What makes the perfect holiday? A glossy travel company might tell you it’s five-star facilities, personalised service and a Michelin-starred banquet every night.
For most of us though, the most memorable holidays are a delicate balance of lots of things – and often it’s definitely not about how much your getaway has cost.
If you’re with the right group of family or friends, then a £15-a-night camping trip can be heaven on earth. Childhood holidays stay etched in our memories, possibly glorified by nostalgia, in a way that many trips in adulthood don’t.
Likewise with coming-of-age travel, taking on a big adventure in a foreign destination can be truly transformative.
We’d love to hear about your ‘best holiday ever’. Here, we asked Daily Mail writers and those who work in the travel industry to recall their favourite trips and tell us why they meant so much…
A seaside grand dame
Recent reviews of The Grand in Scarborough have been less than glowing – but Marti Stelling visited in the property’s erstwhile heyday
My most memorable holiday was when we stayed in one of the iconic Victorian turrets of the Grand Hotel in Scarborough around 2011, when I was ten. They once housed original water towers and are set high above the historic building on Saint Nicholas Cliff.
I used to love getting the little tram up the hill to the hotel and the huge round windows, offering panoramic views of the South Bay promenade. While I’ve stayed at much ‘posher’ hotels since, I still remember it as one of my favourite – and most memorable – holidays.
Marti Stelling, Health Writer
A real-life Who Do You Think You Are? in snowy Latvia
Erin Waks took her grandmother Marlene (known as ‘Moen’) on a journey of discovery to trace her family roots in Riga, Latvia earlier this year
Erin and Moen went on the trail of finding out more about Vera Trembatzki, Erin’s great-grandmother, who grew up in Riga
No trip could come close to the adventure I took with my granny in January of this year to Latvia.
Spurred on by a DNA test confirming my ancestral roots hail from this part of the world, I convinced my 80-year-old grandmother to embark on an adventure back in time, tracing our family back more than 100 years across the Baltic state.
In line with the rising trend of heritage travel, we attempted to learn more about where our ancestors came from.
My family, of Jewish eastern European origins, fled to South Africa before the Second World War, largely evading the Nazis.
Family memories were at best hazy for her, and photographic evidence and information anecdotal at best, so attempting to find even a whiff of our ancestors was a real challenge.
But we managed to find the apartment in which her mother, my great-grandmother, grew up, as well as a cemetery with the graves of her predecessors.
The most off-beat trip of my life, yes – a far cry from the beach and city break holidays I usually favour – but my granny and I both agreed the opportunity for us to travel alone together would never arise again. That, coupled with the intense significance of the trip, means it is the one I will never forget.
Erin Waks, Travel Writer
Read the full account of Erin’s trip here
No menu, no matter in Crete
Greece is the word: A childhood trip to Greece proved truly memorable for Poppy Atkinson-Gibson
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The best holiday I ever went on was in the summer of 2008 – my first holiday abroad. We went to Crete to visit my grandad, who’d recently moved out there. I remember the intense heat hitting as we disembarked the plane and the spectacular coastal views as we drove to his house.
In the mountains, we tasted fresh honey and I remember eating at a small taverna where no English was spoken but it didn’t matter.
Instead of a menu, we were beckoned into a kitchen and shown the various pots bubbling away. Water was handed to us in a jug, filled up from a fresh spring running down the side of the road.
In the shade of a terrace, hundreds of feet above sea level, I felt such a sense of adventure as we feasted on what was delivered to our table… amazing gigantes beans in tomato sauce, lamb chops, green beans and great dollops of tzatziki and bread.
Poppy Atkinson-Gibson, Features Writer
Sign me up for the Crocodile Club
Pontin’s forever: The holiday brand rivalled Butlin’s in the 1980s…with its Crocodile Club a funhouse for young tourists
I remember vividly the moment one of the Bluecoats (Pontin’s answer to Butlin’s Redcoats) uttered the words to the 50 or so children sat on the dancefloor before him: ‘And for the last prize of the day, the first person to hand me anything white gets a t-shirt.’
In slow motion, I glanced down at my feet, ripped the white plastic sandal from my foot and lobbed it forwards with all the force of an Olympic shot putter. It hit him on the shoulder and I walked away with the prize.
