Ultimate Vacation Spots

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 21

It’s the gateway to Europe from the UK – and it has got everything you need for your vacation!

Whether the UK is the start of your journey, a hop along the way or your final destination – you need not worry about anything.  Ashford International in Kent is a hub of efficiency and international arrivals and departures – linking major European cities together by train or plane.

Getting to see the country you live in by rail is totally different to any other means of travel – giving you a glimpse of behind the scenes in cities, to large mansions or tiny villages along the way.  Especially if this is your last view of the UK for a long while!

Want To Leave The UK?
Leaving the UK to start your vacation couldn’t be easier.  First option would be to catch a train from your home town into St Pancras in London, which will then set you on the high speed train to Ebbsfleet, then on to Ashford Railway Station which takes you under the Channel Tunnel and into France.

Secondly, you could take a ride on any national coaches from wherever you are (including if you have just arrived at a major UK airport like Heathrow or Gatwick) and down to Kent.

Thirdly is the option of driving your own vehicle.  Ashford has over 2000 car parking spaces for your use – and it also has one of the largest shopping centers in Europe right on it’s doorstep – giving you a good reason to get there early!

And finally, you can fly to Ashford International Station from a regional airport!  There are also international flights available from here too – if you change your mind about the train! 

Planning That Journey:
Get yourself onto their informative website to see their departure times, prices, seating, connections, packages and hospitality!  They are not short on options!

It’s not just for departures either, Ashford can link you up on your way back from Europe adding that final country onto your ‘check’ list before heading home!

The more flexible you are with your travel dates will get you a better price, and if you can guarantee travel that day – you get huge savings.  Flexible tickets can be more than double the cost of choosing an exact train!

But, whatever suits your needs – this place has the solutions!

posted by Travel Cat on Dec 18

It seems as though we are the cause of the Earths demise if we fly off for 2 weeks in the sun these days!

I can read about all the evidence for global warming and the CO2 that causes it, and I know that flying is supposed to be one of the main ways that CO2 is leaking into the atmosphere, but should we stop flying because of it?

It seemed ‘ok’ a few years ago to buy carbon credits in exchange for your flight to ‘equal out’ the effect of pollution on the atmosphere and everyone was talking about it - but now it seems that that isn’t good enough anymore – it’s just a way to pay to pollute.

So, what can we do?

Stay At Home:
First choice is to stay at home for your vacation – a stay-cation, apparently.  You can find plenty of ways to enjoy time off work near to where you live – for example, camping.

Plenty of people are taking up this option with the rise in living costs and world’s current financial situation, and they are really enjoying it.  Local places are also seeing the benefits of these types of vacation.

Your local woods, parks, centres and communities are getting money and support from your visits which is helping to improve your own back yard, rather than just line the pockets of the big tour operators.

Take Less Vacations:
Why do you need to fly long-haul several times a year?  Why not have one sun-drenched vacation across the globe, but take your other breaks closer to home – visiting family for example.

Or, make that vacation longer, so it’s still only the one flight, but it’s for 3 or 4 weeks – or even 6 months in the case of a gap year!

It would be much better to spend the equivalent of your next 10 vacations in the same place than to fly back and forth every 6 months or so – and you will get so much more from the experience!

Travel Differently:
We can still visit far flung destinations if we choose to travel by boat, train, bus or on foot!  If we plan a route to where we want to go by means other than flying, we are reducing the amount of carbon we chug out into the air.

We can still visit a variety of great destinations, just with less of an impact on the environment.  I know catching a train to South America or to the other side of Europe will still throw out CO2, but it will be less per person than flying.

However, no matter how much you want to, this won’t always be possible for shorter breaks as buses and trains take a lot longer to get to some places than flying.  It isn’t always suitable.

Or:
Worry about reducing your impact in some other way and carry on flying on your vacations!

There are plenty of other things that you do that are (apparently) responsible for climate change, like buying excessive consumer goods, using products that cause deforestation, dropping litter, using coal, driving your car to work alone rather than sharing, voting for non-green political parties, eat too much foreign meat, use wildlife products, and many many more.

