2000s Holidays: Top Destinations And Travel Trends

Book it yourself online, fly for a fiver, and go for a weekend.

Below: where people went in the 2000s, how the holiday actually worked, what changed during the decade, and the details anyone who was there will remember.

Useful for a reminiscence session, a themed party, or working out what someone's holidays looked like when they were young.

Years covered in the 2000s

• 2000 - The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000
• 2001 - Foot-and-mouth, 11 September and the first iPod. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2001
• 2002 - The Golden Jubilee, the death of the Queen Mother and Pop Idol fever. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2002
• 2003 - Iraq, a record-breaking heatwave and England winning the Rugby World Cup. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2003
• 2004 - Strictly and The X Factor both started, and the year ended with the tsunami. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2004
• 2005 - The Olympic bid, the 7 July bombings and the Ashes coming home. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2005
• 2006 - Arctic Monkeys, the Wii and another World Cup penalty shoot-out. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2006
• 2007 - The iPhone, the smoking ban, the floods and the run on Northern Rock. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2007
• 2008 - The banking crash, a brilliant Olympics and Lewis Hamilton on the last corner. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2008
• 2009 - Recession, MPs' expenses and a Christmas number one campaign that worked. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2009
• That is every 2000s year we have written up so far: 2000 to 2009.

Where people went in the 2000s

• Prague, Riga, Krakow and Tallinn for stag and hen weekends after budget routes opened up.
• Dubai, where long-haul luxury became something ordinary people booked.
• Turkey, Egypt and the Red Sea for all-inclusive sun at a low price.
• New York for shopping weekends while the pound was strong against the dollar.
• Cornwall and the Lake District as the staycation took hold after 2008.
• Croatia, newly on the map for British holidaymakers.
• Bulgaria for cheap skiing, and Slovenia and Slovakia close behind.
• Spain and Greece still carrying the traditional summer fortnight.

How the holiday worked

• Booking direct online - flight from one site, hotel from another, transfers from a third.
• TripAdvisor, launched in 2000, changed how hotels were chosen and how badly they could behave.
• Budget airline hand-luggage rules, and the 100ml liquid limit brought in during 2006.
• The euro in cash from 2002 made prices across Europe directly comparable.
• Check-in online and print your own boarding pass, or pay at the desk.
• Package holidays sold alongside dynamic packaging, where you built the trip yourself.

Travel trends of the 2000s

• City breaks several times a year rather than one big holiday.
• Airbnb arriving in 2008 and slowly changing where people stayed.
• Cruising growing fast, especially with older travellers and multi-generation groups.
• The word staycation entering common use after the 2008 crash.
• Ryanair and easyJet routes deciding which European cities British people visited.
• Travel agents closing on high streets as booking moved online.

What people remember

• Printing your own boarding pass and hoping the printer had ink.
• Digital cameras and hundreds of photos nobody ever looked at again.
• Queueing at five in the morning for a seven o'clock flight from a regional airport.
• Roaming charges that ruined the month after the holiday.
• A sat nav suckered to the windscreen of the hire car.
• Weighing the suitcase on the bathroom scales the night before.

Iconic trips of the 2000s

• A 99p Ryanair flight to somewhere nobody had heard of, booked on dial-up.
• City breaks to Prague, Krakow, Riga and Barcelona, two nights and hand luggage.
• Round-the-world tickets and the year out, tracked by internet cafe emails.
• Cruising going mainstream, with ships the size of small towns.
• The volcanic ash cloud in April 2010 - the trip that ended the decade for a lot of people.

How to use this

• Reminiscence: ask where they went, who drove and what went wrong - the disasters get the best stories.
• Quiz round: read a destination and ask for the decade.
• Themed party: put the 2000s playlist on and pin up a few old postcards.
• Present: a print of the place they honeymooned beats a generic card.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Old holiday photos are the best prompt for a reminiscence session - better than any list.
• Ask about the journey, not the destination; that is where the stories are.
• Dates matter: check when someone actually went, not when the destination was fashionable.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2000
• Look back to 2001
• Look back to 2002
• Look back to 2003
• Look back to 2004
• Look back to 2005
• Look back to 2006
• Look back to 2007
• Look back to 2008
• Look back to 2009
• 2000s history: events, politics and culture
• 2000s calendar: year by year
• 2000s music: songs, genres and trends
• 2000s films and directors
• 2000s books, films and TV
• 2000s books: novels and authors
• 2000s art: artists and styles
• 2000s fashion: styles, designers and trends
• 2000s food: dishes, restaurants and trends
• 2000s technology: gadgets and computers
• 2000s shopping guide: what to buy
• 2000s games: board, card and video
• 2000s trivia: fun facts
• 2000s quiz: questions and answers
• 2000s party playlist
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 2000s
• The decade before: the 1990s
• The decade after: the 2010s
• All decade guides in one place
• Card messages by occasion: every guide in one place
• Card hub: cards, badges and messages by occasion
• Decade history by era
• Decade calendars: every year from 1920
• Decade music: songs, genres and trends
• Decade films: best movies and directors
• Decade books: novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade art: artists, styles and trends
• Decade fashion: styles, designers and trends
• Decade food: dishes, restaurants and eating trends
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays
• Decade technology: gadgets and computers
• Decade shopping guides
• Decade games: board, card and video games by era
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Decade quizzes: questions and answers by era
• Decade trivia game: play for points
• Decade quiz: test your memory
• Shop art prints and posters
• Shop greetings cards
• Shop birthday cards
• Shop funny cards
• Milestone birthday cards
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Retro party supplies
• 00s quiz questions
• Dial-up, MSN and MySpace
• Adverts we can still recite
• Decade music round questions
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Guess the year quiz
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

Where did people go on holiday in the 2000s?

Prague, Riga, Krakow and Tallinn for stag and hen weekends after budget routes opened up. The full list above covers the main destinations of the decade, at home and abroad.

How did people book holidays in the 2000s?

Booking direct online - flight from one site, hotel from another, transfers from a third. The rest of the practical detail - money, transport and paid leave - is in the section above.

What were the big travel trends of the 2000s?

City breaks several times a year rather than one big holiday. The trends section above lists what changed across the decade.

What were the iconic trips of the 2000s?

A 99p Ryanair flight to somewhere nobody had heard of, booked on dial-up. The iconic trips section above lists the journeys of the decade, with dates.

Do you sell holidays?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read, print and copy for a quiz or a care-home session.