Win the Loveliest Weekend in Paris to celebrate Jenny Colgan’s new novel

Mine and my husbands first and only holiday 5years ago was in Devon for a long weekend. I was 4months pregnant and spent the entire time being sick day and night or fainting from the heat. He also couldn’t drive so I had to drive the whole 3 hours there and back stopping to be sick! Hahaha still laugh about the day he took me on a boat even with sea sickness AND morning/noon/night pregnancy sickness. Not a good time!

Victoria stone // March 11, 2013 2:04 pm

The car broke down on way to seaside so we never made it.

Brian McEwan // March 11, 2013 2:05 pm

My daughter had just turned 1 when i took her away for the weekend. the hotel was like faulty towers, i was told I would need to clean the travel cot the provided, there was mould growing up the walls. half the plug sockets didn’t work. at breakfast each morning the toaster set itself on fire. after the first morning we just started putting it out ourselves as there was never anyone about to help. There was a party downstairs the second night, the windows in my room were rattling the noise was so loud. Other guests complained to the staff that people were sitting on their cars in the private car park to be told ‘phone the police then’. it was horrendous from start to finish!!! how we managed 3 nights there i will never know!

Emma Malkin // March 11, 2013 2:13 pm

My worst weekend has to be when I went to Leeds with my husband and kids to see my sister. My little boy threw up in the car (not a good start – it stank for the remaining 2 hours of the journey). When we arrived the kids refused to go to sleep (even though it was gone 9.30 and they were both under 3). The next day my brother in law pranged our newish car with his when reversing off the driveway. Terrible weekend.

Michelle Best // March 11, 2013 2:17 pm

It would be wonderful to visit Paris, the most romantic city in the world!

Mike Terry // March 11, 2013 2:35 pm

Went to Blackpool years ago the hotel was horrible room was smelly beds very uncomfortable room freezing cold food was disgusting omg it was certainly like Fawalty Towers then i was ill with sickness & diarrhea. The toilet was disgusting thought I had seaweed in the toilet pan as thats what it looked like totally worst holiday ever it was a dirty place felt very unclean in it even put the lamp on and the bulb blew up the tap was dripping all night the place was to noisey especially nextdoors headboard banging of the wall if you know what a mean think they thought they were atthe pleasure beach haha worst holiday ever

Jackie Charles // March 11, 2013 2:39 pm

My worst weekend happened about 8 years ago,a few weeks before myself and my now fiance got together.

Himself and one of our other friends had just recently broken up with their girlfriends and it was also my birthday week.So Myself,my fiance+4 of ours friends decided to go stay in our friends mobile home for the weekend just to have some fun and chill out.
Now at the time myself+my now fiance really liked each other but were un sure if we wanted to start anything up because of our friendship.But that weekend we had both been planning seperatley to make our move!
That was untill our very silly friends decided to invite my fiances ex along aswell!Still to this day we have no idea why but it was mainly because he felt sorry for her cause she had heard we were all going and she thought his were her friends too!
So we had to do a 2 hour journey to our friends mobile home,in a very small nissan micra with me,my fiance and his ex squashed in the back seat!!Awkward.
Then when we were on our break,she kept trying to talk to him the whole time to try convinve him to take her back,or crying to our other friends about him.And never left us alone either,she had obviously sensed something between us!
We were out in a pub one of the nights and she wouldnt leave him alone and he ended up walking out+no one knew where he went.We all had to spend our whole night trying to search for him then.
The next day we had to do the same journey home squashed in the micra,with a claustrophobic me in the middle of them!When we got back he told her to leave him alone+stop hounding him and they wernt getting back together.

And a few weeks later we had our first kiss finally and have been together ever since!

Jennifer Cassidy // March 11, 2013 2:41 pm

We got married in 1997, Yep a long time ago. Anyway we couldn’t afford a honeymoon so my mum paid for us to stay in a B&B in Stratford Upon Avon for a couple of nights, Lovely but we had to take our 4 yr old son with us. So not only did we have our son in our room (eek!) but he proceeded to be ill all weekend and even worse all over a posh restaurant table, cue us apologising and trying to wipe up sick which was dripping through our hands on to the floor! The smell was horrendous and the looks we got were even worse! We made a hasty retreat to our B&B where we stayed until we left. lol not bad but memorable and does make us chuckle even now.
We still haven’t has a ‘honeymoon’ or a wk end without a child even now!

Lorna Hyden // March 11, 2013 2:57 pm

I once went on a long weekend away with my mum, dad and younger sister to Devon. We were staying in a tiny little cottage by the sea, with the expectation that we would be spending all of our time out doors taking walks by the beach and around the countryside, indulging in scone after scone. Unfortunately, as tends to be the case when you opt for a ‘staycation,’ the weather was absolutely foul the whole time, tipping it down with rain and verging on tropical storm. What made it worse, my younger sister, of 4 years old at the time, came down with chicken pox that quickly spread to both my mum and dad. In the end I was forced to wander the shops for 2 days on my own, trying to avoid the pox-ridden cottage at all costs! not quite the relaxing few days away that we expected…

Chloe Young // March 11, 2013 3:29 pm

My worst weekend ever was a weekend in London. We started the journey very early in the morning as I was driving down. When we arrived, it took us 2 hours walking around to find our hotel. When inside the hotel we discovered that it was in the middle of a refurb. We were down London to help out at a restaurant our friend run, and the rest of the weekend me and my partner were going to do some site-seeing. We drove to the part of London where the restaurant was, eventually found a parking space (this driving was extended as we were trying not to hit the london road charge). Worked our shift, and then later attempted to find the car. Eventually found it, got in reversed and my tyre popped which ended up in me bumping the car into a post. So we spent an hour trying to change a tyre. My partner doesn’t drive so neither of us had a clue. Eventually we managed it. Spent another hour trying to find our hotel again. We were tired and had a lot planned the next day so we decided to just pick up a pizza takeaway and eat out the next night. We found one, got back to the hotel, got half way through and realised the pizza base was mouldy. Ergh. Then we got woke up at 6am the next morning to builders banging and painting outside our room. We could not wait to finish our stay in London!

Kelly Littlewood // March 11, 2013 3:35 pm

My worst weekend was part of a bigger trip. I was travelling through Nicaragua when our minibus got stuck outside a village that had been blocked off because they were having a political protest. We thout we might be there for an hour or 2 but after EIGHT hours and a Nicaraguan pot noodle later we finally got moving and started the final 4 hours of the trip. When we finally arrived at our hostel it was very ‘rustic’ and truly tested my fear of spiders!!

Deirdre // March 11, 2013 3:39 pm

On a recent break in this country, my daughter came out in nasty looking spots – turned out to be chicken pox, poor little thing. We spent the whole week confined to our cottage!

Sally // March 11, 2013 3:45 pm

A weekend break high up in the Yorkshire Dales in the middle of winter. We intended going shopping soon after arrival, but the snow started too soon and it blocked us in. We had very little food with us, but it wasn’t all bad, because we had a plentiful supply of chocolate to keep us happy!

Louise English // March 11, 2013 3:50 pm

When it poured with rain all weekend and my family and I were waiting around for hours for my father to finish his fun run. It was too wet and cold to do anything

Fiona // March 11, 2013 3:53 pm

My worst weekend was on a holiday to Corfu.

In one day, we’d written off two cars in accidents, one motorbike, plus my passport was stolen!!

One of the cars went off the road and down the side of a cliff!!

Never again!! My nickname now is Jonah, for some odd reason!!

Pete Savage // March 11, 2013 3:54 pm

In the summer I started a new job, as I had just finish college and I needed to something to occupy my time. During this time I was infected with whooping cough, it was horrible, but I didn’t take any days off work because I didn’t feel it prevent me from working. This weekend was my mangers leaving party and we went out to a bar for drinks (I didn’t drink as I though it may make my cough worse). So the time had come for the speeches, where we say how much were going to miss our mangers and how nice it was to have them. It was my turn, and I could barely get a word out with my coughing at full impact, then next thing I know, I was coughing so hard that I vomiting all over the table. I was so humiliated and till this day they laugh about about it at work.

Shanice Pownall // March 11, 2013 4:01 pm

Back in October my neighbour flooded my flat very badly affecting 3 rooms. I decided to go to the gym that night to calm down – on the way my car alternator expired, I had a 2 hr wait for breakdown, I had to complain about the breakdown guy who didn’t know what he was doing and I ended up with 1k of repairs and other work needed. That weekend, while out looking for a light to replace my damaged/flooded one, I went on the train as my car was stuck in the garage for a week – and someone stole my Oyster card. Seriously all happened within one weekend!!! It’s not a holiday story weekend as I’ve not been able to have a holiday in a few years as everything else keeps going wrong and costing me money!!!

Oh and I have never been to Paris.

Karen Smith // March 11, 2013 4:15 pm

My worst weekend has to be the one we spent driving hours through blizzard conditions to get to the hotel. Due to a flat tyre along the way we were very cold and wet. Once we got to the hotel we found that the window was open in our room and the radiator was off so it was freezing. Half an hour later we were still waiting for the rad to warm up so I could have a hot bath and defrost. Called maintenance to be told there must be something wrong with the heater so an engineer would be up shortly. Two hours later engineer finally leaves room saying it can’t be fixed so we would have to change rooms – repack clothes…. Nice new room given, an upgrade even!!!! Then decide to book our dinner at the hotel which was included in room rate…. all 3 on-site restaurants were booked up – earliest we could get in was 10pm. Explained we would have booked earlier but had trouble with the room – no good. In the end we had room service and had to pay extra for it. To make matters worse, the next morning when we checked out we were charged for the ‘upgraded’ room – explained what had happened but again, no movement from management. And to make matters worse, this was a very posh 5* hotel that we had saved up for for ages……

Carolynn Greenhalgh // March 11, 2013 4:15 pm

I’d planned a lovely, romantic weekend away with my then partner. I was taking him to my favourite place in Ireland, had picked some beautiful spots for walks and picnics, and we had booked into a lovely hotel, perfect for a mini break.

Unfortunately I came down with chicken pox and spent the entre stay veering wildly between itching and emotional outbursts. There was very little in the way of romance, I think we saw the beah once, from afar, and it actually amazes me that the relationship was still intact when we returned!

Sara Canning // March 11, 2013 4:22 pm

My worst weekend was the first time I had been abroad. Myself and 2 of my friends have gone to Rhodes for sunshine and a good time only for me to be allergic to an additive that was in the cheap booze we were drinking – not a hangover but full blown sickness that lasted for 2 days. The joys of youth!

Elaine Hodgkinson // March 11, 2013 4:22 pm

Actually the weekend I’ve spent in Paris can be considered one of the worst I’ve ever had. It’s probably why I am not very fond of the city. It was many years ago and I went there for a business trip. My bosses had organized a stupid scavenger hunt and I spent all weekend running through the city, under the pouring rain. Worst. Weekend. Ever.
I hope to win this trip so I can visit Paris properly and change my mind about it.

Francesca Poggi // March 11, 2013 4:27 pm

I was staying in Cambodia having visited from a trip from Thailand. I was SUPER excited to see tbhe Temples of Angkor as it had (and still is) a passion of mine for years. I paid my $20 for my day pass to the temples only to be ROBBED 20 minutes later. My passport, my cash, my guide book and ticket to Angkor was gone I sat and cried in that 45degree heat for an hour before my friend and I decided we had to go to our Embassy in the Nations captial, Phnom Pehn. What a wrecked trip

Gemma Perkins // March 11, 2013 4:27 pm

My worst weekend was a trip to Edinburgh…

I had saved for ages to spend a couple of days in the Scottish city with my boyfriend, sister and brother-in-law. We were all very excited as I drove us to Bristol Airport.

To cut a long story short, a mix up with car parks meant me and boyf missed check-in and had to wait in the airport for 12 hours untilwe could catch a later flight, all the while getting updates from my sister who was having a great time seeing a show and checking out the castle.

Eventually, we made it up. We were stressed and tired so ended up getting an early night.

The next day was no better as a bomb scare saw all flights delayed and ANOTHER 12-hour wait in the airport lounge with nothing but a £4 drink voucher and Blind Faith on a screen.

I got home at 6am and had to leave for work at 7.

*epic fail!*

Laura Nesbitt // March 11, 2013 4:28 pm

My worst weekend was actually in Paris. I went to disneyland Paris with my boyfriend to see all of the lovely Christmas decorations, we left early and caught the train to London, unfortunately I was ill on the way to the train station and we then missed our train! No bother, we were swapped to another train very kindly by Eurostar. When we eventually got there I was still feeling rough and now developing tooth ache… It got worse overnight and the next day was spent in the bathroom with a dodgy stomach while taking copious amounts of pain killers for my tooth ache. I made it through the day, hell I was in Paris! But then in the night I had to wake my boyfriend and get him to take me to a&e as the pain in my tooth was so bad. I had a huge abscess above my front tooth he couldn’t do anything but give me more painkillers and sent me on my way. The pain killers spaced me out so bad that I couldn’t do anything the following day and then in the evening I could taste something. Funny in my mouth, it had burst! Omg! Ill spare you the details but it was gross and I was pleased that we were leaving early the next day to come home. What was supposed to be a romantic and Christmassy break turned into the holiday from hell

Robyn watson // March 11, 2013 4:31 pm

Several years ago over a Saturday and Sunday, our cat died unexpectedly, the basement flooded because the sump pump stopped working and I fell down the stairs and broke my arm. I was never so happy to see Monday.

Deb McManus // March 11, 2013 4:31 pm

My friend and I went to Dublin earlier this year for a work experience month long uni trip (Not exactly a weekend but keep reading…). We are quite young (then 19 and I turned 20 on the trip!) and thought it would be ‘cool’ and a bit of an adventure if we stayed in a hostel. We couldn’t quite bring ourselves to have a shared room with strangers so we splashed out on a private room for ourselves. We may as well had slept in with the people in the rooms next to us, we could hear EVERYTHING they did. One week in, no hot water or cooking facilities available, so freezing cold showers and living off shop bought pasties and pot noodles for a month! The CLEANERS of the hostel stole our food basket which had our cereal and tins in (?!) then to top it all off I got a sickness bug 2 days before our return home, throwing up all over the hostels bedding, in their bins, in the shared loo! That really topped off my awesome holiday -_-. Safe to say I will NEVER be seen in a hostel again!

Lauren Barber // March 11, 2013 4:32 pm

well myself, best friend at the time, dad, nanny, auntie, cousins and cousins girlfriend went to butlins and half the party came down with the norovirus which was rife through the campsite that time we stayed, meaning a very unpleasant stay for them and my cousin came knocking on his mums door saying he was gonna leave his girlfriend out on the balcony cos he had enough lol how my dad drove home from minehead to Eastbourne I do not know! that was many years ago now but I never forget it. would love to win this as never been abroad beyond a day trip and have always fancied visiting paris!

jane b // March 11, 2013 4:32 pm

32 years ago, not long married and both of us student nurses. Money was tight and we booked a chalet in devon. It was absolutely freezing and there was no heating. Just two blankets.
We went to bed with all our clothes on!

Peter Hall // March 11, 2013 4:33 pm

A Welsh cottage on the side of the valleys, sounds lovely enough…

On arrival there was nobody around to give us a key, we had to phone the landlord who halfway through the conversation told me he was in Spain! A nice cost to start the weekend off.

Once inside the flat, turning on any two electrical items resulted in a blown fuse. We had a number from the landlord for any problems; 15mins later a plumber/electrian/local farmer came to fix the problem.

The upstairs couple had kids whose every move rattled the ceiling….they left after one night to be replaced by a couple with two dogs who were as excitable as the kids!

As the upstairs couple had a shower, water started leaking down the walls and onto the tv! Fuse blown, Farmer Jones to the rescue again…

Luckily we didn’t spend long in the cottage, seeing as the Welsh scenary can make you forget any problem!

Paul Large // March 11, 2013 4:34 pm

My worst weekend was a trip to venice booked by oartner. Our daughter who was 1 was due to stay with her nanny and grandad. We got to the airport then about an hour before we were due to board we had a phone call to say our home had beem broken into and a lot of damage had been done. So of course we had to leave the airport and return home we missed our long weekend away and instead had a weekend of strss and upset. Luckily we had home nsurance so our belongin that we had lost were able to be replaced. But our rubbish holiday insurance meant we werent covered for the holiday

Lucy Ashton // March 11, 2013 4:37 pm

I would love to win this for a number of reasons. firstly would to be to take my mother (permitting she was well enough) she has terminal cancer and would love to go somewhere special like this. (I know we would have to pay for insurance ourselves since she is ill but that is more than ok)
secondly if my mother was unable to come I would take my younger sister as pre wedding get away for the above reason. A wedding should not be preceded by such trauma with the mother of the bride being so ill. (our mother has been fighting this cancer since her 1st grandson was 6months old, he will be 7 in August. she was told it was terminal 4 years ago and was not expected to live 4 months let alone 4 years. however she was told last week it has spread again.) So since we both adore Jenny’s books and her favourite film is Amélie this would be a wonderful treat and stress reliever so she can walk down that aisle with a happy memory for this year

Carolyn Cartwright // March 11, 2013 4:37 pm

I went on a weekend trip to Krakow with friends, we rented an apartment which turned out to be very dirty, though that became the least of our worries as I stood on the bed to fix the flickering light, the bed collapsed in the middle, then there was a huge crash and the bathroom door swung open – one of my friends had leaned on the sink which came away from the wall and shattered on the floor! The next day we went shopping, and we got stopped on the tram by men who we thought were a type of tram police, infact, they were not, and they demanded our money! It truly was an awful weekend but somehow, it is funny to think about now!

stacey Cuthbertson // March 11, 2013 4:38 pm

I went on a mini break to Cornwall and was strolling around the Eden Project. It was absolutely boiling in there, I was hot and bothered. I fainted and landed in a sandy pit full of ants and creepy crawlies. When I woke I was itching like mad.

kayleigh white // March 11, 2013 4:39 pm

Years ago my boyfriend & I (now husband) saved up & travelled to Manchester to watch a football match. All was going great until I got onto the boat. I’m not a fan at the best of times, but January, in a storm, crossing the Irish Sea is a really bad place to be. Putting on a brave face I decided the only place I could stay was on deck, gripping on for dear life. It was the longest 2 1/2hrs of my life, but thought that at least I could sleep on the coach as well drove from Scotland towards Manchester. Wrong. I saw the inside of every ladies toilet & every hole in the hedge in between.

When we finally arrived at our hotel I didn’t care what the room was like, all I needed was a bed. That was until I woke the following morning & realized we had been put in a basement room with a window 8 foot off the ground & measuring the same size as a lunchbox.

To top it all off Man United lost their match & frostbite claimed most of my left foot.

To date my husband has never mentioned booking another football weekend with me, he has always found a friend to go instead, wonder why

Jacqui burns // March 11, 2013 4:40 pm

Would love to go, never been. I love Jenny’s books

Simona Koucha // March 11, 2013 4:47 pm

worst weekend away would be when we went to Amsterdam on a mini cruise. I had started new medication in the days before we went and the side effects mixed with the shocking bad sea conditions made me ILL. I missed the 2nd night completely due to being ill in the cabin either sleeping or being sick. then the boat was bobbing about like toy in a kids bath, I fell out of the bunk and sprained my wrist and banged my head (had a huge bump and bruise). the 1st night was bad too but not as bad as the 2nd, I did however fall up a flight of stairs and I fell and turned myself around as I was falling and chipped a tooth. when we got to Amsterdam I felt like I was still at sea. I was all wobbly and nauseas. I went on a boat trip through the canals and fell asleep and missed half of it.

carolyn cartwright // March 11, 2013 4:48 pm

My husband was so proud when he arranged a surprise weekend away in the Lake District, however the picturesque farmhouse wasn’t quite as it seemed when we arrived.

Linda Whiteley // March 11, 2013 4:51 pm

Ok after much thought over the many bad, embarrassing moments in my life, I have come up with a story to share!
When I was 16 I started college to do fine art, all of my friends were doing different courses in different areas so I was quite nervous. In the big entrance room there were hundreds of students and lecturers telling them where to go, I was told ”art students that way” and off I went, excited to start my new course.
Turns out my name wasn’t on the register, a bit odd I thought. I didn’t have a pen or anything I needed. We were set a task that first day to go into town and look at advertising, write down all the adverts we could find. I thought maybe we were looking at advert design or something. So I get through the day, I didn’t really understand much of what was said and at the end the lecturer says ”well I hope you enjoyed the start of your media studies course” oops!
The following day I have to be escorted to the correct room where everyone had already formed their own groups and explain why I had missed the crucial first day. I got on well for a couple of weeks until one day I got home and my parents went crazy at me. Turns out the college had rang them asking why I hadn’t attended my media studies course after the first day. Now that was a bad time!

Nicole // March 11, 2013 4:51 pm

This weekend is turning into my worst,.. Car failed the MOT and the bill is rotting up horrendously

Donna Davies // March 11, 2013 4:54 pm

My Worst weekend ever was new york my partner and i decided to go last minute as we had a long weekend off work together (first ever trip). we travelled from manchester to newark with one stop over. on landing in newark we had to get a coach and soon discovered when it came to paying that we had been robbed, money camera phone everything gone. this really upset us but i was determined to make the most of new york so we did but i ended up getting an upset stomach from the hotdog stand and being stuck in the room until we were due to fly home which by the way we thought was six pm and it was indeed 6am so also missed the plane home.

Emma Baines // March 11, 2013 4:56 pm

My husband was so proud when he arranged a surprise weekend away in the Lake District, but the picturesque farmhouse wasn’t quite as inviting as it first appeared.
As we entered the bedroom we thought we’d been transported back to the 70′s with the orange throw on the bed, the black and white television set the size of a car and wallpaper with shapes only ever seen via a Kaleidoscope.
Worse was yet to come when my husband decided to make a cup of tea, as I examined the bed sheets and decided that a night, fully clothed on top of the bed was in order. As I lifted the tea cup, a dead fly toppled from the saucer into my lap causing me to wear the hot liquid! A trip to the bathroom tipped me over the edge, and we left poste haste. A curly black hair was resting on top of the “used” bar of soap on the sink.
I guess though, it’s the thought that counts and I still love him deeply!

Linda Whiteley // March 11, 2013 5:06 pm

I would write about my worst weekend away but I can honestly say I havent had 1 . I have been married 22 years have 4 children and we have never been away on our own ! Money is the main reason or lack of it also asking someone to look after 4 children is just plain rude I think anyone would need a week away after looking after my little lot when they were younger . They are all a bit older now so the chance is there although who would wipe my daughters nether regions after going to the toilet or deciphering 3 teenage boys grunts might be a bit testing to soon to be 70 yr old parents not to mention my 2 cocker spaniels 1 of who has an aversion to men ( my husband being the main offender ) and the other 1 who likes to snuggle up on the bed snoring her head off .. hmm maybe a weekend away does sound apealling just me and my hubby in the most romantic city in the world eating chocolate the food of love !! I wonder what we would talk about as we sat at the pavement cafe drinking french coffee and eating their devine pattiseries , wandering the streets browsing in shop windows and of course the view from the eiffel tower .. sounds more like the perfect weekend away to me …

Gina Wooding // March 11, 2013 5:13 pm

My worst weekend was a ‘romantic’ break in Corby… Yep, it was my boyfriend’s idea of a romantic break, he bought it off a friend of his who had just dumped her boyfriend. There was nothing to see and the town was very run down and dilapidated – not the best.

They charged us extra for our meal when it was supposed to be free with the package and I ended up ill as it wasn’t cooked properly. We argued constantly and the car broke down on the way home. Fortunately I forgot my camera so I couldn’t have any photo’s to remind us of the awful weekend.

Julie Jones // March 11, 2013 5:21 pm

my partner and I had planned our first holiday together, a romantic weekend at the seaside, blackpool here we come! days before we set off on our travels we found out we were pregnant with our first child! so, as u can imagine, the (not so) joyful side effects that come with pregnancy shortly followed. on our way to Blackpool we had to stop at almost every service station possible for me to be sick (sorry for tmi) morning sickness had hit me like a ton of bricks, by the time we had arrived at our destination (a very grotty b&b, lets just say it was definitley not as advertised) I was green with sickness! but putting all that aside I was determined to enjoy our first trip! however, this was starting to look unlikely, unbeknownst to us blackpool was currently out of season and absolutely nowhere was open! on our first night we managed to find a bar that was open so we decided to go inside to get out of the freezing cold blizzards that had hit blackpool! Whilst there my partner took it upon himself to drink for the 2 of us, by the time 2 hours had past we could say he was more than a little merry, it was maybe time to get him back to the b&b (which was alot further out from the attractions of blackpool, than advertised) im sure you can just imagine the long walk back, along with a very unsteady boyfriend, walking against a blizzard and incredibly swollen pregnancy ankles it took us over 2 hours to get back. Needless to say he spent the next day with a hangover, and me suffering from yet more morning sickness, we spent the whole of our last day being sick and hiding away from the blizzards! After becoming parents shortly after our ‘worst weekend’ that was our last and only holiday together!

Laura // March 11, 2013 5:21 pm

Unfortunately for me, this weekend was easy to remember and difficult to forget. I moved away from my hometown and temporarily placed all of my furniture into storage there whilst I found a new more permanent place in London. I got a phone call only a few days later to let me know there’d been a fire at the srtorage unit, I thought everything I’d ever worked for had gone. I was gutted and drove the 100 miles home as soon as I could to assess the damage. After taking a deep breathe and looking inside my unit, I almost fainted with relief that my items were only smoke damaged. So I drove up the parents to stay the night whilst I was there and had a lovely glass of wine to celebrate! Unfortunately at 2am I was woken by a Policeman who told me that a lady was driving down the road and had fallen asleep at the wheel….and smashed into my beloved parked up car and written it off. I just had a little cry from the shock and waited for the tow truck to come and take my baby away, it’s sad but I left like I’d lost a limb, that little car was my independence. It was my own fault for thinking all along that even if my furniture was ruined, at least I still had my car…I’ll keep my mouth shut next time. I’d also later realised that I’d only parked in that particular spot as I’d messed up a reverse parallel park further down the road so put it there instead, grrrr. Bless my dad though, he drove me back to London 100 miles each way the next day and wouldn’t take any petrol money. Awww, gotta love my family!

Dawn Smith // March 11, 2013 5:28 pm

I went to Dublin last easter and not only did it pour down but there was no public transport on Easter Sunday to get around!

