Topic Vocabulary >> Lesson 1: Holidays
IELTS Holiday vocabulary
You probably know the meaning of individual words like ‘flight’, ‘tour’ and ‘view’. However, the key to showcasing your advanced English is to show you are able to use these individual words in combination with other words to form set phrases and expressions.
Read the following IELTS-style questions and answers below and pay attention to the phrases in bold. Use the ‘Definitions’ section at the bottom of the page to check the meaning of any phrases you don’t understand.
Part 1-style questions
Examiner: What kind of holiday do you like?
Miguel: I try to avoid tourist traps … I like to get away from it all and prefer going somewhere off the beaten track … last year I had the holiday of a lifetime … a two week wildlife safari in Kenya.
Examiner: What do you like to do when you’re on holiday?
Anna: I enjoy visiting the local places of interest … I like to go sightseeing and always sign up for guided tours as it’s a chance to be shown around and take photographs … one of my hobbies.
Examiner: Do you have many tourists in your country?
Amy: Yes … we have a lot of holiday resorts along the coast that are popular with tourists … most people come on package holidays and stay in one of the many hotels and self-catering apartments.
Part 2-style task
Describe a beautiful place you once visited. You should say:
- when you went to this place
- where it was
- who you went with
and say why you liked it so much.
Sally: A few years ago I went on a long weekend to the Lake District in the UK … it’s a very popular holiday destination in the north of England … I went on my own and had a wonderful time … I stayed in a youth hostel and met some really nice people … but the most memorable thing about the holiday were the breathtaking views … and lovely picturesque villages … it can get very busy with hordes of tourists so I decided to go out of season in the autumn … the weather was fantastic and the shops were full of local crafts … a really great holiday … it’s certainly not the kind of short break for someone looking for a busy nightlife but if you want to relax in the middle of stunning landscape I would certainly recommend a holiday to the Lake District.
Part 3-style questions
Examiner: What do you think has led to the growth in the tourism industry?
Miguel: It’s much easier and affordable to travel now … nowadays you can get cheap charter-flights or all-in packages … to somewhere near or to a far-off destination.
Examiner: How do people tend to choose a destination?
Anna: The Internet is a great source of information and high street travel agents are still very popular … that’s where I like to go to get holiday brochures for the place I’m interested in.
Examiner: People sometimes say flying is the most glamorous form of travel. Do you agree?
Amy: I’m not so sure really … flying can be quite boring … queuing up at the check-in desk … going through passport control … sitting for ages in the departure lounge … then the flight itself can be quite uncomfortable … no … I’m not sure I agree.
Definitions
- all-in package/package holiday: a holiday where you purchase the travel and accommodation together
- breathtaking view: an extremely beautiful view
- charter-flight: a cheaper form of flying than a scheduled flight
- check-in desk: the place at the airport where you register for your flight and deposit your luggage
- departure lounge: where you wait for your flight to be called
- far-off destination: somewhere a long way away
- to get away from it all: to take a holiday to escape a busy or stressful lifestyle
- guided tour: an organised group shown around a place of interest by an expert
- holiday brochure: a glossy publication with details of holiday packages
- holiday destination: where you go for a holiday
- holiday of a lifetime: a special holiday that you are unlikely to repeat
- holiday resort: a place where lots of people go for a holiday
- hordes of tourists: crowds of tourists
- local crafts: objects produced locally
- long weekend: an extended weekend holiday including Friday or Monday
- out of season: outside of the main holiday period
- picturesque village: very pretty village
- passport control: the place where your passport is checked
- places of interest: sites of interest to tourists
- wildlife safari: a holiday, often in Africa, to observe wild animals
- self-catering: a holiday where you supply your own food
- short break: a short holiday
- to go sightseeing: to look around the tourist sites
- stunning landscape: extremely beautiful countryside
- travel agent: a shop that specialises in booking holidays
- tourist trap: somewhere where too many tourists go
- youth hostel: a cheap form of accommodation
Next Step?
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Hello while answeringfor part two questions
Should we answer in order or else, can we answer in any order
it is realy nice
thank you
Sorrry me for a silly question. Do three dots mean pauses?
Really helpful but why don’t have the pronunciation?
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– I go on holidays to take a break from my studies and work and to get away from it all. When I arrive, I`d like to choose a place where I can relax and treat myself. I surely like to discover different places and my favorite is: ancient cities like Rome, there you can feel the greatness of history standing by the intimacy of this city. I`d choose to sign up for a guided tour where you can enjoy sightseeing along with listening to a tourist guide telling the stories of the generations that had passed by.
– Well we used to have loads of tourists in Syria before the war has started. You know Syria has a very rich culture and history. It is as well a relatively cheap country so it used to be one of the most important tourist destination in the middle east. Palmyra was the tourist trap with its outstanding monuments.
