The Hottest Expat Holiday Destinations

If you haven’t booked a holiday yet, wait, says Sedlmajerová. The best time to do so may be late August and early September. “In late August or early September holidays can be far more pleasant because the brunt of tourists has slightly faded, children have returned to school and at the beach and pool there is more space and greater peace of mind.” 

Where are expats headed to this year? I asked a few of you to share your summer vacation plans. If you haven’t yet planned your trip, perhaps you’ll get some inspiration from their answers.

Dawn Kubiček, a stylist at the popular English-language salon Headcz, is fulfilling a long-time dream this summer by heading to the beautiful Cinque Terre on Italy’s west coast. She discovered it in her early twenties back in the U.S. and always dreamed of going, but wasn’t able to get there until this year. Kubiček says of her trip “[It will be] a solo exploration”. She’ll be staying in the fourth of the five villages, Vernazza, in a cozy B&B on the beach. To plan her trip, which she did just weeks in advance, Kubiček began with CrowdSauce.cz. (“I just started to ask other expats…”) and then found her B&B on Tripadvisor. She ended up “[Booking] it the old fashion way” by picking up a phone and calling the owner who was able to meet her accommodation needs. Flying via Prague to Milan on Czech Airlines, she’ll then take a three-and-a-half hour train ride to Sestri Levante and then onto Vernazza where she will “Hike, learn about wine and pesto – it’s the region where pesto comes from – and get some healthy sea air.”

Like many expats, one of the destinations on Laus Sorensen’s summer vacation itinerary is his home country. Hailing from Denmark, Sorensen will travel there by car. “If the weather permits, will enjoy the beautiful beaches and wonderful nature near my brother’s house in the western part of Jutland,” Sorensen says. 

Sorensen also plans to spend a long weekend in Budapest where he’ll stay in a holiday apartment in the city’s fifth district. His plans include “Some sightseeing, some fine dining and some partying during the evening.” His appreciation for old cities is what often brought him to Prague when he was still living in Denmark. “Now I live in Prague, so I get my ‘fix’ of city breaks by visiting Budapest.”

In the fall he’ll head to Thailand, which he visited for the first time last year upon friend’s recommendations. “I found Bangkok exceptionally exciting and easy at the same time – and Phuket was just so friendly and relaxing that I have to go back.” He’ll fly via Emirates airlines and stay in an apartment in Bangkok and a small boutique hotel in Phuket. “Club One Seven, which is the friendliest accommodation I’ve experienced.”

Fernando Davila, a long time Praguer who hails from Peru and is the founder and director of Evocreative, headed to Croatia for the first time at the beginning of June  with his wife Saša and their one year old. “We have been to Greece many times, but never Croatia so it was nice to compare the two.” Their incentive was a friend’s wedding, but they extended the trip “we were there for about a week” dividing their time between the island of Vis and Split where the wedding took place. “We loved Vis. It’s probably the nicest little island we have been to.” says Davila. “It’s small and pretty much undamaged by tourism. People are friendly and laid back.” 

They found the accommodation through booking.com and in general planned their trip through friend’s recommendations and online research. Making the long journey by car, Davila says next time they’d travel via plane. “[Driving] had certain advantages, but I wouldn’t do it again,” says Davila. In July Davila will head to the Alps with some friends for a week of hiking and camping.

Like Davila, Allan Scott Schoenherr’s upcoming trip to Spain and Portugal was initiated by a friend’s wedding. “A friend of mine from the UK is getting married in Spain, close to Pontevedra, and as my girlfriend has never been to Portugal we decided to take this chance.” The two will fly into Lisbon, using TAP airlines, and then travel throughout the country and then into Spain for the wedding where, following the celebration, they will travel up the north coast of Spain to Bilbao where they will visit the Guggenheim.

Schoenherr works in the travel industry for a U.S-based online travel agency so he used some of his work resources to search for flights but booked them through a UK online agency. Of their planned activities Schoenherr says, “We will visit Sintra [Portugal] for some hiking, eat some good local foods, tour the old centers of the cities, [and] find a quiet beach.” The two also have a couple of weekend trips to Germany planned. They booked their train travel directly through Cesky Drahy and their hotels online through booking.com. They’ll head to Berlin to see the David Bowie exhibition and to Dresden for a Neil Young concert.