Bev Davis // March 11, 2013 5:39 pm

Two years ago my new boyfriend wanted to surprise me on a trip. I was whisked off to Vienna to enjoy the Donauinselfest, the biggest open air festival in Europe. My favourite band Train were playing. Unfortunately, we flew in to Linz and drove from there. It consisted of us getting lost and arguing and arriving very, very late. I was surprised that when we pulled up to our destination it was not a hotel but to my horror a camping ground. It was also pouring down with rain. And then my boyfriend chose this moment to comment ” oh, I forgot to bring a tent”.
We hurried inside to the campsite shop and bought a cheap tent. Then we attempted to build it. There was still torrential raining and there was extreme lots of wet mud with only a small torch on the dark and stormy night.
An hour later, with half the pacific ocean on me we had “successfully” made our tent and trudged along to the festival. Not realising just how late it was we arrived there just at Train’s set had ended. We snooped around the festival for a little longer but by now there were hoards of severely pissed lads, all up for a fight. Dump trucks of rubbish and food lathered along the paths and I was freezing.
It felt a relief to get back to the tent and enjoy our “romantic” night together. Unfortunately the ground was packed, packed with druggies and romping teens with tents not even a hand span away. It wasn’t the easiest to fall asleep but I managed.
The next morning I opened my eyes. It was pitch ( pun intended) black. And my face was wet. The tent had collapsed in the night and somehow it had rained through the tent.
It was a relief to come home, it was one of the not so great weekends away in my life.

Sophie Grayling // March 11, 2013 5:39 pm

a weekend coach trip to brighton, was my worst break. took hours to get there, held up on the motorway and when we eventually arrived at the hotel we had the tiniest room and the hotel was very drab. it rained all weekend. the food wasnt up too much, i was glad to get home after another long trip back.

cyd dawe // March 11, 2013 5:47 pm

When I was 12 I went on a school trip to London, staying in a Youth Hostel. For starters I was sick on the bus on the way down, then I fell out with my best friend over YHA washing up duties. The next day I bought some magic sticky glue from a seller outside Westminster Abbey which stuck to my school skirt and ruined it. The final insult was losing my purse at the service station on the way home. I then incurred the wrath of my parents when they saw my skirt! Never went on another school trip…..

Christine Dodd // March 11, 2013 5:52 pm

had a good night out and got to front door and realised that i had lost keys.had to sleep in a shed in minus temperatures frost .woke up early hours all clothes stiff and frost on eyebrows.now carry keys around my neck

nicholas green // March 11, 2013 6:00 pm

It was my birthday on a Saturday a few years ago – 12th Feb, so most of my friends were with partners doing Valentine’s Day stuff. My (single) best friend and I (also single at the time!) had arranged to spend the weekend together doing fun birthday things, so she stayed at my place on Friday night. On Saturday morning, I was rudely woken up at 7am by some workmen knocking on my door to ask me to move my car so they could resurface the road. Then my friend woke up with a stomach bug, and started chucking up everywhere. I then had to drive my friend home to recover, only due to the aforementioned roadworks I had to take the long route – so a 10 minute journey took 45 minutes and filled up a bag of sick in my car. My friend tried to sleep off her illness but rang me at 7pm sounding awful, cancelling our plans. By that time it was too late to make other plans with anyone else, and we’d lost our dinner reservations. I was so miserable I went home, drank a bottle of wine by myself and ended up crying on the phone to a VERY dodgy ex-boyfriend. Not my best birthday!

Laura Vickers // March 11, 2013 6:04 pm

Mine was called the “Haven Heaving Holiday”!!! It was my b’day weekend and I asked everyone for money for my birthday so I could take the family to Haven. My daughter went down with the sick bug on the way there in the car, I went down with it when we got there, and my son and husband both went down with it on my birthday!!! We were all stuck in a caravan like this till I insisted we went home a day early after a night spent being ill myself between washing everyone’s duvets etc in a caravan shower. Needless to say, I can’t face Haven again (not their fault!)

Vici Bailey // March 11, 2013 6:13 pm

I had been going out with a slightly nerdy vegan guy for a few weeks. He seemed genuine and sweet. We booked a romantic weekend in Kent to visit Knole and see the Deer, staying at a local hotel in Sevenoaks. Every time we went into or out of the hotel he took a green apple from the ‘help yourself’ bowl on the Reception desk and ate each one like he hadn’t seen food in weeks. When we visited Knole he GALLOPED around the pathways and sandy tracks looking for deer. Come on ‘Bunnypaws’ (?) he would call, let’s clippy clop like the deer. I was 37 and whilst I tried to clippy clop and gallop my deer impersonation days were clearly far behind me. You’ll be surprised I’m sure to learn that Sevenoaks was our first and only ‘romantic’ weekend away! Paris with the love of my life however would be a dream

Jules Chatelier // March 11, 2013 6:35 pm

My worst weekend would be travelling to Wales to pack up everything in my Grandparents house after my Gran died. My 95 year old Grandad was moving to Cheshire to be closer to family. In some ways it was a trip down memory lane and an honour to deal with all the personal belongings. But the weekend turned out to take two weeks and I spent alot of it sobbing. Part of it was grief but part of it was the massive task! We drank alot of wine!

Hazel Wright // March 11, 2013 6:35 pm

my worst weekend ould be when i tok my boyfriend away for a weekend break for his birthday. sounds lovely so far ? we went on a coach trip which took 11 hours due to break downs so by the time we got to the hotel we were ready for a good night sleeep. Unfortunately we couldn’t do this due to the hotel not having a record of our booking so 2 hours later they let us have a bedrom and admitted we did have a booking. The breakfast bar in the morning didnt serve any vegetarian (it was all cooked bacon etc) and we got a grand total of 3 hours n Bath before a 12 hour coach journey home due to another break down and roadworks on the motorway. Worst weekend and birthday weekend for my lovely other half ever ! I’d love to show him a nice weekend away for his birthday to make up for last year x

sarah foulds // March 11, 2013 6:49 pm

In 2005 my stepmother passed away after a long illness, my mother had passed away when I was 5..the first weekend after my stepmums death was easily worst in recent years as the following week I had university exams and my Dad flew abroad as she was buried abroad!

fozia Akhtar // March 11, 2013 6:56 pm

My worst weekend was when I had a weekend away booked for Rome with my boyfriend. I was looking forward to a romantic escape, and I had an idea my boyfriend would be proposing this weekend to put the cherry on top. I never made it to Rome as I got food poisoning. I was so disappointed, instead of walking around Rome hand in hand I spent most of the weekend in the bathroom feeling terrible!!

VICTORIA KIRK // March 11, 2013 7:04 pm

Many moons ago I went to Dublin with my then fiance and a few of his mates. Rather than seeing the sights and enjoying the Irish hospitality my fellow travellers decided to go on a tour of the local kebab shops and see how many doners they could eat in two days. By the end of the weekend I’d had enough of eating fast food and blurted out to four lads…What I really want now is meat and two veg…and then wondered why they burst out laughing. The rest of the trip was awkward to say the least!

Brigitte Ravenscroft // March 11, 2013 7:14 pm

My worst ever weekend was when I miscarried my first ever pregnancy at 12 weeks, I fought on, conceived again and lost my second pregnancy at 5 weeks abroad! but now Im a proud Mummy to 2 sons, so it was all good in the end, but those feelings never leave you and the memory lasts a lifetime x

Louise O'Carroll // March 11, 2013 7:21 pm

It was raining and we were due to go to the beach with the children for the day. As we left we quickly realized the rear tyre was flat. As hubbie changed it in the rain, the kids were screaming loudly in the car. Finally, we arrived at the seaside, in the rain. After trying to find a parking space for over an hour as there was a Morris dancing event scheduled we hit the beach with our umbrellas. My eldest daughter fell over in the wet sand and my youngest got nipped by a crab. After 20 minutes we returned to the car and drove the 1 1/2 hours back home; wet, miserable and having had the worst day out to date.

Lucy L Richards // March 11, 2013 7:34 pm

It was my first holiday with my boyfriend (now ex-husband), a short camping trip in the lakes was all we could afford at the time. I was looking forward to some quality time together but he insisted on bringing his dog – a large rhodesian ridgeback. We argued about it beforehand but he was refusing to go if I didn’t allow the dog to come. We only had a tiny 2 man tent so I thought the dog would sleep in the little porch section – how wrong was I. He had to sleep in the tiny 2 man tent with us!!!! There was only room for a double airbed inside the tent with no room at all down the sides so the dog slept on the whole bottom section of the airbed leaving very little room for us and no chance of anything more exciting than sleeping. To top it off it had been raining all weekend so we were treated to the not so lovely smell of wet dog PLUS his snoring!!!! Why I married him I’ll never know!

Jennifer Bone // March 11, 2013 7:48 pm

My worst weekend was when my mother-in-law moved in and the proceeding weekends for the next 12 months.

Alix Bell // March 11, 2013 7:48 pm

Weekend f valentines ths year. Lost my job and lost my engagement ring!! Awful

Amy Halliday // March 11, 2013 7:53 pm

After having our first daughter I decided I would treat my hubbie to a night away in the Cotswolds as a birthday surprise. I was excited about surprising him and with the help of my parents I sneakily booked a room in a lovely country pub right in the centre of the village. Mum and dad looked after Emily for us and off we went! On arrival we went inside the pub to check in (ah bliss a night away no early feeds ) the pub looked lovely and we were really looking forward to it BUT we were walked through the pub into the back yard past the BINS and then shown into a dark damp what I can only explain as a Bad lean too chalet room that had the scent of the bins outside. Being typical English when asked if it was ok we said yes thankyou. Waited until the owner left and ASAP locked the room posted the keys back through the letterbox and ran for the hills(so to speak) we walked the streets to find a b&b eventually found one that had a room (which was stunning ) and all
Was ok . We haven’t visited the Cotswolds since and that was 11 years ago !!!!

Sam Fearn // March 11, 2013 7:54 pm

My worst weekend was quite recently, I had a long friday night at work, where I got lots of abuse from drunk customers. After finally getting to bed at 5am, I was up again at 8am to got and watch my football team lose horribly to our local rivals! I then got the train back to make it to work in time for another night of drunken insults… however someone jumped in front of the train meaning that I was 3 hours late to work and spent 5 hours sitting on a pitch black train in the middle of nowhere waiting for help!
When I finally got to work it was another night of drunken insults whilst running on very little sleep and no food! What a nightmare!

Rachel Bramley // March 11, 2013 7:56 pm

My worst weekend was when i got sent to hospitalfor anaphalactic shock. It was really scary as i have never been allergic to anything! The irony was that only the week before I was only just saying how I had never been to hospital before!!

Tara Mistry // March 11, 2013 7:59 pm

Me and my mom went to Buxton for a girly weekend but unfortunately it ended up being a disaster! The hotel room was extremely tilted so it felt like we were walking up and down a hill when moving around the room! The room was small and not particularly clean. We then spent ages trying a find a highly recommended takeaway to find out after asking a local it had shut down the week before! We left incredibly disappointed after a weekend that wasn’t so relaxing after all!

Charlotte // March 11, 2013 7:59 pm

Several years ago we went camping in the new forest with our children who were 3 & 4 at the time. It rained hard all the time, everything was damp and muddy and the children were bored. on the third day there my other half said “what do you want to do today”? I said “go home”. So we packed up everything, mud and all and drove home, spent the rest of the day washing everything

Emma Hawkins // March 11, 2013 8:04 pm

had tickets for les miserable in London and a night away. the weather got bad and some of the trains had stopped. We tried to go via another station and found ourselves trapped at a rail way station 30 mles away and it took us 6 hours to get home. It was supposed to be one of our first nights away from the four children. What a nghtmare. Still did not get to see les mis!

tracie james // March 11, 2013 8:07 pm

Me and ,my partner decided to go to Loch Lomond in Scotland for a weekend camping before our baby arrived. I was 6 months pregnant at the time. We had to put the tent up in the rain…not a good start and the rain did NOT stop the whole weekend so the only place we managed to go was from the tent, to the toilet and back and the rest of the time we spent eating or sleeping!!! Haha

Help us get that romantic break away we desperately need!

Kelly Paterson // March 11, 2013 8:08 pm

My worst weekend included a camel ride, staying in a hut made of straw and not being prepared for the freezing cold nights in the desert!

Jo Young // March 11, 2013 8:13 pm

I booked to go away with my boyfriend… unfortunately he was called away on work and as it was a weekday trip none of my friends could step in… a romantic weekend in Paris was planned… it was very lonely on my own and with no one to share it with….

Emily // March 11, 2013 8:21 pm

A weekend to London! Travel by train. HAD A HUGE DELAY 3 plus hrs! Then there were no seats and we had to sit by the door on the dirty floor. Got to London with my then future hubby and made it to Grenich only to stay at his mates in the most grottiest basement flat I have ever been to! Never again I am a northern lass ;-)

Leah Wheatley // March 11, 2013 8:24 pm

My Husband had great surprise plans to whisk me away for the weekend on my 30th birthday to a posh hotel I’ve always wanted to stay at. Being very organised he booked train tickets, trips out, meals and the hotel in advance and paid for everything he could. The night before my birthday he told me what was happening the next day, I was so excited (and it was the most thoughtful thing he’d ever done!). However what he didn’t account for was that during the night my toddler became seriously ill and was hospitalised, so instead of being wined and dined on my big 3-0 I was sat in a poky hospital room, watching my little girl be given oxygen – we were in there for a week. To add insult to injury, as well as losing money from the non refundable things like the train, we had a snotty call from the posh hotel for failing to turn up for the room booked, my handbag was stolen from the hospital and the childrens ward had a bout of Norovirus (sickness and diarrhoea bug!) which I caught…it was certainly a memorable 30th weekend but not for the best reasons! We laugh about it now….

Amy Cartwright // March 11, 2013 8:24 pm

We bought a VW camper van and took it out for the first time with the family for a weekend in Devon. On the way down, a lorry slid into the back of us and caused a lot of damage, including the doors being wedged closed. We were not able to get any items out of the back of the van including the children’s scooters and the barbecue. We set up a tent for the children to sleep in, then the heaven’s opened and it rained non stop all night. The following morning we went out to find something to do but again, the rain came down and the wind picked up, so it was not even possible to walk on the beach with our hoods and umbrellas up. Then we had a call from the campsite to say that our tent had blown down and all our stuff was soaking wet. We went back to the campsite, threw everything in the van and went home!

Elizabeth Leek // March 11, 2013 8:27 pm

my worst weekend ever was when my mum died

ANGELA PERRY // March 11, 2013 8:40 pm

How great it would be to have a fantastic holiday with my husband considering we didnt have a proper honeymoon as I was pregnant when we got married?

Anna Trapani // March 11, 2013 8:48 pm

My daughter and her boyfriend were going camping in the Isle of Wight for the weekend, and while there he was due to propose to her on her 19th birthday. My husband, I and our 3 other daughters were also going as a surprise so we’d be there when he popped the question! We sent them off on the ferry in the morning with my husband who was supposedly going over to help put the tent up that we had lent them, then we would follow on a later ferry while he hid in our booked caravan and we would all appear in the bar later and surprise them!
It was all going to plan until I had a frantic call saying we’d forgotten to put the tent poles in, and they had none at all!! So, with my 16 year old searching the loft for tent poles, I loaded up the car, we then picked up the 2 younger girls from school and set off to get a ferry a few hours earlier than planned. 2 minutes from home a car pulled out a junction and smacked straight into the side of our car, with a big bang our car was stopped in it’s tracks, and we all burst into tears!! After waiting for police, ambulances, and waiting to have the car towed to a garage, we all arrived back at home slightly shaken up and bruised, and borrowed another car. We then set off again and made it to the ferry just as they were closing the barriers, the kind man let us on, when he saw our tear streaked faces! Over on the Isle of wight the surprise was no longer a surprise as my husband had to tell my daughter what had happened, and she was then upset, but agreed it would have been a lovely surprise! We finally arrived in the dark, and all helped to put the tent up using the full beam on the car to see what we were doing! Then we went to the bar for a much needed drink. They got engaged the next morning, she said Yes! Thank goodness for that. We’ll always remember that weekend!
A weekend in Paris would be amazing as we’ve never been!

Lisa Bowser // March 11, 2013 8:48 pm

My worst weekend; over the summer I was seeing a guy who was typically perfect on a shallow level but in real life there was a spark lacking. One weekend we had plans on the saturday, when I found out my Aunt had fallen fatally ill. Instead of being sympathetic, he shouted at me for turning up to a meal late due to crying, I caught him texting another girl and he completely failed to say anything remotely sympathetic. On the Sunday my Aunt passed away (RIP) and he text me saying “we need to talk.” What a coward!

Sarah Gallagher // March 11, 2013 9:01 pm

The weekend that we got snowed in for my daughter’s birthday all alone… with her presents and cake at Grandma’s house, 10 miles away. I decided to take her out to play in the snow to cheer her up….. where I lost my house keys and spent 3 hours waiting outside in the cold for a locksmith. We both caught horrible colds.

Kelly Dudley // March 11, 2013 9:01 pm

My worst weekend happened on first weekend ever – our honeymoon. My husband and I were in a swanky hotel in Bath. We’d been swimming in the hotel pool, and when we got back to our room there was a note asking us to go to reception. They told us there that my Mother had turned up looking for us. I was even more distressed because we’d put a ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign on the door and my parents had seen it – so had imagined us up to all sorts!!

She then rang(?!?!?) that night, to tell us the Wedding Photos were rubbish.

We had arranged for her to drop the key of our house into the hotel as she’d driven up to London with all the presents (we got married in Swansea and I’m not sure why we hadn’t had another key cut!!) So she and my dad turned up and expected us to join them for afternoon tea the next day!! BUT she forgot the key!!

So the next day we had to wait around for hours as she had lost the key, we had checked out but couldn’t drive back to home to London until she’d brought it back.

I’m not sure that it was the romantic honeymoon we’d really anticipated but 16 years later….we’re still together and can now laugh about it!!!

Rachel Bartels // March 11, 2013 9:01 pm

My worst weekend was where I sprained my ankle and broke my favourite shoes

Emma Holness // March 11, 2013 9:06 pm

It started with a ferry crossing and the discovery that I was seasick, we arrived in the dark at our campsite and pitched up in a cosy secluded spot. I awoke to a flooded tent where the rain had run down the bank and into the ‘cosy’ ditch in which my tent was pitched! Gale force winds meant the ferry crossing home was even more delightful than on the way out.

Lucy Taylor // March 11, 2013 9:07 pm

The worst weekend was the weekend my sister lost her life to cancer aged only 20! This year marks the 15th year anniversary. If I was to win this it would be for my Mum.

kirstine meredith // March 11, 2013 9:07 pm

Just after we got married, my husband and I booked a weekend away to Oxford. We arrived and checked in at our hotel, then went to explore, before heading out to dinner. When we arrived back to our room, there was a party in full swing, right below our room, which continued well into the early hours. At some point during the night, we noticed that our door had come open, and in fact didn’t lock at all.
The next morning we went to breakfast and sat down at a table. It was a self service buffet breakfast, and we helped ourselves, then noticed that we had no cutlery. My husband asked for some, to be told that “someone has used this table before!”
The rude staff and the dreadful night’s sleep was enough to put us off staying the second night we had planned, and we told the manager we were checking out. Heading into Oxford to find another hotel, it rained. A lot. We searched for the Tourist Information, following the signs, but getting nowhere, and eventually asked a policeman, who told us that it had moved, but the signs hadn’t been changed. It was still raining, and by now my jeans were soaked up to my knees, to the point I had to buy some more.
The whole weekend was so terrible, it ended up actually being hilarious (thankfully). We stayed the second night at a Travelodge, which, while not being the salubrious hotel we had in mind, was infinitely more comfortable and the staff far more polite than the first night.

It’s our 10th wedding anniversary this year, and a trip to Paris would be out of this world!

Claire Willis // March 11, 2013 9:14 pm

My worst weekend was my 18th birthday. As my birthday is in December, there isn’t much to do in the way of celebrating – can’t have a barbecue or a garden party. Anyway, as a treat for a special birthday, my mum decided to take me on a weekend away visiting the Lincoln Christmas markets where we could walk amongst the carol singers while eating a hot turkey sandwich and sipping hot chocolates. Sounds lovely doesn’t it? Well it would have been if we’d been able to get there. It just so happens that in the 31 years the markets have been held, this was the one year they had to be closed down due to unexpected and severe snow. Lincoln was completely closed off from outsiders so we couldn’t go. I ended up celebrating my birthday with a fairy cake bought from the local shop & one candle!

Sarah bartlett // March 11, 2013 9:14 pm

My worst weekend was being invited by my then boyfriend to stay at his parents house in the country. It started off well but I accidentally knocked their new television over whilst trying to impress them with my tennis skills on the wii fit, then the following day I dropped the cheesecake that his mum had spent ages making..to top it all off before I left I flooded the en-suite after my boyfriend and I got carried away…thankfully she forgave me and I’m now her daughter in law

karen ross // March 11, 2013 9:28 pm

Hi,

My worst weekend was the weekend I got married. I am from Scotland, but live in England so we travelled there to get married and obviously all our families from all over the UK travelled there too. We ate out at a few different restaurants in the run up to the big day ( Sat. August 8th 2008).

All was well getting ready that morning but little did I know that my husband was really poorly – never been poorly in our whole relationship (typical)! Turns out he contracted campylobacter. Walking down the aisle I could tell something wasn’t right (everyone kept it from me in the hope he would get better). I eventually found out when we were signing the register.

It was at this point that the decision was made to take my now hubby to hospital. I went to my reception. Alone. After a while I couldn’t be away from him any longer (we were all hoping the hospital could give him a ‘magic solution’ and send him back to us!) so went to the hospital – in my wedding dress. The stares…!

We eventually got him back to my parent’s house around 7pm and put him straight to bed to sleep. I returned to the reception (in a different dress) to thank people and explain what the latest news was. Many people left early and lots of women (cousins, sisters etc) were crying a lot (identifying with the ‘awful-ness’ of it all).

We had to cancel the honeymoon (NYC and Boston) the next day. We lost a lot of money on the flights and it took three years to claim back money for a hotel cancellation.

Safe to say it was the worst weekend of our lives and one that we can never change. We call it the ‘best worst weekend’ or ‘worst best weekend’ of our lives. This weekend comes back to haunt us every year! And no we can’t laugh about it yet – although people tell us we will one day…

Kirsty Bowden // March 11, 2013 9:49 pm

my worst weekend was when we went away in our touring caravan and it started to snow. major panic by me. hate the snow and to think we were pulling a25 ft caravan. however, we made the camp site, had a good easter weekend and by the time we left the snow had stopped and was slowly melting. had it continued to snow and was lying i would have left the caravan and got the train home. i did feel sorry for the people in tents, because we did have gas heating in t he caravan

tracey scott // March 11, 2013 10:47 pm

It was my friend’s Hen Night and she didnt want anything big so two of us arranged a night out in London in a club, drinks, dinner etc. We waited and waited for her and she eventually text us to say she wasnt coming as wasnt well!

She couldnt tell us before?! We looked like idiots in this club all dressed up in pink and everyone kept asking us which one of us was getting married (we are both already married!)

We were soooo annoyed!

angela sandhu // March 11, 2013 10:59 pm

When I got married my ‘husband’ said he would sort out a honeymoon even though we were a little short of cash. My surprise Honeymoon consisted of a weeks camping in a farmers field beside the ‘Royal Military Canal’, with my least favorite of hubbies mates. We got there and seems hubbie had never been camping before and put the tent up inside out so it was soaking wet at night. One of his pals cooked on an open fire and I got food poisoning. Second day, they decided we would go to the local pub. They decided to get drunk (I couldn’t even have a glass of wine as I was ill) and play darts. Being tipsy, hubbie missed the dart board and impaled one of the locals, who promptly turned on us Frankenstein villager style and chased us out of the pub and across fields in the dark! After running for our lives, we reached the tents where the drunk trio promptly fell asleep. I tried to lay down when I heard a terrifying noise… it turned out to be a cow in labour who put it’s backside through our tent door and spent all night producing fluids and gore before giving birth to a calf all over my clothes and sleeping bag! I then decided it was time to go home and cut the honeymoon short to just the weekend!

Deana Dmonte // March 11, 2013 11:03 pm

We were traveling to Dublin for a girls weekend we booked a rail& ferry trip. We arrived at holyhead to be told it may not be sailing due to weather conditions, the weather was sunny couldn’t understand it was then announced after 45 mins we would be setting off.
We boarded and set sail the wind and rain picked up and it began so bad we were literally tipping fom one side to the other all tyne trays were falling on the floor in macdonalds my friend was sick all over couldn’t make it to bathroom it was the worst crossing we just thanked god we made it!
We got the dart to Dublin which was over crowded we arrived at the station to try and get a taxi we were told the taxi rank was 10 mins walk it was rush hr on Friday my friend said” at least it’s not raining!!” no sooner than the words had come from her mouth the heavens opened!!!

We started to walk suitcases in toe, we arrived at the rank to fine a queue right round the block we waited wet dripping cold for nearly an hour when it was finally our turn and we gave the driver the address he laughed and said he couldn’t take us round the corner!!! Our hotel was on the next street!!
We walked into the hotel gave the receptionist our names and she said she had no such booking!! We shown her the confirmation details and she said she would contact them but hy had no rooms my friend came out with several words that not even a bucket of holly water would put right!! We doubted anyone would be their at 6.30pm on fri evening fortunately the manager was and faxed confirmation details again!!!
We were put up in a sister hotel but would have to move the next day to yet another sister hotel the next day we got a bottle of wine to numb the situation lol
We hit dublin did the sites the bars and moved hotels gain! We set back on the drt on the Sunday to catch the ferry but when we arrived we were told we missed it!! It was their we could see it we were told should of got hir 20 mins earlier but we had to 1st train of day with pre booked ticket so how??? We had a 4 hr wait but because we had checked in we couldn’t leave the terminal!!! 3 of us were tired so said we would grab an hours and asked our other friend to keep an eye on our bags.

We were woken up with boarding announcements we were all asked to take our bags and have them checked as a bomb alert had been given so every passenger and vehicle had to be checked!! Our other friend had also fell asleep so we were in slight panic In case our bags had been tampered with but stood in line!! Thir was a futher 3 hr delay!! My friend rang her dad to say we would be later still and he told her father ted had died!! She said it wasn’t our fault even though everything else had gone wrong tht weekend!! I looked at a worry stone I had bought as a gift the message said murphys law anything that can go wrong will go wrong!!! That was our weekend in a nutshell xx

Lisa // March 11, 2013 11:06 pm

My husband and I had a romantic weekend without the kids and I got cystitis – I was in agony.

Kerry // March 11, 2013 11:22 pm

it has to be the weekend, me, my hubby and 2 kids all had food poisoning, needless to say 2 toilets weren’t enough!

Joanne Goodridge // March 11, 2013 11:36 pm

Flew to be with my boyfriend after a month apart, landed and he broke up with me! Stuck there in expensive romantic suite in a town I didn’t know, on my own as I couldn’t afford to change anything. Flew home Sunday night miserable!

