it all. Because any holiday is better than none. And I hope yours is everything you’ve dreamed of.