Beach Holiday Deals, News & Ideas

Car Hire for 6 People

Wednesday, April 29th, 2009

Note: This post is part of a series on our Self Drive Holiday in France.

Obviously a vital part to our road trip to France is the vehicle. Most people taking the France Ferry would simply use their own vehicle, but as we will be travelling as a group of six people, all with luggage and a few tents to, a slightly larger vehicle than my Renault Megane is needed.

Having checked many car hire companies, the biggest car they offer is something like a Vauxhall Zafira and whilst it can seat 7 people, I think two seats fold out in the boot of the car, which with luggage wont work, especially as we are all adults, which is a shame as a vehicle in this class costs around £30 a day to hire from the UK.

MPV or Minivan
Next I found Europecar who offer the Renault Espace or similar vehicle which looks like it could work – It has seating for 7 with limited luggage space (see main image) – they say it can take 2 small suitcases and 2 large ones , so I reckon with 6 seats we should be able to fit all the luggage we need.

Cost of hiring a MPV or Minivan:

Rental for 10 days (in July) Price: £480.00 = £48/day (£8 per person per day)
Rental for 12 days (in July) Price: £576.00 = £48/day
Rental for 15 days (in July) Price: £720.00 = £48/day

Extra driver £7.49/day: £74.90
Overseas travel: £60.00

Total: £614.90 ( for 10 days) = £103 per person (about £10 a day per person)

…go to the main Self Drive Holiday in France page.

Tags: Car Hire
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Ferries to Spain

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Note: This post is part of a series on our Self Drive Family Holiday in France.

Catch a Ferry to Spain to Get to the South of France?

The Portsmouth to Bilbao Ferry Crossing
Another option to get to southern France other than taking the ferry crossing to France is to catch the P&O ferry to Spain, which takes you from Portsmouth to Bilbao in northern Spain and then drive to France. This option could work out as whilst the ferry journey is much longer (2 nights on the way there and 1 night on the way back), it does cut out the long drive through to the South of France.

The Drive from Calais to Tarbes (a town in the Pyrenees mountains in the South of France and just happens to be the finish of the 9th stage of the Tour de France on Sunday 12 July) is about 1,115 km and will take about 10 hours 12 minutes of non stop driving. Where as the drive from Bilbao to Tarbes, is only 294 km taking about 2 hours 55 minutes, along the coastline of northern Spain and the fantastic scenery of the Pyrenees.

This option will probably works out more expensive, but I think if you look at is as part of the holiday, it could also be very enjoyable. With exhilarating sea views, restaurants, live entertainment, two on-board casinos, saunas and a gym and a good night’s sleep in your comfortable en suite cabin, it could almost be called a cruise!

Example Bookings
So how much does a ferry to Spain cost:
Based on 6 people and a car:
The cheapest price of 2 cabins with 3 births is not ideal for 3 couples, but it is the cheapest option

• Portsmouth – Bilbao Sat 04 Jul 2009 21:15 -  £515.00
• Bilbao – Portsmouth Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:15 -  £540.00

Total: 1,055.00 = £176 per person

For 3 cabins with 2 beds inside each (perfect for 3 couples):

• Portsmouth – Bilbao Sat 04 Jul 2009 21:15 – £630.00
• Bilbao – Portsmouth Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:15  – £655.00

Total: 1,285.00 = £215 per person

What about the average family:
2 Adults and 2 Children and a car (1 room x 4 Berth Inside)
Total: £765.00 = £191 per person

Or as a couple:
2 adults and a car (1 room with 2 beds) You can get a double room, but it will cost you more.

• Portsmouth – Bilbao Sat 04 Jul 2009 21:15 : £340.00
• Bilbao – Portsmouth Sat 18 Jul 2009 13:15: £365.00

Total: £705.00 = £352 per person

So whilst this is nowhere near a cheap as taking the ferry to France, this option is definitly worth considering especially if you are traveling in a larger group as it can work out fairly ecconomical especially if you take in account the fuel you save and tolls that you don’t have to pay by driving through France.

Portsmouth to Santander Ferry
Another ferry to Spain is operated by Brittany Ferries and only opened in March 2009, it also leaves from Portsmouth but takes you to Santander.

