Where Do Brits Holiday? | Easy English 131

There aren't hidden gems in Vancouver, anymore.

Unfortunately, they're all exposed.

When you... when you're from the UK,

it's... it's a bit too much of a change, I think.

The village...

the closest village is just amazing.

It falls off the hill and you look at it and you think;

how on earth did anybody decide to build that?

Unfortunately, we landed on the beach today,

because the wind dropped a little bit and we lost height.

And that's the way it goes.

Clouds of mosquitoes so...

you've got to choose your place in those countries.

Every cloud has a silver lining, though, right?

Exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

Hiya, welcome to a new episode of Easy English.

So as the summer is coming to an end

and kids are about to go back to school,

I wanted to know where Brits go on holiday.

So where else better to go than down on the beach,

where I also asked them for their recommendations for you guys,

about great destinations to visit inside the UK.

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Here we go.

Whereabouts have you been on holiday this year?

The only place we've been this year

is around the south of England.

We'll be going up to London.

We will be going to Germany.

And we'll be hitting Paris on the way through,

because we're taking the Eurostar.

What else?

And I went for a week in Koroni; Greece,

to go see another friend.

Well, I guess I count this as a holiday.

I'm currently in Rottingdean, with my girlfriend.

And, just staying at my parent's flat

and just come here for a weekend

to get away from the rush of London.

- Okay.

I also went to Greece a couple of weeks ago.

- Nice.

And, went in the sea.

- Yeah.

- Which is kind of scary, I guess.

What holidays have you been on so far?

Well, this year.

- Yeah.

- None.

Terrible, this year.

But personally, I like to go to the Alps,

I like to go skiing.

And we don't have really big enough mountains

in this country to do that.

You can ski in Scotland.

- Right.

But, to ski in Scotland is a big, big gamble, for the weather

and the snow, because it's a bit hit and miss.

So, I like to go to Val Thorens, in France;

fabulous place, highest ski resort in Europe.

And almost guarantees good conditions.

What, the summer holidays?

- Yeah.

What have we done in the summer holidays?

So...

- We've been swimming.

- Yeah.

We've been to Knockhatch.

- Yeah.

- What's a Knockhatch?

Knockhatch is an adventure park, isn't it?

Yeah, we went there for your birthday, didn't we?

- Yeah.

Yeah, it was your first day last week - Oh yeah?

With like, rides and stuff like that and animals?

- Yeah.

And we've been to the beach a lot, haven't we?

- Yeah.

Where have you been on holiday this year?

I've been to Italy.

I have a house in Italy, which is just across the border from France.

So, 40 minutes from Monaco, an hour from Nice.

I haven't had any holidays this year,

because I've been busy,

maintaining my little bungalow in Peacehaven.

And, although my niece keeps trying to persuade me

to go to South Wales where she lives,

I'm...

I just haven't got round to it.

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Now back to the episode.

Now, I just caught you paragliding...

- Yes.

- a minute ago.

And is there a certain place you'd like to like...

dream destination to go paragliding?

Well, there's many nice places around the world.

Colombia has some great places, Brazil has awesome places.

But closer to us, here in England,

the French Alps are an amazing playground,

a huge, vast area of mountains,

that lend themselves very well to paragliding.

Here we are on Brighton seafront

and we're just soaring the little cliffs that are over there,

the tiny little cliffs.

- Yeah.

That's small fry for you, is it?

Very, very small.

It's a bit of fun.

But unfortunately, we landed on the beach today,

because the wind dropped a little bit and we lost height.

and that's the way it goes.

It's all part and parcel of er...

Yeah, it's the first time actually

in the many times I've flown it,

it's the first time I've landed on the beach, yeah.

At least the tide was a bit out, ey?

Oh yeah, I wouldn't do it in... at high tide.

That... that is foolish.

And do you often holiday in the UK?

