Santorini is a long way from Crete!! Travel arrangements were as follows:- (Organised via Spirdon Tourist Services with Candia) We got up at 5.30am, coach was supposed to pick us up at 6.30am but was 1/2hr late! We had to stop in Bali (Yes - Bali!!) to wait 10mins for some other people to be dropped off by minibus and then arrived in Heraklion about 8.30am. Picked up our tickets and boarded the FastCat4 catamaran. It left at 9.30am and we got to Santorini at about 11.30am. Half hour drive or so to Oia, where we avoided having lunch at the Guides recommended restaurant, and had an hour and a half to explore Oia. Lovely picturesque village clinging to the hillside with its iconic blue domes (earthquake-proof) and many churches ).Then ½ drive back to the ... read more

We stayed at the Cambridge Hotel in Horley the night before we flew as our flight was at 8.15am. The flight was delayed by 2 hours as the windscreen wipers on the plane were broken and as it was drizzly rain in Gatwick, they couldn’t see to take off!! So after taxing down to the runway for take-off – we then had to taxi back to the stand where the little problem was fixed! We then had to wait for more fuel (due to all the taxing around!!) before waiting for another slot for take-off!! Anyway, he made up time flying and we arrived in Crete about 3.00pm. An hour and a half transfer to Rethymnon and onto our Hotel Astali in the town. The hotel is run by a very friendly Mother with her two ... read more

We had a good deal to Budapest, that included flights, 3 nights at Hotel Gold, 48hr hop on hop off bus (Big Bus Tours 7000 HUF per adult) that also included a 2hr boat trip on the Danube and an hours night bus tour. We weren’t expecting too much but were pleasantly surprised! We had arranged transfers through the Hotel Gold (8500 HUF or 30 euros) who were duly at the airport with a board and a 30 minute taxi drive, took us over the Elizabeth bridge onto the Buda side of the river and to our hotel at the top of the hill! It was quite a luxurious (for us!!) lovely room, double sized shower, flat screen tv sunk into the wall – all very pleasant – even the Italian restaurant underneath did superb food! ... read more

This looked quite a flat island in comparison to a lot of the other islands we had visited, but is well renowned for its sea life, so we disembarked the ship and went to Spice Beach (us$ 2.50) Arrived early enough to get a sun bed and an umbrella and Chris hired the snorkel gear (US$10) and for me a huge yellow float with a viewing place for your head! (US$15.00 for ½ hr) It was totally amazing! You only had to walk out a few feet and then there was a shelf which is where most of the fish swam up and down, The half hour went quite quickly just watching the fish – so many shapes. colours and sizes! At lunchtime we took a taxi (US$20) to Lac Bai passing the salt flats in ... read more

Another day, another island! Quite a lot of islands actually as Tortola belongs to the British Virgin islands! Fifty or so islands, most with weird names such as Salt, Norman, Jost Van Dyke, Guana, Fallen Jerusalem, Dead Chest, Virgin Gorda......I could go on!! Local belief is that when Christopher Columbus discovered the islands in 1493, he named them after the 11,000 virgins of the 4thCentury martyr, St Ursula! This was our first experience of a Tender to reach land, so we had to wait until all the P & O trip passengers had disembarked before we could get ashore. Reached Tortola by about 10.00am and boarded an open sided trolley for a tour of the island, followed by the beach! We ended up with the ‘Friendliest Driver’ whose vehicle was pretty clapped out and as there ... read more