– I`ve heard many people complaining about traveling by planes because of the long waiting time either in the check-in desk, the passport check or in the departure lounge, also the flight delays which are very common. However traveling by plane is still my favorite, I just like the feeling that I am flying and going through the clouds. Observing the earth from the above is really breathtaking.
actually i am not very fond of tour even though i like to travel around the nook and corner of my city..well my city is a combination of village and rural area so its quiet easy for me to find out all the tourist places with out a tourist guide.
moreover i always try to avoid tourist trap and usually i will try to getaway from all those areas whenever my friends and folks ask me to enjoy with them,,and interesting part is last year i had a longtime safari to the Himalaya and Kashmir and wild life safari with my colleagues ,it was like a dream for me that somewhat a breath taking moment.we just reached Kashmir at midnight and we have not any tour guides. we reached the youth hostel near the railway station for a rented room..holidays resort were there but its damn sure that we cant afford it so decided to stay there.just because it was a long weekend we took room for 9 days..after all next day we started out journey to the Himalayan valley and there were many tents and beautiful picturesque village out there,..at the time of 1 we took a short break to feel the experience the local craft store and to feed our tummy ,,we were starving ..after our lunch we just went to the stunning landscape near the lulu area..there we got a holiday broucher from local agent
actually, i am a culture vulture and i would like to visit somewhere which are tourist destinations ,especially historical monuments and culture. anyway, one of my favorite places, is yazd city that is looked in the central of iran , i went there on my own and spent afew days in youth hostel. a famous place which came highly recommended by one of my close friend that was mountains of Dakhme (Crypt) and also known as historical heritage. honestly i have never ever experienced stuff like and really impressed me. i like to repeat my trace again .in the sites there was a hole that Zoroastrians(one of irans religion ) put their peoples bodies into those holes for vultures. it has been their traditional ceremony for years and i said about vultures if you are a culture vulture i recommend you to sign up for guided tours and it can be a new experience for you that you never be able to make it in the across the world .
Good point Vitaliy. Actually, both are correct but since ‘tourism industry’ is more common, we’ll update this.
What do you think has led to the growth in the tourist industry?
need to change
what do you think has led to the growth in the tourism industry
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I’ve never ever traveled by plane before and of course not tried on the feeling of waiting for ages in departure lounge or check-in desk because my holiday destinations were rather near to my place. The most usual city I’ve spent my holiday in is Da Nang City. It is only about 100 kms far from my place. Even though it’s not the biggest city in my country, it is considered to be a very dynamic and beautiful one. I’d like to go there to get away from it all and enjoy the stunning villages there. The period time of chatting with my close friends and eating seafood from Da Nang Beach together is always my most memorable time.
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I would like to talk about my last holiday which was a long weekend type to Dubai city which is located in the UAE ,it was the holiday of lifetime for me and my wife because it takes us out of our routine life and refreshed our mood ,Dubai is a very popular holiday destination ,our trip started from my hometown with a lot of airport checkpoints and waiting for ages at the departure lounge our flight was very comfortable and the flight takes about 4 hours to reach our final destination, in Dubai we stayed at 5 star luxury hotel and we surprised with city entertainments of breathtaking views from the top of burjj khalifa to the wonderful views of the Atlantis and the adrenalin storming water park games of the Atlantis resort, I booked the holiday in end of march and it is the busy season with hordes of tourist and expensive facilities everywhere but it is nice to be in the middle of the crowd, then I went to the bab al shams luxury desert resort where I take my dinner it was amazing experience with multiple picturesque views of the desert
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Hi Reza
I think it’s a good idea to answer the questions with integrity and honesty. It’s much easier to talk at length when we can talk about our real experiences – but it’s not essential. As far as the questions above are concerned, these are being answered by different students which is why the answers also differ.
Dear peter,
In part questions you exactly refer to one of the most things that I’ve confused.
To clarify my question, I should say for example in Q1 you answered that you try to steer clear from tour trap
But in Q2 you said that you tend to use tour guide.
Is it acceptable to answer questions without integrity?
Best Regard’s
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Holiday for me is a time of enjoyment, a time off from work and normal routine. When I am on a holiday I prefer going to a place close to nature where there are picturesque places to spend time at. Other than that I prefer staying at a resort which is peaceful and offer good facilities, a place where I can spend quality time with friends or family accompanying me.
My country India always attract tourists because of is culture & weather conditions. There are vast variety of places for them – places surrounded by historical monuments like Agra and cities of Rajasthan, places close to nature like Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and places full of life and fun like Goa.
Travelling by air is not that much fun for me taking into consideration check-in and boarding formalities. The only reason for me preferring this mode of transportation is less travel time.
When i am on holiday, i prefer to enjoy at the fullest. Due to charter flights and all in packages it has been easier and affordable to have the holiday a lifetime.
There are a number of beautiful monuments in my country India to visit. To begin with, tajmahal is the one of the 7 wonders of the world. It is very beautiful monument and quite cheaper to enjoy at low price. Other than this numerous tourists like red fort, rock garden, lake in Chandigarh, forts in jaipur, agra,rajsthan, kerala and many more.
To me, i don’t contend that flights should be opt for travel compared to by road or own transport.
I don’t agree with flights because of delayed and long waiting lounges. Check in desk n passport checkings make our holiday quite boring n unnecessarily longer.
After getting tired by such formalities one can not enjoy at expected level.
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When on holiday I prefer relaxing in the room of the holiday resort for a day or two. then go for local sightseeing and of course I have a passion for shopping. I love to shop around and to collect souvenirs available in the local markets.
Yes ,We have do have hordes of tourists in our country and they are found all the year long and not in a particular holiday season. we have many tourist attractions. To name a few, one of the seven wonders is in our country the Taj Mahal in Agra,another popular tourist destination is Goa, which has many picturesque beaches and some beautiful temples and churches.
i do not agree with the conventional belief that flying is the most glamorous form of travel.Sometimes travel time is much shorter than the long wait at the airport .As far as I am concerned,the check- in desk and the departure lounge are the most boring places . I also have problems with take off and landing of the flights and it is really tedious with small kids.So the glamour seems really small to me.
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Hi Hanh
Off the beaten track means ‘in a place where few people go, far from any main roads and towns’.
“off the beaten track” was not explained. Could you post the explanation here?
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OVER TO YOU
Use some of the vocabulary above to answer these or any of the other questions on this page.