Make your choices, and stick to them!

posted by Travel Cat on Aug 26

Having just returned from Malta, I thought I would pop down some of my favorite bits incase you had ever wondered whether it was worth visiting such a small island.

Well, I loved it, but it has changed a bit since I was last there – mainly in 2 ‘bad’ respects.  It’s a lot dirtier than I remember and there is a lot more ‘touristy’ parts.

However, I still had a great 2 weeks there and would recommend a short trip there for someone who loves architecture and walking around a lot!

1) Valletta. 
A visit to the historic city is recommended to everyone as it is the very essence of what makes Malta Malta! 

The lengthy straight streets and steps running up and down the length of the city are a site worth seeing in themselves.  There are some amazing views across the harbours and up to the elaborate balconies and huge double doors that are ubiquitous in this country.

Suprisingly there are some beautiful parks dotted about the bastions that are ideal for relaxing in while you eat that delicious fresh slice of pizza and read your favorite book to the sound of the horses feet on the streets behind you.

2) Gozo.
A ferry ride to the little sister island will make for a very different day out.

Although a bit of a trek from the main tourist zone (about 2 hours travel time on the bus then ferry) it is well worth the effort.  Not only do you get to see the country as you travel north, but Gozo is so very different.  A world apart.

Set on a different soil, this is much more fertile and is so much less populated.  Buses run for the locals here and the stores seem much more aimed at families and self catering rather than fast-food tourists!  So it is more peaceful…..

There are also some delightful little coves here which we spent many hours in – hiding in a shaded cave overlooking the crystal clears Mediterranean waters where little boats bobbed past.

3) Mdina.
Just a short hop from the new capital to this ancient capital – and it is so much more peaceful.

Even though tourists visit here too, they tend to stick to the 1 main road through to the viewpoint where you can see Mt Etna on a clear day!  All the other streets and the parks outside seem to be waiting for you to sit down and watch the little lizards scoot around the trees!

Just down the road from here are the famous catacombs where you can descend beneath the streets and wander around meters and meters of pathways carved out of the very earth.  St Agatha’s tombs have great frescoes as well.

Worth a visit – but don’t plan for 2 weeks there unless you are sailing there on your own boat!

posted by Travel Cat on Mar 18

I have been to Turkey three times now, and to a different resort each time.  So here is each location and what was better (or worse) about each one – giving you some of my ‘Turkey tips’.

Generally we wanted to see wild Turkey as well as the cities, so we had read up before we booked our latest Turkey vacation, to make sure we experienced both.  All 3 times we got a late deal to Turkey from the UK, paying no more $400/£200 each time for all inclusive.

If you are planning to travel to Turkey yourself, I would definitely look into which tours you are most interested in before you choose your resort as there are many types across Turkey.  These include:

Biblical Tours of Turkey – these are very popular and usually offer taking in Mount Ararat where Noah’s ark was supposed to have landed in the far east of the country, close to the border with Iran.  You would need to check the security situation in the region before going here though.  Also there are the Seven Churches of Revelation dotted across the country. 

The region known as the Anatolia was where the first people to be call ‘Christians’ met together, and the St Peters’ Grotto in present day Antioch is one of the very first places where they held their secret meeting!  Mary Magdalene’s last resting place is also here and Tarsus is believed to be the birthplace of the apostle Paul.

General Turkey Excursions- including caves, snorkeling and dolphin tours.  You can book a trip to Turtle Beach and the rivers where the film The African Queen was filmed.    You go in a canoe to reach this spot if that takes your fancy.  Mud baths are also on offer.

There is a great deal of history in this country, spanning 2 continents and vast eons of history.  The ruins of Troy are here and the modern city of Truva is the closest ‘base’ from Istanbul, as well as the great Gallipoli battlefields – the site of a great Anglo-French battle against the Ottoman Empire also within a short drive of the capital.

