yanumpty

We are trying to book two weeks for July next year. It is shocking !

BA are trying to make up the lost revenue for the strikes and volcano. Trans-Atlantic seems to have no value for money. We want to go somewhere new.

Corsica : seems shockingly expensive at e4000 for a shed on the beach. Anywhere which is vaguely reasonable has been booked since block booked since 1975.

Southern Italy : saw enough in Sicily to doubt whether we would enjoy it.

Which leaves Albania or Gozo as areas we haven't explored in Southern Europe. If we leave Albania until it enters the industrial revolution.

What does anyone know about Gozo/ Malta ?

Being Scottish many seem to look down their snotty noses at it. Not sure why.

Is it due to its British culture?

yorkshire

While I found Gozo quite pleasant, two weeks is too long for Malta.
Have you been to Croatia? Don't expect "cheap," but you really get a lot of bang for your buck.
Other than a rubbish problem, I have not heard anything that bad about Albania.

hetismij

Why not try Northern Europe in July - Scandanavia can have brilliant weather then. Or the Baltic states. Iceland even. Poland - vast unexplored country. Stunning looking and high on my wish list .
Or Slovenia, another country with stunning scenery it seems.

Almost anywhere would be better than two weeks on a tiny rock in the Med.

yanumpty

yorkshire

Yes, have been to Croatia a couple of times. We loved it then but at that time were without a 5 year old sand castle builder. Most of Croatia has fairly poor beaches.

Wiliam basically wants a beach 10 hours a day. We want : clean town with good, historic architecture, reasonable rentals (up to £2000 a week with pool), hot weather, decent food, no idiotic driving.

yorkshire

People say Sardinia has the best beaches--even beyond the Med.

yanumpty

"Scandanavia can have brilliant weather"

Is a good idea. We are aware that Britain soaks up most of the rain which leaves the high pressure for Sweden. Also love Wallander.

However, due to the soaking we get day in, day out I think want somewhere that is going to be effortlessly above 30oC.
I remember eating dinner out in the garden once about 12 years ago at home. Something we dream about!

yorkshire

hetismij might be on to something though--I recall an article I read about German and Polish beaches years ago, lovely white sands. You may have to endure the cold water and German nudists though, haha.
What about Turkey?
european beaches:
http://www.timeout.com/travel/featur...s-best-beaches
german beaches
http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/beaches.html

yanumpty

Yorkshire

I know, we have been 5 times but always in June/September. It is absolutely beautiful but the prices again are silly later in the season. It's not the money it's just the value. I just object to paying a huge amount for average rentals juts because they have a rental season that lasts 3 months.

The Southern States/ Caribbean have much better quality for far less becuase they have longer seasons. However, due to our last epic journey we said we were having a rest for a while.

yanumpty

Yorkshire

Scary, the only ones I haven't been to are the ones on Gozo and in Germany, Poland, Corsica.

Chia I agree with, Myrtos is all hype but was the hotest place I have ever experienced. The car stuck to the tarmac.

Back to Gozo : what's the food theme? Why does it have that certain reputation. Is is beacuse of its Brit culture and is looked down on by the Uffizi crowd?

yorkshire

I guess with everyone speaking English, Malta does not feel like much of a departure. There are some dismal places on Malta, but Gozo was fine. That beach was nice, but not deserving of a best of list. Malta/Gozo has some nice scenery, and I quite liked hiking and seeing the neolithic ruins. I was pleasantly surprised by the food because I was not suspecting much. You could get grilled fish, and there are some rather exclusive traditional places I neglected to get reservations for. But as well traveled as you are, I say keep searching on Corsica because it HAS to be more impressive. It is on my list!

yanumpty

Yorkshire

It's just such bloody hard work and to be honest I can't be bothered. I have spent TWO days plodding around websites and all I can come up with on Corsica are either lovely, reasonable but booked villas/farmhouses or weekend retreats for the Beckhams at E8,000 a week or E1,500 a week dog kennels. I don't play football and don't bark.

I have spent 7 minutes looking at Gozo and there seems to be piles of Moorish farmhouses with pools and availability for £750 to £1500. They look like the Mallorca farmhouses we love but if I go to Mallorca once more, they will give me the keys to Palma town.

Basically, very bored of Mallorca.

yanumpty

I also sent 10 requests to owners in Corsica 2 days ago and have received (only) one extortionate demand back. Is it a French thing?

I have sent one request tonight to a Gozo farmhouse and received a lovely response in 5 minutes.

yanumpty

"Almost anywhere would be better than two weeks on a tiny rock in the Med"

hetismij

Those are words from someone that HAS seen the sun during the past 6 months!

Got a telescope for my birthday last week (sign of creeping middle age), the instructions warned against using it to view the sun. I nearly phoned Celestron in Torrance, CA to ask if they were taking the ****.

yorkshire

I understand, as fall looms for me and I miss the sun already. And in that case, allow me to recommend Club Gozo. I rented an apartment in Xlendi bay, but they have farm houses as well. They were very kind and even picked up my husband's suitcase from the helipad when it missed our flight.
http://www.clubgozo.com.mt/

adrienne

There are few sand beaches on Malta - they're in the northern part of the island. Gozo is greener and there are fewer people/less traffic than Malta so it would be a better place in the summer. The food is just OK; I've had better food in most other European countries. We had lunch one day at the Ta'Cenc Hotel on Gozo and that was about the best meal of the trip. The hotel looked very nice and it has a beach.
http://www.tacenchotel.com/


Malta and Gozo will be very hot in July; there are few trees to offer shade and not much greenery. I would not go to Malta/Gozo for the food - it was great for the churches and ruins/temples and the history - a very interesting place.

hetismij

Not seen any more sun here in the Netherlands than you have in Scotland. But the thought of two weeks stuck on Gozo is so awful I would happily go without the sun rather than face that.
There is a reason all those places are available...