Package holidays abroad


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In the 60's came the cheap package holidays. Folks could go abroad for the first time ever. I think I was the first in our family to have a passport, when I went to Lloret de Mar with 3 other girls from my office. It was September 1965, I was 18. We booked it through Martin Rooks brochure, it was 2 weeks, all in [with air fare] and cost 18 guineas. The plane was a prop, not a jet.

Where to and when was your first holiday abroad?

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On the last day of our jollies Mrs Red always decides to dump the suntan lotion, think it’s time I fetched her in     

My one and only "package holiday" was back in the 50's when I went with my parents to Paris. There was no East Midlands Airport in those days. The holiday company was "Skyways". We had to make our own

First holiday abroad was in 1982 after an insurance policy matured. We had 2 weeks in Calas de Mallorca at a cost of £600 for my wife, myself and 2 kids, one child half price and the other one free. T

First time I went abroad was with our school - we went to Switzerland around easter time to go skiing. Coach to Dover, ferry to France then train to Switzerland. I think it was in 1964.

The next time I left the U.K., and my first airplane flight, was London (Heathrow) to Johannesburg in February 1976!

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First time abroad on holiday was Scotland in 1976, full of scarey men in skirts and timerous wee beasties, the Haggis shooting season had just began,but, as I recall,my father didn't bag any with the gun (but managed to run a couple of the "little blighters" over on the road to Malaig (the road to the isles))

The nights where long and the cool wind blew right up your Trossacks, and I do recall the Memsahib having trouble coping with the natives drums of an evening (father shot them too) .Does this count LOL

;)

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If it does, my first holiday, that was not Golden Sands, Mablethorpe.

Was in 1970, with 'the lads' @ Ruda Holiday Park, Croyde Bay, Devon.

I remember the view from the top of the double decker, as we rounded the coast

road from Braunton Burrows, to Croyde Bay. The view to me at that time was

the most stunning I had seen.

The first trip abroad would be Orlando Florida - Key West.

Never went back to 'Swollen Glands' after that.

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My first trip abroad was too to Switzerland with school in my last year there, which would be 1962.

My next venture out of the country was to Spain by prop not jet from Maidstone in Kent I believe and that would be about 1967.

Paid for the holiday out of my yearly bonus, which you got at that time, I reckon the ten-day holiday cost £27 full board, it was to Tossa-de-Mar….the food was disgusting but the Sam Miguel’s were very cheap.

Bip.

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My first holiday abroad was also to Lloret de Mar in June 1962. We travelled with Martin Rooks who were then a travel agent for railway employees. We took the boat train to Dover, then the cross travel ferry to Calais, another train to Paris and the over night express sleeper train to the Spanish border. One fantastic experience for an eight year old boy! Aaaah the memories!!

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As a seasoned traveller, I mainly booked flight only and did my own thing,when I met herself.. she had never done this..so I fell in with her regime!!..toddled off to Trent Bridge Travel and booked 14 nights in Side in Turkey.we flew from Manchester.. the old man took us over the cat and fiddle in his new Volvo from Speeds..we were nearly sick..he'd just bought an automatic!! Got to this fancy pub perched like Berchtesgaden to be told lunch was over..I was staring at a dribbling joint of topside!!

Retreated to the car and carried on,refusing my dad's brawn cobs!! We arrived on time but starved. Sat down to plaice and chips..when the fire alarms sounded..Evacuate!! Four hours later they handed me goggles and a leather helmet as we boarded a Dan Air flight to hell!

Drinking warm lager and greasy Pringles..for 4 quid I sat through a dubbed offering of 'Groundhog Day' my worst film ever!!

Anyroad Biggles landed the kite and after being continually hounded to "pleezings hold your cashe" I was relieved of £10 at passport control!!

Miss' Meet n Greet'was Shel from Bury!! After a body count I boarded the "luxury"?? coach.. ( part 2 tomorrer!)

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Only ever went abroad once, 11 August 1984 went to the east coast of USA for three weeks to visit family.

Flew from Heathrow to New York, about eight hours flying time. Plane was a British Airways 747, cost of £363 return.

Met at JFK & then driven for about two hours to Connecticut.

I said to my cousin, isn't it hot here (about 85F) she said, you should have been here last week we had a heatwave !

Arrived in new England & had a fantastic time there, those Americans know how to welcome Brits.

Highlight of the trip was blasting along the coast roads on a Harley !

Came home with a right sun tan & a new perspective on how customers should be treated.

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1957 - train to Southampton, ferry to Guernsey, and plane to Alderney. A De Havilland Dragon Rapide bi-plane, with room for six, which we filled, and a flight time of around 10 minutes at 2000 ft - I'm guessing that bit. First time abroad, and a great memory for an 11 year old, and not repeated until 1972, to Magaluf.

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First time abroad was to Bayonne in France in 1963 serving on HMS Caunton ( village in Nottinghamshire) a Ton class minesweeper crossing the Bay of Biscay was not a pleasant experience these ships would roll on a millpond. While we were there we were taken on a trip to Lourdes courtesy of the French Navy. This was a pleasant and humbling experience

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#Part Two:

So on the way to the digs,the fool driving the Van Hool went into a huge pothole and wedged it solid!!

