Holidays, sightseeing

My favourite part of the year is summer holiday. My friends and I already start to plan during Easter. We like to go to a foreign country, where we prefer sports activities and lying on the beach. We like swimming, cycling, jogging and in-line skating. This summer we plan to visit Italy and spent there a great time!

We also make a lot of new friends on our vacations. Most people think that a vacation just means lying on the beach, watching TV, reading or sleeping. You can do all that at home, why not do something different on your vacation?

When people go on holiday they stay in various places, some go to hotels, others rent an apartment or villa, some prefer sleeping in a tent at a campsite.

Hotels in Britain are graded with stars from one-star to five-star (five-star hotels are the best and most expensive). You can also stay in a Bed & Breakfast (B&B) where you pay for a bedroom, possibly an ensuite and breakfast.

Many people spend their holiday in seaside resorts where they can spend most of their time on the beach. Some people enjoy swimming, others love sunbathing. If you like sunbathing, you should use suntan lotion to help you get a tan and protect your skin. If you don't have any protection, you may get sunburn, which is painful and can be dangerous. And if you want total protection you should use sunblock, or sit under a beach umbrella. Swimming can also be dangerous if there are rocks under the water or if the sea is rough, e. g. with big waves.

People who live in large towns often like to get away at weekends or in the summer, and enjoy the peace and quiet of the country. Some people just like to put their feet up and occasionally go for a stroll; while others enjoy hiking across hills and valleys. And the countryside is a great place to have a picnic.

You may do a bit of sightseeing on holiday, or you may do a lot of sightseeing, but you will probably go to a museum or art gallery, and see or visit temple, castle, cathedral, market, statue, palace, fountain, etc. Many people go on a sightseeing tour of a town, they can also go on a tour of the castle, the art gallery, etc. When you are sightseeing, it helps to buy a guidebook and a map of the town you are in.

Nowadays, the most popular way to travel to nearby countries is by car or train. You can drive fast and comfortably, without long hours of waiting. The infrastructure has improved a lot lately. Many new roads, motorways and railroads have been built and it helps us to move faster.

However, especially during the summer holiday there are far too many cars on the roads, and it is easy to get stuck in traffic jams. Not everyone drivers as carefully as they should, which makes driving a less safe way of travelling, and it also pollutes.

If you are travelling long distance, you can go by aeroplane, which is the fastest way to travel. Before you are ready to take off you have to purchase a ticket and pass through the luggage and passport control. Sometimes the flight is dealyed due to bad weather conditions, under such occasions you have to stay in the waiting zone. Once aboard, you usually get good service by the flight attendants, you might get free drinks, meals, and newspapers. They usually show a film or you can listen to some music.

Another way to spend a holiday could be on a cruise. You can cruise on anything from the size of a small sail ship, a yacht, or a river barge to a large cruise liner almost the size of the Titanic. However this way of travelling is very expensive, unless you are able to get a job onboard.

A lot of young people choose to hitchhike. All year round you see young people by the shoulder of the highways, or by the petrol stations, signalling for a lift. It is the cheapest way to travel, and it can also be a great adventure; however it is important always to be careful when you get into the car of a stranger.

Three hundred years ago, the fastest way of travelling was on a horse. Today, we send rockets to far away planets. This new age with its need of speed has its disadvantages too. The world is more and more polluted and many people are dying in their fast cars.