Ok so next year it's my mothers 70th birthday so I'm looking for somewhere different to take her for a couple of weeks.

So I'm open to suggestions. She's done the Spain/France/Canaries etc so looking for somewhere a bit more exotic. Dominican Republic,
Dubai, Carribean etc. Any of you been somewhere you'd recommend?? Budget is about 6 to 8k for 5 of us but may stretch it a bit for a
Perfext hol for her!

Any pics or places of interest appreciated!

Cheers

4wd Current, M135i in Estoril Blue with more extras than the cast of Ben Hur.

535d m-sport Platinum grey and a few extras.... Gone

X5 3.0 sd in Space Grey, 20's, Dynamic Pack, Memory Pack, Media Pack, Tow Pack, Rear DVD, Panoramic Sunroof, Steps, 7 Seat Pack, Reversing Camera with moving lines, programmable park heat, etc etc etc - Gone

Range Rover Sport Santorini, privacy, dvd, towpack GONE!!!

If you can stand the flying (although I would do it with 1 or 2 day stops in Dubai and Singapore on the way out and Hong Kong and Dubai on the way back!) there's nothing like New Zealand. Rent an RV and go camping and where you like when you get there!

For something really different in midsummer then a house exchange/ house rental on Vancouver Island British Columbia, Canada or Oregon or Washington State in NW USA are brilliant for a driving touring holiday if you are not into lying on beaches - they are quite cool places temperature-wise too more UK summer than Dubai!
Don't laugh but Egypt isn't that bad either - if you want a winter time beach holiday then the Red Sea Riviera has everything from golf courses to ancient monuments and Cairo is well worth a day or two, but no more than that.

I'm assuming that you would want to go during the school summer holidays so I wouldn't recommend Dubai, way too hot for most folks in July/August, and it would be cool in South Island NZ as it's mid-winter down there then. 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

Thanks for that Tim. Was looking either Easter or October school hols next year so I assume it wouldn't be too hot in any of these places then? Current, M135i in Estoril Blue with more extras than the cast of Ben Hur.

535d m-sport Platinum grey and a few extras.... Gone

X5 3.0 sd in Space Grey, 20's, Dynamic Pack, Memory Pack, Media Pack, Tow Pack, Rear DVD, Panoramic Sunroof, Steps, 7 Seat Pack, Reversing Camera with moving lines, programmable park heat, etc etc etc - Gone

Range Rover Sport Santorini, privacy, dvd, towpack GONE!!!

Dubai at Easter would be pleasant, but there isn't an awful lot to see and do when you get there - shopping malls, indoor skiing, lying on the beach...................................... and a desert drive!

Dominican Republic in the Autumn is going to be cheap - it will be very hot and it's peak Tropical Storm Season, there have been 2 bad hurricanes in the region in the last week! But at Easter it will be tail end of the high season.

For a week I would recommend Singapore or Hong Kong, Singapore has everything you could want and a week there is long enough! You can do Dubai for a couple of nights if you wanted to break the flights enroute too. Hong Kong is worth seeing and you can do trips into South China if you want to, BUT HKG is a giant shopping opportunity
and not much else (sorry to upset the Hong Kong forum members!) although there are nice beach resorts away from the city. It's also 14 hours flying away.................... 2020 Pangea Green 1st Edition D240 New Defender 110 is here and loving it
2018 Melting Silver Mini Countryman PHEV - soon to be replaced
2015MY Corris Grey SDv6 HSE Dynamic, the best car I have ever owned, totally reliable only a cou0le of rattles in 3 years, now no longer in my care
Also in my garage is a 1996 TDi300 Defender 90 County HT made into a fake CSW

My favourite place on earth is Thailand, particularly Koh Chang.

And I think you could do Thailand on your budget nicely.

Think maybe Vancouver or Hong Kong.

