A cruise holiday is not just set for older couples many cruise lines are now catering for younger couples and families, one magical cruise line for those with young children is Disney Cruise Line, as you can guess from their name you know you will have lots for your children to enjoy and there is also plenty for you parents to enjoy as well.

A Disney cruise offer fun from the moment you step onboard, you get to meet your favourite Disney characters and get stuck into all the onboard activities including wacky game shows and karaoke, they also offer onboard organised children’s activities which start at 9am and run up to midnight for all ages. This means you parents can have a break for the day and enjoy time in the adult’s only areas, where you can enjoy wine tasting or cookery classes, as well as being pampered.

Disney Wonder

Picture courtesy of wsh1266

There is also a great dining experience on the Disney cruises where they offer a unique rotating dining experience here the whole family is treated to a great meal in one of three separately themed restaurants where you are served by your own personal waiting staff each evening. If you want an evening on your own without your children, adults can also enjoy a more intimate dining experience in the cruise ships more sophisticated over 18’s restaurants.
To finish off your evenings the Disney cruise ships offer great evening entertainment for the whole family such as a new- release movie or Broadway-style show. You can also leave your kid supervised in one of the clubs while you enjoy over 18s entertainment area, with a choice of vibrant night clubs and soft music lounges.

There are 2 Disney cruise ships, the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder which visit destinations such as the Caribbean, Mediterranean, the Baltic and many European destinations as well as a transatlantic crossing.  So if you fancy a holiday the whole family can enjoy, why not have a look at some of the great cruise deals on the Disney cruise line.

Disney Magic cruise ship

Picture courtesy of sanctumsolitude

London can be a great destination for families with plenty for all to enjoy, finding things to do that can keep your kids entertained as well as not making your time to child orientated is easier than you think. A trip to London can include man thinks including history, science and art but all with an element of fun to keep young ones interested. So hop on a flight to London and experience the fun!

A favourite for children and adults alike is Madame Tussauds and one of London’s popular destinations offer plenty for the whole family, featured there are not just celebrities of the here and now but also older personalities that parents can reminisce about. London Zoo also offer lots to so for all ages, with an extensive collection of exotic animals, plus a wide range of free activities. For families with older children The London Dudgeon is also a popular hit, calling itself “the world’s most chillingly famous horror attraction. Chronicling London’s gruesome history you children will be terrified into learning history without even knowing it!

If your children have been very good you can treat them to a trip to London’s Hamleys Toy Shop, here you find seven floors packed full of the latest toy, games and gifts, not to mention fun games for adults and children to enjoy. Also it’s a great way to bribe your kids following you around while you indulge in some retail shopping in the capital.

For families travelling to London could not be easier, with road and rail links and 3 London airports there are many ways to get there.

A firm family favourite has more to offer than the all inclusive bustling family hotels or resorts you can get a better look at the volcanic island by staying in a self catering holiday villa in the Canary Islands and hiring a car to explore the island.

Many people visit Lanzarote for the great selection of beaches and the sizzling sunshine to get a great tan and the resorts that offer a wide range of bars and clubs and all night entertainment, but Lanzarote has more to offer than that.

The island has some of the most awe inspiring landscape you will see made up of volcanic formations with great reserves including a Biosphere Reserve and Marine Reserve as well as a National Parks and 12 protected areas, making for some great photo opportunities. It also has volcano’s that you won’t see anything like anywhere else which influences the lives of its inhabitants and offers great natural history.

You can choose to stay in a holiday cottage or villa either by the coat or inland in one of many small villages and can get around the island by car or if you prefer by bike to explore those harder to reach places.

Lanzarote volcanic landscape

Picture courtesy of sbegueria

Edinburgh is a city steeped in history, so much so that people who keep coming back year after, still have not seen all it has to offer. The city which was founded upon the famous castle rock can trace its history back to the Bronze Age all the way to present day, a site commonly noted in history Edinburgh Castle was constantly fought for and its defence can still be seen to today.

Edinburgh consists of the Old Town and the New Town, until the late 18th century it only consisted of the Old Town which is the area where you’ll find the Castle, Royal Mile and Grassmarket. The new Town was developed in the 1750’s to attract back wealthy families who had left for London when the city became over populated, the New Town was designed by James Craig, whose design inspired the New Town’s grid like system of streets which include the popular and well known Princes Street and Queen Street. Since then Edinburgh has grown and grown not only popular for visitors but business alike, it’s easy access of road and rail also make it possible as well as the convenience of cheap flights to Edinburgh Airport.

