Ideas for 'alternative' holidays • Non-Gaming • Travel • Eurogamer.net

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:01:28

My GF and I are looking for a holiday this winter that quite specifically doesn't involve lying around in the sun, and would preferably be to a place that wasn't actually very sunny. On another holiday, we went on a bit of a pony trek through some rainforest, and it was quite spectacular, so that's the kind of thing that appeals to us, ie exciting and interesting but you're still basically just sitting on your arse!

If anyone has any ideas of something that is a bit different (but still with the emphasis on relaxation) that would be peachy, as everything I can think of is fairly "Xtreme", and we're not really looking for anything like that.

Spanky 25 Oct 2005 13:04:13 15,037 posts
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A festivus for the rest of us!

You could go to iceland(or is it greenland) and lie about in mud. I'd love to do that.

/dances around aluminium pole

ssuellid 25 Oct 2005 13:04:26 19,142 posts
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Rafting? - excellent fun.

Nudism ?

Ecanem 25 Oct 2005 13:04:29 5,039 posts
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Stay home..

I never liked going anywhere.. all the stuff I like is in my home! =)

Juninho 25 Oct 2005 13:05:57 1,825 posts
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I can heartily recommend Stockton-on-Tees.

Widest high street in Europe.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:06:10

Spanky wrote:
A festivus for the rest of us!

You could go to iceland(or is it greenland) and lie about in mud. I'd love to do that.

/dances around aluminium pole

Scandinavia and the surrounding area was definately the kind of thing I was thinking of. I wonder if any of our Scandi resident have any thoughts?

smoothpete 25 Oct 2005 13:06:27 37,743 posts
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Whalewatching in Ireland? First thing that came into my head

Pike 25 Oct 2005 13:08:02 13,459 posts
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What about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi? Excotic and relaxing. It might be both expensive and fully booked though.

Edit: Stockholm can be very nice in winter, if we get som proper snow. I'll try and think of some other alternatives as well.

Edited by Pike at 13:13:02 25-10-2005

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:08:15

Ecanem wrote:
Stay home..

I never liked going anywhere.. all the stuff I like is in my home! =)

Innit, but the GF has put her foot down

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:09:10

Pike wrote:
What about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi? Excotic and relaxing. It might be both expensive and fully booked though.

Yes, the was the first thing I checked out, but you're right, it's both busy and expensive, very expensive as it goes. That's more of an alternative honeymoon than a holiday really.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:11:38

ssuellid wrote:
Rafting? - excellent fun.

Nudism ?

Rafting itself is kinda on the extreme/active side. Some sort of boating holiday is a nice idea though, again, maybe around the Scandi kind of area.

ssuellid 25 Oct 2005 13:13:06 19,142 posts
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Rafting is not extreme tho - not tourist stuff anyway. I dragged the wife along to go rafting for a day in Turkey - she was very scared but really enjoyed it.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:14:35

ssuellid wrote:
Rafting is not extreme tho - not tourist stuff anyway. I dragged the wife along to go rafting for a day in Turkey - she was very scared but really enjoyed it.

Ah ok, in my head it's all very Deliverence

I'll look into that for sure.

Pike 25 Oct 2005 13:16:23 13,459 posts
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kalel wrote:

Pike wrote:
What about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi? Excotic and relaxing. It might be both expensive and fully booked though.

Yes, the was the first thing I checked out, but you're right, it's both busy and expensive, very expensive as it goes. That's more of an alternative honeymoon than a holiday really.

Yeah I just checked their prices. 200 £ a night for their cheapest bed in a double room is a bit pricey.

However there might be worth it to check for less expensive alternatives for accomodation in nothern Sweden/Norway/Finland that offer a similar experience, with dog-sled tours, ice-fishing etc. etc. The Ice-hotel offer accomodation in normal cottages as an alternative, for instance.

If you go during the wrong time of year and go past the polar circle you will face 24 hours a day of darkenss though. Something to keep in mind when deciding on when and where to go.

Salaman 25 Oct 2005 13:25:05 24,162 posts
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I was going to suggest Iceland. But I see others already have.
Go for it!

glaeken 25 Oct 2005 13:29:14 12,070 posts
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Motor Bike holidays in Indian look fun. There is a company called Blazing trails (google search) that do a 14 day motor bike trip through the Himalayas. Been thinking about doing that one for a while. Obviously one for bikers.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:29:22

Go Snowboarding dude it rocks! Apart from when you break a rib then it fucking kills.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:33:02

Motorbiking sounds ace, but I fear I won't be allowed, and isn't India kinda on the sunny side?

Skiing and boarding are what we usually do this time of year, and if all else fails that is definately what we will fall back on, but we were looking for something a bit different this time.

