Spain is one of the traditional favourite destinations for Brits travelling abroad with millions of families enjoying Spanish holidays over the years; in fact it was one of the first package holiday destinations.  One of the biggest attractions to taking a holiday in Spain is the huge amount of variety available to holidaymakers in the country, with city breaks, beach holidays, golfing holidays, cruise holidays 2011 and resort experiences all readily available thanks to Spain’s large tourism industry. 

Ibiza, Spain

Picture courtesy of Philip Larson

The country is also easy and economical to get to, with numerous flights from a variety of low cost airlines departing daily from most major UK airports and some of the smaller local ones. You can also take a cruise holiday from a UK port or alternately if you want to enjoy a cruise around the Mediterranean and a stay in Spain you could go on a fly, cruise and stay holiday.

One of the most popular places for British tourists in Spain is the south coast of the island, where holidaymakers can find a great mixture of beaches, restaurants, bars and shopping to ensure an action packed and fun break.  This area of Spain also has a large ex-pat community, making sure that home favourites are always close to hand.  The south of Spain, though, isn’t all about busy family holidays as there are also several small villages and towns in the area full of quiet, rustic charm.  Further inland from the busy coastal areas you can find some of Spain’s best resorts and golf courses, offering a more relaxing and serene family experience.

Along with traditional beach and resort holidays, Spain is also home to several great cities for tourists to explore.  Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, amongst a host of others, are all great locations for Brits looking to combine Spanish heritage and culture with the luxuries and comforts of a cutting edge modern city.

If you book a holiday on an airlines UK website that ends in .co.uk rather than .com, you could end up paying more, as well as not been offered as many offers or deals. According to research by the Observer newspaper Flights typically cost more and customers will find fewer special deals on those websites, for example One Virgin customer saved £700 by booking his flights on the company’s US website.

The discrepancy was noticed by customers using the UK sites for United Airlines, Virgin Atlantic and Air New Zealand and when the Observer journalist tried to book a return trip from London Heathrow to Chicago for mid-April on United’s website, they found the cheapest economy seat on the America-based united.com was $696.60 which is around £436 before taxes, compared to £465 on the UK website.

Also comparing both the .co.uk and .com sites there was large-scale availability in the economy cabin, with additional seats available in an ‘economy plus’ category offering additional legroom for a $99 premium on .com but only a few seats and no economy category on the same flight on unitedairlines.co.uk.

Speaking about the differences, United admitted that ‘fares may differ on occasion’ between countries, but said its fares were consistent within the UK. A spokesperson for the company said: ‘We offer the same low fares via UK travel agencies as we offer via unitedairlines.co.uk’.

The Civil Aviation Authority said carriers routinely use different marketing strategies in different countries, which would explain the discrepancies in pricing. ‘Britons may be affected more than others because of the almost complete deregulation of air fares in this country, introduced some years ago to create more competition. Not every country has such complete deregulation,’ it says.

Eastern Mediterranean
Mediterranean cruise holidays are always popular with travellers from the UK, it’s an easy destination that doesn’t take much travelling to, and you get to explore some of the nicest places in Europe and Africa, with ease. There is variety of different cruise lines, ships and itineraries to choose from for the Mediterranean, they are split into two, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Mediterranean. We are going to first look at the Eastern Mediterranean cruise holidays.

There are many breath-taking moments to expect when cruising in the Eastern Mediterranean, which includes St Mark’s Square, as your ship slips down the Grand Canal in Venice, Italy, here you can disembark off your large cruise ship and hop onto something a little smaller, a gondola and explore some of the 150 canals.

Bustling St Mark's Square

Picture couresty of xiquinhosilva

Also the ruins of Olympia in Athens, Greece where you can experience all the ancient cultural treasures it has to offer. You can climb up to the Acropolis for awesome view, or take in the culture at the atmospheric Monastiraki street market.

Acropolis ruins, Athens

Picture courtesy of simon_music

And not forgetting the Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt on a visit to the capital Cairo where you not only get to enjoy one of the Seven Wonders of the World but also the bustling traditional bazaars.