For historians you will no doubt be enticed by Edinburgh’s history and can trace much of Scotland’s history from here too. Edinburgh offers an array of libraries and museums to indulge in which include the Museum of Scotland, the Royal Museum, the National Library of Scotland, National War Museum of Scotland, the Museum of Edinburgh, Museum of Childhood and the Royal Society of Edinburgh.  Scotland is also know for is traditions including the much celebrated Edinburgh Military Tattoo which takes place in the Castle Esplanade every night over summer concurrently with other popular Edinburgh festivals such as the Edinburgh Fringe, Edinburgh Comedy Festival, Edinburgh International Film Festival, Edinburgh International Book Festival and the  Edge Festival.

Edinburgh also makes a good base for exploring other parts of Scotland located in the south east Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea. From here you can discover the Lothian’s, where East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian makeup Edinburgh’s surrounding coast and countryside.

With other transportation suffering from a series of strikes this Easter why not get away on a cruise for the holidays leaving the misery behind? There are various cruise deals available and you can set sail from ports like Southampton, Dover and Tilbury to destinations like the USA, Caribbean, Mediterranean, and Egypt.

Whilst on board you get to experience the lap of luxury cruises have to offer with plenty of activities for the whole family to enjoy. There are also a great many excursions to enjoy whilst in port as well as lots of local culture and history to enjoy.

Oasis of the Sea

Picture courtesy of kthypryn

The great thing about cruise holidays is that you can do as much or as little as you want, so it’s a great choice for those who want to relax and also for those who like a bit of adventure. So have a look and see where you can go.

Popular for breaks away in the UK holiday cottages and villas make a great base for anyone wanting to explore , with no restrictions on when you need to be back or when you can and can’t eat. Generally a holiday cottage is like a home away from home and many popular UK holiday destinations such as the Lake District, New Forest, Devon and Cornwall have a great selection to choose from.

Usually holiday cottages are situated near places of interest and sometimes you may even find you have a wonderful view of it to look out onto such as an imposing stunning outlook along Yorkshire Dales, or a quiet stretch across a Norfolk beach. With no restrictions you can explore as much or as little of the local area as well as taste local delicacies and good old pub grub, whatever takes your fancy.

No matter where you stay you can find something to suit your needs whether its peace and tranquillity in the Scottish highlands or a good family holiday near a Cornish beach staying in a holiday cottage will not hold you back.

If it’s not bad enough for travellers at the moment with the planed strikes at BA at the end of the month now crucial talks are taking place to try and halt the threat of strikes over the Easter break by thousands of railway workers. Officials from the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will meet executives at Network Rail (NR), which is seeking to cut jobs and change working practices to allow more maintenance work to be carried out at weekends.

The protests are seeking to stop NR cutting 1,500 jobs although NR have said that 1,100 workers have already volunteered for redundancy and said the “vast majority” of the 1,500 cuts will be achieved without the need for compulsory lay-offs. A NR spokesman said “We need fewer people and those who remain will need to work differently,”

The RMT have growing support from MP’s with 150 of them already signing an Early Day Motion opposing the planned cuts and calling on the Government to intervene. Bob Crow RMT General Secretary  said “We head in to talks with Network Rail with the very clear intention of seeking an agreement which ends the threat of compulsory redundancies amongst safety-critical maintenance staff and which puts the safety and security of our railways above the drive to slash budgets to hit arbitrary savings targets. We have secured a huge pool of public and political support for RMT’s ‘rail cuts cost lives’ campaign, alongside an overwhelming mandate from our members for action if that’s what it takes to reverse these cuts. That puts us in a strong position as we open up these direct talks with the senior management at Network Rail.”

The Aegean Coast is a very popular destination for British tourists with many great holiday spots on its coastline and lots to see and do. You can enjoy Turkey’s rolling hills and mountains, clear blue seas and its glorious white sand beaches from many resorts whether you stay in the bustling centres of Bodrum or Marmaris or smaller ports such as Olu Deniz and Fethiye there is plenty to explore and enjoy.

If you stay in one of many holiday villas in Turkey Aegean region you can use it as a base to sample all the different cultures and the rich history this region has to offer like the Ephesus Archaeological site which is probably the most evocative ancient city in the eastern Mediterranean, and one of the grandest reconstructed ancient sites in the world. The remarkably preserved ruins were rediscovered in the 1800’s, you can marvel at the marble-paved streets with grooves made by chariot wheels and partially reconstructed buildings and monuments. Or the Dalyan Çayı River which flows past the town of Dalyan where you can take a boat ride and spend some time pampering your skin at the Dalyan mud baths or go to Iztuzeu beach which today is now a nature reserve at the mouth of the river. Along the Dalyan Çayı River journey to Iztuzeu beach you can also see the spectacular Lycian rock tombs in the mountainside.

For those who enjoy a wild night out you can visit the town of Marmaris which has a vibrant nightlife, you can enjoy a meal at one of many restaurants down by the quayside where you will find anything from traditional Turkish to Italian, Chinese and British. You can then dance the night away down Marmaris famous Bar Street which is full of bars and clubs, or if you don’t fancy some dancing you can enjoy some late night shopping in the undercover Carsi market before you head back to you holiday villa or apartment.