I'm juct checking out Iceland now, there are some very cool wildlife type expeditions you can do there. I wanna go watch walrus!

mooth-EcToX 25 Oct 2005 13:34:27 3,619 posts
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Edinburgh! We have tons of touristy shit that your GF might like.... Snowboarding and skiing too! And... paintball! And... Laserquest! And me!

glaeken 25 Oct 2005 13:38:00 12,070 posts
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The Himalayas are actually not that hot. On that trip they recommend proper jackets and motor bike gear due to the weather. They do others though in other parts of Indian that could be a little unconfortable due to the heat.

Perhaps another one to consider is paragliding. I know there is one company that offer beginers paragliding courses in Nepal that look epic. Again google this.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:40:39

[$mooth] EcToX wrote:
Edinburgh! We have tons of touristy shit that your GF might like.... Snowboarding and skiing too! And... paintball! And... Laserquest! And me!

Hehe, I suspect my Glasweigan GF might not agree ;-)

Seriously though, she goes walking there with her Dad a lot, but I do like Scotland, but I was thinking something a bit more unusual, no offence

I've just been checking out Viking horse treking across Iceland! I think it might be teh w1n!

Edited by kalel at 13:45:09 25-10-2005

MrWorf 25 Oct 2005 13:41:37 64,187 posts
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Pike wrote:

kalel wrote:

Pike wrote:
What about the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi? Excotic and relaxing. It might be both expensive and fully booked though.

Yes, the was the first thing I checked out, but you're right, it's both busy and expensive, very expensive as it goes. That's more of an alternative honeymoon than a holiday really.

Yeah I just checked their prices. 200 £ a night for their cheapest bed in a double room is a bit pricey.

However there might be worth it to check for less expensive alternatives for accomodation in nothern Sweden/Norway/Finland that offer a similar experience, with dog-sled tours, ice-fishing etc. etc. The Ice-hotel offer accomodation in normal cottages as an alternative, for instance.

If you go during the wrong time of year and go past the polar circle you will face 24 hours a day of darkenss though. Something to keep in mind when deciding on when and where to go.

there's a cheaper one in Canada iirc

Linkage

Edited by Razz at 13:46:01 25-10-2005

mooth-EcToX 25 Oct 2005 13:44:09 3,619 posts
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kalel wrote:

[$mooth] EcToX wrote:
Edinburgh! We have tons of touristy shit that your GF might like.... Snowboarding and skiing too! And... paintball! And... Laserquest! And me!

Hehe, I suspect my Glasweigan GF might not agree

Seriously though, she goes walking there with her Dad a lot, but I do like Scotland, but I was thinking something a bit more unusual, no offence

Edited by kalel at 13:45:09 25-10-2005

Ahh... Well jiro is unusual as you can get!

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:48:03

Six hundred dollars a night is still a little out of my price range Razz ;-)

Cheers for all these suggestions guys. This sounds better than lying in the sun in the Canaries for a week by miles anyway!!

Retroid Moderator 25 Oct 2005 13:49:41 45,464 posts
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Juninho wrote:
I can heartily recommend Stockton-on-Tees.

Widest high street in Europe.

{BLACKADDER}

Those long winter nights must just FLY past...!

{/BLACKADDER}

StarchildHypocrethes 25 Oct 2005 13:50:19 33,974 posts
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As previously said, India doesn't have to be hot. Have a look at this website. I've used them for a couple of events and they're very good. Not sure what pricing is like for individual travellers, but worth checking out.

Alaska is a pretty amazing destination, and not too expensive to get too.

MrWorf 25 Oct 2005 13:50:46 64,187 posts
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kalel wrote:
Six hundred dollars a night is still a little out of my price range Razz

Cheers for all these suggestions guys. This sounds better than lying in the sun in the Canaries for a week by miles anyway!!

Why not come visit me in china. I'll show you a blinding time. Flights are cheap at the moment too.

Deleted user 25 October 2005 13:54:49

Razz wrote:

kalel wrote:
Six hundred dollars a night is still a little out of my price range Razz

Cheers for all these suggestions guys. This sounds better than lying in the sun in the Canaries for a week by miles anyway!!

Why not come visit me in china. I'll show you a blinding time. Flights are cheap at the moment too.

Actually we are planning a trip to the Far East next year anyway. We're going to go to Japan, we may even be moving there for a bit, but a stop off in China could definately be in order! When are you going to be there?

glaeken 25 Oct 2005 13:57:23 12,070 posts
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Found my link the blazing trails for those interested

http://www.jewelholidays.com/jewel-blazing-trails/index.asp

Aslo found the one for Paragliding in Nepal.

http://www.nepal-paragliding.com/

Check out those photo's !!!

Edited by glaeken at 14:03:32 25-10-2005