Santander is about 100km west of Bilbao and whilst fantastic if you are wishing to explore Spain or Portugal, it does add an hour to the journey if you are wishing to travel east to the South of France. Having said that this new ferry, the very impressive mv Pont-Aven is said to offer the fastest journey to Spain and takes only 24 hours. The Pont-Aven is also probably the most luxurious ferry to Spain with some great features including a swimming pool and leisure area, 2 cinemas, video games room and slot machines, wrap around promenade perfect for a stroll on the deck, a dramatic five deck high atrium with panoramic views from the lifts. To eat there is the main restaurant, a self service restaurant, a coffee shop and 3 bars including the pool bar.

Price
I checked the prices and it works out pretty similar to the Portsmouth to Bilbao Ferry Crossing run by P&O ferries, and will cost £1218.00 for six people (3 double rooms) and a car travelling on Sunday 5 July 2009 at 4pm, returning on Monday 13 July 2009 at 3pm.

For more information on the UK to Spain ferry crossing check out the Beach holiday guide on Ferries to Spain.

…go back to the main Self Drive Family Holiday in France page.

Tags: Bilbao, Europe, Ferries, Ferries to Spain, Ferry, Ferry to Spain, Santander, Spain
Posted in Europe, Uncategorized | 2 Comments »

France Ferry

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

Note: This post is part of a series on our Self Drive Family Holiday in France.

Ferry crossings to France

There are two reasons why we decided on the ferry crossing to France rather than flying, the first is the cost, if we were to fly, there would be 6 air tickets to purchase and then we would still have to hire a car in France. The other is just to try something different, I haven’t been on a car ferry to France before and so it sounds like it could be a fun part of the journey rather than something you just want to get over with. With the cost of cheap flights becoming more expensive, and increased competition amongst Ferry companies mean that cheap ferries to France are a real alternative to the no-frills airlines especially as they offer you the added advantage of door-to-door access, greater independence and flexibility giving you the freedom to explore France as well as the rest of Europe.

Dover to Calais

There are plenty of ferry crossing to France from the UK, the most used route is the 90 minute journey from Dover to Calais with a large choice of companies and crossings throughout the day. Probably the best known France ferry companis is P&O ferries, below is an example of what you can expect to pay:

Example Booking

• The prices range between £25 and £55 depending on time of travel in either direction.
• The cost is also the same for any amount of passengers up to 9 passengers.

Depart 6am: £25 (up to 9 people and a car)
Depart 8:30am: £55 (up to 9 people and a car)

So on average you are looking at about £80 to £100 for the return journey = approx £20 per person (based on 6 people)

Dover to Dunkirk

Another common route is from Dover to Dunkirk. Dunkirk is just north of Calais and is more convenient than Calais for many destinations in France as well as Belgium and Holland as well as providing shorter drive times to Germany, Switzerland. It also has the benefit of being a much quieter port meaning that you are on your way from the ferry port more quickly and the roads are a lot quieter although I think the crossing time is a little longer at about 2 hours.

Norfolkline is the only ferry company sailing to Dunkerque, France and an example of what you can expect to pay is below:

Example Booking
Outward journey - The Dover to Dunkirk Ferry

Friday 3 July 2009
6am depart: £24
8am: £45
6pm: £29
11:59pm: £17.99

Saturday 4 July 2009
6am depart: £39
8am: £45
6pm: £37

Return Journey – The Dunkirk to Dover Ferry

Sunday 19 July 2009
6am: £32
8am: £42
10am: £35
2pm: £47
8pm: £47
10pm: £39

Monday 20 July 2009
6am: £25
8am: £29
10am: £32
2pm: £42
8pm: £37
10pm: £25

Prices above are for up to 4 passengers and a vehicle any extra passengers are £15 each for return tickets (add £30 to the total for 6 people)

So it will cost around £80 to £100 for the return journey (about £20 per person based on 6 people)

What if you live in the North?
From the North of Britain you don’t have to drive all the way down south to get on a ferry at Dover. Ferries from Newcastle to Holland, may be a better option even if you are travelling to France as it can not only save you many miles of driving put a few pounds as well. From Newcastle to Dover is 347 miles, take the ferry from Newcastle to Holland and it is only 175 miles before you reach the French border.
Ferries from Newcastle to Holland cost from £129 (one-way) based on 2 people and a car. For more details take a look at the DFDS Seaways Website

Ferry to Spain

Another option worth looking at if you are travelling to Southern France, is to catch the Ferry to Spain (Portsmouth to Bilbao) and then drive into France.