Kat // March 12, 2013 12:01 am

I guess the worst for me was when I was 15 and had a new boyfriend I was crazy about (as only 15 year old girls can be). I had split up from my previous boyfriend and the new one was coming for tea and to meet my parents (well this was the late 60′s) and when he walked in my mum called him by my old boyfriends name – disaster!! We actually went out together for 2 years – he is now married and lives in New Zealand, I am married and live in the UK and we chat on Facebook occasssionally

Laura Ingham // March 12, 2013 7:49 am

My worst weekend was in Paris! I went over to meet my then boyfriend for Valentine’s Day. He had to work that weekend so I spent the whole time sitting around in his flat, apart from the last hour when he whisked me around Paris to include “famous sporting moments” how boring! Was happy to be rid of him and have never been back to Parish since.

FionaLynne Edwards // March 12, 2013 8:45 am

A few years ago, me and a few (skint student) friends decided to go to Paris, as there was a really cheap overnight coach from London to Paris. Being from ‘up north’, we had to catch another bus from Leeds to London, and whilst we were on it, we hit heavy traffic. By the time we reached London, our connection had been and gone, and we found ourselves in London Victoria, without any English money, and a couple of hundred euros between us.

The first thing to go wrong was that all the bureau de changes were closes, and our debit cards were pitifully empty. Thankfully, one of the girls had an uncle who lived about a twenty minute walk away, and we were able to crash on his living room floor.

The next morning we woke up in rainy London – as opposed to in gay Paris – but we decided to make the best of it, and spend 2 days in London. Leaving the flat full of high hopes for a lovely weekend, we promptly got stuck in the lift, and had to be rescued by fireman!

Various other things happened over that weekend, including mice in hotel rooms, walking halfway across London after missing the last tube and one of our group having food poisoning from a dodgy Chinese! However we look back on that weekend as a huge learning curve, and most of us have never been anywhere near a ‘budget bus’ since, but do have hilarious memories from the absolute shambles of a visit!

As a still-skint student, winning this competition would be incredible – especially as it doesn’t rely on 20+ hours worth of travel!

Amy Senior // March 12, 2013 8:45 am

Do you remember the summer of 2003? The one where it rained continuously? Yes, I know that could be just about any summer of late, but in 2003 it rained torrentially and continuously all through Europe. I was working on a camp site in Switzerland when the local river finally gave up and burst its banks all over the road. My job was to meet groups of Scouts and Guides from England, who had spent the previous 24 hours on a coach, and welcome them to glorious Switzerland.

Given the rain and the floods, my coach was a bit late arriving that particular Saturday. I suspected it would be, so I had looked on from afar for as long as I felt I could, but by the time it was due I felt I couldn’t really wait much longer, and moved out to the little bus stop in the middle of the site. I sat in my waterproofs in a bus shelter in the pouring rain for about 4 hours, discovering just how not-waterproof both my waterproofs and the bus shelter were.

By the time the coach finally arrived, the passengers were understandably a little irritable. The coach door opened, and they were greeted by a straggly 18-year-old, soaked to the skin and with one arm in a sling (from the activity we deemed “not safe”). “Welcome to Switzerland!” I beamed, trying to muster as much enthusiasm as I could. “Did you have a good journey?” The scowls that greeted me in return encouraged me to hurry up with my spiel. “Who’s in charge of the group? If you’d like to come with me we’ll get you checked in, and then we’ll go and find you some tents and some pallets.”

“What are the pallets for?” Asked one little Scout, who was already rather sodden.

“They line the bottom of your tent so that when you’ve got your groundsheet down the rain water can just flow right underneath you.” I beamed again, but I could tell this was not what they were hoping to hear. “Welcome to Switzerland!”

Sally // March 12, 2013 9:47 am

My worst weekend was actually in Paris years ago as a student on a dirt cheap break – I started off by leaving my handbag on the Metro on the way to the hotel. Our tiny room had a view of the bins and no bathroom, the weather was awful, there was a train strike so we couldn’t visit Versaille and I had really bad PMT. The ‘breakfast’ consisted of a bag of croissants left on the table and we took some Camembert back which stunk all the way home! I am keen to return and discover that Paris is so much nicer than I remember it!

benita white // March 12, 2013 9:54 am

My worst weekend ever was when my friends & I were going for a 2 night break to Dublin. The flight was delayed by 12 hours so we spent the first night at the airport. When we got to the hotel we found that the disabled room I’d booked was at the far end of the hotel so I had to walk such a long way to get there & didn’t have my wheelchair with me so it was an absolute nightmare

liz denial // March 12, 2013 10:24 am

Constant rain on the coast of Norfolk. Spent many pounds on the 2p machines in a run down arcade

Toni Arnott // March 12, 2013 10:46 am

A weekend fishing with my then boyfriend… I spent the whole weekend feeling freezing cold, hungry, filthy dirty, smelly and bored! I also spent the entire night in the bivvy tent terrified of the creepy crawlies and convinced that some mad axe murderer was lurking outside! Needless to say, after that experience I decided I am much more of a hotel girl than a camping one! P.S. I have NEVER been to Paris…

Joanne Bean // March 12, 2013 10:56 am

Our worst weekend stay
was a hotel where you would want to ‘stay away’!
It was named The Grand but was very underhand
The guest rooms were a throwback from the 1960s,
tired and dated and definitely not ‘the bees knees’
The Tourist Information Office gave it no official star rating, the chef liked a drink or two and we would have been better off going ‘self catering!
The Hotel Inspector springs to mind, goodness knows what she would find!

mrs gill rigluth // March 12, 2013 11:11 am

My worst weekend was when I went on a short 3 day break to Rome with my boyfriend. Firstly our flight got delayed then cancelled so we got transferred to a another airport which got delayed and cancelled so we got transferred to another one! When we finally reached Rome our hotel was not at all what we were expecting from the photos in the brochure! Our room was dirty, the toilet didn’t work and the staff didn’t speak a word of English so we couldn’t even complain. For the days we were there the weather was appalling and it rained torrentially the whole time. Just to top it off I got mugged while my boyfriend was buying an umbrella, resulting in me having no money for the duration of the holiday. Couldn’t wait to get home!

Natasha Downer // March 12, 2013 11:33 am

Well we have been to Paris before, not that we could tell you anything about it.. we were young, Karen and I had not long started dating seriously and not much in the way of jobs but we had enough money to go Paris. To save money we had to go on one of those coach and ferry things from Yorkshire, well we had barely got out of Yorkshire before we hit the first of the traffic, we crept and crawled in ridiculous heat down the M1 picking up at seemingly every lamppost. Hitting every gridlocked city there was. All goodwill, thoughts of love and a carefree weekend rapidly evaporating as we limped into Victoria Coach station three and a half hours late. What had started out with us bleary eyes but holding hand and snuggling up for our big first romantic adventure was now lost in tired , sweaty grunts.

I couldn’t possibly recount some of the words that came out of our mouths when we heard the bus had broken down and that we were now awaiting a replacement one. Lets just said our mothers wouldn’t have been proud. We were allowed off the bus but told to stay in sight of it, as soon as the replacement came it would be ok, so potentially not even enough time to go get something to eat or freshen up in the sprawling station.

Lurching out of London we eventually hit free road and despite any kind of best efforts, as we should have been taking our first tentative steps into the early Parisian evening, taking it the sights the sounds and smells of this most romantic of cities we had diesel fumes, blaring lorry horns and chaos as earlier rough seas had caused some cancellations and traffic was backed up. Not that it ultimately mattered as we had missed our ferry slot by a good four hours. Frankly if we could have got on a train to go home we would have done. We resolved instead, as we settled on the boat sometime later to blot out the horrendous day by imbibing a few alcoholic beverages, just enough to mask the horror and rekindle those loving feelings, after all we are heading towards Paris. Lets look forward not back, be positive.

Karen was first sick before we got off the boat but it was largely under control by the time we reboarded the bus armed with a fistful of sick bags. Was it the sea or the gin and tonics that had done the damage, nobody can ever say for certain. The debate has raged to this day. But as we sped towards the city of romance, I glanced at my slightly green and slightly whiffy girlfriend propped up against the window and knew it was game over for day and night one of two already.

Somehow we managed to drive into Paris without seeing one thing of note, just grimy arrondissement after arrondissement. Were we in Paris, who knows? We checked into the hotel, not quite as alluring and convivial as the brochure would have it but hey it looks like heaven at 2am. Karen headed straight to be, still feeling extremely bilious. I was in need of sustenance and so headed out to find that most Parisian of food, a pizza. Now my sense of direction is generally very good, so paying careful attention to where I turned I found a little place seemingly open all night and got, what to be fair seemed a decent pizza. I dashed back to the hotel except the hotel wasn’t where I had left it. It looked like the same road but some cunning person had deemed to totally stuff up my trip by moving the hotel behind my back. With the pizza rapidly cooling, I dashed left, then right and then saw it. The top of the Eiffel Tower in the distance blinking away. It was to be the best view I would have all weekend. The road felt right but somehow was wrong. Not that there was anyone around but I couldn’t remember what the hotel was called and then I saw it, just up the road, a little yellow 2CV6, we had passed it just as we got to the hotel. I have never ever been so pleased to see this most ridiculous of cars.

Noting that Breakfast was from 7.30 to 10.00 I set the alarm for 9.00am and wolfed down the pizza before sliding into bed alongside my beloved. Alarms were not needed as at 5.30 am the refuse collection started with lorries revving up and reversing and bins clattering right under our window, the flashing yellow beacons filling our bedroom like some second rate nightclub. Karen tells me that the next time she saw me I was crouched over the sink revisiting the pizza from a few hours ago and, well, lets just say that wasn’t the only end that was affected.

I convinced Karen to go for breakfast, I meanwhile, dare not stray too far from the bathroom. Karen brought some food up to the room but I was in no mood to eat. Whats the French for Immodium? Well that’s what Karen was charged with finding out. Me, I couldn’t have made it to the lift. Sitting on the loo with my had in the sink I could just about see the TV, and this was my morning in Paris. I can only imagine the Give-Us-A-Clue style mimes she must have done but bless her she managed and I felt “secure” enough to venture tentatively out. It was lunch time by now and all the rest of the party had long gone on the bus.

We navigated our way to the metro and up to the Gare Du Nord as we both had wanted to see Versailles so we knew we could get a train out there. And we did very uneventfully. We had a nice afternoon though lots seemed to be shut off for no reason – we later found out French TV was filming there, of course they were, We had a late lunch in Versailles town, a beautiful little restaurant tucked away, its beauty belied the bile that it sold in the name of food. Luckily what we did eat stayed down and eventually we headed back to the station, where again it seems our French cousins were filming Coronation Rue or whatever and we couldn’t for the moment go into the station. Time was running away with us and it was by now 6pm. Before too long we could get into the station and were heading back into Paris. We had made a reservation for dinner and wanted to be in our finery so the plan was , go back get changed, come back into the centre, have some drinks, see the Louvre, the Tower, the Arc etc..and wander back for our dinner.

Time was lost by getting on the wrong metro line, compounded by getting off at the wrong stop –(around the corner from the sacre couer so we almost nearly saw that) and then loosing the hotel again. I can even convey the trauma felt when Karens hair straightener’s fizzled and kaput mid straighten. All the ladies out there will understand the despair I am sure. So rather than looking classy, elegant and in Karen’s case at least beautiful and sophisticated, she felt “a mess” and was upset, for the straightener or for how she looked I daren’t ask. No amount of reassurement and compliment would work. And rather like that damn bus we limped out to hail a taxi to take us straight to the restaurant. The meal was nice, it was cosy and very much what I thought a typical Parisian restaurant should like. We basically blew the rest of what money we had on the one enjoyable experience we had in that city, we chatted with the owner in our best Franglais into the early hours. With just enough money to get our taxi back that was our Paris experience. Just one final thing, I took her up to the top floor and peering out of the window we saw the top of the Eiffel Tour and it was like seeing your new born child for the first time, well ok not really but you get the gist.

The next morning after breakfast we caught the bus and so the only slightly less tortuous journey back to Britain started. A vain attempt to ask the organiser if we could return via the centre of Paris so we could at least see something identifiably Parisian was met with a swift smiling Non.

So we never truly saw Paris, we are still together, still very much in love and married. We have never been back so maybe some day some person will award us a prize, that doesn’t involve buses, ferries, immodium or anything like and we can have that long long overdue romantic Parisian experience.

Dave Butterfield // March 12, 2013 11:46 am

Camping in Norfolk with gale force winds. The carbon fibre tent poles snapped and we had to come home a day early! It’s not put us off camping tho!!

kelly tobin // March 12, 2013 12:17 pm

After weeks of snow where we live high up in the Pennines, my partner and I headed for the sunshine and relaxation of a much needed short winter break in Tenerife. Little did we know – that weekend the Island was on Red Alert for strong winds and storms!
After huddling in our hotel room all day trying to keep warm, watching the waves exploding on the rocky beach, the rain pounding the balcony, and the wind hurling the heavy wicker chairs into the swimming pool, we put on our glad rags and dashed out during a brief dry spell to a local restaurant. Our mixed fish grill arrived and we tucked into a beautifully cooked sardine, followed by several chewy mussels, leathery swordfish steaks and gelatinously raw white fillets (sushi but not in a good way!) all accompanied by soggy, greasy strips of potato mascarading as chips. We could not finish the meal and, feeling distinctly queasy,were unable to take up the offer of a free replacement or dessert

As we stumbled, hand in hand, back to the hotel, stomachs heaving, the heavens opened, the pavements became awash and my partner slipped over, pulling me down with him and landing heavily on my hand as I instinctively tried to steady him! Nothing was broken fortunately but we were both soaking wet, covered in bruises and shaky with shock and food poisoning!

The following day we managed a few hours of sunbathing, in between undignified dashes to the loo, me looking somewhat bizarre in my purple bikini with purplish, blackening bruises blooming down my right side.

Later we flew back to Manchester Airport, arriving in the snow, and after struggling across the notorious Woodhead Pass in the middle of the night, we crunched, slithered and hobbled up our path to our front door – only to find our living room in disarray as my dear neighbour, who was supposed to have sorted out our central heating and damp proofing whilst we were away, had had to remove a massive radiator which he had left across our living room floor, and the heating had been turned off … Instead of falling into our warm beds, we turned on the heating and hot water and waited for the dreaded sound of water escaping from burst pipes….

Carole Tidball // March 12, 2013 12:45 pm

worst weekend?
Would have to be last where i had worked nights, to find my car has leaked and was filled with water. So had to walk home with no coat then got home to NO electric. I just got into bed and put the covers over my head.

laura-sym // March 12, 2013 12:53 pm

One of my worst weekends ever was last weekend, Mother’s Day in particular.It was a freezing cold weekend with warning of snow and I hate the cold at the best of times.

I didn’t feel too well on the Saturday so we stayed in and did nothing apart from a little light housework and lots of reading.

I was looking forward to the Sunday though as I have two children of my own and two stepsons who live with us.Would I get a surprise visit and see my granddaughter, would I get flowers?

I was lucky enough to receive a card and John Lewis vouchers from my eldest, presumably, no definitely bought by his fiancée; a text from my youngest son as he doesn’t have too much money but refuses to buy into commercialism anyway, and my teenage stepsons who are hormone fuelled at the moment and have decided they hate me now, well they’d bought me a card but didn’t get round to giving it to me!!

My husband and I made up a fruit basket for my mother-in-law and delivered that to her. We then drove over thirty miles to my elderly mother and gave her a lovely cardigan and I cut her toe and finger nails for her, as being blind she can no longer manage to do this for herself. I hate cutting her toe nails but no one else in the family will do it for her. So where was my Karmic reward for all I’ve done for our children? I can tell you I was very upset but have to admit that I feel a little better now for having vented my spleen lol!!

ANNE ROGERS // March 12, 2013 1:24 pm

Brought a cheap weekend break to Spain.
Flight was over-booked, camped in the airport for 4 HOURS.

Got to the ” holiday of a life time” eco hotel. It was so ecologically friendly that the rats slept in the beds with you and it just rained and rained the whole weekend.

Never again!

Solange // March 12, 2013 1:39 pm

My worst weekend was 2 weeks ago. I was knocked off my bike by a car diver who didnt see me on a roundabout. I currently cant walk on my left knee, my arm is in a pot due to a broken scaphoid which means I cant use my right hand at the moment.

Richard Speight // March 12, 2013 1:53 pm

waiting to collect a load of film equipment from Brussels,there was a 3 day delay so we had to stay in a Hotel,whilst waiting.
The Hotel had just been built,& although it was open it didn,t have much in the way of services,no coffee facilities,the kitchen wasn,t finished,so no Food available.
The windows were fixed shut,and when you left the room ,the air con went off,so when you came back into the room it was so hot ,& because the bathroom door didn,t close there was always a smell like “drains” in the room….not the most pleasant weekend by any means!!
thank goodness I had plenty of books:)

susan walsh // March 12, 2013 2:14 pm

The worst weekend I have ever had was an ill-fated camping trip with my boyfriend James one year in October. We desperately wanted a weekend away but couldn’t afford to go abroad, so we settled on “glamping” as a cheaper alternative that (we hoped) would still be the relaxing break we needed.

Left in charge of making the arrangements, I cheerfully selected a campsite in the Cotswolds offering luxury teepees and yurts with indoor shower and kitchen facilities. The rather chilly autumnal weather did not deter me – I simply imagined how cosy and romantic it would be snuggling up inside our luxurious yurt.

The trip began badly as we missed our train at Paddington. Tense words were exhanged re. whose fault this was. When we finally managed to get on another one, our seat reservations were no longer valid so we were forced to stand in an enclosed area near the train loo, spending the entire journey enduring regular flushing noises and wafts of – well, let’s not dwell on that.

When we eventually arrived at the small country station nearest the campsite, rather naively expecting to find a taxi rank, there was – of course – nothing in sight. Without mobile phone signal, we used up all our change in a payphone trying every local cab company number, with no luck. At last we managed to hitch a begrudging lift with a minicab driver who’d been about to clock off.

Not to worry, we thought – imagine how lovely it would be nestling in to our cosy, sumptuously furnished tent.

We arrived at the campsite in darkness to a rather grumpy welcome from the owner, who’d expected us much earlier. She pointed in the general direction of a large white tent and stumped off into the darkness. We made our way over to it, stumbling in the dark, tripping on tree roots and the several molehills that peppered the grass.

When we reached our sleeping quarters, we were dismayed to see (even without the torch) that it was more yeurgh than yurt. Essentially, a mucky white tarpaulin had been draped over a rough wooden structure in the centre, pegged down at the edges, with another mucky tarpaulin lining the floor. Some rather soggy (and, I’m afraid, smelly) cushions were heaped to one side. From what we could make out in the gloom, the entire inside of the tarpaulin was bedecked with spiders’ webs galore, each one housing a well-fed looking spider.

Having ascertained that the campsite owner had made a swift exit and was now nowhere to be found, James and I reluctantly laid out our sleeping bags and decided that we had better get to the nearest pub as quickly as possible. I should add that the temperature was probably hovering just above freezing at this point and we were chilled to the marrow. Not having had dinner yet, either, it’s fair to say tensions were running high between us.

It took rather a long time to locate and reach the nearest pub, owing to the fleeting mobile phone signal that meant Google Maps worked only intermittently. When we eventually reached it, we were relieved to find it warm and comfortable (at last! some good luck) and we enjoyed a delicious hot supper of pie and chips, washed down with perhaps one too many glasses of local ale.

It was with heavy hearts that we trudged back to our campsite and wriggled into our damp, cold sleeping bags. I tried not to look upwards at the spiders dangling a few feet above me.

We fell asleep quickly after all that ale, but it was not to last. A few hours later I was startled awake by a desperate scrabbling sound coming from underneath the tarpaulin right beside my head. I screamed. All I could think in my sleep-befuddled state was that it must be a rat, and a huge one too judging by the loudness of the scrabbles. (I realised later that rather than a rat, it must have been a mole trying to burrow upwards.)

Grabbing my sleeping bag, I lurched to my feet, my face going straight into an enormous spider’s web that wrapped itself around my face. I screamed again. All the while, James was groaning slowly away, clearly very confused about the ruckus going on around him and why his girlfriend was a gibbering, quivering wreck.

I ran from the tent and towards the only solid structure nearby – the tiny wooden chalet that housed the campsite kitchen. James and I spent the rest of that night lying uncomfortably on the concrete floor of the kitchen: if you’ve never tried sleeping on concrete, I wouldn’t recommend it.

We left first thing the next morning. James and I are still together although we haven’t been camping since – or glamping either – but after that dreadful weekend, I am in no hurry!

Sophie McCourt // March 12, 2013 2:24 pm

Worst weekend I ever had? On my year out in Germany (at Uni), I met up with two friends in Luxembourg for the weekend (they were in France so it was kind of half way!). Sounds glamorous? It wasn’t! There was nothing to do in Luxembourg and I’ve never been so COLD in all my life. We trailed from cafe to cafe, trying to get warm and to eek out our money. I had a stinking cold and a non-stop cough (so bad, the man in the hotel room next to ours bought me some cough medicine!). Whenever I heard the word ‘Luxembourg’ I shudder!

Helen Yendall // March 12, 2013 3:04 pm

My worst ever weekend had to be the weekend of Christmas Day 2011 which we spent with my fiance’s parents, his sister and her husband, their newborn baby, our two dogs and their two dogs.
I absolutely love Christmas Day, especially spending it at home with my family, however I was required to fulfill my bi-annually Christmas Day with the in-laws so emotions were running high before we arrived!
Upon entering the house, our two dogs ran in and immediately began barking at the other two dogs in the house. One of the dogs obviously got a shock and deposited a little “gift” on the hallway rug. As I was struggling to carry the Christmas presents into the house from the car, I didn’t notice the “gift” and promptly trod in it and stepped it all the way through the house! I was wearing new flat pumps which were ruined as they ended up caked in the stinky “gift” so they had to be placed in the outdoor bin. My fiance cleaned the mess up, disposing of the runner also in the outdoor bin, however the smell was so great he vomited into his t-shirt. He then spent the rest of the day wearing a skin tight t-shirt which was 2 sizes too small!
In the meantime the baby started screaming at the top of her voice and didn’t stop for the remainder of the day. My fiance’s mother burst into tears, and didn’t stop for the remainder of the day. My fiance’s sister and her husband started screaming at each other, and didn’t stop for the remainder of the day and my fiance’s dad opened the bottle of whiskey and didn’t stop for the remainder of the day!
While I was in the middle of what appeared to be National Lampoons Christmas Vacation, my sister took great pleasure in texting me a photograph of the wonderful relaxed family Christmas which they were having at home!
Fortunately we had a wonderful lunch (despite the boozing, crying and screaming) yet I am dreading this year’s Christmas Day when we need to do it all over again…..

Lindsey Robson // March 12, 2013 3:32 pm

My worst weekend was on our honeymoon in (funnily enough) Paris. The hotel my husband booked – described on the website as ‘a little luxury away from home’ was, in reality, a small shack absolutely miles away from anywhere, let alone home! My husband and I both got food poisoning from sampling the local cuisine at a dodgy restaurant nearby and when we got home we swore we’d never do Paris again! That was a couple of years ago now and well, I’m feeling brave. Plus, the fab itinerary that Tesco has lined up sounds far more appealing than our budget-boutique-and-bistro. I would love to give the city of love another go. Now just to convince the husband….

Laura-Jane Baker // March 12, 2013 3:39 pm

i went to new york with my girlfriend and we decided to try the manhatten cocktails and i woke up in the ER department with a nurse telling me off , my friend was crying and i got landed with a BIG bill argh!!

aileen smith // March 12, 2013 4:36 pm

My worst weekend was coming back from a Far East holiday on a Friday, returning back to a dull, rainy UK with a slight tummy bug. Lots of washing to do and work emails to reply to. Plus having to prepare for a meeting on the Monday. I needed another holiday to recover from that one!

Yee // March 12, 2013 5:48 pm

Quite a few years ago, a weekend camping in the Lake District sounded a wonderful escape. I didn’t realise it could rain so much. After a day out at everything indoors we could find, we retuned to see our tent marooned in a newly formed lake!

A Benson // March 12, 2013 8:02 pm

The first weekend I moved in with my now husband was Christmas and Christmas day I managed to put a butter knife through my finger and not only did I need to go to hospital to have stitches but I managed to bleed all over our brand new, cream, cotton sofa so it had a grand lifespan of 2 days! Hee hee!

kayleigh beirne // March 12, 2013 8:18 pm

Quite a few years ago I had booked a lovely hotel for weekend away with my husband but our old TVR got a puncture about 30 miles from the hotel on the motorway. The car didn’t have a spare tyre just an aerosol can that was supposed to seal the hole. Anyway it didn’t work and then the police stopped to check on us and told us we had to get off the motorway hardshoulder. Luckily it was only half a mile to the next juncton and there was a Halfords. My husband gave the lady our tyre size but they didn’t have it in stock but could order it for the next day. We ended up having to leave the car at Halfords, grab a taxi & pay to stay in a dodgy old B&B, whilst our lovely hotel room sat empty! The next morning we returned to get the new tyre fitted only to find it didn’t fit. It was the wrong size!! My husband had given the tyre size for a rear tyre which was different from the front……..which they had in stock all the time :’(

Claire Crisp // March 12, 2013 8:35 pm

My girlfriend took me to Geneva for my birthday and on the way my luggage got lost, so had to buy clothes there. When we got there the room was doubled booked so had to search round for another hotel which wasn’t the best. Worst off all it didn’t stop raining the whole weekend and I had no coat.

Neil Molyneux // March 12, 2013 8:39 pm

I have to share this one as it literally happened a couple of weeks to some friends of mine. Amy had kindly offered to put Lucy up for the night as Lucy lives out of town and they had planned a ‘big night out’.. Anyway big night was had, with the obligatory consumption of alcohol. Around two-ish the big night was over so a befuddled staggering began towards Amy’s house. They got back to Amy’s and after a bemused time of drunken searching it was discovered that Amy had lost her key- ergo they were locked out of the house. Bear in mind it was a freezing cold night and they were attired in very little due to ‘big night out’. After much bewildered deliberation, it was decided not to ring the spare key holder who lived four miles away or not to break in the house. Instead they found the only option was to stay in Lucy’s car on the drive which contained the sum total ( in terms of warmth/ comfort) of one fleece. It was apparently ‘bloody freezing’ all night

D J Kirby at // March 12, 2013 8:44 pm

Weekend birthday celebration in Dublin. Sat in the hotel room with a couple of “friends!” after the Saturday night out. Woke up Sunday morning to find I had one eyebrow shaved off. At first I wasn’t impressed and really let steam off, but after a couple of hours I had calmed down and luckily had brought a pair of reading glasses to cover my missing eyebrow and managed to continue the celebration through the day, but I did make the culprit feel very guilty for how it would affect my job all weekend (even though work laughed it off). Overall it was a good weekend but the first hour of that Sunday morning was one of my worst haha

Carl // March 12, 2013 9:04 pm

I brought my boyfriend an orbing experience (rolling down a hill in a ball) for Christmas. Geography has never been my strong point so he wasn’t overly keen to day trip from our home in Birmingham to BRIGHTON!! So we looked for overnight accommodation, only to discover we could book a 2 night minimum stay. We booked 2 nights stay and orbing to take place Sunday morning. On Saturday we went to a restaurant we had booked 3 weeks earlier as I’d found such amazing reviews, we were the only people in there the whole time. I think they must of thought it was a joke when we prebooked and the food was appalling! We only had a few drinks anticipating orbing the next day, only to wake to a TEXT msg cancelling the event due to winds. WAS A DISASTER from start to finish!

