Summer holidays 2020

[craig1912]

El stovey said:

Nice to see U.K. operators taking off this morning and easyJet, Tui, jet2 etc all heading off to the canaries, France, Balearics and mainland Spain etc Greece all starting up in a few days too.

Summer holidays 2020 are officially happening.

My eldest son went to Spain on Tuesday (villa near Marbella) no issues whatsoever other than a need to wear a mask in a taxi.

[croyde]

Got an email yesterday from TUI cancelling our Greek holiday in Sept. No explanation but offered free amendment or refund.

A quick look on their site showed that all their Thursday departures to Kefalonia have been dropped but still flying Tuesday so it'll be the same apartments but two days earlier.

Hope work approves me changing my dates......yet again.

Did a story yesterday on Gatwick, it was empty. Only North Terminal was operating and holiday makers saying how easy it was but no bars or restaurants open.

They hope to be running just under half their usual flights by the end of August which would explain the TUI cancellations.

[NDA]

There is a story in the paper today that people are turning up to hotels to find that they are closed - despite the websites saying they're open. Spain and Mallorca in particular.

[Robertj21a]

NDA said:

There is a story in the paper today that people are turning up to hotels to find that they are closed - despite the websites saying they're open. Spain and Mallorca in particular.

I thought it was well known that many hotels in Spain had said that there was little point in opening up until next year.

[ClaphamGT3]

Popped into our local town this morning. Market going like a train, bars and cafes full, no social distancing, few masks, French friends and acquaintances looking askance if not greeted with a handshake or kiss on both cheeks. Everyone saying they just want to get things back to normal

[Shy Torque]

vaud said:

Shy Torque said:

Rocamadour is around half an hour from Souillac and worth a look.

It's a bit touristy

Saint-Cirq-Lapopie is another option, a bit quieter.

I agree VD, St Cirq’ is nice - but twice as far. The one thing I have found touristy and overrated in the region is the Gouffre de Padirac (caves).

[vaud]

Shy Torque said:

I agree VD, St Cirq’ is nice - but twice as far. The one thing I have found touristy and overrated in the region is the Gouffre de Padirac (caves).

Agreed... I can't wait, should be in the region next Saturday for 2 weeks

[Shy Torque]

vaud said:

Shy Torque said:

I agree VD, St Cirq’ is nice - but twice as far. The one thing I have found touristy and overrated in the region is the Gouffre de Padirac (caves).

Agreed... I can't wait, should be in the region next Saturday for 2 weeks

Lucky you! I’m very jealous - we should be there too, but had to give up the time to all the people who had booked weddings and stays at our property (near Figeac), but had to postpone due Covid.

Looks like it’ll be September now ☹️

[Samcat]

Has anyone here tried filling in the Spanish Health Form online yet?

The form seems to be aimed towards air travel, not ferries.

Brittany Ferries does not appear as a recognised Airline (not surprising!) and you cannot progress the form without selecting one, so I've plumbed for British Airways instead, and put the flight number down as 'FERRY'

As we only transiting Spain, heading for SW France, I have put Santander as the place we are going.

Let's see how we get on.

[fridaypassion]

we are looking at booking a late notice james villa or similar. Abta job. Will leave it as late as poss but hope to get somewhere....

[Vergis]

Got back from Malago, Puerto Banus, Estepona last week. Brilliant. At least 50% busy which is just perfect not too busy. Everyone enjoying thermselves and being outside in the sun is the best.

Ignore the Daily Express or Daily Mail stories that it is empty. Or that you get fined £500 for not having an immigration form on arrival. They give you there if you dont have.

Totally recommend to Spain and enjoy. Dont write off Summer in fear. Enjoy it. Winter will be here soon and with that goodness knows what.

[anonymous-user]

Vergis said:

Got back from Malago, Puerto Banus, Estepona last week. Brilliant. At least 50% busy which is just perfect not too busy. Everyone enjoying thermselves and being outside in the sun is the best.

Ignore the Daily Express or Daily Mail stories that it is empty. Or that you get fined £500 for not having an immigration form on arrival. They give you there if you dont have.

Totally recommend to Spain and enjoy. Dont write off Summer in fear. Enjoy it. Winter will be here soon and with that goodness knows what.

Spain and the Balearics are pretty popular at the moment

Check out all the flights returning to Germany after the first arrivals this morning into Mahon, palma and Ibiza



Loads of jet2 and Tui easyJet etc arriving from the U.K. also.

Seem that it’s mainly the U.K. that likes all these scare stories trying to put people off doing anything.