Out to the rescue came a dolmus.. basically a Commer van with a deck chair possey driven to the floor!

We arrived at Minay Rooms..my god I laughed!!..I was out of tears!!

A prefab room with a shower and flannel.I instantly went over to a shop and purchased a bottle of 'hyper- hyper' strong bleach and cleaned the room,before retiring I sprayed the floor with insect repellant and grabbed some kip. THEN!!..some bloke on a network of tannoys starts chanting!!..I glanced at me watch..4 am!!

An hour later,herself is screaming.." Someone's trying to break in!"

I jump up to notice a 3 inch black ring of creatures on the tiled floor around the bed,where I had sprayed.The noise was loud!!I went out of the (chalet?) to witness the owner on my corrugated iron roof..in boots clambering for vine tomatoes that were growing above..so he could fry them at his greasy expensive fry up!!

Obviously I treated him to a bit of Bulwell and told him " no more".

Other patients in this gaff were getting scolded in the showers..boss kept turning off the cold supply!! Load of free hot..from the panels!! But the cold to the first floor was pump driven!

Anyroad up I got the runs after eating a fish shish, my glasses broke!..cost me 50 sheets and a taxi trip to a Goz Doctor.

I was reading the runners and riders at Catterick on the beach..when herself let out a scream!!

Some half submerged greaseball copped a feel!! I reluctantly put down the paper and gave ' chase' but he was young and fit..and I needed the bog...again!! So due to my bowel failure, all excursions and day trips were cancelled.. went to a Kraut Doctor who was delighted to see a Tommy in a nappy! Fair dues though the stopper he gave me to drink..lasted for a week..after I had got home!! I lived on oludag and tost bread..then relations between Turkey and Germany broke down..we were searched constantly, Stazi troops roamed the beach,and a massage man stood on my back! Best thing was seeing a sign for condoms in a chemist.." Anti Baby"

Return home?..you guessed it.. same movie and Pringles!!

Never was I so much looking forward to returning to work!!

A Stone lighter and a grand down..I decided a package holiday was not for me.

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First package holiday abroad...............Majorja 1970,....4 days,,£40.............wonderful time................mind you it was with a Ladies Darts Team from Arnold...plenty of Doubles and Trebles.....even a Bulls Eye........ :biggrin:...........​the then Wife had to drop out at last minute..........I was gutted.

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Our first trips abroad was the cheap 3 or 4 day package trips, East Mid Airport - Benidorm or Loret de Mar, Friday till Monday 30 odd quid each !

Also a great weekend away with the boys from work, had some humdingers with the PO engineering lads from Nottm and Derby.

Now there's some memories !

Scratching my head but think it was Clarksons that started it all, they used to do camping trips to south of France on a coach but when cheap airfaires started they moved to these quick breaks at super cheap prices, all inclusive.

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Never ever done a package holiday. Done time abroad with the army, and a two week tour of the WW1 battle fields with a mate and the ladies in tow. Apart from that I prefer to holiday in the UK so much wonderful countryside to see and explore.

#7 Ian that would have to be the Cat & Fiddle Inn but I have never heard described as posh before..................

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My first trip abroad was a school trip to Spain and France. Mum and dad were pleased for me to go as we had not had a family holiday for years because my granfather lived with us and he was not well. Had some great laughs on the school trip. First experience of red wine, found I needed 5 spoons of sugar in my coffee as the stuff was just so strong and the trip to the Roquefort cheese factory was fun. The cheese was so expensive but one lad bought some then when we were back at the hotel he tied it onto some string and took it for a walk down the hotel corridor. The manager went mad! The food in Spain was not to my taste, to put it politely! Nice trip to Barcelona to see the sights, but they also took us to a bull fight. No choice. The good bit was when the bull attacked the bull fighter and split his trousers!

When our son was quite young my husband had to go to Holland on company business. They stayed in the Efteling Hotel and he came back saying it was brilliant and right next to a theme park. He was there out of the opening season. He booked a trip for myself and our son. It was great. We flew to Amsterdam, train to Tillburg then taxi to the hotel. It is like a fairytale castle with themed rooms, sweet stations and ice cream stations plus fairytale drama presentations. The theme park is just across the road. We spent 9 hours in there. No big queues for rides and all very pleasant and civilized. 6 times down the rapids and got very wet! The Villa Volta is great. It was better than Alton Towers and my son says it was better than Euro Disney.

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One thing for which I will be eternally grateful; my kids have never shown any interest in Disney. When they were young and younger, the ideal family holiday involved camping. They now take their children camping, and to the same places we took them to - mainly the Llyn peninsula. I now regularly stay in hotels during golf trips, and feel very sorry for the children I see being dragged along. They seem ok though, so maybe it's just me!

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#16 Theme parks are great fun for a treat but I do agree that you cannot beat the great outdoors. We love the lake district. Great walks, picnics and photo opportunities.

