ESL Conversation: What's the worst holiday you've ever had/taken?

Sam talks to Gina about his nightmare holiday experience in Spain. What's the worst holiday you've ever had? What's the best? What kind of holidays do you like? Listen to the dialogue, you will find lots of useful language you can use in your own conversations



Here is the transcript:


Morning Gina. I'd like to put in a holiday request. Do you deal with that?

Yes I do. You need to fill in the holiday request form and let me have it at least a month before your holiday. Going anywhere nice?

Yes. We're going to New York to see a show and do some shopping.

Oh lovely. I've always wanted to go to New York.

You can get some good deals online these days, flight and hotel. We went to Spain last year, never again. It worst holiday we ever had.

Why was that?

The hotel looked lovely in the brochure, but when we got there it wasn't even finished! Can you imagine? I mean, you don't have a holiday on a building site, do you.

Was it that bad?

Honestly, what with the noise, hammering, drilling all day long and parts of the hotel that were fenced off, scaffolding on the walls, the restaurant was reduced by half so there wasn't enough room for everyone.

Did you complain?

Of course we did. All we got was an apology. I went to see the rep who told us to contact the travel company when we got back. So I wrote a nasty letter and all I got was a voucher for fifty pounds off our next holiday.

Tell me which company you travelled with. I'll make sure I won't book my holidays with them. I do like Spain, though.

Me too, it's a great place for a holiday. But I think with the recession, a lot of projects were abandoned, due to lack of finance.

You won't be able to relax on a sunny beach in New York though, will you?

Well no. It's completely different. Maybe later in the year we'll go to Tunisia for a beach holiday.

Lucky you. All I get is a week in Devon in a caravan. That's what the kids like.

When the kids are grown up, you'll be able to travel where you want.

You're right. Anyway, here's the form, fill it in and give it back as soon as you can.

I'll check the dates and give it back this afternoon.

No worries.

Vocabulary mind maps: travel and holidays

Think of more words you'd like to add to this mind-map:


Holidays and Travel: ESL conversation questions

Here are some conversation questions about travelling and holidays:



  • What kind of holiday do you prefer?
  • When was the last time you went on holiday? Tell me about it
  • What was the best holiday you've ever had?
  • What was the worst holiday you've ever had?
  • What do you take with you on holiday?
  • Some people say that going on holiday is nearly as stressful as divorce or moving house. What do you think?
  • What three countries would you like to visit?
How would you answer these questions?