Would you consider taking my mother in law with you and leaving her somewhere? If you want something different, perhaps somewhere like the Democratic Republic of Congo or Somalia might be interesting. Thank you for being so kind, I will send you her contact details.  Gone - 2008 Stornoway Grey RRS 2.7 TDV6
Gone - 2009 Buckingham Blue RRS 2.7 TDV6
Gone - 2010 Alaska White RRS 5.0 V8 Aspirated
Gone - 2017 Chawton White RRS 5.0 V8 Supercharged
Current - 2010 Java Black RRS 5.0 V8 Aspirated
Current- 2024 RRS P400 SE Dynamic

A Dubai holiday for a 70 year old might not be her cup of tea! I live just outside Dubai and find it difficult to do anything apart from shopping,drinking in expensive bars, skiing, scuba diving and desert driving. Non of which are high on the priority lists of 70 year old ladies I'd imagine.

My mum swears by these OAP boat cruises and does three or four a year. They are good value for money and she gets to meet loads of people in the same age bracket. She's done the Med...which covered Port Syed in Egypt.
The Balkans, etc etc.
She'll only have to pack the suitcase once for the entire two weeks which is much better than the 'hotel & go'road trips.

NZ for sure but again it's along way to go unless she's into Bungy jumping and white water rafting.

If you decide on Dubai and want to go over night camping at the weekend then I'd be more than happy to assist with 4x4 and camping equipment etc.

Good luck and wish her happy birthday from Dubai!

4WD
I can recommend all inclusive at the Jalousie Plantation on St Lucia,I went with my wife and son last year and all being well will be taking everyone including my 82 year old mum early next year for what may be her last big splash.
The great thing about it is that you don't have to walk anywere you just call reception and they send a vehicle around to your villa to take you wherever you want to go on the resort,when you finished you just ask the bar/restaurant/pool to send a car to take you back.
The food is good for the Caribbean,booze is free in the bars but expensive if you order it room service.
Forgot to mention they have a Butler Service on the beach,you get a flag and wave it for free drinks and snacks !!!
Sorry about the gay pose !!!

Click image to enlarge

Admin note: this post has had its images recovered from a money grabbing photo hosting site and reinstated

Not sure about the shorts ...but lovely flip flops!!!

Let me tell you they look much better than me in Speedos  MY2011 HSE Santorini/Ivory/Piano Black/Privacy Glass/TV .Sadly gone.
Audi A5 Sportback Black Edition 3.0 tdi quattro S Line

You could have a fab time in The Lake District on about 10% of that budget. Pure English magic !






PS www.rookerycottages.com  RRS TDv8 HSE Rimini
Disco 4 TDv6 HSE Ipanema
Defender 90, 200tdi CSW

Tim

Some good ideas there that she wants me to investigate further.

Chris

LOVE the shorts but you're probably right about the Speedos.......... Any chance you could PM me any other spare pics you have?? The little eyes lit up at the sea and sky!!

BKHK

For a price, yeah, sure!

MIsery

Any recommendations for a hotel over there??

Smarticus

I had a look but youve no prices posted for 2011 other than Jan so.........

Its great to get all these ideas from folk that have been to these various places. I only trust these glossy brochures so far to be honest.

Any one else got any other ideas??

Got some great stuff to look into so far so keep them coming please.

Cheers

4WD Current, M135i in Estoril Blue with more extras than the cast of Ben Hur.

535d m-sport Platinum grey and a few extras.... Gone

X5 3.0 sd in Space Grey, 20's, Dynamic Pack, Memory Pack, Media Pack, Tow Pack, Rear DVD, Panoramic Sunroof, Steps, 7 Seat Pack, Reversing Camera with moving lines, programmable park heat, etc etc etc - Gone

Range Rover Sport Santorini, privacy, dvd, towpack GONE!!!

THAILAND THAILAND THAILAND

Jonny Fresh wrote:

THAILAND THAILAND THAILAND

Summat you're not telling us that you're so keen to push me there???  Current, M135i in Estoril Blue with more extras than the cast of Ben Hur.

535d m-sport Platinum grey and a few extras.... Gone

X5 3.0 sd in Space Grey, 20's, Dynamic Pack, Memory Pack, Media Pack, Tow Pack, Rear DVD, Panoramic Sunroof, Steps, 7 Seat Pack, Reversing Camera with moving lines, programmable park heat, etc etc etc - Gone

Range Rover Sport Santorini, privacy, dvd, towpack GONE!!!