You mention golf hotels. My husband stayed in a golf hotel once (he does not play golf). He said there was this guy in the bar one night having a big moan because someone had taken one of his golf balls. He said it even had his name on. The guy was not very amused when my husband asked him if his name was Mr Dunlop! I have my dad's golf clubs, from the 1930s. I am not a golfer at all but they did have a staff golf outing once and I was persuaded to join in. All good fun, playing in pairs at a municipal golf range. I took my dad's clubs to play. A colleague said they belonged in a museum as one had a wooden handle. Also the golf balls I had were smaller than the ones they use now. The colleague told me to put them back in my car and use some of theirs! It was great fun, in the pouring rain with lots of laughs and a meal at the pub after.

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We have been abroad once, on a coach, travelling through the night. No over night stop in France. 8am Friday morning departure from W-ton and 11am Sat morning arrival at Salou. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. We kept winning bottles of wine on the Bingo on the coach, At about 10pm we all crashed out and I was the lucky one who slept through the night.

We had a very enjoyable holiday, but have never been tempted again. I am a scardy cat and wont fly, Hubbs isn't bothered so Scotland, Wales, Ireland and beautiful Cornwall and Devon will keep us happy from now on. :)

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First holiday abroad was in 1982 after an insurance policy matured. We had 2 weeks in Calas de Mallorca at a cost of £600 for my wife, myself and 2 kids, one child half price and the other one free. The package seemed so good I managed to persuade a few other family friends to go and booked the lot for 17 peeps.

The location and setting was superb, a nine storey hotel right on the edge of the clifftop, we were allocated rooms on the 9th which were spacious and everything seemed spot on.

A wander down the corridor to the lifts we came across the emergency fire escape door with the push bar kept closed with a bent nail. It's a good job they had thought of slowing the process down a bit, the other side of this 9th floor emergency door was nothing. They hadn't got round to fitting the steps. The lifts were unusual with no inner lining just the bare wall of a shaft and the electric sockets in the bathroom were sited just above the wash basin so if the tap was turned on too quickly there was a bit of crackling from the socket. After all this 17 went out and 17 came back and we had a fantastic time, a couple of letters to the tour company and I managed to get a couple of hundred £s back which was wisely invested in a New Year bash for all at the Commodore.

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My one and only "package holiday" was back in the 50's when I went with my parents to Paris. There was no East Midlands Airport in those days. The holiday company was "Skyways". We had to make our own way to London and get a bus from Victoria coach station to Lympne airfield in Kent. This was a grass airstrip and the aircraft was an ex wartime Dakota. It was a strange experience climbing the aircraft steps and walking downhill to ones seat - the aircraft being a "taildragger". It flew at around 10,000 feet so it was bumpy all the way. It landed in Beauvais, some way north of Paris so we were taken in another coach which delivered us to our seedy hotel. Paris was an eye opener for a teenager. We had an evening trip around the night clubs finishing at the Moulin Rouge. Travelling across France in the 50's revealed a lot of war damaged buildings. I even saw General Eisenhower and General De Gaulle at a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe. I've returned many times - the most memorable being when a friend and I hired a light aircraft from East Midlands and took ourselves there just after we had both learned to fly. Now that was scary!

Phil

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Not a 'package holiday' but first time abroad was in 1963 and a school ski trip to Lillehammer, Norway. Train from Vic Station to Newcastle, 36 hours on a Fred Olsen ferry to Oslo, train to Lillehammer. We stayed in a Youth Hostel and all us girls fell in love with Klaus, our ski instructor.

Second trip was a long weekend to Paris in 1968 with a friend and some 'grown-ups'. Travel by train and ferry. We did all the touristy places, spent an evening in a Jazz Club eating stuffed vine leaves (something different for an Arnold girl) and got up very early to go see Les Halles Market.

My first 'package holiday' turned into 2 separate trips to Majorca in 1969. A friend and I had booked a 2 week holiday costing £36 at the end of May. Then a couple I used to babysit for asked me if I'd accompany the wife on a water-ski holiday with a group of Nottingham folk about 3 weeks before this booked holiday. Because they had a baby they'd started taking separate holidays ...... not good! The husband paid for me to go and I was to be sharing a room with the wife. This holiday was £40 for 10 days. Well, long story short, I hardly saw her, I don't remember her sleeping in our room at all, she and one of the guys in our party were carrying on! A few months later the couple split up. Not my fault!! I paid the husband back too, bit by bit, fiver at a time!

I returned home and had just enough time to wash my undies and I was off to Majorca again, this time for a proper girlie holiday. It didn't start too well because I lost my passport in the house the night before we were travelling. Somehow it got scooped up with a pile of Forest programmes and put away in a cupboard, I was going frantic, the house was turned upside down and great relief when the passport was found.

Something I've just thought about regarding overseas travel in the 60s, there were foreign currency restrictions, I'm pretty sure we were only allowed to take £50 of foreign currency out of the UK, and that was per person per year. One of the guys on the water-ski holiday asked me to take some money over for him. I remember hiding it inside my false eyelash container, LOL

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The 2 week package holiday to a Spanish Costa didn't even cost £50 and that was several weeks wages for me in those days but if you wanted to go to a more expensive country, such as Switzerland, you might have needed £50 worth to spend.

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