Great Sphinx and the Pyramids of Giza

Picture courtesy of JackVersloot

With an Eastern Mediterranean cruise holiday you also get the option for overnight stays in amazing cosmopolitan cities such as Venice and Istanbul where you can really take in the atmosphere. You can choose from voyages of twenty nights from Southampton, or you can do a fly and cruise holiday and pick up on the cruise in an option of destinations such as Italy or Greece, there are also cruise and stay options available which combine a week’s hotel accommodation on a Greek island with a seven-night cruise, so there are plenty of options available.

Theodori church - Firostefani, Santorini (Greece)

Picture courtesy of Navin75

You can still get a tan in autumn, there are a couple of destinations where you can find temperatures around 30C which mean you can get in some serious beach time even as late on as this.

Dahab, Egypt

The small Bedouin coastal resort of Dahab has extremely high temperatures during the summer months, however as you head in to autumn you will find the temperatures to be much more enjoyable at around 31C with warn nights. It’s a lot more relaxed than the resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but only 100km north of there. Renowned for its diving, thanks to its diversity of reefs, and also its windsurfing (the resort has about 270 days a year of wind a year) there is plenty of fun in the sun for everyone to enjoy. You can also take day trips to visit the Coloured Canyon, with its dramatic rock formations, and St Catherine’s Monastery, situated at the foot of Mount Sinai, and the temperatures during the autumn will make the experience more enjoyable.

Dahab, Egypt

Picture courtesy of Igor Klisov

Kas, Turkey

Like Egypt, Turkey can also experience high temperatures during the summer months, so if you want to see what it has to off a visit in the Autumn is the best time to go, as you will find temperatures to be around 29C rather than 35C-40C found in the summer. Kas is a relaxed old fishing village situated on the Lycian coast in south Turkey from here you can easily explore the Lycian Way, which is a long-distance footpath that stretches for 500km from Fethiye to Antalya through the ancient land of Lycia. Kas is also great for exploring the southern most areas of Turkey as well as that it also offer water sports activities and because it’s a fishing town you can also find an abundance of fresh fish to enjoy as you enjoy the relaxed autumn evenings.

Kas, Turkey

Picture courtesy of Le Grande Portage

As one of the most popular tourist destinations in the world, (attracting more than 50 million visitors a year) Spain which is also a top destination for UK tourists who wish to enjoy the sun, sand and sangria, has plenty to offer no matter what holiday your after.

For those who want easy going family holidays where all you needs are catered for then you don’t need to look further than the popular resorts such as Tenerife, Gran Canaria or Lanzarote which offer plenty of family orientated activities. If you want a faced paced party holiday then you need to be going to Spain’s world famous party capital, Ibiza or the lively resort of Magaluf. And for those who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of the busier tourist resorts you can look to stay in some traditional holiday rentals in Spain further off the beaten track such as Correalejo National Park, and the resorts of La Gomera and La Palma.

There is also more to Spain than the golden beaches, if you travel a little further in land you will find a country steeped in history with a rich culture as well as cities which boast world’s finest architecture as well as breath taking scenery. Here you also get to enjoy the real Spain, with its sights, sounds and tastes that are a world away from the bright tacky lights and British orientated food found in many of the resorts.  If you stay in holiday villas further inland you will get to enjoy the real Spain, in villages the feel like they have stood still in time.

If you currently in the process of looking for a last minute summer holiday somewhere, but not decided on a destination yet, then the world is your oyster! Travel these days has made it so much easier to see never, seen before places in far off lands, it has also made it easier to see what we have here in the UK. You can look for cheap flights to London, Glasgow, Belfast or Dublin to see the Best of British or last minute seats on flights further afield, like Turkey, Italy, America or even Australia, online and compare prices offered to make sure you get the best deals, it’s also just as easy to find accommodation for your holiday too, many places drop their price if they have a couple of rooms left to get them filled up.