I think since the pandemic,

I think a lot of people, holiday a lot more in the UK

rather than travelling,

'cos travelling is a bit harder to do.

- Okay.

It's also a bit more expensive and it's worse for the planet,

so it's much better to be travelling around the UK, I think.

Well if er... the UK was off the menu,

where would you be going on holiday?

Well, the last time I went abroad was...

I dunno...

um... longer ago than when you were born, I would think.

Oh really?

I'm thought you were going to mention about COVID,

but it's...

- No, no, no.

- Pre-me!

Pre-COVID and pre-me.

- Yep, absolutely.

Well, I mean, I did in the 1960s.

I did live for three months in Florence, in Italy.

And that was absolutely beautiful.

If someone was thinking about coming to the UK for their holidays,

where would you suggest?

It can be obvious, or it can be a hidden gem.

London.

- Well, here really, 'cos of the beaches.

- Yeah.

Brighton.

- Yeah, Brighton, Rottingdean area.

- Yeah.

Yeah, definitely.

- You've got... you've got the seaside,

you've got the countryside within a short distance.

People are friendly down here.

And, if you want to go to London,

then, it's only an hour on the train.

- Perfect.

A place called Pulborough.

- Pulborough.

It's now part of the South Downs Park.

So again, it's not as hidden as it was a few years ago.

Traffic on the rivers and on the trails

has increased significantly the last few years.

Perhaps COVID contributed to that too,

because people are getting outside by staying local,

but also by travelling.

So, it er...

yeah, I wouldn't call it a hidden gem,

it was much more hidden before,

but it's a lovely part of England.

- Yeah.

South Devon, without any doubt.

It's the most beautiful place.

Why is that?

- Why is it beautiful?

Yeah, why did you find it beautiful?

Well, just... just the natural scenery.

The light is very special.

I mean, the light here is pretty good,

but the light in south-west England is absolutely beautiful.

For... 'cos I'm a photographer

and the light for photography is... is quite beautiful.

You get some magic hours, do you?

Some good magic hours?

Oh yeah, especially as the... the autumn comes in.

Northumberland.

The Northumberland coast is fabulous,

as long as you don't want to swim.

Why is that?

- It's cold.

No, no...

no, I mean, why is it so fantastic?

You've got these amazingly long beaches

with castles at the back of them.

- Right.

You've got places where you've got puffins.

Well, at the moment you've got puffins,

until they all die I suppose.

They got bird flu up there.

- Ah yeah.

You got... and it's quite...

not a lot of people holiday there.

- Yeah.

So, it's north of Newcastle.

- Yeah.

And, then there's... you...

you haven't really got anything very big,

until you get up to Edinburgh.

So you've got this long coastline, most of which,

is long, sandy beaches.

And then you've got a whole string of castles;

Warkworth, Bamburgh.

And, you'll know them from films.

Well personally, I love Dorset.

The Jurassic Coast is a fab... fantastic place.

It is popular, but there are some lovely little nooks and crannies

in... along the coast there, somewhere like Dancing Ledge;

not many people know about it,

but it's a fabulous plateau of rock

and someone's built a swimming pool in the plateau of rock,

that you have to walk down to.

It's not close to any car parks or any pubs

or restaurants or anything like that.

So you've got to walk to it.

But it's amazing, a fabulous place.

So the Dorset coast.

- I think you just exposed a hidden gem.

I know, yeah.

It's great, though.

Anyone who comes to England, there's so many nice places.

The Gower Peninsula, South West Wales;

amazing, beautiful, spectacular scenery.

Rhossili Bay; a great place to fly as well.

It's a huge bay with a massive, great hill,

rising up at the back of the beach, it's fabulous.

- Wow.

Thanks for watching this week's episode.

Let us know any good tips or recommendations you have

for holidaying in the UK in the comments below.

And we'll see you next week, te-ra.

What was your favourite ride at this place?

The train.

The train?

The runaway Train?

Was it scary?