Hi All

As you know I went on holiday for a fortnight to portugal, it wasnt as planned though, we were originally going to Menorca, this was our first overseas trip as a family (kids aged 17 16 14 12) and we asked for a holiday where there would be plenty for the kis to do, so our travel againt suggested a place called cala n bosch on the coast of menorca, all sounded ideal and I paid up.
However a few days before going away we were informed that a building site had somehow popped up next to our villa and that it was full of heavy equipment and very noisy, so with our choices of cancelling (yeah right) or taking Portugal as an alternative we took Portugal.

And here's where it went wrong, you see we originally booked a place with plenty for the kids to do, instead we got an apartment in a place that was 3 miles or so from any kind of town centre, all they had was 2 pools that were freezing cold and unuseable (except for kids why is it they never care if the pool is cold enough to have penguins in it) a tennis court in a bad state of repair, oh and they charged 7.50 euros an hour for it, 1 pool table at 1 euro a go, a supermarket that charged more than a 24 hour garage and a snack bar with prices that matched the shop.

Needless to say with a 6 people taxi's into the local town were expensive as were the buses (when you could find 1 that you could understand), and the taxi's had their own price structure, not sure about anywhere else but in the Uk you pay a set price usually, in Portugal each driver had his own idea about what he charges, it ranged from 3.95 euros to 7 euros for the same trip.

On our first week we shared the hotel complex with a bunch of golfers, it was funny one night in the bar when at least 15 old men came in all drank wine all finished at the same time and trooped out to go play golf.

The entertainment was crap on Monday we had this woman who thought (wrongly) she was arethra frnaklin, Tuesday and Thursday we had Kareoke which was Ok as I sang for the first time, wednesday we had an old dude playing an organ and saturday was a parrot show, well it wasnt a show as such it lasted about 10 minutes, the 2 guys spent the rest of the evening taking pictures with people and a parrot for which a charge of..... 10 euros,,, was charged...oh well we had it done as we had sod all us else to spend money on.

On the plus side though the beach was nice and the Atlantic Ocean was clear and reasonably warm and we found a nice bar about 15 minutes from the hotel.

To be honest we would have had more fun having a week in Rhyl Wales and it would have cost less as well....

I know people look forward to their holidays as did I but when it goes wrong all you want to do is go home.

Did we complain, oh yes and they offered to move us to a livelier place.... if we paid an additional 700 euros, like I could afford that.

Oh well im back now with some happy memories but mainly just glad to be back and a little wiser about going abroad.

Regards

Would you go back again at this time of year? Did you benefit from the lack o crowds? Did you save money?
Rhyl Wales is not everybody's choice for a good time in April.

Hi Ray

Crowds werent an issue, there was bugger all to queue for, I didnt save money as I had to pay for things for the kids to do, as for the time of year if theres sod all to do in april it aint gonna be any different in june or july.

Rhyl isnt everybodies choice I know, but I have holdayed there for many years and always had things for the kids to do.

Regards

At least it wasn't a donkey show.

I am sorry to hear you had a horrible vacation. Hopefully, by this time next year you will remember some of the good times you and your family shared together.

It is really scary to plan a 'big' trip with kids to a previously unvisited locale. We are planning for a big trip this summer to Southern California, and even though my wife and I have been there many times, I keep worrying about itineraries, things for the kids to do, etc. We also have a bit of a unique problem with a 15-year-old daughter and a 5-year-old son who will obviously have quite different views on the various attractions. The only reassuring aspect is that there are a ton of amusement parks and when all else fails, some great beaches. But your story brought up all of my fears again. Sorry that the vacation was a bust...

lol....well surely a parrot show is not similiar to a donkey show?!?