The top travel destinations for 2010 are:

Turkey
Egypt
Mexico
Tunisia
Greece
Majorca
Cuba
Croatia & Montenegro
Morocco
Costa Rica

Many people warmer climes for their summer holidays because here in the UK we generally don’t get much sun over our summer, so going somewhere hotter means you can enjoy the sun you have been longing for all year and with cheap flights and bargain hotels it’s never been easier!

Sitting around on a beach on holiday is not everyone’s cup of tea, some people like to get out and about and explore the sights and sound of this world, if you’re not looking to travel too far for your summer holiday and want to take in some history and culture then why not hop on a flight to Belfast and explore this fascinating city and its surrounding area.

The capital of Northern Ireland, Belfast is its largest city which is steeped in history, it is mainly remembered for the Troubles that dominated Northern Irelands Politics for nearly three decades and scarred many people’s lives over there and here as well. Although Belfast is still coming to terms with the aftermath of the peace process which was instigated by the 1998 Good Friday Agreement the city itself is starting to turn itself around, undergoing major redevelopment and trying to attract tourists.

If you have a keen interest in history then you will find plenty to keep you occupied, learning how the city began back in the early 1100’s as a cluster of forts, and how it developed its self from then on to become what it is today. Some places of interest include: St Anne’s Cathedral, Odyssey Leisure Centre, Ulster Museum and the Botanical gardens to name but a few.

Belfast also offers many great places to eat offering a wide range of cuisines as well as typical Irish food and drink you can also have a great night out in the city with many fun bars and clubs. For those who like some retail therapy you can indulge in some shopping too from designer goods to highstreet buys as well as local crafts and art so you have plenty to keep you occupied during your visit.

Northern Ireland is easy to get around and Belfast makes a great starting point to visit the rest of the country.

When it comes to booking a holiday many people look to see if they can get the best value for money, so with many people feeling the pinch still has meant some people are looking to the UK in hope of getting a good deal however some prices here in the UK can be higher than abroad, so what’s the best option?

A lot depends on what you’re looking for in a holiday, the type of accommodation you want to stay in and what you’re happy paying for food and drink as well as travel expenses’. Some popular resorts in the UK find that businesses impose much higher prices than normal for food and accommodation especially if you want to travel with your family during the school holidays that it can work out cheap to go abroad, even when comparing holiday rentals.

Sometimes it can be cheaper to holiday abroad if you are looking to stay in all inclusive accommodation as although it costs more initially you save money during your holiday because your meals and drinks are included at your resort, however factoring in the flights can bump up the price to more than a holiday in the UK.

If your confident that you can keep to a budget for your holiday then there are ways to save money, if you take a caravan holiday at a park in the UK you can share the cost with a few people, many static caravans can sleep up to 10 people, all you need to think about then is the cost of food which can also be split. Travel may be a bit more expensive but if there are a few of you then to travel around you could hire a mini bus, splitting the cost here will also be handy.

There are plus and negatives to both staying here in the UK for a holiday or going abroad, however with careful planning and comparing deals and prices, you could get a very reasonable summer holiday.

Now that summer is officially here and the temperatures are heating up across the UK and Europe it’s a great time to get your flights sorted for your summer holiday. You can get great deals and cheap flights when booking last minute and if you’re open to travelling anywhere even better offers.

You can travel to some great short haul destination or if you want something more exotic there are some good deals on long haul flights, you can even get some great deals on flights around the UK with many offers on flights to London, Glasgow and Dublin available. So get looking now for great travel deals this summer!

When looking to fly abroad for business or pleasure you may find you might have to get a connecting flight to London Heathrow from your local airport first, sometimes this may be the aircraft you’ve travelled down on but mostly you change to a larger aircraft for the remainder of your journey, especially if it’s a long distance to travel.

Most connecting flights are only a short time after you arrive, giving enough time for baggage to be moved, some people do worry though about losing their luggage in transit when taking connecting flights. Sometimes however a connecting flight might mean a stopover in London. Luckily there are some great hotels on and near Heathrow, many of which offer a shuttle service.

Small local airports can only offer a limited number of destinations they travel directly to, normally ones across Europe if you are going further afield you may find you have to look to larger airports to get good flight deals to destinations such as USA, Canada and Australia.