Kellie McIntyre // March 12, 2013 10:24 pm

My worst weekend was recently when I fell ill on the Friday with, well, sickness from both ends is the most polite way of describing it.

My two year old son joined me no Friday afternoon, my seven year old daughter on Saturday morning, and my wife on Saturday afternoon.

Sadly it was the weekend we planned to spend away in Cambridgeshire, and instead spent it at home in gross unpleasantness.

Gerald Dawson // March 13, 2013 8:22 am

Worst weekend ever was my wedding weekend ..or rather what should have been. In the Caribbean with a few close friends and family. The beach was set, the hotel was thrilled as never had a wedding there and were pulling out all the stops. The day before the wedding we went into the capital to pick our licences up and had a beautiful lunch overlooking the harbour, it was idyllic. We sat for hours just chatting excitedly about the day ahead…We walked back to where the bus was due to pick us up, done some stairs and I collapsed shivering and shaking. I was rushed to hospital, which no offence to the lovely people of that Island but it was a bit of a dump. I spent my wedding day hooked up to a drip next with an old man next to me who wailed all day and night and a young man on the other side who it appeared had done something wrong as he was handcuffed to the bed but spent all night trying to pull it off. On the morning my beautiful wife should have been made even more beautiful she was instead scurrying around the hospital to try find me.

I had to stay in for two nights, so my wedding night was not as anticipated…by this time our family and friends had virtually all had to go home and by the time we could get another licence a few days later, everyone had gone home. So with two American tourists as tourists, a week later we got married and at 4am the next morning had to fly home. I guess that’s what you get for trying to be all exotic!

Dave England // March 13, 2013 11:31 am

My worst weekend is when my boyfriend and I went camping on the North Yorkshire coast. The campsite itself was horrible, the toilets disgusting. It was on the edge of a cliff and it was so windy we couldn’t get our big tent up, so we had to use a smaller one. The weather got worse overnight and the tent started leaking, so we packed up in the middle of the night and came home again, almost 200 miles. It was a wasted weekend, and only now, a couple of years later, can we laugh about it.

Lucy Felthouse // March 13, 2013 12:29 pm

I went for a romantic weekend break with a boyfriend in london a few years ago, the hotel (booked by my boyfriend) looked abit tired, we went to bed after a meal and a few drinks and in the middle of the night I woke up suddenly hearing a loud noise looked up and half of the ceiling had caved in and water was pouring all over our bed and suitcases everything was covered I had to travel home in wet clothes it was awful, that was the end of our weekend and our relationship after such a horrible experience!

jessica newman // March 13, 2013 12:30 pm

My then fiancé surprised me with a holiday to Spain in later was to be my marriage proposal! The whole holiday it rained and was grey! My poor fiancé was waiting for the right chance to propose! Sadly the weather never picked up! He did however propose in the night when the rain had stopped on the beach! He is now my husband yay! Sadly we have never had a honeymoon as my husbands van engine blew up and we had to use our wedding money on that! Very sad face!!!

Emma Robertson // March 13, 2013 12:33 pm

My husband only gets home from Afghanistan every 4 months, on his last visit I took a reaction to my arthritis medication and had to stay in bed because I kept passing out. He had arranged a few days away on our own and I had to cancel. Don’t get to see him again until end of April/ may…don’t have a date yet . I had planned a lovely time not laying in bed throwing up looking wretched

Martina mckenna // March 13, 2013 12:38 pm

my worst weekend was three cats and half a house packed into a Mini for Plymouth to Manchester. Got a flat tyre 20 minutes in and rescued 2 hrs later by an extra from Deliverance. Spend an hour in his pickup praying I wouldn’t get murdered, cats going barmy. Arrived back home, ran a bath and cracked the sherry open. Husband arrived and noticed water pouring from light fitting in kitchen. I’d unscrewed the bath plughole to remove hair and not replaced it properly. He erupted when I turned the kitchen light on to see what he was talking about… Bad weekend.

nicky R // March 13, 2013 12:55 pm

Me & my boyfriend had planned our first short break away to Nerja in Spain. When we arrived we were shown to a room which you couldn’t have swung a cat in, it was looking onto a busy road and the bathroom had a half size bath and no shower!!! So we asked to be moved only to be moved to a room (which was bigger I might add) where the toilet was broke and the whole room smelt of sewers. In the end we had to pay 100 euro to be moved to a room in the new part of the building as there was no other rooms available!! It really did put a dampener on things but once we got moved we had a fab time!!

Catharine Rice // March 13, 2013 1:08 pm

My worst weekend was several years ago when I studied in the U.S. and my sister and brother was coming to visit me for their Christmas break. As a treat, I had booked a hotel in Chicago for the weekend through one of the online travel agent sites. Now, this was years and years ago when booking your holiday online was a fairly new phenomena and payments and communication between the site and the hotel, apparently, weren’t running as smooth as nowadays.
We had a lovely time in Chicago, even though it was freezing cold and we spent most of the time walking from shop to shop to keep warm, but the last morning of our stay there was an envelope slid under the door of our hotel room. I open it to find a hotel bill. I am quite surprised by this, considering that I had already paid the hotel through the travel agent, when I ordered the hotel in the first place. So taking my question downstairs to the reception to clear up this matter, they can’t find any record of a payment and I am directed to a payphone to clear it up with the online travel agent. I wasn’t even allowed to use their phone! After much arguing with the customer service team, they send me through to their payment department where they didn’t have a record of a payment either and told me that they would have sent through any payment to the hotel right away. There was nothing else they could do for me. Since I hadn’t brought a receipt there was nothing to do but pay for the hotel again and all the lady at the reception had to say was. Please come again! No thank you.
Good thing was, when I got home I dug out the receipt and called the travel agent. Suddenly when I had the receipt in my hand they found my payment in no time and I got my money back. By then however, it didn’t matter so much about the money, as the memory of the weekend had been destroyed anyway.

Josefine Ejebjork // March 13, 2013 2:23 pm

My worst weekend was receiving a phone call to say that my boyfriend had been in a mountain bike accident and that he had broken 3 bones in his back. Needless to say I rushed to the hospital only to be greeted by his wife and kids!!! I turned around and walked out of the hospital never to see him again, completely broke my heart.

Samantha Lea // March 13, 2013 6:47 pm

My worst weekend away was my first camping trip, it rained the whole weekend the tent leak, food got damp & the BBQ coal would not light

Dani // March 13, 2013 7:14 pm

My worst weekend was one with “the girls”. We had tickets to see the late great Whitney Houston in Birmingham so we decided to make it a great weekend by driving from Southampton to spend a few hours at Alton Towers first. We arrived at lunchtime and after queuing for almost an hour for the new ride the park was hit by a power cut and after a further hour with no sign of the power coming back on we left without having been on anything.To add to our disappointment Whitney was clearly unwell and spent more time off stage than on it. Sadly this is a weekend that can never be repeated.

di dilly // March 13, 2013 8:30 pm

My worst weekend was when I was made redundant and the next day my childhood pet died and my best friend said her contract had ended and she had to move back home to a different country….altogether it was awful but luckily I see my bestie all the time and have a great new job

christina brown // March 14, 2013 5:07 pm

Went on a camping break in the New Forrest at Easter with my husband and my children who were then aged 6, 8 & 10 some years ago. Started well, pitched the tent and cooked our tea. Then decided to have an early night. It started to rain and the wind was blowing a hooley. The kids were really scared, so we snuggled down with them and eventually got them to sleep. Work up very early in the morning and found that most guy ropes had come off and the fly sheet had blown away. We ventured further and found that the majority of the camp site had been flattened we had never seen anything like it. Needless to say we packed up and went home with 3 tired and very unhappy children.

Sue Bell // March 14, 2013 7:15 pm

When my two children were young my husband and I went to Butlins for a long week end. It was only about an hours drive from where we lived. We didn’t want to go but my sister in Law and her husband were going and talked us into it. When we arrived it was pouring with rain, the chalet was freezing and damp. Every indoor activity was full and the wait to play snooker or anything was over an hour. We hated it,the children hated it and brother and sister in law couldn’t make it the first day,drove down the second day took one look at the place and drove back home. We didn’t stay for the final day either. I’ve been to other Butlins which were good fun but this one was awful.

Anne Mackle // March 15, 2013 11:13 am

A couple of years ago my husband and i had planned an overnight theater trip to London.

Friday evening, I (very stupidly) decided it would be fun to have a bounce on the trampoline. One jump and a massive snap later, I was writing around in agony.

My lovely husband, carried me inside where I sat with a bag of frozen peas feeling very sorry for myself. Later we went to A&E who told us there was nothing they could do as it was just badly sprained.

Not wanting to cancel, we went ahead with the trip anyway. I spent the whole time hobbling around, leaning on walls and sitting down as much as possible. By the end of the day my ankle had swollen to twice its normal size so after that we decided it was probably best to admit defeat and head home.

So all in all, it wasn’t the most successful of trips though it did make me realise what a wonderful husband I have. He looked after me so well and didn’t complain once. I’d love to win this trip to Paris so I can take him and show him just how special he is to me and how thankful I am to have him in my life!

Annie Cardy // March 15, 2013 2:40 pm

My worst weekend was actually also our honeymoon – nearly 30 years ago. We went on a mini-weekend Railbreak to London after a meal in a hotel. It’s all we could manage as we hadn’t any paid holiday.
It started badly with the wedding car- just a taxi with no white ribbons as Mum hadn’t told them it was for the bride. The taxi driver took us to the wrong hotel and by the time we’d got to the right one everyone else had already arrived. The taxi driver then very awkwardly asked us to pay the fare – with new husband having to go borrow some money from the guests as he hadn’t got his wallet in his wedding suit.
After the meal his sister ran us to the station in our car for our romantic weekend away – but half the other wedding guests also got on the train, which was full so no privacy. On arriving in London we were taken to the hotel – only to find it was fully booked and they weren’t expecting us! We ended up being ferried round to another 2 hotels before we got one that would have us.
It was freezing cold and snowy all weekend and we only had one pair of gloves between the two of us so ended up walking round with one glove each holding hands and the other stuffed into a pocket as we couldn’t afford to buy another pair.
Finally, when we got back to my parent’s house we found his sister had gone back to Liverpool with our car keys in her pocket and my Dad had to break open the steering and hot-wire our car so we could drive back to Lincolnshire in time for work on the Monday morning.

Joanne Fletcher // March 15, 2013 8:20 pm

mine has to be my wedding weekend we hired a lovely hot air balloon ride after our ceremony,after around ten minutes of being in the air the hot air balloon came down in a field.Thanks to the very experienced pilot we were not hurt but we had to walk a mile to the nearest road to reach the car the balloon company arranged to pick us up.We had no choice but to walk through sloppy cow pats which were splashing all over us.By the time we got to the car we were cold,wet,upset and miserable.We headed straight home to change our clothing before going for our reception meal.We booked a local carvery for all our guests.The food was disgusting and very poor quality which none of us enjoyed.However we did manage to get away with any further bad luck as they say things come in three’s.Our evening do was amazing and everyone had a wonderful time,the balloon company were great,refunded the whole cost,dry cleaned my dress and gave us £200 compensation,our wedding meal was refunded in full after a few complaints by phone.On the Monday after our wedding we were off to the airport to go on our honeymoon and both of us were so excited to be going to Dominican Republic.We waited the usual 3 hours before going to board our plane to be told three of the planes toilets needed fixing and we had to wait a further four hours to board our plane,so i guess we had to go through the bad luck that can come in three’s to enjoy our amazing trouble free honeymoon.

hazel smith // March 16, 2013 7:28 am

We went to Gibraltar for a short weekend sunshine break in late spring… It was like being in England. It rained the whole time and the skies were grey. We went to a viewing point where you can usually see the coast of Africa and even the guide was stunned that you could not see anything at all. I don’t think he had ever experienced that before! We even had to buy an umbrella at M&S as they have British stores there so it really was like being back home! Having said that, we were luckier than a British bride we saw at our hotel in her beautiful wedding dress. She looked wet and frozen…they had obviously planned the wedding out there expecting a bit of sunshine!

Sue Obrien // March 16, 2013 8:42 am

My worst weekend ever was when I met my ex boyfriends parents when we went to visit them for the weekend.
It seems that they had massive row shortly before we arrived and were not taking to each other at all. His mother kept breaking down in tears all weekend and his dad proceeded to drink heavily and try and start another row with everybody at any opportunity.

I never met them again thank god as we broke up about 6 weeks later!

Clare F // March 16, 2013 3:22 pm

Went to venice with my now ex-BF. We had a lovely romantic meal the first night, he got food poisoning and spent the next two days either in the loo or in bed. So i explored on my own. Not the romantic break I was expecting.

Helena h // March 16, 2013 6:00 pm

My worst weekend .. we had a weekend trip booked to spain but the planes were grounded, so we spent the entire weekend at the airport!!

Amy Ripley // March 16, 2013 6:09 pm

We were on our way to the airport for a long weekend break when we were caught up in a traffic jam that meant we spent 8 hours queing and trying to find another route.
We couldn’t even get a refund after !

Gerald Ludlow // March 17, 2013 11:18 am

My worst weekend happened in February this year, the Monday was to be mine and my daughters birthday….at the weekend, though, we had her party at a play centre and 3 injured children later, and a cracking headache, I then had to take my son to another party, where for two hours we endured loud pop music. By the end, I felt I’ll, and in fact I got flu, so badly that I was in bed literally for the next week, completely missing out actual birthdays… A truly bad weekend! Not on e that I want to repeat

Alison E // March 17, 2013 5:29 pm

This weekend – my mum was in hospital after having major abdominal surgery to remove a cancerous tumour. Also my boyfriend of 4 years – who I am head over heels in love with & was looking forward to (finally!) moving in with – decided that he ‘isnt ready’… So I’ve got to face the fact that I have been waiting for something that is just never going to happen. I also now have to find somewhere else to live!

Jude W // March 27, 2013 9:12 pm

We decided to have a weekend in bruge many years ago as we had heard how nice it was but we had to it on budget.The only time we could get off was in february so we travelled down to ramsgate nine hours from staffordshire when we finally got there we slept in the car for the first night so cold … At the hotel my then boyfriend got very ill so we didnt see much of bruge we should of saved up and gone to paris we still havent been but i did marry him and sixteen and two children later Im now working in a bakery shop and when the saturday man comes outside the shop with his accordian and music book i say to my work colleagues pretend were working in a patteserie in paris

jennifer // March 27, 2013 9:57 pm

Last weekend was my worst, wake up sleep deprived thanks to our twin girls, go to brush my teeth and put soap on my toothbrush, only realising when I put it in my mouth! partner has essay due and accidentally close file on comp without saving the conclusion, break underwire in bra it stabs my boob! make dinner decide to eat after girls are out highchairs and let them pick of my plate in living room, Big mistake! one bit of Yorkshire pudding in mouth and she proceeds to be sick on my plate! next night make apple crumble spill a little custard on hob and decide in my stupidity to wipe with my finger! burn fingers final serve and low and behold one baby eats the crumble topping only and the other the custard only, whilst the big baby eats half a dish then moans he ate too much and can’t do dishes….. oh wait that’s not last weekend that’s my life lol!

katarina micallef // March 29, 2013 12:12 pm

My worst weekend away begin in a really promising way, I’d won some tickets to see Wet Wet Wet (that’ll give you some idea how long ago this was, they were at the height of their fame then, ‘love is all around’ was in the charts etc) and I’d won a Radio One competition to see them in concert in Manchester and meet them afterwards. I was hugely excited, being a massive fan. Got to Manchester, saw the concert (from behind the sound desk so couldn’t actually see anything) then proceeded to go back stage. Except they wouldn’t let me in, I wasn’t on the list. Devastated. Came home and rang the contact number for Radio One, who were very apologetic, and said I could go to the concert the next night in Newcastle, they’d pay for flights, hotel, the entire weekend and make it up to me. I was excited. They said they’d call the next day to set up everything. I waited all day for the phone call, ringing to try to hurry them up. They finally rang, giving us 40 minutes to get to the airport and check in. Needless to say, we didn’t get there on time and the flight left just as we got there. The worst weekend that never was, and I never met the band. Gutted!

Jen Shinner // March 29, 2013 3:20 pm

This isn’t a holiday or a break away. This is what I currently have to live with. My parents moved to Wales and I moved into a houseshare with 2 guys. Within a week they started showing their true colours towards the house. Within 2 months it became extreme. I can’t even describe to you the mess in the kitchen. Dirty clothes on the work tops. Cat food on the work tops. 2 week old food left in pans. The list is endless. The floor is covered in dog poo, cat wee and cat poo. I cry myself to sleep most nights. Recently, EVERY WEEKEND, my landlord’s (and housemate) sister and 5 children come round. They’re there from 11am til about 8pm every Saturday and Sunday. At first I could handle it. I dealt with the screaming and crying kids. I dealt with the mother swearing and threatening them. And I dealt with being stuck in my bedroom from 11-8. Yes it was my choice but I’m not one to interrupt other people’s family time. It’s now gotten to the point where every weekend I’m sat at my grans because I can’t stand the chaos. It doesn’t seem like a big deal but when it’s my weekend off as I work mon-fri, I want to chill out and watch TV, read a book but in a small house, it’s hard. Thankfully I’m moving next weekend.

Emma Bannister // March 30, 2013 6:09 pm

I think ours would have to be our honeymoon weekend! We booked what we thought was a stunning 4 star hotel in Nice only to be placed in a room where the mattress was on the floor as the bed was broken. Our sea view was a brick wall, the shower hung out the wall and the toilet had umm been used. We braved it and went out for dinner where I very promptly got food poisoning and spent the whole night throwing up in the toilet! The rain and general dirt of the hotel def made it a honeymoon to remember!

Lucinda Barton // March 30, 2013 6:12 pm

The weekend started well with flowers, chocs & kisses but quickly ran into disaster after a delicious meal at a posh restaurant. Clumsy boyfriend knocked over a bottle of red wine on to my white cat-suit (it was the 70s!) Then later at the disco he managed to get beaten up by a bouncer. Wonder what he’s ruining these days?

Shelley White // March 30, 2013 6:22 pm

I was trying to impress my boyfriends parents the first time I met them, and so invited them to my flat with the offer of dinner one friday – the evening went really well and off home they went.
I received a phonecall the next day from my boyfriends father saying everyone had been struck with food poisoning – the phonecall was unneccessary as I’d been ill myself since the early hours!!
Needless to say I was so ashamed and refused to meet with them for weeks after. 7 years later we’re planning our wedding, and I have a sneaky suspicion this story may make it into the speeches……although we laugh about it now I can honestly say I’ve never felt more mortified than i was on that phonecall!

Nia Wyn Roberts // March 30, 2013 6:37 pm

Our worst weekend away was spent in a freezing cold caravan in Wales, last year. The fire didn’t work so we spent the nights shivering. I think a weekend in Paris would be much more enjoyable! Xx

Beth // March 31, 2013 2:04 pm

My worst weekend was last month. We were travelling to Ireland to visit my family. We arrived a day late for the ferry, (I had booked the wrong date) After paying an extra £100 we were allowed on the ferry. Once at my Grandads I discovered that I had ‘misplaced my engagement ring’ cue 3 hours of frantic search (and lots of tears) only to find it in my purse (where I had put it to keep it ‘safe’ whilst washing my hands on the ferry). We had a lovely weekend with my family. On the way back to Dublin to catch the ferry our car broke down, it took 3 hours to sort a tow truck to put us on the ferry. We finally arrived home just to discover a leak in our house!!
We got engaged in Paris and it would be wonderful to visit it again.

natasha brewster // March 31, 2013 6:26 pm

The trouble with weekends is that you always expect to have a good time as you are not working. Doesn’t always work out that way, the worst weekend I have had was when my husband and I decided we would enjoy one of our last chances to have a weekend away before our first child was born. So thought a romantic stay in a country house would be perfect . My husband got food poisoning and as we where in the middle of nowhere I ended up spending a very romantic weekend looking after a sick husband hoping that my morning sickness wouldn’t come back.

Alison Standen // April 1, 2013 9:22 am

Last year, we booked the cheapest break ever to Costa Brava. The flights on Ryanair were £2 so add the credit card charge on and it came to £14 each. Found accommodation right near the beach for £7.50 a night. How bad could it be?

I’m well used to Ryanair now. I’m used to the stop start queues, leaving you trapped in a tunnel for a while. And once I grabbed a seat, I turned a blind eye to the children drawing on their arms with biros in front of me and hardly even noticed the man who looked like Peter Stringfellow but who had died and been dug up. In fact I wouldn’t have noticed him at all if he wasn’t using a peg for a bookmark. That, I decided , probably meant he was serial killer.
The other £2 flight passengers were alright. Some lads on a stag do to Barcelona who believed Michael O’Leary was telling the truth when he listed the flight as going to Barcelona but was in fact Girona. They looked a bit fed up when we later saw them asking taxi drivers for quotes. One of them had appointed himself as King of The Plane. Leaning over the back of his seat, collecting money for the kitty, talking too loud. I don’t think there was enough in the kitty by the way for the taxi all the way to actual Barcelona.

Anyway, it was basically fine and we got a transfer for a tenner, there was no sign of Peter Stringfellow the serial killer and we arrived in Lloret at the accommodation block. There was a hand written sign on the door with a list of guests expected and instructions to ring number 45. But we weren’t on the list. So I didn’t know whether to ring the bell or not. Instead I rang the number the mobile number we were given when booking and said in my very terrible Spanish something like
“Hello , we have a reservation but we are not on the door.”
“Where are you? ” said a woman.
I said we were downstairs and she said to come up to number 45 on the top floor.
We knocked on the door of number 45 and even though it opened silently, in my head it creaked. A little dog ran out and licked us. I instantly decided the woman form the intercom was a mentalist. There was nothing about her that would make you think she was crazy, I think I’d just taken in all the surroundings really quickly in the way you do when your fight or flight response is triggered and everything I saw added up to “One big sack of crazy”.

As she shuffled about gathering what seemed like hundreds of pieces of paper, I began to take in the surroundings of her weird office cum bedroom cum kitchen. It smelt of school gravy.
The first I noticed was the vase on the table. It was half heartedly wrapped up in tin foil which proved to me her favourite thing in the world to do right now would be to kill us and eat us. Next to the vase was a basket of bread. That’s not wetrd in itself but it is when you see it contained half eaten and broken chunks of around fifteen different types of bread and even more weird when she moved it and put it on the floor.
On the walls were hung different sorts of sausages and then I spotted on the sink drainer a bowl full of bones. There another, then on another surface a plate with more bones and gravy.
Oh Good God in Heaven, I was going to be eaten alive.

After what seemed like hours of her stapling and filling in forms, she asked to take our passports, probably so she could assume our identities after she had killed us and ate us. I would be dead in hours, I was sure of it.
She jotted down our passport numbers, handed them back and gave us the room key. We got the lift down to the room, relieved to leave the stale bread, bones and tin foil room.
Bones of the previous guests, perhaps? But if her room was like that, would we have our own bowls of bones in our room?

Well, no.
It was lovely, really, really lovely- bordering on luxurious in fact, a huge one bedroomed apartment with comfy furniture and a balcony with a great sea view. I was so relieved. For a minute or two.

Until it occurred to me if I was a mad dog lady who wanted to eat British people, I’d give them luxurious rooms for £7.50 a night too, you wouldn’t give them an uncomfortable and tatty room so they would leave to go somewhere else, would you? How would you murder them in their beds if they weren’t even there!

I didn’t sleep well that night.

Liz @fivegoglamping // April 1, 2013 12:07 pm

I have visited Paris once, many years ago with a girlfriend…..who had very different ideas to me as to what to see!! We spent a good chunk of our last day there traipsing around the city hunting out Christian Louboutin and Dyptique Candles, rather than soaking up the atmosphere in the artists quarter (which I aim to do some day). Didn’t get up the Eiffel Tower as it was too hazy to see anything! Didn’t manage to fight through the crowds to even see inside the Louvre or Notredame! I would love to go back, with no set agenda….wander through the flower markets and simply get lost…..see where I end up!!

Vivienne McBride // April 1, 2013 12:28 pm

My husband and I had packed the car the night before to make sure we got off to a good start. We’d booked a surfing weekend in Cornwall for us and our two young children. We got up really early, ate breakfast and were just about to get in the car when I decided to check we’d locked the caravan which we were leaving on our driveway. As I squeezed between the house and the caravan I caught the side of my knee on the metal track through which the awning is fed. It hurt a bit but I didn’t think anything of it. It wasn’t until I was sat in the car that I absentmindedly touched my knee and it felt wet. I looked down and saw to my horror that I was bleeding profusely! We called in at the local A & E to get me stitched up and emerged into the car park 4 hours later! Bang went our early start! 20 miles down the road our car kept losing power and we had to pull over and call the AA. The AA man couldn’t fix the car and arranged for a vehicle to tow us back home. Once home I decanted all our carefully packed luggage and waited for my husband to come home with a hired car. He turned up with a small saloon and not all our luggage would fit in. We had to repack and finally set off mid-afternoon. We arrived at our holiday cottage at 10pm. The cottage was lovely, the weather was lovely too but I spent the whole week looking longingly at the waves because I couldn’t get my knee wet!

Andrea Goodheart // April 1, 2013 12:48 pm

My worst weekend, although it turned into the best weekend.

A weekend camping in Malham Cove. We arrived to glorious sunshine and all was good until we went to bed. I had not brought any other clothes with me, other than what I was wearing. I could cope with this being a mum! Went to bed and woke up feeling sooo cold. I couldn’t believe that you could be alive and feel that cold. I lay on my blow up camp bed, just about to start crying, when I realised that I now needed a wee as well. No way was I getting out of bed, no matter how cold it was. I lay there and lay there in the depths of misery for what seemed like the longest night of my life. Until I could lie there no more. I sat up, unzipped the tent and peaked out. There were loads of people walking to the toilet and it seemed all friendly and lovely. So I jumped up, ran the toilet, grabbed all my remaining clothes put all of them on and jumped back into bed. WOW it was heavenly, fell asleep and woke to the most amazing sunshine and warmth.

