Posts Tagged ‘Europe’

Train Travel.

Choosing train travel over air travel, may depend on the distance of your destination, and the time you have spend away.  Living in the London, travelling to other parts of Europe by train is far more appealling to me, than flying in a cramped aeroplane.  However, distance and length of travel would have to be a factor that would dictate which mode of travel is best, air travel or train travel.

The UK’s our Railway Network is pretty big, almost 13 miles of electric and standard-gauge lines which includes the famous London Under Ground. We knock it sometimes, and it can get very crowded during the week, especially during peak hours, but it is fast and mostly reliable, (when it doesn’t breakdown).   Our network is also connected to the Europe by the undersea rail link, called the Channel Tunnel, which opened in 1994.  I remember I was in college when the plans where being discussed, infact I think we had to do a project on it.

Our Train Network is in the top 20 in the World, It is also one of the densest networks around.  It is also one of the busiest in Europe and has something like 20% – 60% more trains than France, Norway, Portugual, Spain, Switerland and Italy.  Previous figures have shown that our train network is the 5th most used in the world, but don’t let all these facts and figures put you off train travel.

Train travel can be, and is, one of the most comfortable ways of travel.  If you focus on train travel for holiday purposes.  It is likely that you would be travelling long distances, and therefore not the ordinary every day crowded, stuffy train trips to and from work.  If train travel appeals to you, below is a shortlist of three of the most popular rail services in the UK.

Train Travel Companies.

There are a number of major train Companies in the UK, Rail Europe, Virgin Trains and The Train Line are just a few.  I confess to not ever travelled long distrain by train, so I have not used any of these services personally.  They are however, all very well known and popular Train Service Companies.

Virgin Trains is a very popular and well known Brand in the UK, probably all over the World.  They offer train services to many cities and specialise in long-distance train journeys, connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and Glasgow.  You have the choice of first class or coach class, I recently found out that if you depart after 11am, the cost for the same class tickets is reduced by around 30%.  If you’re thinking of travelling to another city for business or pleasure, its’ worth playing around with the times of travel, if that option is open to you.

Rail Europe are the UK’s leading supplier of train travel into France and other parts of Europe.  Travelling with EuroStar for direct travel into Paris, Brussels, Lille, Avignon, Disneyland Resort Paris and the French Alps. Other European cities include Italy, Spain and Switzerland.  They are also the official UK website selling the “InterRail Pass,” which gives extensive travel across 30 European Countries.

Thetrainline is an online Company and the leading independent retailer of train tickets online.  Their online booking systems search covers a full range of rail journeys, and train travel fares.  Based on your preferences towards time of travel and budget.  They are completely independant from any of the Rail Networks and have a customer based focus service.

Whether you’re travelling short distance or long distance by train.  You know I’ll always remind you to view your travel insurance options.  Yeah, I know I sound like a broken record, but a broken record is better than a broken arm or worse.

Travel Tours.

Travel tours are very popular with millions of people flying off to far off places each year.  There are many destinations to choose from around the world.  Europe and Africa are among the two most popular destinations.  If you are interested in  travel tours, here are two suggestions that might give you a few ideas.

African or European Travel Tours.

Africa.

Given the time of the year, an adventurous tour in Africa may be the choice for you.  The climate is great and there always seems to be someting exotic about a Safari.  Seeing wild a animals in thier natural habitats would surely be a fasinating experience.

I’ve often been drawn to the allure of such an experience, but when I think deeply about it, I might be a bit of a scaredy cat!  But don’t let me put you off.  The wonderous scenery and overall exciting prospect of seeing a herd of Elephants, giraffes, wildebeest and lions, would be amazing!  Kenya is one of the top destinations for a safari travel tour, there are many packages and tours to choice from.

Europe.

Europe, what can I say, so many wonderful destinations, all full of artistic grace and historic buildings.  For this article I will suggest London, why not, I live here and am very familiar with many of the astonishing sites. While London is blanketed with history, there is also the new sites that are drawing visitors to this town of mine.

Before I get into that, one tour I would recommend to all visitors and tourist is one of the London Bus Tours.  The London Bus tours, is a circle tour which stops at various famous landmarks and tourist sites.  Buckingham Palace, London Dugeon, Big Ben, Houses of Paliment, Tower Bridge and many more locations.  They are great fun and you get a 24 pass to use.  You can hop on and off the bus at any tour stopping point.  Hop back on the bus as it comes back around.

Newest Attractions.

The Shard – is this fancy new building located at London Bridge and is the tallest building in Europe.   If that doesn’t put you off, you can now take the Shard Tour, with popells you, presumberly in a lift.  Right to the tippy top of the building, 40 miles high.   If you like heights, here’s one for you.

I don’t doubt the extrodinary view of London and surrounding area, I just don’t think my stomach would take, my level of bravity in such matters is…. sub zero.  Looks great from the ground up, but if you want a treat or want to have one of those Magical Tour Experiences.  The Shard is the latest and I understand tickets are being snapped up right now.

In this article, the choice of travels tours are Exotic or Historic.  Either one would be a great choice and  give you are a great travel tour experience.   There are of course many more types of travel tours you could take in hundreds of destinations.  Many are small interesting walking tours, others are what might be considered high risk adventure.   The bottom line is, it depends what kind of travel tour would you like?

All that’s left to say, is to remember to get the right travel insurance package.

Shard Image By: Cmglee – Nairobi Image By: Mkimemia

Sunny Spain.