Lycian rock tombs, Dalyan

Picture courtesy of sbunting108

There is so many places to visit and much to see and do on the West Coast of America it can be hard to easily fit it all into one holiday, however if you take a Celebrity West Coast cruise holiday from Canada to California travelling on the luxurious cruise liner the Celebrity Millennium you get to see the best the West has to offer.

The Celebrity Millennium offers world class facilities for all to enjoy with spacious and comfortable accommodation, from stylish staterooms to stunning Penthouse suites, but with so much to do on board and so much to see when in port you will probably find you don’t spend that much time in your room. During daytime cruising there are plenty of options to spend your time onboard such as for exercise fans, High-tech fitness facilities like AquaSpa, a Swimming Pool, Paddle tennis and Golf nets and if you just like to relax and take it easy before big excursions you can unwind in the Two-tier library, the Card room, Music library, Internet café or one of the Elegant bars and lounges. In the evening there are plenty of places for you to dine from 5* restaurants to the casual dining boulevard you will never be short of places to eat.

The West Coast Cruise starts in Canada in Vancouver, British Columbia where you firstly get too enjoy the sophistication and cultural richness that it has to offer before you depart on your journey southward, after the first night of travelling you will arrive at Nanaimo and dock for the day and either enjoy some excursions or just explore the ship. The next day you can spend exploring Victoria, with its genteel ambience you can visit the Butchart Gardens or relax in one of many street cafes.

Picture courtesy of tiarescott

The next day is normally a highlight of many people taking this cruise, a day enjoying Seattle, visiting famous places such as the world-famous Space Needle and the majestic 14,410-foot active volcano Mount Rainier as well as the birthplace of Frasier, Kurt Cobain and Microsoft. After a day exploring all that Seattle has to offer you get to relax for a day at sea before you reach California and the first stop off in this state is San Francisco where you have two days to enjoy here. You can enjoy many of the great tourist attractions here such as the Golden Gate Bridge or Alcatraz and if you are partial to a bit of shopping then you stop off at Bloomingdales, Barneys, Sephora and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Picture courtesy of dherrera_96

After San Francisco you then sail by night arriving in the small, laid-back and lovely port of Monterey, where for the day you can visit numerous shops and restaurant as well as the Monterey Bay aquarium. Coming near to the end of your cruise you can stop off in Los Angles and can visit the town of Avalon which is a quaint village on Catalina Island, here you can enjoy a stroll along the colourful Pleasure Pier, which offers numerous opportunities for exploring the island’s emerald waters with world-famous glass bottom boat rides. The next day you arrive in San Diego where you have a bit of time for a look around before you leave for your flight back to the UK.

Picture courtesy of brewbooks

St Patricks Day is celebrated all around the world, but nowhere more than in St Patricks home country of Ireland, all around the emerald isle festivities will be springing up before, on and after the 15th of March, from Dublin to Galway and Belfast to Cork there are many festivities to be seen. If you want to experience the best of St Patricks Day then take a trip there and enjoy all it has to offer, you can get great deals on flights to Belfast from most UK airports, Belfast is a great base to start your exploration of Ireland and its festivities.

St Patrick was actually born across the water from Ireland in Wales to wealthy parents at the end of the 4th Century, when he was 16 a young Patrick was taken prisoner by a group of Irish raiders and shipped across the Irish Sea. Here he spent the next six years in captivity working as a shepherd, lonely and away from his family Patrick found solace in his religion and so he became a devout Christian. Six years later Patrick escaped from his captors after he heard God’s voice telling him it was time to leave Ireland and so made his way back home, where he had another vision this time from an angel who told him he should go back to preach Christianity to the Irish. After studying to be a priest for 14 years Patrick returned to Ireland where he built churches and spread the Christian faith for the next 30 years until his death on March 17, 460AD. After his death March 17 became the day set aside for spiritual renewal and offering prayers for missionaries worldwide.

Because so much of the Irish population lives all around the world many people who wish to become ‘Irish for the day’ have opted for the green of the Irish flag to express their Irishness, as well as using the shamrock as an emblem. St Patrick used the shamrock to explain the concept of The Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. These celebrations are no different in Ireland, this year St Patrick’s Day Festival (March 12-17) in Dublin is celebrated in style, with music, street theatre, family carnivals and up to 4000 performers joining the fun. This year Limerick will host the SkyFest, which is a massive fireworks display over the River Shannon. Belfast offers the annual St Patricks carnival parade with lots of entertainment on offer as well as the Guinness St Patricks Day Race Meeting which is one of the biggest days of the racing calendar.