Tina Parnell // April 1, 2013 2:09 pm

The weekend when we were delayed at Gatwick for our ski-ing trip. We were dealyed for three days and had to just turn round and go back home.

lisa anderson // April 1, 2013 2:41 pm

2 emergency landings on a flight to New York for a long weekend meant we lost one of the days that we were supposed to be there. Pretty scary, but everyone got back on the plane after both emergency landings to get to New York

Diane // April 1, 2013 3:18 pm

After spending an amazing holiday late summer in Varenna, on Lake Como, I decided that as my husband was really busy at work, I would book a little ‘me’ time and go back to Varenna for a weekend by myself. In November. It snowed the night I arrived, which was beautiful in principle, but with no hot water bottle, no heating in a 17th century stone house, I had to wear all my clothes, coat, scarf and gloves to bed and it was still too cold to sleep. After the first night, I discovered that all the little shops I was hoping to browse and all the restaurants to eat in by the lake were all closed FOR THE SEASON. Nothing was open and I was frozen to the bone (as I discovered that the hot water in the flat was also not working so no hot shower…)so I gave up after 24 hours and booked a flight home, tail between my frozen legs.

Toni // April 1, 2013 8:58 pm

my worst weekend is every weekend that I am on call for my job in NHS either as manager on call or superisor of midwives on call becuase I always put myself in the psition of the patient and agonise over what is the best decisions to make in the interest of patient and rest of hospital so essentially I do not sleep 1 weekend in 6

paula mulholland // April 2, 2013 12:12 am

My first holiday with my now husband was a “mini break” ala Bridget Jones. Unfortunately, we chose to go to Scotland and live in Devon, so it was a very long drive. When we got there, tired and on our last legs, we couldn’t believe that arriving at 7pm, meant the hotel had decided we weren’t coming and let someone else have our pre paid room. Nothing we said or did got us a room, so we then spend the next three hours driving around to find a hotel with space, and paying over £200 for one night! All our spending money gone!

Dawn Walsh // April 2, 2013 11:48 pm

On the last day of term (a Friday) I decided to go out drinking with my friend. It was the first time I had properly done this and so I wasn’t entirely aware of my limits. After a copious amount of shots and double vodka mixers we decided to leave the bar to find somewhere else. The contact I had with the cold air suddenly made me feel very drunk. I wasn’t allowed in to the next bar and some guys came over and invited us to their house. I was so out of it so my friend took up their offer and we went. On the way there I collapsed and dropped my bag; the contents of it fell out. They put most things back in the bag but one of the guys kept my ID and halls of residence key safe in his pocket. I had to be carried the rest of the way. I woke up early the next morning feeling so hungover and confused only to realise that my friend had left me there with these complete strangers! I had actually arranged to go home for Christmas on this day but was unable to because I was so sick. I therefore had to explain to my parents why I was not coming back. I also had to report my ID lost/stolen as the guy had forgotten that he had taken it. He told me a few days later that he had found it but I had already applied for a new one! What a great first experience of drinking. It made me learn my lesson and I drink now only in moderation.

Louise // April 3, 2013 12:31 am

One of my worst weekends was when i my then partner proposed to me in front of his family. It wasnt an option to say no and it was clearly his way of fixing the relationship so had no choice to say yes in front of people. He then made me tell my parents immediately (who knew I was about to leave him and were completely bemused, feigning excitement).

Lisa Clark // April 3, 2013 1:14 pm

Last year our son was poorly with ‘flu for his 5th birthday – we all sighed with relief when he recovered in time for his party the following weekend, but he kindly shared his germs with me and my husband just in time for the party. We spent the weekend crawling out of bed to make and ice the birthday cake, sort out the food and plan all the games etc., then we had to host the whole party – which was football-themed so we had to actually play football too! All the kids had a great time which is what matters in the end, but not our finest couple of days!!

Catherine Hughes // April 3, 2013 2:03 pm

I went on a date on the Friday night and ended up falling down the stairs of the restaurant taking everyone on the staircase with me and ending up in hospital with a broken arm.

Rebecca I // April 3, 2013 5:33 pm

The worst weekend was when I took a weekend educational trip to spain with my college. It was my first time on a plane and I got terribly travel sick I don’t think the air hostesses were too pleased and neither was I with the drunken men I had to sit next to pulling the blinds up and down, up and down for 3 straight hours! Thinking everything we going to be alright once landed we set off for a trip to a local bullring where I managed to fall down stairs, cut open my entire leg, break my arm and be rushed off to a spanish hospital where I was forced to put my language skills to the test when the teachers weren’t allowed to come in the room with me! I couldn’t wait for the trip to be over but when checking in at the airport the woman noticed my cast and informed me I wasn’t allowed to fly home so all the teachers argued for hours with various staff holding up the full class and we ended up missing our flight having to wait 4 hours until the next. It was so embarrassing and definitely the worst weekend in spain ever but I do hear Paris is nicer!

Tammy Tudor // April 3, 2013 10:58 pm

My worst weekend away was when me and 5 friends decided to go away to celebrate graduation. At the last minute one person had to drop out so she phoned ahead to cancel her room. When the rest of us arrived there had been some confusion and it turned out she had cancelled all of our rooms! In a desperate attempt to find somewhere to stay we ended up in an unfinished part of the hotel that didn’t even have flooring fitted, just concrete!

A Graham // April 4, 2013 4:28 pm

Rome. The Eternal City. A dream come true for a stressed-out thirty- year- old birthday girl whose boyfriend announces he’s taking her there for a long weekend.

On the first evening all was dreamy and romantic in high heels and floaty dress. The night was balmy, the breeze gentle and the water in the Trevi Fountain sparkled while a lone violinist serenaded us.

Now those that know Rome will know that a lot of its streets are cobbled. And anyone who has worn high heels will know that cobbles and high heels do not mix. While gazing into my boyfriends eyes I turned my foot and heard the most almighty crack.

After two maddenly frustrating days and nights confined to our hotel room, in denial (but wearing a tight sock for support) my boyfriend was at the end of his tether and insisted on the Sunday afternoon that I go to hospital.

The foot was broken (obviously) and was set in the most ridiculous elephant leg-sized plaster cast you have ever seen. Hot it was not. Romantic it was not.

We flew home on the Monday. I was that person you see at airports on the little beeping trundle truck thing that is reserved for the incapacitated.

At the airport my dad collected us and took me straight to our local A and E for them to ‘check’ the Italian handywork. Clearly I was not a priority so I waited seven and a half hours to be seen. Oh yes, and that day spent in casualty – that was my actual thirtieth birthday.

Rome didn’t happen then, but Paris would certainly make up for it!

PS my boyfriend is now my husband, so I’d feel obliged to take him!

Paula Miller // April 4, 2013 5:24 pm

My husband and I were very poor and got a second hand car to go on holiday in, just for the weekend. Half way down the motorway, it broke down and we had no RAC or other breakdown assistance. A mechanic came out from the nearest garage, ran the car engine and said, ‘them’s expensive noises, but I’ll tell you what . . ‘. ‘What?’, we said, hopefully. ‘I’ll get you a cup of coffee while you wait in the garage” he replied. The car needed a new engine, fitted while we were lifted home – at a price. It conked out soon after we had one fitted at the generous coffee supplier garage, using a bank loan that lasted much longer than the engine. There was no weekend away , no car, no money for a long time.

Mary // April 4, 2013 9:01 pm

I’m amazed by all of the bad weekends people have had! Some crackers here, if that is the right term…

Anyway, the worst that springs to mind right now was the last weekend I spent with an ex-GF. She was in a foul mood, everything I did was wrong as far as she was concerned. But on the bright side, it was the last weekend I spent with her

Michael C. // April 5, 2013 11:57 am

My worst weekend was supposed to be wonderful but ended up being something from a farce comedy sketch!
It started off with my partner and I missing the alarm and rushing round to check in on time (which we did) but we thought something was amiss when we heard our names being called over the tannoy as we hadn’t checked any luggage in! We had!! Despite being reassured that it was a computer error, we arrive in Dusseldorf…but our luggage didn’t.
After a quick trip to the local Rossmann (German Boots) to stock up on anti perspirant etc, we decided to go into Dusseldorf to do some sightseeing, which involved a ride on a street tram. The tram was packed and for some reason I ended up sitting in front of the local drunk tramp, who kept leaning on (and pulling) my hair!! So to avoid this, I decided to move up the tram and away from him when it next stopped. As soon as I got up to move, the tram moved and I grabbed hold of the nearest thing to hold onto, which happened to be on the bendy part of the tram, My arm went round the bend with the tram, but my body didn’t, dislocating my shoulder. I was stunned with the pain and my partner couldn’t work out what was the matter. When he did realise, he had to spend a good 30 minutes trying to pop it back in again for me to avoid a stay in a German hospital!!
On the way back to the hotel, we got soaked, meaning our one set of clothes were soaked. We sat in the hotel room in our underwear with a takeaway pizza and German TV for the rest of the evening.
British Airways rang to tell us that our bags were being delivered the next day…but!!!
On waking in the morning, I felt sick as a dog and had really bad stomach cramps. We trekked to the nearest pharmacy only to discover it was a German bank holiday!!! At this point I REALLY wanted to go home. Funnily enough, I still enjoy going to Germany though!

Ms Hewitt // April 5, 2013 8:37 pm

We booked a family weekend to London to go and see The Lion King. We got to the airport, to learn that no flights would be taking off due to the ash cloud. So we all jumped back in the car and drove down instead! The hotel was right on the edge of the Congestion Zone – which we were not aware of – and it was only when we got back to Glasgow, did we get charged for driving through the boundary.

Diane Mooney // April 5, 2013 8:42 pm

Last weekend was quite bad, as weekends go. My lovely friend had a birthday party which involved going to a dry ski slope for a couple of hours of messing around. Me being clumsy, I managed to end up sliding down the ski slope backwards, knocking over all of the girls on the way and breaking my leg.

Not only was I in absolute agony I also managed to ruin her birthday party and completely humiliate herself in front of all her friends!

I still hadn’t lived it down after several months of recuperation..

Emily Clark // April 6, 2013 11:07 am

Where do I start! A few years ago we had a lovely holiday booked to visit Paris, we had pre-booked the Moulin Rouge and pencilled in visits to Montmartre to sit in a café and watch the artists in the square, a trip down the Seine to see Notre Dame. Sounds lovely BUT due to my wife getting a crippling back virus we had to cancel and consequently spent the weekend at home playing nursemaid The very next year we had decided to book a weekend in the Peak District only for me to get full on man flu, undeterred though we carried on and spent a lovely few days albeit all plans went out the window and we enjoyed the best we could without venturing too far from the hotel. This would be a great way to celebrate 19 years of marriage

M Stocking // April 6, 2013 3:33 pm

The weekend my partner and I were going on a romantic trip to Paris. We travelled from the North to London to get the Eurostar…only once we had arrived at St Pancras, my other half realised he had forgotten his passport. We didn’t have enough time to go back or get someone to drop it off so we went home. In silence. Would be great to win and finally make it to the City of Love!

Kirsty N // April 6, 2013 5:01 pm

My worst weekend was in a Park resorts caravan in isle of Wight, on a very windy and rainy weekend, in a cold caravan, which i thought it’s going to come away due to the wind!!

Elena vb // April 6, 2013 11:09 pm

My worst weekend had to be when i agreed to host a friends birthday tea party at my house. i love baking so offered to make everything, but everything was a catalogue of disasters and i had a day of baking nightmares. i went back to the supermarket to re-buy all the ingredients but when i came back my dishwasher had flooded my kitchen! Luckily i went to a nearby cafe, hung all the decorations and purchased everything there and we had a lovely day. but it was the worst baking weekend and very stressful and expensive!

Sophia Kearney // April 7, 2013 11:15 am

My worst weekend was when I spent my birthday and Valentines Day in hospital – 3 nights in total. I ended up having a major operation too, which wasn’t planned. But it wasn’t all bad as at the end of it all I got my little newborn baby delivered

Victoria Cunniff // April 7, 2013 5:19 pm

Hello,
Ive never had a really bad weekend, But i had a not so nice weekend this weekend! Both me & our little ones have the flu, one aged 2years and the other just 6 1/2 months… I’ve never had to clear up so much sick, snot and poo before .. I Can’t wait for us all to get back to normal, it feels like its going on forever.. i feel so sorry for my partner who has to look after us all, aswel as keep our business going!

xx

Emily Jane Nelson // April 7, 2013 8:42 pm

My worst weekend was when my new boyfriend took me to meet the parents…and I slipped and fell to reveal the GRANNY PANTS I was wearing. Oh cringe!

Cheron T // April 8, 2013 9:41 am

Many years ago I went away with my parents to what was supposed to be a ‘good’ hotel (part of a large chain). On arrival we found that the hotel’s car park was full because, as reception told us, it’s used by shoppers. Our rooms though, seemed very nice – until that is it came time to turn in for the night. The rooms were directly above the function room with a disco going on until the early hours. Next morning, at breakfast, tables were laid, but all were missing cutlery and crockery ‘because there was a function last night and it hasn’t been washed up yet’. It took nearly 2 hours to be served breakfast ‘because we’re short staffed this morning’. Complaints to the hotel about the state of affairs were just met with ‘it’s not normally like this’.

Christine Constable // April 8, 2013 11:26 am

The worst weekend I have had was a wedding last year in a 5* hotel. My Sister in Law was getting married so we thought we would treat ourselves & stay at the hotel. We required a family room for me, Him & our 2 children. We were placed in ‘The Nook’ – very romantic in appearance but unfortunately anybody over 5’8 would have touched the ceilings. My poor Hubby is 6’5. We’d were getting changed when he walked back into the room from the bathroom & smacked his head on the door frame. He felt ok & we managed to attend the ceremony & sat down to eat the wedding breakfast. He only had 1 glass on wine & nearly passed out. He was slurring his words & could not stand straight. I struggled to get him back up the stairs & his head was literally bouncing off every surface. It transpired he had concussion from the earlier bang. The hotel was in the middle of nowhere & everybody had had a drink. I got him in bed & re-joined the party but spent all evening on pins in case he suddenly reappeared. Plus all the old dears kept asking if he was OK then discussing how drunk he was very loudly when they thought I wasn’t looking. It was horrible.

JOANNE TINSLEY // April 8, 2013 4:43 pm

My worst weekend ever was travelling all the way to twickenham to watch a wales v england match in a coach full of drunken welsh rugby fans,then wales lost so the journey back was involved more beers and grumpy men,I never been since lol

Eirwen Bridges // April 8, 2013 9:23 pm

Funny enough, i have just got back from a weekend away with my family, cut short as it was sooo bad. We went away to Camber Sands in a resort that maybe i should not name!! My hubby myself and our boys. We needed this 4 day mini break as we never get to go on holiday, and as my son is being tested for epilepsy we needed a quality stress free family time. well when we arrived the appartment was discusting, full of dirt and cobwebs near the bath, a clump of someones dirty hair..yuk!! the wood was cracked so much around the windows that it was beyond freezing, i couldnt use extra bedding as all the quilts were covered in stains and hair, not from the head!!!! so the 4 of us slept in two very small single beds pushed togther, well we didnt sleep!! we thought we would go for a much needed breakfast, to discover no food as there was a gas leak! we went to order coffee while waiting for the childrens bouncy castle to be put up, (it wasnt put up after all) The coffee was like water, after returning 2x the barman informed me that the machine was broken and waiting for repair, but was still using it?!
Our T.v wasnt working so we asked to have it changed, they refused! Then we went to hire scate boards that was advertised on a poster, there delivery had not arrived since they put the order in before easter, and the gocarts they had were broken! After my 11yr son saw 2x people holding there tummies in pain and being sick in the amusments he asked if we could finish the holiday! Im so glad he did as i couldnt spoil the only holiday they may have this year by cutting it short! This was the worst weekend EVER!!

Tina Hector // April 8, 2013 9:33 pm

How funny to read this question today as without a doubt it was this last weekend…. I went on a date with a new(ish) boyfriend, and the first’ sleepover’….. Shortly after getting home on Friday night I was hit by food poisoning, or norovirus, and spent the entire night and most of the next day in the toilet. I can only imagine the impression I made (let alone what I looked and sounded like) – but I’m pleased to say that he was incredibly understanding and actually maybe this brought us closer! But mortifying for me – and so how I’d love a chance to try the weekend again, this time in Paris!

Emily // April 9, 2013 9:47 am

My worse weekend was when i took my girlfriend of the time to Kent on a weekend way. Lovely secluded hotel. took her on the miniature railway. the Dover.

Then on the Sunday..i packed a picnic and on a blazing hot summers day drove to Leeds Castle. the most romantic place in britain. walked hand in hand round the house. sneaked off to get picnic ready..as i found her to take her to eat…she just told me were over!!
dumped..given the elbow…lmao now..wasnt then.

had to pack up the food and we drove back in silence. it was so awkward..lol

so hoping to win paris..so romantic..surely i i wont get dumped there by my lovely Girl..lightening never strikes twice…..Does it

Neil Lumbers // April 9, 2013 4:41 pm

It is a recent one…This Mothers Day, husband was away working, the boys were up all night poorly, the cat was sick in the lounge, the dog used my door mat as a toilet and I broke my mums gift.
Drove an hour journey to lunch to meet my family, got there 45 minutes late to find my toddler had had an accident and I had left his bag at home. Went and bought new clothes, realised I had lost my phone so I went back to the car to find I had left it unlocked. By the time I had got the the restaurant I had missed lunch!
Drove all the way home, decided to treat myself to a takeaway and a glass of wine to discover that I had now left my wallet in the shop where I had bought my sons clothes! Safe to say I was pleased when that day was over.

Katy Spence // April 9, 2013 8:13 pm

Hi, My worst weeeknd was actually during my honeymoon in Florida. My husband decided he was going to have an appendicitus and ended up in an American hospital for the operation with major complications after it!! The worst thing was he had been complaining of feeling unwell for two days and i put it down to the heat and kept telling him he was going to be ok!! Luckily we are still married 18 years later but would love another honeymoon to make up for it!

clare houghton // April 9, 2013 9:54 pm

A weekend in Paris 2 years ago. I was going with 2 friends. We were all arriving from different places. There had been really bad snow in the uk so my friends were unable to make it. So I had a weekend in Paris alone. Tried to make the most of it and see as much as I could but the 1 thing I wanted to go on was the Eiffel Tower but due to the snow it was closed.

Kirsty // April 10, 2013 1:56 pm

My worst weekend was definitely 3 days and 2 nights on a boat on the Barrier Reef. Most people would enjoy this but not me – I get seasick and have a fear of fish. I was kind/foolish enough to offer to accompany my then boyfriend, now husband, as he desperately wanted to go on the trip. The sea was so rough I felt sick all the time, couldn’t eat or sleep and it go so bad that the only way to escape the boat and get relief from the sickness was to get into the sea for a quick swim but of course there were loads of fish which I hate! it was the longest weekend of my life and I have never felt so pleased to step onto a concrete jetty.

Bronwyn // April 10, 2013 3:46 pm

When it was my 17th birthday me and my then bf decided to go away for the weekend to Alton Towers. Neither of us could drive so we went up via train to Nottingham. We had a great time and then on the Sunday when it was time to leave and we had spent almost every penny we had, a storm decided to hit the area. This meant that when we got to Nottingham the train had been cancelled! We were absolutely terrified! After a lot of crying and wondering around some very dodgy areas of Nottingham we found a bedsit which was cheap enough to give us a room for our measly £20 we had left. The room was so horrible it had a plastic cover over the mattress and a strange stain on the carpet. We also had to share the bathroom with about 20 other rooms. I was so freaked out I actually slept on top of my bf all night so I wouldn’t touch the bed. Thank god the trains were up and running the next day!

Louiza Barry // April 11, 2013 9:16 pm

Last September my hubby and I ( in our 40`s) decided to kick back to our youth a bit and go to Bestival on The Isle of Wight ~ particularly to see the Saturday headliners New Order. We hired a VW Campervan and set off on our road trip like a pair of excited teenagers! We got to the festival and the weather couldn`t have been more perfect! We had a wonderful afternoon in the sun watching Adam Ant and Emelie Sande, and then started to get excited about the big event. We bagsied a spot right at the front of the stage in anticipation of New Order coming on. We didn`t move for 2 hours, in order not to lose our space at the front. Imagine the scene…….the lights dim, background music comes on, the chords of Blue Monday start ringing out. The moment we had waited the whole weekend for had arrived…………..and my husband chose that precise moment to pass out. We got dragged over the barriers by security ( nice grazed shins!!) and got whisked off to the medical tent and subsequently hospital in an ambulance. After a long night in Cardiac Care ~ he was discharged with ………….. heat stroke. I still can`t believe we missed seeing my favourite band EVER because he forgot to wear a hat! I still cringe when I picture the scene of 2 grown adults being dragged over the railings because they`d passed out waiting for their favourite band! So that`s it for us now, festivals are off the menu. We obviously just can`t take the pace

Joanne McGawley // April 12, 2013 1:20 pm

My worst week ever was last week, literally!
One day into a weekend trip to Glasgow, I caught the Norovirus and was violently ill and missed the only posh meal we planned to have up there. When we got home, my fiancé and mum caught it as well and we spent days taking it in turns to run to the bathroom. When I went back to work (2 days ago!) I found out that work expect me to take on another person’s workload who has left on top of mine for no extra. Later that evening my mum rang and said that the Mole Clinic called to tell her that the growth on her lip is cancerous. WORST WEEK EVER.

Rachael Simmons // April 12, 2013 7:37 pm

Many moons ago I was desperately revising for my finals. It was glorious outside but I had to stay in all weekend trying to get ready for my exams. Outside you could hear everyone enjoying themselves, laughing and joking and I just had to sit there.. To make it worse my hayfever was terrible so I didn’t get much done anyway! Why does the sun always make an appearance when you cannot enjoy it!

zoe goodwin // April 13, 2013 10:15 am

My worst weekend was the day we moved into our first house that we have bought. The day we were moving, decorating and generally trying to do 100 different things in a very tight schedule, my husbands uncle (who we are very close to) has a car accident. The accident was so bad he was taken by air ambulance to Addenbrookes. We heard what had happened and rushed to the hospital, he was on life support for over 2 weeks and we thought we were going to loose him. We spent most of the 2 weeks at the hospital. Fortunately he pulled through and he was very lucky. 3 years on he just suffers from a bad back! We have since had him over to help us redecorate to which he was happy to oblige.

Hollie Fraser // April 13, 2013 2:17 pm

I was looking forward to my first ever romantic weekend away. We were going to take the car ferry over to France and then my boyfriend was going to drive to Paris. I was thinking about walks in the Tuileries gardens and romantic meals for two. A week before we were due to leave, an old school pal of my boyfriend phoned to say he was coming over to the UK for a few days. They had not seen each other for years and were looking forward to catching up but they would miss each other as Jimmy’s trip clashed with our romantic weekend. My boyfriend found a solution to this problem – he invited Jimmy to join us! So the long journey to Paris was spent with me sitting in the back of the car whilst the two friends chatted about their school days and Jimmy chain smoked. This was not how I had imagined our romantic weekend and no reader….. I did not marry him!

Sheila Brady // April 13, 2013 4:30 pm

I was away with my friend and boyfriend in a hostel in Argentina, my friend was pick pocketd her passport and wallet and our camera out of her handbag, my boyfriend got food poisoning and then the guy sleeping on the bunk bed above wet himself so I got covered in pee! However I would like to go back to Buenos Aires to give it another chance.

Zoe Dillon // April 13, 2013 9:41 pm

My worst week-end was probably also my best week-end! I spent 2 nights in hospital with my son, suspecting all sorts of terrible ailments and only to find that he had eaten a family bag of jelly sweets which had all stuck together and clogged up his digestion. He has now discovered that chocolate is by far a better option!

Moira Haswell // April 14, 2013 9:59 am

I like my weekends like I like my women. Short, full of fun, and gone by Monday!

David Goodship // April 14, 2013 4:40 pm

Many years ago we spent a January weekend at the Youth Hostel in Salisbury. We entered what looked like a fine mansion but our room was in a shed-like building out the back. There was just space for 2 bunks and a plastic chair. It was freezing cold and smelt damp. The mattresses had crimplene covers. The washroom consisted of a row of sinks in the entrance. The weather was dismal, and as was often the case on Winter Sundays in those days, nothing was open, so we headed home early!

Katrina Crate // April 14, 2013 5:49 pm

My worst weekend was at the end of a holiday in turkey. The plane didn’t show up on the saturday to take us back to the UK but luckily the tour operator put us in a hotel for the night. However, we were only given 1 litre of water between 2 people, the hotel was questionable but at least it was a bed for the night, breakfast consisted of only bread and water. We had thrown away our empty toiletries before leaving the resort so had no toothpaste, deodorant etc! There was a lot of waiting around as nobody knew what was going on. We weren’t provided with anymore food until the evening so we had to purchase the only food available at the airport, chicken nuggets and chips for 40 euros for 2 people that we couldn’t claim back. We eventually landed back in the UK on the Sunday evening, a day later, and had a four hour drive home. Once home it was literally straight to bed to be up at 6am for work! The worst ending to a really nice holiday.

Emma // April 14, 2013 8:54 pm

My worst weekend ever was a few years ago on my birthday. My husband decided that it would be a good idea to ignore the hints I ‘subtly’ dropped about a night away in a lovely hotel but instead decided to buy me two electrical appliances… The first one was an iron and the second was a food procesor. I couldn’t decide which was the worst present… He was obviously making a point about my house-keeping abilities. Sadly the marriage didn’t last… I wonder why??!!!

Sally Kershaw // April 15, 2013 1:05 pm

It was a very wet weekend in Durham in the hotel “Country View”, of which there was one if you stood on the lavatory seat and craned your neck out of the tiny window and counted the allotments in front of the railway line as the “country”. Coupled with a candlewick bedspread you could not sit on and the carpet which meant sheep dipping your feet after walking on it and food poisoning that made it seem that my husband and I had entered into a suicide pact as we didn’t emerge from this nightmare room for 2 days. It was memorable but for all the wrong reasons.

Kelley Parker // April 15, 2013 11:13 pm

more of a week than a weekend, we were on a camping holiday, and the kids were rolling around down a slope in the camping field, I noticed their clothes looking a bit dirty, upon close inspection, it turned out to be tiny ticks. (the field had been occupied by sheep and deer in the winter) and they had got on clothes, hair, skin, everywhere… if you get my drift… we spent the entire week having ‘tick checks’ every night in the toilet block as that was the only place with decent lighting, to remove them before we went to bed. heres a funny bit…, my husband went crab fishing on the harbour wall with the kids, and a crab ran up the leg of his shorts… we howled with laughter

maria hewitt // April 16, 2013 11:38 am

My husband took me on a surprise weekend last summer, we ended up at cricket match in the rain and sat for 6 hours looking at grass, Cold and wet we book into our hotel, the roomwas freezing, laid wraps up in a duvet all night, gald to get home

Jennifer Heaton // April 16, 2013 3:29 pm

Last year, we went to the South of France. Unfortunately, the weather was rainly most of the time, and to top it all, my husband had an upset tummy too. So we ended up staying indoors !