[ClaphamGT3]

El stovey said:

Spain and the Balearics are pretty popular at the moment

Check out all the flights returning to Germany after the first arrivals this morning into Mahon, palma and Ibiza



Loads of jet2 and Tui easyJet etc arriving from the U.K. also.

Seem that it’s mainly the U.K. that likes all these scare stories trying to put people off doing anything.

Good to see. Plenty of tourists arriving here in the Dordogne but largely Dutch, Germans, Belgians and French domestic tourists. British still relatively thin on the ground.

There are a few virus hotspots emerging - Brittany is the biggest - and the Govt are due to tighten up mask legislation from tomorrow. Still no reason not to come here though

[anonymous-user]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Good to see. Plenty of tourists arriving here in the Dordogne but largely Dutch, Germans, Belgians and French domestic tourists. British still relatively thin on the ground.

There are a few virus hotspots emerging - Brittany is the biggest - and the Govt are due to tighten up mask legislation from tomorrow. Still no reason not to come here though

European tourism all started up before the U.K. as we still had the quarantine and higher infections etc.

Plus our media is hot on spreading fear more than others I think.

[craig1912]

Vergis said:

Got back from Malago, Puerto Banus, Estepona last week. Brilliant. At least 50% busy which is just perfect not too busy. Everyone enjoying thermselves and being outside in the sun is the best.

Ignore the Daily Express or Daily Mail stories that it is empty. Or that you get fined £500 for not having an immigration form on arrival. They give you there if you dont have.

Totally recommend to Spain and enjoy. Dont write off Summer in fear. Enjoy it. Winter will be here soon and with that goodness knows what.

My son was there last week and said no issues at all, restaurants and bars were welcoming, mask in the taxi and as you say they just completed a form when they landed

[vaud]

French shops being strict on masks already though it is undermined by the kissing on each cheek.

Still I’d rather be here in the Lot valley and stay by the pool than back in the UK.

36c today and the pool is 22. And the rose is very cold.

[croyde]

Arrived in Cornwall yesterday. Easy drive from London leaving Friday after work and stopping in Exeter.

This beach is great, been here before but it's nice and quiet. Ok it's not hot though.

Did think it was a bad idea to go the day the schools broke up but then it's all changed. Usually the papers are full of the traffic chaos, queues to get into services, motorways at a standstill.

We just had a bit of a queue on the A30 due to a caravan shredding it's tyre, and the last couple of miles stuck behind a tractor that was having big problems getting up hills.



Porthtowan beach, yesterday afternoon.

ETA they have whacked up the car park charges since my last visit 2 years ago, but still no paying by phone so having to hunt for change. Not used actual cash in 3 months.

Edited by croyde on Sunday 19th July 10:41

[Shnozz]

Vergis said:

Got back from Malago, Puerto Banus, Estepona last week. Brilliant. At least 50% busy which is just perfect not too busy. Everyone enjoying thermselves and being outside in the sun is the best.

Ignore the Daily Express or Daily Mail stories that it is empty. Or that you get fined £500 for not having an immigration form on arrival. They give you there if you dont have.

Totally recommend to Spain and enjoy. Dont write off Summer in fear. Enjoy it. Winter will be here soon and with that goodness knows what.

We got back to my house in Spain 3rd July and it’s been fantastic although just yesterday our region has upped the mask position so it’s now compulsory in any public place. Off to the beach now for some morning after the night before food and a beer.

Usually only here for a week or two at a time. However, given both myself and partner are wfh until February at least we have no plans to return to the U.K. until at least then.

[kiethton]

Currently sat by the pool in Croatia - drove here via France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenia - only issue was the Croatian border - we hadn’t filled out a form - they let us in on the promise we did so.

Hotel in Pula is at 40% capacity, mainly Germans/Austrians, head down to Hvar in a few days. Only issue is masks in public places ex. Restaurants/bars/clubs

[whatleytom]

Just got back from 10 nights in France, drove essentially an anti-clockwise lap and ended up doing just over 2,500 miles. Champagne, La Rochelle, Bordeaux, Provence, Cote d'Azur then back home via route Napoleon and Beaune before Calais again. A superb trip, and one I'd love to have had more time in nearly all of the areas we visited. Have to say most things very normal really, not many things I could see that were shut, most restaurants either very spaced out indoors, or seating everyone outdoors. Masks in a lot of shops, but down to the preference of the shop keeper, and handwash everywhere. Specifically booked smaller boutique type hotels to keep things easier, but stayed in a few larger hotels towards the end.