Checking in with the latest holiday trends for UK travelers. It seem that Sunny Spain is the number one choice.  And why not, I enjoy my visit to Malaga some years ago. I know people who have holiday villas and other people who have emmigrated to Spain.

Spain is close to the UK, it’s reasonably priced, and it has some of the most scenic and historical sites to enjoy.

Three Popular Spanish Destinations.

1. Malaga.
2. Alicante.
3. Barcelona.

One out of three mentioned above, I’ve only been to Malaga.  I’ll look forward to correcting that, I’ve always wanted to visit Barcelona.

Last minute deals will probably feature sunny Spain quite heavily.  See our last minute deals for more information.

You may remember back in February 2011, we outlined the top ten Countries to visit of 2011. Spain came out at number three.  Of course there are probably dozens of top ten destination lists. Nethertheless, I’m betting sunny Spain will feature in most of them.

The school summer holidays are less than 10 days away.  If you’re stuck on where to take the kids, or just want to get away for a quick cheap break. Don’t forget to check out sunny Spain!

You can check for the best Spanish deals, cheap flights, hotels and car hire at, Opodo, Expedia, lastminute.com or lowcostholidays.com.

As always when traveling abroad, don’t forget your travel insurance.

Photo by Image: Matt Banks /FreeDigitalPhotos.net

KLM.

In late March 2011, KLM will operate scheduled flights from Amsterdam to Xiamen, China.  They will be the first airline to provider direct flights from a European destination to South East China.

KLM’s flight service to China already includes such cities as, Beijing, Chengdu, and Shanghai.  KLM has a very large service to Eastern destinations from Amsterdam.  As well as China, it also includes Hong Kong and Taiwan.  With the added city of Xiamen, KLM will firmly extended their reach to the Eastern part of the World.

From Europe To China.

If you are based anywhere in Europe, and you’ve been thinking about a European/Eastern holiday.  This could be a great opportunity to explore an alternative route to the East.

For flights to Amsterdam check, lastminute.com or Expedia.
For flights to China, Hong Kong or Taiwan, check out KLM.  They are the specialist airline with flights to East Asia.

Don’t forget your travel insurance.

Photographed by Brian

Travel To Berlin.

If you’ve ever thought that you’d like to travel to Berlin.  This may be the ideal time, because of  some very interesting information I read about the city.  I thought it was worth a quick mention as a follow up to my earlier blog post of 16/8/2010.  Apparently, right now, the city of Berlin is the cheapest travel destination in Europe.

Berlin came out tops, beating London and Paris hands down.  I can’t remember all the figures, but it’s just another good reason why you could travel to Berlin.  Cheap is good, but when it comes down to, great value for money, that’s even better.  Go for it!  As always, don’t forget to book your travel insurance too.

Photos by: Nelly Freitas.

Berlin.

Berlin, Germany’s capital city, has been enjoying a surge of visitors over the last six months.  I use to speak and write a little German, but over the years I lost most of what I learned.  Perhap I should take it up again.

International travel to Berlin has increased by 14% and the city is enjoying visitors from all over the World.  Why not, I’ve heard it’s a great city, full of culture and history.  It is also on my list of European cities to visit between 2011 – 2013.  I feel sure I’m going to enjoy Berlin as much as everyone else.  Can’t wait.

Easy Breaks.

If you fancy a long weekend, or a short trip to Berlin.  This may be the time to go for it. To search for good flight deals, visit our cheap flights deals page.  I have noticed a few £20.00 flights, although I suspect that was for a one way ticket. £40.00 return is still a great price.  Additionally, you can check Opodo deals.  Single trip travel insurance for Europe is very cheap, so make sure you include it in your travel costs.

Das Reisen nach Berlin und genießt!  (Travel to Berlin and enjoy).

Travel Company Collapse.

Last month saw another travel company collapse.  When the South London based Tour Operator Goldtrail went into administration.  Thousands of holiday makers were sent into a holiday abyss, as they realised they were unable to take their planned summer break.  Approximately, 50,000 customers were unable to leave for their planned holiday.

Reports stated that there were approximately 16,000 customers already aboard “enjoying” their holidays.  Holiday makers in Greece faced the difficult perils of returning home.  Having to rely on the Civil Aviation Authority to step in and arrange flights home.  Well, what else could they do, leave them out there?  I think not!  Return flights from Turkey were okay.

Other reports I read, stated that Hotels in Turkey were asking the holiday makers to pay again for their hotel stay.  Otherwise they were NOT going to be able to stay at their chosen and already paid for accommodations.  Not sure how accurate that report was, but I would have thought that Hotels would have some kind of insurance cover in the event of a tour operator going into administration.  They would have an easier time of claiming back any monies from the appropriate authorities.

Some details about Goldtrail.

Goldrail was ATOL protected, so customers can claim their money back through the CAA, (Civil Aviation Authority).  However, previous customers affected by a travel company collapse have said they waited months for a refund, and some even up to 2 years.

Goldtrail was based in Morden, South East London.  The Company was started in the 1990s and specialized in holidays to Greece and Turkey.  They used chartered flight services from Turkuaz, Viking and Onur Air.  Which I must confess, I’ve never heard of them.  I generally fly scheduled flights only.

If you were affected by the unfortunate Goldrail travel company collapse. You can find out about refunds from the CAA information line on 0203 441 0846.

It’s difficult to judge which Companies, travel or otherwise will continued in business these days.  I hope you were not affected by the Goldrail travel company collapse.

For safe European holiday bookings, see Opodo or Low Cost Holidays.

Photo by Ilker.