Joan // April 17, 2013 2:34 pm

My worst weekend was not long after I’d split with a boyfriend. We were still living together and I just wanted to get away for the weekend so I took my dog Bailey down to Cornwall for fun and frolics in the sunshine. The drive down was pleasant but by the time we got to a lovely little beach that I knew of it had clouded over. Determined to make the best of it, we started off on a hike up onto the headland. The second we reached the top, the heavens opened. I resolutely pressed on. We both were drenched in seconds but as Bailey didn’t seem to mind I decided that neither would I. By the time we’d looped round and headed back down to the beach, it was no longer the isolated little spot I’d hoped it would be. A family with two kids and a couple were now doing family / coupley things all over it. There’s nothing more soul destroying when you’re newly single than to be the “single dog lady” in company but we braved it out and played ‘stick’ for half an hour to prove that I wasn’t really dying inside. The following day we headed up to Devon and had a pleasant lunch and afternoon’s relaxation near Woolacombe beach. Unfortunately I’d chosen to dine on deep fried breaded camembert, having forgotten the crippling bout of food poisoning I’d suffered from eating warm cheese a year before. The cramps hit me around midnight in the little dog friendly B&B we were staying in. Bailey was very confused as to why I kept getting up (presumably for walkies) but then returning to bed. There was no way I could hang around Devon any longer than I had to so we started off on the 5 hour journey back home as soon as I was able to stay away from the toilet for more than half an hour. The 5 hour journey because more like 8 due to frequent stops, a little snooze in a service station car park and an aborted walk for Bailey where I ended up sinking down onto the path telling him that I was so sorry but I just couldn’t walk any further and that I hoped he would forgive me. Home has never felt as good as when i stepped through its door that day.

Josie Kelly // April 17, 2013 4:40 pm

Years ago when I was a lot younger and didn’t have much money, my boyfriend at the time and I decided to take up a magazine offer of a 3 night stay plus dinner at quite a nice hotel in Exeter of all places. Nothing wrong with Exeter but looking back I’m sure we could have found somewhere better to go! We had a fabulous weekend taking in all that Exeter has to offer (the details are hazy now..) up until the last night back in our hotel room. This was a Sunday evening and we were settling down for the night when we realised there appeared to be a party going on somewhere in the hotel which was playing some ridiculously loud music. We called down to reception and they apologised and said they’d look to move us to another room. We sat there listening to the thump of the beat downstairs for an hour before ringing back to be told there were no rooms and there was nothing they could do, the wedding party wasn’t due to finish until the early hours. We were beside ourselves and disappointed with how our break should end but saw no other option than to pack up and drive home there and then. By this time it was gone midnight and we had a 4 hour journey in front of us, but wide awake we were so we checked out at reception where we met a very disshevelled manager (he’d been awoken by his staff who couldnt handle all the complaining guests) who offered us a 50% refund. We got home shattered and irritable at about 5am the next day!
I just hope the happy couple and their guests at the wedding party enjoyed themselves after ruining our romantic break to Exeter!!

Vicky Leslie // April 17, 2013 6:31 pm

Worst weekend was 2 weeks ago when my husband had a heart attack (after going for a run). Fortunately the NHS were excellent and he’s now on the mend.

June Heal // April 17, 2013 8:15 pm

My husband,myself and our five year old daughter went to Wales as my husband was a judge at a sheep show,thought we’d make a weekend of it.During the past week it had rained a lot and the shows car parks were flooded which meant on the morning of the show it was chaos ,my husband had to run 4 miles to judge the sheep in time and once I’d found somewhere to park on the side of a mountain my daughter and I had to walk about 4 miles also we of course missed the judging.My husband then got incredibly poorly so we thought we’d retire to the hotel after a horrid day,only to be told as we went down for dinner that our daughter couldn’t eat with us in the restaurant or anywhere else for that matter I packed our bags and drove us home!!

Chere Taylor-Border // April 18, 2013 8:08 am

My worst weekend was two months ago when my husband, child and I were due to go on a weekend break to Stockholm.
On route to picking my child from school on the Friday, I took a shortcut and slipped in mud, breaking my leg and requiring two plates.
I had a three night hospital stay.
Wasn’t the type of break we had in mind!

Mary Wood // April 18, 2013 1:28 pm

My new husband and I spent our honeymoon on the Isle of Arran. It was beautiful, peaceful, ideal and the road which went runs the whole island was twisty, turns and up and downy so I decided to drive because it looked like fun. What was not fun was getting a frozen shoulder the following day because I wasn’t used to driving, twisty, turny up and down roads. The local doctor put me on such a high pain relief that I spent the rest of the honey moon in agony/throwing up!

Ruth Boulton // April 19, 2013 10:24 am

Mt first weekend with my, now, wife was actually in Paris. It being the start of the Internet booking systems I had booked what my schoolboy French told me was a romantic getaway in the centre of Paris. It turned out to be the French equivalent of a Youth Hostel with twelve people in a dormitory. In bunk beds. It’s amazing that we got together after that.

Tony Gurney // April 19, 2013 11:49 am

My brother and I went away on the equivalent of an 18-30 holiday to Corfu. I enjoyed the sun, beach and partying, whilst my brother stuck to the bars! About 4 days before we came home, we went out for the day on a boat party. Although there was plenty of alcohol available, my brother chose that day not to drink. When we returned, he jumped off the jetty into the sea (totally sober). However, because he hadn’t been swimming all holiday, he didn’t realise how shallow it was and broke his ankle – he spent the rest of the holiday in hospital and having an operation and I spent the rest of the time getting taxis to and from the hospital! Even when we got home, he needed further surgery, so we remembered that holiday for a long time, for all the wrong reasons!

Wendy Tolhurst // April 19, 2013 4:37 pm

our worst weekend would be taking the children to London for a family tourist trip. we missed the first train which had reserved seats due to my son forgetting his blankie (my fault) we ended up standing for nearly 4 hours all the way to london, then the first morning my husband was ill, really sick so had to stay at the hotel while i got lost and missed our slot at madam tussards, then it poured with rain when i took the childen on the boating lake in the park, by the time we got home i need a week in bed to get over it all but funnily the children had a fab time and want to go again!

tamalyn roberts // April 20, 2013 4:56 pm

My worst weekend? A combination of camping, baby, car overloaded, forgotten baby wipes , freezing cold weather overnight and spilt milk. We still camp though , despite the dirty looks we got next morning from the other campers on site. I guess our baby crying had kept them all awake. oops!

tiff jordan // April 20, 2013 5:29 pm

A cottage in northumberland which was full of dog hairs,im allergic to dogs!

karen latif // April 20, 2013 5:52 pm

We were going to have a wonderful weekend on a caravan site in Cornwall. We couldn’t go far because our six year old had just started daily injections and we also had a three year old.
We got to the caravan which was lovely – the site . had beautiful views, lovely children’s play area – all we wanted.
James , 3, was really excited – his first holiday! He scrabbled up the caravan steps and explored the caravan. I was bringing in the luggage as James appeared at the top of the caravan steps and promptly toppled down them – you know how it happens in slow motion but there’s no way you can get there in time. Screaming and covered in blood – we raced to casualty – yes James had broken his nose. As the nurse told us how to deal with it, James climbed on her wheely chair and promptly fell off! the nurse turned to us and said, ‘ See you later in the week – probably!’ and smiled!!!

jane moffatt // April 20, 2013 6:19 pm

I once flew 3000 miles to visit my fiance over Valentines weekend. He had booked a hotel and it promised to be a romantic trip. We began the weekend by having dinner at a local restaurant which was perfect. Unfortunately the next morning I woke up with extreme stomach pains and soon discovered I had severe food poisoning. The weekend lost it’s magic for my partner as he spent 12 hours holding a sick bucket!

Gemma Woodcock // April 20, 2013 9:57 pm

My worst weekend involved me, 4 children, a tent, a clifftop campsite and a middle of the night storm. Need I say more…

Sharon Bird // April 21, 2013 4:20 pm

My worse weekend was actually when we were trying to get to Paris! We got stuck for hours on the Eurostar in the snow and missed out on so much of the beautiful city as we ran out of time. It would be great to go back.

Lesley Ann Perry // April 21, 2013 5:08 pm

My worst weekend was when we were on holiday and I tripped over and broke my nose. Ouch!

Pauline Dring // April 21, 2013 5:36 pm

My family were looking forward to our holiday in Malta. We arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning and went straight to bed as we were all tired from the journey. I heard strange noises in the night and the following morning we were horrified to find that we were not the only family in the room, a family of mice had made it their home and had been scurrying about all night! Fortunately it didn’t spoil our holiday as we were moved in to the timeshare units next door the next morning.

Jackie Rose // April 21, 2013 6:15 pm

The car getting stuck in the snow in a remote area with no mobile reception with all the family in the car…dreadful!

Clair Dukes // April 21, 2013 8:41 pm

We’d been to London for the weekend – it was a much needed break from the kids so we really wanted to make the most of it. Anyhow, woke up on the Sunday and had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, but I remember thinking that the egg tasted a bit ‘odd’.

We got in the car to make our way back to Leeds and almost immediately had to stop for me to be sick (by the roadside – classy!). Unfortunately, this continued, and without going into detail, I had issues at ‘both ends’ so to speak..!

So that was all well and good – we were in a car, and could obviously stop when needed along the way. Apart from the fact that suddenly the traffic came to a halt. 20 mintues later we were still at a standstill… In fact, we didn’t start moving for another hour and a half.

The. longest. hour. and. a. half. in my life!! I’ll leave the rest of the story to your imagination…!

Lisa Hughes // April 21, 2013 9:14 pm

After spending a wild night in London with my sister, I was supposed to meet my husband at the Euro Tunnel to go to France for our 2 week family holiday. Suffering from a severe case of fatigue and a terrible hang over. I accidentally got the train to Felixstowe instead of Folkstone!

Needless to say, I missed my family and the train and was spent the whole weekend on various modes of transport and a couple of days to get myself to the South of France! I have only just been forgiven!

Lya Thomas // April 21, 2013 9:26 pm

Gotta be a girls weekend away. I managed to slip over in the shower, crack my head on he side of the bath, split my eye lid open on the shampoo bottle, and was hauled wet, naked and unconscious out of the shower by my friend (very close friend now). I then had to sit in the restaurant whilst the lady who was driving us home, ate her breakfast – I felt sick, shocked and was literally using napkins to stop the blood dripping on the table – very surreal. Eventually when she had had her full she took me to A&E where I had a 4 hour wait to get my eye stitched. Not the best weekend away I’ve ever had – oh the shame!

Amanda marman // April 21, 2013 11:38 pm

My worst weekend was when I spent hours making a huge cake for my mums Birthday and then on the drive round to her house I had to slam on my breaks and the cake went flying and splatted everywhere. What made it worst was it took my days to try and clean my car

fiona gregory // April 22, 2013 11:06 am

The worst weekend I had was when my girlfriend went on holiday and I didnt realise till after I finished work that I had left my keys at home and therefore locked myself out. I had to spend the weekend on my friends couch until my girlfriend go home with her keys

james wright // April 22, 2013 11:08 am

Many Years ago we had a touring holiday down the Welsh Coast, on the second day I left my Handbag by the Breakfast Table, and only realised after drriving a further 100 miles down the coast! – so we had to turn round (Hubby not at all happy) and drive all the way back… luckily they had found it and saved behind reception, but a total waste of a day.. Then it rained and we missed our pre-booked dinner at the next Hotel. Oooh Joy (but I still love Wales!)

Sylvia Gill // April 22, 2013 12:20 pm

Staying in a holiday cottage with friends, the shower leaked, we had pots and pans downstairs to collect the water coming from the ceiling!

sarah fach // April 22, 2013 8:21 pm

My boyfriend booked a weekend in Ibiza as a suprise. We got stuck in an accident on the motorway and missed the flight, booked onto the next one the day after, arrived and ended up having one night there in which my handbag got stolen and then i ended up getting food poisoning

jennie jackson // April 22, 2013 8:55 pm

My grandparents and i were in a tiny caravan on holiday when my Nan and i came down with a nasty tummy bug. This was a long time before caravans with internal loos. The wind was howling around the van, we felt like we were on the dodgems at the fair. My grandad had been at work and came back to the caravan with a surprise fish and chip supper, that was the last thing we wanted, so we had to pack up and go home. Trying not to be ill. Horrid.

Emma Ranson Bellamy // April 22, 2013 11:28 pm

I haven’t really been on many breaks as have always been too busy working but there was one time when it was my 30th birthday good few years back. I bought two return eurostar tickets for me and my ex. The weather in Paris was terrible but we still saw sights. I found myself at the top of the Eiffel Tower when it began to lightly snow….it should have been the most romantic thing in the world with the “one I loved”….the sad truth was we drifted and I really wished I had spent it with someone who loved me enough to surprise me on my 30th birthday with a romantic Paris getaway, but instead I had to do all the hard graft S

Anyway, years later I am now with the love of my life….our only holiday was a night in Edinburgh, despite heavy showers and cold winds a bluster I was (and still am) with the man I love….so all that stuff didn’t matter. I only wish it was with him I was at the top of Eiffel Tower with.

Would be great to get that second chance.

Maria Khokhar // April 23, 2013 8:04 pm

Our honeymoon was booked for Paris,travelling from Heathrow.
We were late getting to the airport because there was a problem on the undergrounds. Arrived as check in was about to close and then discovered we’d left our passports at home.
Phoned dad to bring them to the airport and forked out to book on another flight. Finally arrived in Paris to torrential rain
which didn’t stop all weekend.
We’ve never been back and would so like to have a second honeymoon there!

Connie Bowman // April 24, 2013 10:21 am

My son had been picked to be a mascot for his favourite football team. Before he was due to go on one of the other mascots for the opposition kicked the ball at him and knocked out his front tooth so there he was posing for photos lined up with Tevez looking all gummy with a blood soaked hanky in his hand. Things didnt get any better. At half time he was allowed back to his seat and whilst standing on the chair to get a better view he slipped and got his leg stuck down the back of the chair. He was in agony and I had to try and hold him up until we got some help. The police came over and tried to help but couldnt, some very ‘merry’ fans tried to help but made things worse. In the end they had to get someone to come and dismantle the chair to release him. We’d all missed the second half of the match and were shell shocked that things could go so wrong so quickly. We had the quietest 4hr drive home as we were terrified at what else could go wrong, we were sure we would crash! We made it home in one piece (well minus a tooth) but were just glad the weekend was over and hopefully all the bad luck that came with it!

Maria Webster // April 24, 2013 10:56 am

My worst weekend was the first ‘Romantic’ weekend away with my then boyfriend(now husband) we were very young and very broke some friends let us borrow their tent and we set off for Devon and a weekend getting close to nature. Neither of us had camped before but how difficul could it be. We found a beautifull spot on the campsite near to the river looking out on a stunning waterfall, lovely during the day but deafening at night when all was quite, then the rain started and did’nt stop so we were kept awake with the constant sound of running water which made us want the loo and then had a very long very muddy trek across the site to get to the loo block! Every item of clothes and bedding were damp or wet. As soon as the rain stopped and the sun came up the next day we packed up and headed for home and have never been camping since.

Lesley Smith // April 24, 2013 11:24 am

The vilest of all weekends started with the unwelcome arrival on a sunny Friday afternoon of the demon Norovirus and finished on an equally sunny Sunday afternoon with both my unfortunate husband and me sitting huddled in blankets, white-faced and exhausted . We had looked forward to a spirited walk, some invigorating gardening, a delicious Sunday roast and some quality shared time but were frustrated in every single plan. We hope never to experience such a horrific weekend again !

Mrs. Gillian Harvey // April 25, 2013 3:58 pm

On the way to bournemouth for the weekend i Took a wrong turn using the sat nav and ended up in a viaduct with water half way up up the car. Engine was flooded and had to be towed out by the AA man who tried not to laugh to much!!

Chris morgan // April 25, 2013 6:08 pm

My husband saved up in secret and then whisked me off to Venice for our anniversary in 2005, the honeymoon we never had. Unfortunately I developed a migraine within hours of arriving and spent our entire 4 night break alternating vomiting & sobbing because of the pain. My poor husband spent the whole time sat in the bar watching Italian TV with the barman, not quite the romantic break he had planned! We’ve never had our honeymoon & have recently celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary, so winning this would be amazing! good luck to all x

Julie Sheppard // April 25, 2013 6:10 pm

It was only a weekend up to the Lake District, but we were sat on a coach behind a bloke, apparently called Bruce. Our tour guide was Oriental and all we got as she came up and down the coach Nice Tahiti, Tahiti nice

Karen England // April 25, 2013 6:13 pm

My friend lent me their caravan for a weekend one August so me and my sister could have a nice break. It rained continually and found out my sister,who I adore, is claustrophobic and she moaned all the first night as the rain hammered on the caravan roof-I came close to murder I can tell you!. It only stopped raining when we got back and don’t get me started on trekking to the toliet in the dark and getting freezing wet-never again!

Ann Smith // April 26, 2013 12:13 pm

Decided to stay in London for the weekend as I was there for work for a few days and do some shopping and sight seeing. The weather had been beautiful all week but on the Saturday morning the rain was torrential and it was freezing. I was there in a flimsy little mac and then got a hole in my shoe so my feet were soaking, cold and horrible. I was too embarrassed to take my shoes off to try new shoes on, but then also realised that I’d left my credit cards at home by mistake. I ended up going to the airport to check in hours early just so I had somewhere warm and dry to rest my poor trotters.

Karen Watson // April 26, 2013 1:06 pm

me and my partner had the weekend free as kids were at there grans are were going to go away for the night and have meal and a few drinks. We both ended up ill and didnt get to go anywhere as were in our bed with no one to look after us as we were both as bad as each other.

Never had the chance to get away together before would love a chance to get away .

adelle gow // April 26, 2013 2:13 pm

BODMIN MOOR SUMMER HASHING WEEKEND
My worst weekend was on Bodmin Moor in summer 2002 my partner and I guests of the Cornish Hash House Harriers, camping and trial running with organised barbeque laid on to take the hassle out of self catering. The saturday hashing trail had been set up through an old slate quarry – idylic in good weather but that afternoon heavy mist appeared from no-where so the ground became slippery and visibility poor – scary. The expected high spirited run becoming a single file hand-in-hand walk as the trail, laid in flour, had mostly been eaten by the freeranging moorland sheep (even those hashers used to running on Bodmin were disorientated by the fogs thickness). After a convivial evening spent listening to live music and drinking real ale at the local pub we walked back to the campsite in a warm gloaming watching bats hunting, about 11.30. By 1am sunday a high wind suddenly got up – blowing down next doors tent. As gusting winds made it impossible to re-erect we had two extra plus their luggage in our 2 man tent, already full of our waterlogged muddy running clothes and trainers! Sunday arrived in bright sunshine and starting our run early with the promise of a full cooked english breakfast on our return frisked off in the summer air amongst meadow brown butterflies and singing skylarks – bliss. Not for long – my partner eager to have a proper run ( a bit like a dog after a long car ride) misjudged his stride running through a muddy steam as per laid trail (the use of bridges being forbidden in hashing) and slipped, his left foot stuck in the cloying mud, causing his knee to twist. Normally this would laughed off as part of the fun of a hash but weakened by a childhood green fracture it was autumn before he could run again. However the fry-up prepared by volunteer cooks was delicious and we enjoyed another few years hashing before middle age made us give up (when finally the aches from one weeks run unfortunately lasted until the next weeks venue. ) We miss its closeknit community even now! A trip to Paris would be a dream come true, I’ve always wanted to visit especially Montmarte artists area and my partner loves the Tour de France – imagine if I could take him there to watch its final day!!! By the way chocolate is my other great passion.

Liz Burden // April 26, 2013 2:51 pm

We went to Marakech for a weekend break. My husband got a tummy bug and spent the whole time in the loo, then fainted at the check in desk at the airport. Spent 3 hours on the plane doubled up in agony because one of the toilets was out of order then after passing pure blood, was diagnosed with dysentry, so was ill for weeks afterwards. It would be nice to have a second chance at a nice weekend away.

Maggie riordan // April 26, 2013 3:28 pm

I decided it would be fun to go camping. We bought all the equipment including tent, sleeping bags, foam mattresses, cooking equipment etc costing quite a bit. My husband mentioned the weather forecast was not good but we decided to go anyway.

3 hours later we arrived at the beach camp with the wind blowing like a gale and battled to put up the tent. We tried to walk to the beach but the sand was blowing so badly it hurt our faces and we had to turn back.

We cooked a meal, drank wine, sat in the tent bored then some guys arrived and started putting up a tent next to ours. They shouted instructions, laughed, chatted, cooked. This went on for hours. The wind blow all night and by 5am we decided to pack up and go home. We never saw the sea and have not been camping since.

Jane Harris // April 26, 2013 3:30 pm

My worst weekend ever was after waiting most of the two days I went home from the nursing home only to be telephone half an hour later to be told my Mum had just died!

Tricia Sarkey // April 27, 2013 4:56 pm

A romantic trip to Weston-super-mare! I drove down to meet a woman I’d known and fancied at work. The weekend started off ok with us exploring the seafront but that evening she cooked a really peppery steak that I forced down. I then got a migraine so any getting closer was off the cards and I slept on the bedroom floor. I left early the next day and never heard from her again.

Phil Holland // April 27, 2013 4:58 pm

My worst weekend was a ‘make or break’ trip with my then boyfriend to Granada, Spain. We’d been going through a bit of a rocky patch and decided a weekend away together would put things back on track. I lived in Gibraltar at the time so the journey there was by coach and was meant to be approx 4 hours long. It was in the middle of Summer and about an hour into our trip the air con stopped working in the coach making it stifling. The heat made us both grouchy so not ever halfway there we were bickering with each other!
The coach stopped halfway through the journey at a roadside cafe. Whilst my other half popped to the loo, a waiter decided to chat me up which my boyfriend was none too happy about when he returned. This of course, was all my fault and resulted in a massive argument!
We got back on the coach and wondered why it was taking so long to start back on our way. It appeared the coach had some sort of fault and would not start back up! This meant waiting for another coach to come and pick us up – a coach back in Gibraltar which was a couple of hours away! My other half was adamant we weren’t going back into the cafe where the flirty waiter was so it was a long and hot wait for the other coach to arrive!
Back on the new coach, my boyfriend started picking arguments over everything and by that point I’d had enough so said ” that’s it, we’re over!”
We arrived at the hotel which was in the middle of no where and very dark and dusty. I tried at reception to get another room but no such luck, they were fully booked! I’d have to stay in the same room and same bed as my now ex-boyfriend!
Well, the atmosphere was terrible and it wasn’t easy to tag along with anyone else who were on the same trip as they were all couples on a romantic break! I did a lot of sightseeing on my own – some lovely sights but I was rather lonely to say the least! My ex didn’t make things easy either by making sarcastic comments whenever we had to share a room. Plus we had to sit together the whole journey back!

Viv Gilbey // April 28, 2013 12:51 am

On a caravanning trip to Wales with my friend and her family I thought I was going to starve to death because they all had appetites of sparrows! I remember crying down the phone to my mum then sneaking off each day to fill up on fish and chips. Hilarious now when I think back but not very funny at the time.

Tina Kirk // April 28, 2013 3:48 pm

The surprise weekend that my husband booked for me, it should have been cracking but unfortunately he’d done the packing.

JEANETTE FLEWETT // April 29, 2013 10:01 am

It was our first weekend away with our 2 year old daughter and 9 month old twins to Center Parks and me and my husband were really looking forward to a relaxing break. Unfortunately the twins were teething at the time and my elder daughter wouldn’t settle in the strange bed. We spent the entire weekend exhausted being up all night with screaming toddler and babies and never had a chance to sample any of the facilities because we were too tired. It would have been far cheaper and easier to just stay at home!

Susannah Whittock // April 29, 2013 10:08 am

My worst weekend ever was camping in Isle of Wight. It rained all weekend and the blow up mattress had a puncture so we basically slept on the floor ! I was so cold at night that I thought I would die of hyperthermia and had a couple of hours sleep at most !!!!! The mice got into the tent and nibbled at our breakfast . The ground got so sodden in the end we had to pack up and leave early – to my relief !!!!!

TRACY HOWDEN // April 29, 2013 11:19 am

Last time we went to Paris, someone threw themselves out of a 5 storey building, right in front of us. Perhaps this time we colud have a uneventful trip.

gwynne // April 29, 2013 2:26 pm

We were staying with friends the Friday night before flying out for a Skiing holiday. We’d just said goodnight and were going downstairs to our bedroom (it was an upside down house..) when the host turned off the light for the stairs and I missed my footing. I went to bed but couldn’t sleep because my foot hurt so much, I woke my husband to tell him I thought I needed to go to hospital but we’d had too much to drink to drive. He said it would be ok in the morning….
Saturday morning we decided we’d catch the flight and get it seen to at the ski resort so I traveled in agony and couldn’t get to be seen until Sunday morning. Guess what – I’d broken a bone in my foot – so no skiing for me
The worst weekend ever.

Liz Mitchell // April 29, 2013 4:07 pm

My boyfriend (now husband) took me to Paris for my first foreign holiday. We were both 21 and I guess very naïve. We travelled by plane, and the airport was interesting to navigate as all the escalators had stopped working. We were staying in a quaint little hotel in the middle of know where, with a broken lift. We spoke very little French, and most communication consisted of pointing and saying “Un”.
The first day we spent in Euro Disney, and it rained, and rained till we were soaked through. The second day we tried the Eifel tower but it was closed as it had been struck 7 times by lightning! making headline news in the UK. The third day we tried to tour the city, but the Queen was visiting and everywhere was closed to watch the procession! The evening was finished off by a memorable meal in MacDonald’s, where we nearly ended up with 15 Ice creams, instead of 2 chicken burgers.
I have heard Paris is the city of romance, so would love to see a side I didn’t get to see the first time!

Tina Mansfield // April 29, 2013 9:37 pm

First week-end with in-laws; and the second; and the third; and all weekends

Susan Morris // April 30, 2013 10:58 am

Once I went on a break with my parents and sister, we were heading down in the car when my dad (who is totally jinxed on holidays) started suffering with knee pains. So we ended up driving to the nearest doctors surgery which was a little country surgery and while he was waiting to be treated, we sat in the car park all day. When Dad finally came out, he had a prescription so we headed into the nearest town and he headed off to a pharmacy to get medication while the rest of us…..you guessed it…..sat in a multi storey car park, waiting for him.

