Choosing Where to Go on Holiday

Choosing Where to Go on Holiday
By: Mark Pepperdine

Choosing a holiday destination is one of those tricky decisions where anything you pick will be good, but you really want to really maximise your enjoyment. The good news is that looking around at sunny beaches and tourist locations is hardly a chore and is on the other hand quite a fun experience in itself. In fact window shopping for holidays can help you imagine yourself in a variety of locations and allow you to forget the pressures of your day-to-day grind for a while. It might also give you a few ideas for future holidays - where you want to go next year and the year after. Every destination you look at will seem like an amazing experience and you're likely to want to go on all of them. So just how do you decide?
Well first things first - first you need to choose the country you want to go to. This will depend on several factors and likely tie into other elements of your holiday. You need to consider the type of holiday you want - do you want to go somewhere cold? Somewhere hot? Are you interesting in tourism, adventure, partying or relaxation? If you're looking for a holiday with lots of nights out and hopefully the chance for some romance for example then you might like the sounds of somewhere like Tenerife, or somewhere like Zante. However if you're a bit older and feel you're more suited to looking at the sites and history then you might want something like Rome or Prague. Bear in mind that not every holiday has to be boiling hot - what about somewhere like Lapland - it's different and original and incredibly scenic. You could stay in a log cabin with a hot tub and eat Reindeer. Or if you're more into backpacking how about somewhere even more unusual and less geared for tourism that few people will have considered? If you have children and this is more of a family holiday you should consider some of the more touristy places on the other hand, and somewhere like Florida will give your children lots to do. If you like to keep your holidays simple on the other hand you could even stay in your own country and save yourself a lot of time and money in the process.

Once you know the type of holiday you're after this will greatly help to narrow down the counties you want to go to. How you pick the precise one then will depend on a few more factors. Firstly, how long are you going for? How long are you willing to travel? And how much money do you have? For example if you want one of the aforementioned party holidays you might pick Tenerife over Zante just for the amount of money you'd save. You also need to consider how much luxury you're looking for - for example if you are the backpacking type and are happy to slum it in a hostel then you can afford to go somewhere more exotic than if you were only going to settle for a five star hotel. If you're going purely for luxury, of if it's a special occasion such as a honeymoon, then you might want somewhere like Dubai which features some of the classier hotels in the world. This will also be affected by the number of people going, and if you have children in tow you need to cater for the extra expense they represent.

One great way to choose from the countries that provide the right kind of holiday then is to set a budget before you choose then spread this across the location, travel and hotel. Pick the nicest one you can afford and make sacrifices only where you're willing to. By sticking to your budget you will be able to select more rationally when presented with endless options.
If you get a tie then look at the specifics. Is the hotel near the things you want to visit? What does the destination look like? Can you afford airport transfer and all the other little bits (don't forget to factor these in)? You can even head onto Google Maps and have a look at your Hotel using 'Street View' to get a real feel for the area and to explore some of the nearby sites. If you're torn between Rome and Prague why not check out the Coliseum on Street View? (yes you can do that…)
Of course if you're a risk taker and enjoy a bit of adventure you could always just pick one at random...

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