When it comes to schedules, deadlines and itineraries, I like to plan. My wife tells me my overperformance in this area is balanced only by my lack of attention to domestic duties. So when I was asked to review a new concept holiday that chooses where you’ll be spending your vay-kay – country, accommodation and all – I knew it would be a challenge.
SurpriseTrips is for adventurous, laid-back types who want to swap the hassle of hours of online research for the thrill of the unknown. To book a trip with them all you need do is visit the website, enter your holiday dates, party number, upper spending limit and personal details and, hey presto, your surprise European destination will be generated by a holiday bot. The British company promises not to send you to any city in the UK (yes, you have to fly from the UK, and you need a UK, IE, CA, AUS, NZ, EU or US passport), or to Paris or Barcelona – everyone’s been there already, apparently. You’re also able to manually enter up to three destinations you don’t want to visit.