Angela Walton // April 30, 2013 6:19 pm

I have to share this one as it literally happened a couple of weeks to some friends of mine. Amy had kindly offered to put Lucy up for the night as Lucy lives out of town and they had planned a ‘big night out’.. Anyway big night was had, with the obligatory consumption of alcohol. Around two-ish the big night was over so a befuddled staggering began towards Amy’s house. They got back to Amy’s and after a bemused time of drunken searching it was discovered that Amy had lost her key- ergo they were locked out of the house. Bear in mind it was a freezing cold night and they were attired in very little due to ‘big night out’. After much bewildered deliberation, it was decided not to ring the spare key holder who lived four miles away or not to break in the house. Instead they found the only option was to stay in Lucy’s car on the drive which contained the sum total ( in terms of warmth/ comfort) of one fleece. Oh and behold her car is a Mini- so lots of space in which to luxuriate ( not!) on a, and I quote, ‘bloody freezing night!’. But the best bit, the very best bit – the Pièce de résistance was the fact that obviously after a night of drinking, bladders were very, very full and needed some attendance. Turns out Lucy had used the occasion to don her brand new jumpsuit and so got so desperate had to strip and ended up peeing naked in Amy’s garden! What a weekend!!!!!

Little Miss K. // April 30, 2013 8:55 pm

Husband & I took my 8 year old son camping in the spring in France. It was freezing, raining and of course the tent leaked. All of which we stoically and cheerfully dealt with. However, son Treeve nearly died of fright when he woke on the 2nd morning to face a huge, warty toad right next to him croaking loudly. No matter how much we tried to get rid of the toad he just kept jumping around inside the tent and none of us could catch him. We ended up heading for home as Treeve would not sleep knowing the toad was ‘out there.’!rty

zsa rostron // May 1, 2013 6:18 pm

My first holiday with my man was a break in Blackpool! It must have been love as i screamed with excitement (or so he thought) as we were 213ft above the blue seas and golden sands! As we dropped at speeds of 70 miles an hour i can honestly say i have never held his hand so tight, not even during childbirth!

emma cropper // May 1, 2013 7:20 pm

A bad weekend in Fiji might not immediately illicit sympathy but it followed a long saved for holiday of a lifetime to New Zealand which on arrival I discovered the tour operator had failed to book. After some cobbling together a shadow of the holiday I was supposed to have and the constant dealing with disaster with my best British making the best of it attitude I was consoled by the thought of the white sands, palm trees and quiet luxury of rest awaiting me in Fiji. I arrived to sand in the eyes and palm trees bent to the ground by the tail end of a hurricane. Confined to my balcony peace was further disturbed by a constant booming voice from a tannoy ordering all to non existent beach volley ball, a command broken only by tinny pop music played at the wrong speed. I dont think the airport transfer bus has ever been greeted with such enthusiasm.

Teresa Havell // May 2, 2013 8:32 am

We booked a caravan in Wales & on the second night when we were sleeping we were burgled, they took are phones & money, we were gutted after the police came & fingerprinted the caravan, we went home. My partner still won’t talk about it. To add insult to injury, 3 weeks later we got a speeding fine dated from when we were at Wales. Seems we were in a hurry to get home.

Cheryl Moulton // May 2, 2013 5:46 pm

Imagine moving into a rambling 22 room Georgian house with a mother, a mother-in-law, husband, two small children, two disorientated dogs and a hamster. The first weekend, surrounded by packing cases, the contents of three houses and the arrival of builders and their paraphernalia the hamster escaped. Cue for two distraught children, two now hysterical dogs and two now disorientated and grumpy elderly mothers and an irritated husband to begin the search – which took all weekend and involved many pots of hamster food and tears and lamentations (mostly from me). The hamster turned up in a roll of carpet in what had been the butler’s pantry – alive.

Marylyn Wellspring // May 2, 2013 5:50 pm

Dear Jenny
This morning I topped up my mobile phone in Waitrose and the girl on the till chatted about Paris and recommended your book, which they stock. I quickly bought it.
I was just starting to pack when I noticed your web address and had a look. I would love to have entered your competition but haven’t got time since I’m leaving at 06.40 on Saturday for a week in Paris and won’t be home until entry to your competition has closed!!
I’m so excited that I just had to let you know. I will be reading your book whilst in Paris so it will be really great and authentic. I do hope you are enjoying life in France and I can’t wait to get out there to live very soon.
Thanks for writing ‘The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris’
With my best wishes, Sarah.

Sarah Griffiths // May 2, 2013 5:52 pm

On my worse weekend ever, I was staying at my girlfriends house whilst her parents were away on holiday. I came home from work late one night, and unbeknown to me, my girlfriend had gone out to a friends. As I didn’t have a key, I went round the back and threw pebbles at her bedroom window to try wake her…when she didn’t rouse, I went downstairs and stuck my head through the catflap to try shout her, but found that my head was stuck and would not come out! 20 minutes later I feel a tap on my shoulder, it was the police who the neighbours had called as they thought I was breaking in! Once they had managed to free me, and only after my girlfriend came home to explain I was not a burglar did they leave and not arrest me!

My troubles did not end there however. When we went up to the bedroom, we saw that I had broken the window I had been throwing pebbles at. The next day when the girlfriends parents came home, her dad explained that the glass was special blue tinted which he ordered specially, but not to worry as he had a spare pane in the garage for just the occasion. We had my girlfriend hold the spare pane up while we checked from the lawn to see it was the right colour. My girlfriend got bored however and wandered off, leaving the wind to blow the balancing pane of glass off the windowsill and to shatter on the floor….the special glass cost me £958 to have made and shipped in from Spain of all places…..worst weekend ever, the parents-in-laws will never let me live it down!

Terry Pearson // May 2, 2013 9:11 pm

I’d gone to Brighton to spend the weekend with my fiance and were staying in his workmate’s flat. On Sunday morning there was a hammering on the door – it was his landlord. He was apparently behind with his rent and the landlord was preparing to take it from us! We calmed him down eventually but it ruined the weekend.

Karen Harrison // May 3, 2013 9:30 am

stayed in a b n b in the IOM not a lot of money, cheap ferry crossing and 2 nights for 20, they were the days. Getting off the ferry wife tripped and sprained her ankle, 3 hours in a&e, got to hotel it was a dump. Aftera few words, went for tea, ended up both of us with food poisoning, 1 had the toilet 1 had the sink in rotation. The only thing we saw after getting back from tea was the hotel…never again

Tom Baines // May 3, 2013 1:05 pm

my worst weekend was a trip i took to blackpool with my family last summer . we spent ages looking for this perfect hotel to find out we had been past it four times already it looked nothing like it did in the brochure all the paving had come up on the outside of the building and it looked like a hostel inside was no better there was no back on the wardrobes nails poking out the windows wouldnt shut and pigeons could actually enter the building the floor boards creaked like they was about to go through with one footstep the walls paper thin you could here everybodies personal conversations. deciding to try and make the most of it we thought about going to to the 24/7 bar for a drink before taking a stroll along the beach ,to be told it wont be opening. ever. it was seriously like faulty towers i had to carry pram up and down 3 flights of steep stairs everytime we wanted to go somewhere plus luggage. and to top things off dad was in a foul mood . never again

siobhan marie // May 3, 2013 2:51 pm

Back in the summer of 1983, together with my boyfriend we went to Torquay for a romantic weekend. He had made hints about taking the first steps in making honest women of me (ie getting engaged). Those were the days before the internet and so booking a seaside apartment at a place we had never been before had its risks. I think it was a phone call made to an establishment courtesy of the local yellow pages and the cheque for payment in the post. The key had been left with the fella next door. On arrival, we saw it must have been the grottiest place in town. The rotten gaps in the windows brought the sea gales into the living room. It was so mouldy and musty I quickly become sick and we left soon after. It was one romantic weekend that I remember for the wrong reasons. He did eventually ask me to marry him and have been together over 31 years and married for 29 so I cannot really complain!

Lesley McBrearty // May 3, 2013 8:25 pm

I was at home with flu and my husband had broken down a mile from home. He was returning from work and had all his work tools in the car. He had to walk home and carried what little he could. The next morning he went back to the car to try to tow it home to find that the windows had been smashed and all his tools stolen. Not only did we have to mend the car and replace the window, we had to buy all new tools so that my husband could return to work. Oh, and I eventually recovered, thankyou for asking!!!

Sue Barton // May 4, 2013 12:21 am

My husband took me away to the New Forest for our first wedding anniversary, however I developed a stomach bug and spent the whole weekend in bed! The worst weekend EVER!

Rebecca Davis // May 4, 2013 12:46 pm

The car broke down on the way home from a weekend away in Cornwall, and I had to be towed home by four different AA trucks, taking a total of 14 hours!

Kay MacDonald // May 4, 2013 6:17 pm

My worst weekend was last summer – on the Saturday morning I broke up with my then partner and he cried (REALLY hard, it was awful), then that afternoon my cat was diagnosed with a terminal illness. On Sunday morning I got stopped for speeding, then in the afternoon I ripped my brand new pair of jeans. Worst weekend ever.

Barbara Scott // May 4, 2013 9:01 pm

worst weekend ever was spent in labour… baby didn’t appear until the following weekend!

kelly pass // May 4, 2013 9:52 pm

Set off for France for some bargain wine,
The ferry was booked and the weather fine!

North to South all in one day
then heard a rattling and thought ‘no way’.

Out of the car to investigate, my exhaust had dropped off – was in such a state.

Found a garage and got it fixed, my thoughts of cheap wine were becoming quite mixed.

Missed the ferry due to delay, so for another ferry crossing I had to pay

After anger and frustration I eventually board, in anticipation of my wine hoard.

Back on dry land I head for the store, to find the ‘closed’ sign on the door.

Turning around I head back home, no bargains to be had wherever I roam.

Next time though, I would love go to Paris with Tesco!

Julie Deane // May 4, 2013 11:30 pm

My worst weekend was the time my family went to Italy. It was our last ‘family’ holiday – my mum, dad, brother and his girlfriend. We had been told the villa we were staying at was 30 minutes from the airport, needless to say it wasn’t and unfortunately all we had were 3 lines of directions, no map, no sat nav, nothing! The day we left also happened to be my birthday, so I spent my 18th birthday in a boiling hot car with no air con, driving up and down the same roads in italy for over 8 hours. By the time we finally found the place (after stopping multiple times to ask for directions and spending god knows how much on the phone bill) no-one in the car was talking.
Probably the worst birthday ever!

Kathryn S // May 5, 2013 12:05 pm

Worst weekend – has to be my trip to Boston. Got to the airport in London (from Scotland) and the flight was cancelled! No information was given before I left home. I decided to get on a later flight as no other compensation was offered as there was space on the next flight. After a long wait in the airport and a long flight, plus a delay sitting on the tarmac, I got to the hotel in Boston about 16 hours late, to crawl into bed and then the fire alarm went off! It turned out someone had been smoking in their bedroom and we were outside for about 4 hours whilst the firemen checked all the rooms on all the floors in case of any other fire. I got back into my room and back into bed (it’s now about 4am US time and I’d been on the go for about 29 hours by now, when an hour later, the fire alarm went off again. Arrgghhh!!!! So, after another trip outside and back in again, I was looking forward to having a few hours sleep. Needless to say I was tired, hungry, a bit jetlagged or shell shocked, I don’t know which. However, after a few hours sleep (about 4) I struggled to get up and get out into Boston, only to find that where I had planned to go to was shut for renovation and repair! I could have cried! The rest of the weekend was uneventful – not that there was a lot of it left, and all too soon it was back on the flight to the uk – a very windy and bumpy ride with no food or drink served, strapped in for the whole flight, but I made it back to tell the tale. Boston – I’ll go again, but maybe I’ll find another way to get there.

Susan Holmes // May 5, 2013 1:42 pm

A May Bank Holiday weekend with flu!

Steven Boxell // May 5, 2013 5:08 pm

Me and my husband decided to go away with my parents to Blackpool staying in a static caravan. It was a nightmare from start to finish! My husband and my Dad ending up having an argument over the best way to cook chicken resulting in my husband storming off and me having to search for him all over the camp in the pouring rain! To top it off it rained the whole weekend and the caravan was old and dirty! Needless to say NEVER again!!!

Clare Perquin // May 5, 2013 8:27 pm

My worst weekend(s) were any of the several I endured in the company of my ex-flatmate from hell. Thank goodness those days are long past – though she still owes me thousands of pounds for unpaid council tax and household bills.

F. Harvey // May 5, 2013 9:32 pm

My worst weekend was waking up one Sunday morning to see my work place in flames on all the news channels. Not knowing whether you will still have a job and worrying that people may have been hurt. As it was, temporary premises were found and everything worked out okay in the end.

nicola heap // May 5, 2013 10:20 pm

My worst weekend was a weekend away with a friend. We used to go out on a weekend for a boogie and had some really good nights, so thought a weekend away would be even better – wrong! Something just changed and she turned into the friend from hell! It seemed she was determined not to have a good time; such a shame really as our friendship was never really the same again.

Louise // May 5, 2013 10:31 pm

On a romantic weekend with my new husband, he decided to go on a fishing trip which I eagerly went along too. It was all day fishing out at sea and I was sicker than I would ever dream possible.

Julie Foxhall // May 6, 2013 8:54 am

Kids. You give them wings, then you let them fly. So says the old expression, but they always know their way home when in trouble! Very recently our daughters flat was flooded, due a faulty connection. It was late on a Friday afternoon, and she was just off abroad on a business trip. The flat was a total mess, as was the one below, and below that. Why do these things always happen when everyone is out? Because we are local, we set about trying to sort the mess and ensuing problems, wooden floors to come up, specialists in, dehumidifiers to arrange etc. Then, on Sat when we were still knee deep in towells and soggy floors, our son rang from abroad to say that he was being made redundant. He was contracting & the company was going under. His dream job of 10 months had gone, but his new mortgage of 7 months had not! So our planned relaxing weekend became a manic and very stressful one. And of course, the implications of both events continue to resound, a month later….

Jan haldane // May 6, 2013 10:31 am

Our honeymoon was only a long weekend… and I had horrific toothache and father-in-law was in hospital causing a lot of worry. Oh well, the only way is up!!

Sandy Hill-smith // May 6, 2013 10:56 am

It began ominously with my husband’s boss inadvertently letting slip our “surprise” destination: Tangier, a place I had longed to visit. Slipped a little further downhill at the airport when each of us thought the other had grabbed the travellers cheques from the mantelpiece at home. Went into free-fall when we arrived in North Africa in a steady downpour which continued unabated for the duration of our stay.

“Welcome to Tangier!” greeted us as we checked in. “You ‘ave chosen a beautiful time to visit us. It is Spring, with warm days and wild flowers.”

Her words rang hollow as we paddled through the narrow alleys of the Medina, dodging soggy donkeys and dripping awnings. Even still, Tangier was only slighty depressing, with her Casbah and minarets glistening under heavy grey skies.

It was Ramadan, we discovered, and the local police, tired and grumpy from fasting all day and eating all night, were keeping a low profile, so the ubiquitous carpet-sellers and “looky-looky” men were gleefully having a field day.

“Hey, meester – you get high before you fly?” This question posed by a cherubic, dark-eyed urchin, proffering a lump of hash in a tatty handkerchief.

Our hotel was a Mecca for the Saga crowd, most of whom wouldn’t see 70 again, so, as the youngest guests by a Moroccan mile, we were inveigled into joining in the traditionally-themed cabaret that night. Other Half was persuaded to reluctantly stand on a bed of nails, which I failed to capture on camera, his gritted teeth and grim expression said it all.

ATMs were in their infancy, and fruitless trips to every bank in the city had failed to secure a cash advance on our credit card. It took a recklessly expensive day-trip to Barclays in Gibraltar to get our hands on some cash, thereby avoiding having to survive on cous-cous and fresh air.

We arrived home as pale as we’d left, with a lifelong aversion to tagine, a dodgy carpet we hadn’t wanted, and a resolve to never darken that part of the Dark Continent again.

“Au revoir!” said the receptionist as we left.

“Not likely!” was our fervent reply.

Cathy Cain // May 6, 2013 1:40 pm

My worst weekend was at a caravan park in November, it was freezing, there was no entertainment at all and we were miserable! We came home early!

cheryl lovell // May 6, 2013 7:28 pm

My worst weekend was with a friend on holiday in Croatia. We took an overnight trip to Bosnia Herzegovina and found it practically impossible to get back. None of the actual bus times corresponded with the timetable we’d printed out in advance and anyone we asked just shrugged and told us there was no bus or train. We had nowhere in BH to stay and we’d already paid for our accommodation in Croatia, so we ended up taking the risky option of paying a small fortune for a taxi across the border (in the middle of the night) where we asked to be dropped off at the nearest bus station. There we waited about 2 hours for a bus to take us onwards, and whilst waiting we were eaten alive by mosquitoes – bites that we discovered the next day had covered our legs from top to bottom! When we arrived at our accommodation we had to waken up the people who were staying there to let us inside. It was a bit of a nightmare but I guess we laugh about it now! We spent the rest of the holiday being pointed and stared at because of the angry red bites, ouch.

Jennifer Clark // May 6, 2013 11:45 pm

A weekend in blackpool with work colleagues, hotel was booked by one of the guys (note to self – always let a girl organise in future!). There was pubic hair sticking out of the flock headboard, the bath had slime running from the tap to the plug hole, there was a dead fly stuck with hairspray to the lights, and the light was at one end of the room but the mirror was at the other end. We literally put our make up on running from one end of the room to the other then went out and in brigh tlight we looked like coco the clown!. There were no towels provided so when we had a shower we shared one handtowel that we had brought and dried it with a hairdryer in between so that we could both use it. The lady who owned the guest house said that when she saw two girls on the guest list she had saved the best room for us so goodness knows what the boys had been given – funny though they didn’t seem to notice!

Tracy Burns // May 7, 2013 12:00 am

We had gone to Australia for a holiday and were staying with my hubbys cousins Michael and Carol for the weekend.On Saturday morning Michael dropped us at the station and we went shopping in Sydney.We returned later in the day to be greeted by his son in law to be told that Michael was missing and we couldn’t stay the night because the family wanted to stay with Carol.We packed and were taken to a hotel by the airport…we were flying to Brisbane the next day.We telephoned the family on Sunday morning to be told that Michael had been found dead…he had committed suicide!That is one weekend and holiday we will NEVER forget!

linda spevick // May 7, 2013 7:51 am

Was in the process of a flat move which was hard enough when at some stage I lost the new flat keys. Estate Agent closed till Monday. Total disaster. Ended up leaving the stuff in the rental van for a couple nights.

Bryn // May 7, 2013 12:06 pm

We were looking forward to our walking weekend in the Lake District. We stayed in a beautiful little cottage. But the rain was hammering 2 day in the row, so we stuck indoors.

Lilia Bowers // May 7, 2013 1:15 pm

Camping in dorset when we were younger, it rained the whole week we were away, the tent got flooded and we got a colony of ducks that thought our tent was there new home. Needless to say we were glad to be home!

stacey webb // May 7, 2013 2:43 pm

A few years back I took my wife away for the weekend to Paris. We travelled by Eurostar but there was a problem with the train lines so we were delayed by over 10 hours. The train ran out of water and food and the toilets were overflowing. To make matters worse, for much of this time we were at a train station and could see shops serving lovely food and drink but they would not allow us off the train as it was “not an international station” .Not the romatic weekend we had been hoping for.

David R // May 7, 2013 3:24 pm

My worst weekend was traveling with the family to France. We drove from the West Midlands with our friends, did the ferry crossing, managed got 100 miles into France and the Car broke down. The breakdown people couldn’t understand a word of my pidgin French. So our friends took our kids to the next services, only for the breakdown people, (who also couldn’t understand me nor spoke any English) to then take us 30 mile back in the opposite direction to fix the car.
Eventually the car got fixed our friends came back with the kids to where we were. So we set off to our home for the next few days, only to arrive late and not be let in so we all had to sleep in our cars at a services during a lighting storm.

That was the most stressful weekend of my life.

Russ Allan // May 7, 2013 3:38 pm

My worst weekend I booked a trip to Amsterdam to celebrate my birthday, we rushed to the airport only to find that we had forgotten our passports and missed our flights.

Shirlety Banton // May 7, 2013 6:29 pm

Staying in a small caravan in the pouring rain in the Lake District while pregnant, suffering from morning sickness, while family members all smoked heavily around me making me feel even sicker. I had a pale green raincoat and my face matched it exactly !

Mrs.O.P.Wood // May 7, 2013 7:15 pm

We had big flood when spent our holiday in Indonesia.

Veronica Therawati // May 7, 2013 8:08 pm

took my fiance away for our anniversary. The car broke down on the way there & it was a nightmare to get a hire car, then when we got to the hotel it was awfull & no hot water, weather was terrible & we left after one night!

elliot dawson // May 7, 2013 8:22 pm

My worst weekend was getting back from a holiday in Egypt, so I was already suffering with end of holiday blues, but then I had a letter to say that I’d been unsuccessful in my application to university! I was very disappointed

Kimberley Burton // May 7, 2013 9:19 pm

My worst weekend was when I had to spend the bank holiday doing gardening – I hate gardening.

Allan Middleton // May 7, 2013 9:27 pm

Me and my partner went abroad for a mini weekend break. It rained all weekend. He locals said it was the first time it had rained in ages

Clair dutton // May 7, 2013 10:27 pm

My husband, myself and our 2 year old son took a weekend trip to Newcastle to do a spot of Christmas shopping and had booked in at a very nice hotel. We were very much looking forward to the break away. ( Initially a romantic break but due to ill grandparents it was a trio not that this bothered us) Our little boy got more and more miserable as the first day went on, (i put it down to tiredness etc) the hotel room was tiny not big enough for a travel cot, even though I had phoned ahead days before to check, upgrade cost an extra £80!!!!! We went for dinner which was disastrous, highchairs available but no children’s menu! ODD!!! So his meal cost £9 for a huge portion of fish! 2 years old!!! He was then very sick all over the room. He seemed brighter in the morning so we continued our trip. Shopping was horrendous! I took him whilst my husband went to the football. Then discovered our little boy was really unwell and completely miserable and upset. I just wanted to take him home, so we cut our trip short and discovered when home he had an ear infection haven’t went away anywhere since!!! That was a year and a half ago! Lol

Claire jones // May 7, 2013 10:50 pm

My worst weekend was when I missed the last cable car down a mountain in Austria, and then had to walk down it with a toddler who was exhausted and had run out of clean nappies. I stumbled and twisted my ankle badly, and when we got to the bottom of the mountain we found we’d missed the last bus by two minutes. After much arguing, a decision was made to find a local Gasthaus, which involved a further hour of walking and a huge bill for a night’s stay.thnext day, we go back to Vienna to find a rejection email for my dream job. The memory of that weekend still makes me sigh heavily…

Kate O'Neill // May 7, 2013 11:22 pm

It was 1984 and I was 14 years old and had got a new tent for my birthday, so I had been looking forward to my camping trip for weeks, we went camping near Matlock in Derbyshire, it rained the whole time we were there and was freezing, so on the second night to keep warm, I stupidly had the lit camping stove in the tent with us to keep warm and accidently knocked it over, well the tent went up in seconds, I managed to put it out but was left with my new tent with a gaping hole in the side. Me and my freind had to spend the rest of the night huddled in what remained in my new tent freezing in the pouring rain. I was also scared about what my mother would say about burning my brand new tent, so next day my mate had the bright idea of trying to patch it up but we could only find red cloth what a sight it looked patched in red cloth sewn with fishing line. I can laugh about it now but at the time it was a nightmare, but it was one bad weekend I will never forget.

Lee Wells // May 8, 2013 8:26 am

It all began with Cfax “I’ve found a great deal for a short weekend away” my wife shouted from the living room after trawling the TV pages for hours looking for a cheap but much needed bit of sunshine – let’s go to Majorca! It sounded nice from what our teenage daughter had told us after her week there last summer ‘Beautiful terrain and lovely people, very relaxing’ she said. We thought we would give it a try and create our own memories of this intriguing tranquil place – a bit of relaxation and sun is always welcome for us middle age folk. Booked and boarded we were on our way – the first indication we had that something was wrong, was at the check-in, when we saw a group of girls all dressed in giant baby grows with feather bowers on? Then we saw a group of young males in leotards… it was then that it dawned on us we were on a 18-30 holiday package!! How did this happen I bet you’re asking. We are not sure ether, let’s just say it was an eye opener of a short weekend away and my daughter was in serious trouble on our return when I found out what really goes on in Magaluf on a weekend! Needless to say, everyone was very respectful to us as the oldies of the group, but we needed another mini break after that just from watching them – oh to be young again and maybe actually one day we can have a nice weekend away in Paris?

John Gurney // May 8, 2013 9:48 am

My worst weekend ever was visiting my grandfather in hospital for the last time before he died. He looked so small and alone in the hospital bed.

Mari Sutherland // May 8, 2013 12:18 pm

My worst weekend was spent in a caravan at a holiday park in Devon, which was cold, damp and smelly. My son managed to get food poisoning from the undercooked fishfingers they served in the ‘restaurant’ and threw up all over our clothes which were in the open suitcase by his bed. We ended up checking out early and going to stay in a lovely hotel nearby.

Valerie // May 8, 2013 12:45 pm

Worst weekend was a trip to Munich several years back as a student with a good friend. We stayed in a youth hostel that was absolutely miserable and freezing cold so we had to wear four layers of clothes even in bed and then on the way home we were so happy to be leaving but then being stupid English people got on the metro the wrong way so instead of going towards the airport went the opposite direction! Was horrendous as by the time we realised our mistake we were almost at the end of the line and then we had to go all the way back and despite running like the wind JUST missed our flight home. We then had to pay for a new flight and ended up waiting in the airport for 10 hours to get it! AWFUL! We were so cross with each other that we sat in a cafe not speaking for the whole 10 hours. Needless to say I’ve never been back to Munich!

Eleanor C // May 8, 2013 1:40 pm

My worst weekend was when i went camping with my then boyfriend. It rained all weekend and I looked like a drowned rat!

san // May 8, 2013 1:40 pm

My worst weeked was when we took our girls to a lodge in the middle of no where, my daughter was not happy as we had no phone/internet connection (to a 13 year old this is the end of the world), the nearset place for food and petrol was 20 miles away and it rained all weekend. We where all so happy when it was time to come home.

Kathy // May 8, 2013 1:55 pm

One of my worst weekends was when my boyfriend at the time secretly booked a romantic trip to Barcelona. I know it doesn’t seem like a bad thing but to impress him when we met I had told him that I was fluent in several languages… spanish being one. Anyway we arrived at our hotel to find we weren’t booked in. No problem thought my boyfriend, and ushered me to the reception to sort it out. All I can say is think Del Boy from only fools and horses leading a wildly enthusiastic charades team. Im not even sure how I got the room sorted but I think they thought I was mentally unstable. I had to tell my boyfriend that they couldn’t understand me properly as the hotel manager was from a small region where they spoke a different spanish to the one i was fluent in. I then had to fake a tummy bug which pretty much meant I had to stay in our room all weekend, so I never really got to see Barcelona as I couldn’t risk having to converse with anyone!