A visit to Ephesus on a tour is always popular, and will take you to the best preserved classical city on the eastern Mediterranean.  This marble beauty is the location of the famed ‘Temple of Artemis’ – one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World!

Luxury Turkey Escorted Tour – this will include many great escorted tours of not just Istanbul tours, but out across the great sites of this country.

Istanbul tours are obviously a great place to start, and the sites of this amazing capital include the gemstones at the Topkapi Sarayi, the sacred Sultan Ahmet Camii – the blue mosque, and the Grand Bazaar – where you are sure to get lost amidst the 58 tiny streets and over 1200 shops!

Take a cruise up the Bosphorus (sometimes called the Istanbul Strait) which divides the European side of Turkey – Thrace, from the Asian side – Anatolia.  There are many legends along this river, and the sides are crammed with great Ottoman castles and palaces! 

Istanbul hotels are some of the most splendid I have seen – although there are many more boring accommodations available depending on your budget.  You will get the best if you book through a luxury escorted tour company – and the architecture and views of these locations can make every penny worth spending!

Marmaris - this popular resort in south west Turkey was once just a tiny fishing village – but the location is so beautiful, that it has become a victim of it’s own success.  In peak season the tiny town can fill with nearly 400,000 tourists – both local and foreign! 

As a result, this beach resort in an amazing natural harbour has some of the best shops and night clubs in the whole country.  You can still do fishing trips but it mainly is a tourist ‘sunshine’ resort, with nothing much to do but sunbathe and admire the scenery.

Marmaris Fethiye cruises are a popular day trip.  This ruined town is still beautiful with boat trips taking you to 12 different Islands where you can swim at every location – and of course the many Lycian sarcophagi dotted around the place.

Marmaris Hotels are a-plenty and The BlueBays Hotel where we stayed was 4* and lived up to that with all free Saunas Gym and hot tubs.   Food was well displayed and very good choices to cater for everyone.   Rooms were up to a good standard and cleaned every day.  But there are obviously many to chose from at all * ratings.

Oludeniz -is another great beach resort and has one of the most photographed stretches of beach in the Med!  It is a National Nature Reserve so the building regulations are much stronger than in Maramis – allowing you to enjoy the natural beauty!

You can arrange Oludeniz yacht cruises to view the ’Blue Lagoon’ from both sides, and there is even paragliding available to get a birds eye view of the great landscape and clear seas!!! 

And Finally:
Turkey has been named as joint holder of the European Capital Of Culture for 2010 and much of Istanbul is now recognised by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Now is certainly a time to visit!
.

posted by Travel Cat on Oct 1

Just a quick note to everyone in the UK to explain why the vacations this summer have been a bit pricey!

I was visiting my travel agent every week waiting for something to come up for around the £600 or less mark for a long-haul 2 week vacation – but nothing came. She thought they were holding off due to the bad weather this year – so she said come back after the August Bank Holiday. I did, but the prices were still higher than I wanted, and there weren’t many of them to chose from either.

I now know why.

Travel ‘giants’ Thomas Cook and TUI recently announced that they have been taking advantage of other travel companies going bust, by keeping their prices artificially high. They were using their well earned stability in the market to pick up all the travellers who still wanted that summer vacation, and were prepared to pay a little more than usual.

Apparently this has been very successful, what with less flights (Thomas Cook have nearly 25% less holidays on sale this season) and less companies offering them in the first place (with XL and Zoom going bust). Also, holiday selling prices have increased a staggering 18% in the past 7 weeks – according to the London Lite (29/09/08). No wonder I couldn’t find anything worth paying for.

So, it may be that cheap package holidays are becoming a thing of the past – for now.

However, I think that over the next year when things are predicted to get even tighter – for example my electricity bill has gone up another 30% this month – people will stop paying those prices. How many people even now really want to pay more that £600 each for 2 weeks in the sun?

The only people with that sort of money are all the London bankers – oh, hang on a minute – aren’t they all out of a job now!

.