Clearly in my Hi-de-Hi era, a week at this, sadly long gone, Pontins South Devon Holiday Camp in Paignton, was bliss.
It was the late 80s, I was about seven, and I spent the week as an enthusiastic member of the Crocodile Club kids’ club, lapping up everything from badminton tournaments to disco dancing competitions. I ate Devon fudge at breakfast too.
Thrillingly for my dad, ex World Snooker champion Ray Reardon, who I’d never heard of and who famously looked like Dracula, even made an appearance, showing off trick shots.
There’s been holidays of every kind since, almost all of them more expensive and adventurous, but for a week’s out-and-out holiday joy, that one’s still hard to top.
Jo Tweedy, Travel Writer
‘Ice caps the size of cathedrals’: A spontaneous trip to the frozen north
A photo taken by Daily Mail producer Emily Cooper during a trip to Arctic archipelago Svalbard
Deafening silence of nature: Emily describes Svalbard as ‘the most unique holiday destination I have ever been to’
Having studied geography at university, I was well acquainted with Svalbard – the world’s northernmost settlement and home to the Global Seed Vault – but I had never considered going on holiday there.
When my partner and I were planning a holiday to Norway, we soon realised that flights from Oslo to Longyearbyen were relatively cheap so, at the last minute, we changed our itinerary to include Svalbard – and it ended up being the most extraordinary place we have ever been.
Svalbard itself is small and worth only a few hours of exploration, with the highlight being the free-roaming reindeer that graze on whatever grass they can find. But it’s what lies just beyond the town limits that made this trip so spectacular – although you are cautioned not to wander far without a firearm in case you run into a polar bear.
To venture beyond Svalbard safely, we opted for dogsledding. After meeting the huskies at the kennel, we were immediately told to take the reins (literally).
Driving the dogs was easy and we only had to travel for five minutes before we lost all signs of human influence. We were surrounded entirely by mountains and snow. It was beautiful and so, so quiet.
We also went on a speed boat tour to see some nearby glaciers. I may have been freezing and my lips may have turned blue but it was worth it to see the true magnitude of the rugged landscape that surrounds Svalbard. Think ice caps the size of cathedrals.
Svalbard is without doubt the most unique holiday destination I have ever been to and therefore the most memorable. Need I mention that it is also the only inhabited place on Earth where you can see the Northern Lights 24 hours a day?
Emily Cooper, Producer
Malaysia’s delicious menu had us hooked
Malaysian reunion: Genie Harrison and boyfriend Will pictured on holiday in Malaysia three years ago
In 2023, I travelled from Tokyo, where I was living at the time, to meet my boyfriend in Malaysia.
We spent ten days exploring this beautiful melting pot country, travelling from the lively capital Kuala Lumpur, to the island of Langkawi and the country’s food capital, Penang.
Given its diverse population – you’ll meet people in Malaysia with Chinese, Singaporean, Indian and indigenous heritage – there are no shortages of cuisines to try here, and I loved trying oyster omelettes, flaky Roti Canai, even the notoriously smelly durian fruit in the night markets.
Coming from Japan, where folks tend to keep to themselves, I was also amazed by how friendly everyone we met was, keen to tell us about the best hikes to do, or the top restaurants to visit.
Bar a rather close encounter with some – shall we say overfriendly – monkeys, it’s a holiday I’ve since found difficult to beat.
Genie Harrison, Travel Writer
The Canary Isle trip that gave a new perspective on Travel
Dad-ventures in the Canary Islands: Ben with his son Theo enjoying the beaches of Lanzarote
I loved the jungles of Borneo and Oahu’s North Shore surf towns in Hawaii, but they were not my best-ever holiday. That was a week in Lanzarote.
I know, I know – how could a dry, volcanic Canary Island possibly compete? Yet away from the busy resorts and familiar tourist trails, it is surprisingly easy to slip gently off the map without travelling very far from home.
We – me, my wife and our then 18-month-old son – rented a villa on the island’s southern coast, close to broad stretches of pale sand but far enough away that, if we wanted, we could spend much of the day seeing only a handful of people.