I think I have learned my lesson now though, so hopefully I will never have to go through that again….. but then again…I am (NOT) fluent in French too!

Luisa Lauren // May 8, 2013 2:03 pm

My worst weekend happened when I was 16 and was forced to go to Blackpool with my, by then, ex boyfriend and his parents. Even though we’d split up I was told because the trip was already booked and paid for I had to go.
We were booked into a typically grim British B&B; all greasy, undercooked eggs and polyester sheets. I was sharing a room with his mother. He was sharing a room with his father.
The weather was rubbish. It wasn’t Illuminations season. And their idea of a good time was going to see a show featuring a Nolan Sister. Twice. Anything I suggested doing was scoffed at. “But why would you wsnt to go to the Laurel & Hardy Museum? There’s a Nolan in a show on the pier to see.”
They also didn’t ever want to eat nice food, (the redults of which will become apparent soon!) Even the fish & chips we had were soggy and depressing.
Over the years I’ve tried to erase all memories of this Weekend from Hell, but one memory won’t go. The journey home.
What you need to know is the Ex’s parents were smokers. We were in a car. They didn’t believe in passive smoking. They also didn’t belive in opening windows it would seem. The whole way home I felt violently ill. I thought it was the smoke. Finally, after being ignored for many miles, I shouted at them to stop the car. Just managing to make it out the door, I projectile vomited, (sorry!). This situation remained for many hours!
After continuous sickness at home a doctor was called. The little souvenir I’d brought back from my worst weekend? Food poisoning.
I never spoke to the Ex and his parents again and I’ve never been back to Blackpool. Or a Nolan Sister review show.

Karen Barlow // May 8, 2013 2:50 pm

My worst weekend away was when my boyfriend at the time invited me to stay at his remote, rural cottage in Wales. We were almost there after a five hour drive when he told me that there was just one thing he’d forgotten to tell me. His ex, who jointly owned the cottage, was also going to be there with her new man. Thinking we could all be adults about it I wasn’t too worried until we arrived, she looked daggers at me, told me never to cook in her kitchen as it was HERS, and then they proceeded to have a very long argument about who was going to sleep in the one double bed as they both claimed they had bought it. I didn’t know where to put myself. I spent most of the weekend hiding in the bedroom whilst they had a ‘marital.’

Alison // May 8, 2013 2:52 pm

We’re actually just home from our dirtiest weekend EVER at a caravan in St Andrews!!! My son fell in mud on three separate occasions, I then knocked a bottle of Irn-Bru over him (whilst he was wearing his only remaining pair of clean trousers), my Hubby then fell his full length on the way TO the pub, our muddy dog managed to bounce mud all over our freshly made bed TWICE (2 different duvet covers). Still having had a brilliant weekend, smiling in the face of adversity, we came home and while loading the washing machine with all afore mentioned laundry….the dog threw up a weekend’s worth of chewed seaweed all over the living room rug!! I think I need a wee holiday…!!!!!!! Thank-you xx

Lynne Somerville // May 8, 2013 2:58 pm

My worst weekend was as a young couple pre kids and booking a holiday camp which was aimed at old people and not being informed when booking then getting there and realising we were the only people under 60! Mortifying as was supposed to be romantic, in the entertainment room everyone was ballroom dancing and when we had dinner the staff had to serve the ready type meals as most people were too old to help themselves, never wanted to get home as quick ever in my life!

Lisa Troccoli // May 8, 2013 3:03 pm

We were living in Canada at the time. I was a teenager so it was my parents and sisters, our dog and me in a cabin by a lake. We went there every chance we got but this time around things didn’t quite go according to plan.
First day, my dad went out fishing and his boat capsized on the other side of the small island in the middle of the lake. He was rescued by a passing fisherman after holding on to the boat for over an hour.
In the evening, the owners of the hotel the cabin belonged to informed us that a bear had been sighted in the area and to please be careful. We were having dinner when we heard the sniffing and a bin being overturned. We didn’t realize that the sliding door to the porch (and forest beyond) was open. Next thing we know, our YORKIE is out the door like a shot, yipping like only a purse dog can. A second later, my dad, still recovering from his earlier shock, is out shouting for his beloved puppy to come back while my mum yells for him to come back inside. Lots of screaming women later, dad returns with the dog, pale as a sheet. Turned out the teeny, tiny lapdog had managed to scare of a bear eating the refuse after all…
It was definitely our wildest holiday, literally. It’s also that weekend that my dad had his first heart attack but we prefer not to dwell on that bit. It’s not worth it

Chantal // May 8, 2013 3:05 pm

The weekend just past was my worst. My husband moved out allegedly to a friends spare room. Later discovered he’d gone the long way. i.e to first spend the weekend with his much younger “lady friend” . Can’t think of a better place to go to help me on the path to rebuilding my life. Lots of me time ,fun and chocolate is in order !

Mrs G // May 8, 2013 3:31 pm

I was once stuck in a lift for 12 hours!

Paul Anthony Gallagher // May 8, 2013 3:43 pm

One bank holiday myself and my boyfriend went to Blackpool, for the weekend. Stuck in the traffic for 6 hours in the heat I was losing the will to live. When we got to the hotel there was a box radio on the wall and hair in the bed! We wondered around Blackpool is a haze of hen and stag dos. I didn’t realise 5pm on a Friday night is like 11 o clock on a Saturday night in a city with the drunken revellers dressed in funny wigs and angel wings.
We tried to find somewhere nice to eat amongst the fish and chip shops and candyfloss stalls. Later we wandered onto the pier. It was lovely and quiet, I turned around and saw my husband to be, on one knee – “Will you marry me?” he said. He has been trying to find somewhere romantic to propose all along!
I would love to be taken somewhere romantic to make up for my Blackpool proposal all those years ago. And that is a true story. We got married and lived happily ever after but I still remember my Blackpool Proposal – for all the wrong reasons. The END.

mellissa williams // May 8, 2013 4:10 pm

My worst weekend had to be when I was in college setting off to the other side of the Big Island to attend my cousin’s wedding. I was riding with my parents. My Dad could not find his way to the church and refused to stop to ask for help (these were the days without Smartphones). He took many small roads and whew, he was so proud of himself when he found it! He figured it all out without help! When we arrived at the church, everyone was leaving to the reception. We had missed the whole wedding!

Carole Sakamoto-Hughes // May 8, 2013 4:21 pm

My worst weekend ever was many years ago when we went to Blackpool and decided to stay in a B&B. It took us ages to find one as everywhere seemed full but at last we found a room in an attic which was terrible. We had no choice but to stay. The beds were horrible with lumps and broken springs and the emergency escape was a rolled up rope ladder fixed to the window. The rain poured down and we were thoroughly miserable. I’d love to win the holiday to Paris which I imagine would be a dream come true.

Margaret Akel // May 8, 2013 4:38 pm

Went to a Christmas Market in Frankfurt, we missed the plane at Bristol because of roadworks, so paid an extra £300 to catch a later flight from Heathrow, unfortunately there was an accident on M4 and we were at a standstill for two hours, so we missed that plane also. We eventually flew out the following morning, enjoyed our 24 hours and flew back to Heathrow.
We headed home, only Fathers For Justice were protesting on the Severn Bridge and we couldn’t get back into Wales! Nightmare weekend and we have never ever been away without the children since.

Becky John // May 8, 2013 5:20 pm

The wekend started well and I was feeling suitably industrious and decided to clean the oven before the visitors on Sunday. All went well until I decided to clean the oven door which involved unscrewing the double glass door – disaster. I dropped it on the floor and it shattered everywhere. Of course the oven was too old to have a replacement so no oven for the weekend and all my visitors.

Cathy O // May 8, 2013 5:41 pm

So many… not sure where to start!

The worst I can remember was falling over and ending up coming out of casualty with a cast on my foot! Really not a good start to the weekend (was Christmas, to boot, so doubly bad!).

JO C // May 8, 2013 5:52 pm

My worst weekend was when me and my husband went to woburn safari park. There was some accident on the way so there was a huge traffic jam. It happened just when we were 15 mins away from the park. We were stuck in the trafiic for 2 hours and funnily we were just walking distance from the park. It was hot, we were hungry and my husband wanted to go to toilet. we reached the park very late and it was closing in 1 hour. very bad weekend.

Prerna Gupta // May 8, 2013 6:11 pm

Our worst time ever was our caravan trip to Billing Aquadrome. It rained and rained, the whole place was flooded, complete nightmare. antony greenacre

antony greenacre // May 8, 2013 6:58 pm

We were on holiday and had just bought lots of gifts for the family which were subsequently stolen. We were so upset that we had spent all day hand picking them only for somebody to take them away from us. We tried to claim from the insurance when we got back home but because we had paid cash and left the receipts in the bags we had no evidence and got nothing back, it ruined what was a lovely holiday weekend!

Angie Hoggett // May 8, 2013 7:42 pm

My worst weekend has got to be when i was seeing this guy who i really liked, he had booked us a weekend to stay in a hotel, i was excited that its all i talked about at work all day. That evening i packed my stuff and went to the hotel but when i got there began to feel really unwell and within a couple of hours i was throwing up constantly….The only thing to get any form of action that night was the toilet!!! To make matters worse i had to call in sick for work the next day but as they knew i’d gone away thought i was making it up and fired me…So i went home miserable and unwell to never hear from the guy again either ….was definatly a bad weekend!

jo maxted // May 8, 2013 7:43 pm

we had a weekend away booked at blackpool – after a five hour drive we arrived at the hotel to find it closed after being repossessed

Cathryn Bowen // May 8, 2013 8:00 pm

My worst weekend was a weekend spent with my husband in Copenhagen. The day before we left, one of my husbands clients committed suicide. It had nothing to do with my husband, but he got no support from his office, and it lingered over his head the entire weekend. When we arrived, it was bright and sunny – everyone sitting out in outdoor cafes. Just beautiful! But we were getting our bearings and my husband was still upset about his client, so he didn’t feel like doing anything. We had an early night at the hotel and said things like, oh, we’ll do that tomorrow, or we’ll eat out there tomorrow, etc. Well, tomorrow broke with heavy showers that didn’t let up. So now I had a husband with a dark cloud over his head because of work, and actual weather to match. The entire day was miserable. We went out because we ‘had’ to – it was our holiday, but got absolutely drenched. Soaking wet, cold, and hungry, we returned to our out of the way hotel. My husband continued to worry about work and the now deceased client, and was melancholy over our entire break. I remember very little pleasant things from our holiday. Even those colourful houses (Nyhavn) couldn’t salvage our miserable weekend.

Rebecca Chapman // May 8, 2013 8:19 pm

My worst weekend ever was when I went to Cornwall with my son and he got food poisoning. I had to call an ambulance, my son was in so much pain. We couldn’t wait to get home!

Beth // May 8, 2013 10:50 pm

My husband and I didn’t have a honeymoon, about 4 months after the wedding we decided to have a belated honeymoon on the cheap, we decided on a weekend trip to London. It was an absolute disaster, it rained all weekend, the hotel was overbooked and we ended up in a tiny room that reeked of smoke.

Robyn Logan Clarke // May 8, 2013 11:59 pm

My husband and I went to a beautiful Tuscan villa for our honeymoon. Everything was perfectly idyllic…until I got salmonella poisoning from the chicken on the flight over. We spent much of the holiday playing cards while I sat on the toilet. The rest of his honeymoon was spent waiting for me outside public toilets in Sienna and Florence while I was inside fainting on the toilet floors. Happy days!!!

Louise White // May 9, 2013 12:07 am

My husband and I got married last year and after coming back off the honeymoon I felt quite unwell two weeks later. The weather was pretty good and it was the weekend of the jubilee and we had planned a wonderful weekend over the bank holiday to see all our friends and family. On the Friday I started to feel a bit queezy at work, so visited my GP on the evening, looking really quite green, he sent me straight to our local hospital (WHERE I WORK!). I got prodded and poked and drained of blood, and got admitted for 5 days and missed the whole thing! The staff were great but I’d have much rather been out in the sunshine visiting all my family – instead they were stuck indoors, visiting me, looking rather bleak! Best weekend ever!

Emily Jayne Phipps // May 9, 2013 7:24 am

We had a trip planned to Paris for two day for my birthday in February 2012. But unfortunately, due to reasons beyond our control, we missed the flight and because it was the time of the late freeze / snow, there were no other flights available. We got on a flight the next day – but that meant it was only one day to experience the beautiful city. We could only savour the Eiffel tower and the boat cruise. We could not even visit the Louvre. I would love to go back and truly see this great city.

vidhya ramasumaniam // May 9, 2013 8:05 am

A weekend at my mum in law’s who has six cats and I am allergic and asthmatic – it was a wheeze literally

Annamarie Riddiford // May 9, 2013 8:52 am

My worst weekend was a camping trip to the Lake District. It rained so hard we had a flooded out tent. The one next to use blew away (with all the contents flying off down the campsite. We gave up and came home early!

Jan Mooney // May 9, 2013 9:25 am

Probably working two 12 hour shifts overnight on a project!

Iain Cunningham // May 9, 2013 9:30 am

I went to Blackpool 17 years ago. I should of known it would be a disaster from the start when the B&Bs brochure had a sketch of the guest house instead of a photo. We turned up at this rather run down guest house to be shown a room with no toilet roll or towels..but that wasn’t the most troubling part. The bedside lamps (attached to the wall) were not in line with bed, in fact, one was in the middle of the bed. It wasn’t until I lay on the bed that I noticed why – the bed had been moved in line with a rather large keyhole..perfect for a peeping tom!
A plaster soon covered that and we went out to see the delights of Blackpool. I was told I was ‘too big’ for a donkey ride so we went to the tower (Not quite the Eiffel tower but as near as I would get!) . I climbed a few stairs, to turn to see where my partner had got to – there he was..nursing a sprained ankle after slipping..grr weekend was ruined but there were some quite nice chips!!

Fiona Barton // May 9, 2013 9:39 am

Bank holiday May a few years ago. Lovely sunny weekend. Husband and I decided to go to beach for day and meet up with sister, niece and brother-in-law at our beach hut. Husband’s boat was moored on a chained outside beach hut but a little way out. Decided my sister, myself and husband would go out first. Husband untied tender and came close and we got in. Rowed up to boat and got in. Had a great 30 mins or so in sunshine but all the while a little bit of water seemed to be spilling in from over the back. Presumed it was from the engine splashing up, so I just bailed it out a bit. Then it started making a strange noise so we decided to call it a day and went back. He moored it again on the chain, and we climbed into the tender. Rowed back to beach hut and just as he got up to tie tender to beach hut so we could climb out, he lost his balance and tipped us all out. Luckily it was quite shallow, but my lifejacket scared the life out of me, it went off BANG! as it inflated. Bedragged we got into hut and my b-i-law who was watching with binoculars suddenly yelled out that the boat was sinking! It reeled over and capsized within seconds before we had a chance to do anything. So we then had to wait 4 to 6 hours for the tide to go down before we could rescue any belongings. My phone and handbag were totally went from earlier so didn’t work. Everything in the boat was ruined or floated off. To cap it all, no-one even offered to help us! It certainly was our MAY DAY!!

Kim W // May 9, 2013 9:43 am

My worst weekend was when I took my children to the beach and killed a seagull. They’ve never forgiven me. To top it off I then put petrol in my diesel car. My husband hasn’t let me forget it.

Georgia McAllister // May 9, 2013 10:08 am

ohhhh my worst weekend ever was a trip i booked to Dublin. To say it was a disaster would be very much under statement. I had been to Dublin before and loved it, so my partners suggested we go again, but this time two other couples would be coming with us making it a total of six people. I was then made responsible for organising all the flights with one of the low cost airlines and the separately booking our accommodation for the trip. Fine i thought i’ve done it plenty of times for the two of us so i went ahead booking the flights and the one night accommodation in Dublin. The day of the trip came and this is when it all started to go horribly wrong! We arrived at the airport to find our plane was already delayed by an hour, when the six of us eventually boarded the plane we were sat on it for another hour before it attempted to take off, when it did attempt to make its way skyward we started up the runway only for an awful sound to come from the engine and we came to a rather abrupt halt, another 2 hours pass as we are switched to another plane and so is our baggage, quite a few people by this point are not really thrilled with the thought of flight but eventual we are off and not too much later we arrive in Dublin. Your thinking thats probably it that theres nothing more that could have gone pear shaped, but when we arrived at the accommodation the six of us are stood in reception and i go to book us in only to find out i had booked us in for the wrong date, i have booked and paid for the previous night! and to make it worse they had no rooms what so ever for that night, i felt sick! i had to explain to the others who pretended to be fine with it all, but then when we proceeded to spend 4 hours walking round Dublin trying to find somewhere to stay only to find everywhere was full, they didn’t seem quite so forgiving. In the end we found one bed and breakfast that had one family room which had one double bed and one single, with six of us we had to accept it as it was all we could find, all my fault we resigned to sleeping on the floor and one couple had the double the other couple overflowed from the single bed. The whole thing was a nightmare i felt such an idiot and i could tell everyone was fuming with me, it was so unlike me to get mixed up but on this occasion i managed to create the perfect nightmare! i couldn’t even stomach a sip of guiness of a tot of whiskey, not a trip i ever would like to repeat!

rebecca jackson-makin // May 9, 2013 11:07 am

Our worst weekend was in the March half term this year. We travelled to Devon to stay in a cottage. It was frozen, all the theme parks were shut and my daughter (5) came down with a virus. When we did find an open farm park, she got out of the car, threw up and demanded to go home. So we did. Don’t think I’ll be booking much before May next year!

Linda Hobbis // May 9, 2013 11:18 am

My worst weekend started on the Friday evening with the news that my partner of 11 years was breaking up with me!! Needless to say I was devastated and a tormented and sleepless night. The following day I had promised to travel to my sisters and join her and my nephew at her works major air show. The journey was a blur as I drove away leaving my now ex partner who would be moving out in by absence. Once at my sisters we set off for the show some few miles away. After a couple of hours in traffic and torrential rain, we discovered the show was cancelled due to water logging. My poor little nephew, only 2 at the time, had by this point been trapped in none moving traffic for a couple of hours with his mum and emotional auntie, and wasn’t enjoying it in the least. Just when things couldn’t get any worse we broke down. We were very kindly assisted in moving the car to the side of the road and then soaked to the skin had to wait several hours for our rescue by the AA. Needless to say they cost for auto repairs wasn’t cheap. Whilst the worst weekend ever, I have to say that in my personal hour of need and for my sister, my nephew and myself being stranded as we were, people went out of their way to help. It made me realise how good people can be.

Florence Cross // May 9, 2013 11:26 am

A weekend spent in a very wet and windy caravan in north Wales with two children under four. The weather was so bad (in August!) that we were drenched the minute we stepped foot outside and the children were so miserable they cried most of the time too. They were desperate to go on the beach so we let them- five minutes was all we could bear and then retreated to sit looking forlornly out of the car window til we made the right decision to head home early!

Helen Smith // May 9, 2013 11:54 am

1980 The French decided it would be a good idea to close the ports because of ‘apples’ – we spent all night going backwards and forwards across the channel first on a French ferry then a Belgian one then a French one and again a Belgian one …. we were all tired hungry and eventually sea sick – why I wonder do I want to go to Paris after they wouldn’t let us in ????? I’ve never touched a Golden Delicious since but my wonderful husband has persuaded me that I need to stop holding grudges….

Janette Richardson // May 9, 2013 1:08 pm

Just returned from a long-awaited break in the countryside (meant to be my Christmas present). Got sunburnt on the first day, received a phone call whilst there to inform me an interview for my dream job had been cancelled, the hotel room was small and hot so couldn’t sleep, the owners were intense types wanting to know what you were doing all the time, do I need to go on?!

RUTH // May 9, 2013 2:31 pm

our nightmare weekend began as a planned romantic weekend away at a 5 start hotel for the two of us – i was so looking forward to it – my partner too! it was just before our 12th anniversary so really looking forward to it dinners and 2 nights – spa treatments too so where super excited, only the day before i fell and gave myself a black eye and my partner twisted his ankle the day we where going so we turned up looking rather attractive with a limp and a black eye! then snapped my suitcase handle at the check in desk! so adjusting myself not to look like a fool i rushed off to our room to get my room and hide! dinner someone spilt a drink on my dress! then then i ended dropping my phone in the hotel room and breaking it- just ended up being calamity after calamity quite funny looking back but mortified at the time!!

Clare D // May 9, 2013 3:16 pm

My worst weekend has to be between Christmas & New Year last year. I am separated so tried to keep the kids occupied by taking them on a “cheap” Butlins break at Minehead. No lights in the room when we got there, took several hours to fix. Boiler had broken down so no heating or hot water for half the stay and they didn’t tell me there was a spa there until I got back home. I could’ve escaped the pandemonium! Never again. P.S. Never been to Paris and would love to go, got to better than Butlins!

Rhona Clarke // May 9, 2013 3:22 pm

Several years ago my sister and I were touring Ireland. Thought we’d do it on the cheap and stay in hostels and we’d booked to stay in one in Carlow. The hunchback henchman on the door should have warned us – but no, after leading us through a warren of derelict chambers we arrived in our room. The windows were nailed shut , bare floors, the wardrobe was a nail stuck in the wall and the bed bases had holes kicked in them. let’s not talkabout the linen and the shared bathroom. Did we hightail it out of there? Foolsihly not, we’d paid our money! We slept in our clothes with our shoes on and at about 3 a.m the building was invaded by gangs of lads. The noise was horrendous as they rampaged through the rooms making the weirdest animal noises, snorting like pigs and bellowing like cows. Some kind of local ritual? It was like something from the Wicker Man. Then after a couple of hours, total silence. We were out of there at sunrise!

Frances Grasby // May 9, 2013 3:35 pm

Visited Paris with the wife a few months before our first daughter was born last year – the loveliest city to spend ur baby moon. We adventured in fine restaurants in the suburbs where no word of english was spoken ordeing off daily menus and just waiting on the surprise meal to arrive pitty the wife could not enjoy the lovely wine

Daniel Pollio // May 9, 2013 3:57 pm

My weekend walking in the Cotswolds with my girlfriend got of to a great start when on our first evening walk I tried to show off and twisted my Ankle and then after a visit to the local hospital. My ankle was put in plaster and that was the end of my romantic weekend and budding romance!!!

Alan Burbury // May 9, 2013 4:22 pm

My worst weekend was actually the weekend just past, the Mayday bank holiday weekend. I had lots of plans for what I was going to do as the weathermen had promised fabulous sunny days, but sadly all my plans fell apart on Friday.
Friday was a glorious day and I was so looking forward to the weekend as I was having fun with 2 year old Daisy in the garden. When she decided to run like a maniac around the trampolene I got on too and chased her. All was going well until I tried to get off again, and fell onto my back.
So instead of the fabulous fun filled weekend I was expecting I had a day at A&E to diagnose cracked ribs, followed by a weekend full of aches and sharp pains with every inhalation.
Every day I keep hoping I’ll get up the next morning and find that the ribs are not too bad – but so far my hopes are in vain.

sue willshee // May 9, 2013 5:46 pm

When I was a teenager spending a weekend in Paris, I got covered in soil from a lady watering her plants on her windowsill a few storeys above. Walking back to the hotel drenched and covered in soil in one of the chicest cities in the world, was not one of my finer moments!

Sofia.H // May 9, 2013 6:29 pm

Planned a romantic night away for my 1st wedding anniversary at a stately home, the plan was for my wife to follow a paper chase with clues left at every point that would finally end up at the chapel where we were married where we would light our candle we lit at our wedding, unfortunately my wife needed to be out of the house for me to leave the 1st clue and too pack some clothes for the trip, but she thought I was up to something and would not go out as planned so the whole thing was ruined. Thing went bad after that and we are now divorced.

Brian graham // May 9, 2013 7:52 pm

On a trip to Germany with my husband and a friend, we drove over using the Eurotunnel and got as far as Belgium before the car started smoking, we pulled over to find my hubby had left the cap off the oil when he was checking the car before we left. Cap was put back and oil topped up and we went on our way. The next day we was driving to a show for reptile breeders ( the first time we had driven over to this show) and the car broke down, had to call AA and waited 2 hours for someone to come, who then spent over an hour on it to till us it needed to go to the nearest Ford garage. The garage was closed but the car was left and keys and a note left there for them on the Monday. We eventually got to the show in a taxi but only for the last hour. The weekend went from bad to worse with most of our time on the phone to the AA arranging car hire and tickets on the Ferry as we could not use the Eurotunnel without a car, the car hired ti Germany had to be left in France and another car picked up in Dover. To make matters worse we had to fly back the following weekend to pick the car up and drive it back! A weekend we now look back at and laugh and it was definitely unforgettable!

Teresa Barnard // May 9, 2013 8:14 pm

We went camping for the weekend it rained all weekend we ended up pitching the tent on a puddle the only nice day we ended up washing clothes as they all got caked in mud and the cherry on top someone went into my car and it was a write off so we had to get that all sorted stay an extra night waiting for a hire car to get home again.

PAUL BOAKES // May 9, 2013 9:14 pm

It was a Saturday afternoon, I was learning to drive, and my brother had taken me out for a bit of practice (in his Bedford van!). It was going well until we approached home, I was planning to park on the road outside the house and let him put the van into the driveway, but he thought I was capable of pulling into the drive safely, so as we drew level with the drive he said ‘turn now’. It flashed through my mind that I’d never miss the gate at that angle but thought he must know what he was talking about, so I turned into the driveway – bit of a misunderstanding, it seems he didn’t mean turn immediately! The sticking-out door handle took a chunk out of the wooden gate. Oops. My dad didn’t speak to me for the rest of the weekend, the atmosphere in the house was not great! I did, however, pass my driving test first time but the gate still bears the evidence of my learner days.

Dee // May 9, 2013 9:38 pm

A few years ago, about 15 of us went camping. We were putting the tents up, when someone put a peg into a wasps nest.
They attacked us, and we were all covered in stings.
Luckily none of us had an allergy, but it was very painful.
Never been camping since!

Keeley Atkinson // May 9, 2013 10:19 pm

My worst weekend was when I lost something very special to me

Alisa Moore // May 9, 2013 11:22 pm

My worst weekend was in Feb this year. It was my birthday and I spent the whole night and day looking after my husband who had the norovirus. Kind of a sad birthday!

Sabita // May 9, 2013 11:59 pm

Win the Loveliest Weekend in Paris to celebrate Jenny Colgan’s new novel

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