Slow mornings began with pan con tomate, days were spent doing little under a brilliant blue sky, and evenings slipped by with the help of Spanish wine. The private pool became the centre of our day, and I watched our son transform from tentative in the shallows to a remarkable water baby.
For once, there was nowhere else I wanted to be.
Ben Parker, Acting Travel Editor
Falling in love with Colombia
Jessica during her three-week trip around Colombia
After visiting Colombia for the first time in my mid-twenties, I’ve yearned to go back.
It’s a country that has everything – tropical landscapes, a fascinating history and some of the kindest and most hospitable people I’ve ever met.
In the three weeks I spent there, my travel pal and I visited the UNESCO World Heritage site of Cartagena, hiked through Tayrona National Park (where we had a near-miss with a crocodile), and soaked up the culture in Medellín and Bogotá.
We’d been warned by other travellers that Colombian food leaves much to be desired but we embraced the meat and carb-heavy cuisine (fuel for the hiking).
We also made friends with a girl from Bogotá who took us around the city, showed us the nightlife and invited us for Sunday lunch with her father and sister, at a restaurant full of locals with not a tourist in sight.
It was impossible not to fall in love with Colombia after being welcomed so warmly by its people. I hope I manage to visit again one day.
Jessica Taylor, Commercial Partners Editor
An unforgettable family holiday in Iceland
Karla with one of Iceland’s many beautiful waterfalls, Seljalandsfoss
Iceland was the gift that wouldn’t stop giving. In June 2023, my family and I arrived in Reykjavík, but decided to save the capital for the final days of our 12-day road trip. After picking up our rental car, we made our way down the southern coast and stopped in the fishing town of Grindavík.
As it was our first proper opportunity to stretch our legs, we had a little wander around. However, the town seemed almost entirely abandoned, giving it an apocalyptic feel. It made us all question what kind of holiday we had booked by choosing to explore some of the lesser-known areas of the country.
We then headed east to our Airbnb, which sat between Selfoss and Hella along the southern coast, and once again found ourselves surrounded by what looked like the middle of nowhere.
The Nordic-style wooden cabin was the perfect base for chasing waterfalls and spectacular hilltop views, including Skógafoss and the famous Svartifoss in the Vatnajökull National Park.
After a few days, we got back on the road and made our way to Borgarnes, crossing paths with the capital once again, but this time continuing north along the western coastal roads overlooking the North Atlantic.
One of the best parts of the trip was our day trip to the beautiful National Park at the western tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula. There, we got to see the infamous stratovolcano Snæfellsjökull from Jules Verne’s 1864 novel Journey To The Centre Of The Earth.
There are only a handful of things that could top that experience, which made returning to Reykjavík bittersweet. For our final two days in Iceland, we toured the city and took in sights such as Hallgrímskirkja church and the Perlan museum.
But something we hadn’t expected at all was to wake up on the morning of our flight back to Manchester on July 10 to a news notification on our phones: the Fagradalsfjall volcano had erupted. If only that had meant we had to stay for an extra couple of days.
Karla Hallett, Weekend Magazine Sub-Editor and TV Previews
Cruising for the first time
First-timer cruiser: Alesia on board Tui’s Marella Voyager ready to explore six destinations
Cruising around the Mediterranean and exploring six different destinations in one week has to be my favourite-ever holiday.
Earlier this summer I went on a week-long cruise on Tui’s Marella Voyager with my fiancé, and finished the break off with two relaxing nights in a hotel afterwards.
I managed to tick off bucket-list spots like the Acropolis in Athens and had the best time.
One of my favourite stops was Santorini where we started the day trekking up 600 steps from the port all the way to Fira before then hopping on a bus to Oia – another bucket-list destination for myself.
We took photographs with blue domes and white-washed buildings, and even had time to fuel up on some classic Greek souvlaki before returning to the ship.
It was my first time on a cruise and before the trip I was sceptical whether there would be much for younger cruisers like myself to do on board.
Fortunately I was not disappointed and found this type of holiday can appeal to all ages. In between the ports we made the most of the cruise ship’s endless food offerings, entertainment and spent plenty of time in the whirlpools – there wasn’t a moment of boredom.
Of course, we also got involved with lots of bingo and quizzes – though we didn’t manage to win!
Alesia Fiddler, Travel Writer
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