Go back to the main Self Drive Family Holiday in France page.

Tags: Calais, cheap ferries to france, Dover, Dunkirk, Ferries, Ferry, ferry crossings to france, France, france ferry, sea france ferries
Posted in Europe | 3 Comments »

Family Holiday France

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

South of France Holiday – Beaches, Bicycles & Canoes

For something a little different to our traditional summer holiday (relaxing on one of the beaches in Europe) a group of us thought it might be fun to explore the south of France by driving there from the UK using a ferry crossing to get to mainland Europe.

The aim is to not only to enjoy some of the best beaches on the French Riviera, but also to time it so that we can take in a mountain stage of the world’s most famous bicycle race, the Tour de France and perhaps do a little canoeing and camping in the Ardeche region of France.

As there will be 6 of us travelling together, I thought that I would write about the planning of the trip as well as a report after we get back in the hope that some of the information may be of use to others as I feel this could also make for a fantastic family holiday in France.

So the basic plan is (click on the links for more details):

• Hire a Car to Carry 6 People
• Get to France by Ferry or Ferry to Spain and then Drive into France
• Travel to the south of France by car
• Watch a mountain Stage of the Tour de France
• Enjoy some Canoeing in the Ardeche
• Enjoy a day or two on one of the best French beaches

Our accommodation in France will consist of:

• Camping
• Bed & Breakfasts

Tags: Beaches, Canoeing, Family Holiday, Ferries, Ferry, France, French, French Beaches, Tour de France
Posted in Europe | 4 Comments »

Cheap Flight to Dubai

Friday, April 24th, 2009

With a flight time of around 7 hours from the UK, Dubai is not a short distance away and as such it can often be difficult finding any sort of cheap flights.

Lastminute.com currently have a Flight Sale on and one of the destinations in the sale is Dubai. As with most deals, I am often sceptical as to what is the catch. With flights, it is often that you have to fly on an exact day and possibly with some airline you have never heard of. So I have done the homework for you:

Cheap Flights Dubai
I have just done a quick search and at the moment you can get return tickets to Dubai from around £230, depending on what airline and what days you choose to fly on.

Some examples

• Royal Brunei Airlines £230 return
• Qatar Airways £244 return
• Etihad Airways £243 return

For more details, take a look at the Lastminute.com Top Flight Offers

The cheap flight prices listed above are for travel dates between 30th April and up until July – The prices start to rise in July when the cheapest price is then £321. As you can see the airlines are also some of the best, infact I would go as far to say that Qatar Airways is probably the best airline in the world and unlike some low cost airlines, the ones above won’t surprise you with hidden fees, these prices include taxes and fees!

As well as cheap flights to Dubai in their sale, lastminute.com also have some other great deals:

• Virgin Atlantic : Heathrow to New York £284 return
• Virgin Atlantic: Heathrow to Hong Kong £363 return
• Etihad Airways: Heathrow to Johannesburg £383 return
• Emirates Airways: Gatwick to Bangkok £400 return
• Etihad Airways: Heathrow to Sydney £560 return

For more details, check out the Beach Holiday Guide to:

• Dubai Cheap Holiday Packages
• Cheap Flights to Dubai

Or to Check and book the Dubai flights as well as all the other deals:

Tags: Cheap Flights, Dubai, Dubi, Flight Deals, Flights, Middle East
Posted in Flights, Middle East | Comments Off

Ryanair Fat Tax

Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009

Believe it or not, but now the beach Holiday guides favourite airline to hate, Ryanair is now considering how to charge extra for “Very Large Passengers” This comes after more than 30,000 passengers voted in favour of charging excess weight fees for very large passengers.

“Over 100,000 passengers logged on to ryanair.com to take part in our competition and almost one in three (over 30,000) think that very large passengers should be asked to pay a fat tax.” this is according to Stephen McNamara of Ryanair.

Other charges voted for on the on-line poll include:

• 29% – Excess fees for very overweight passengers
• 25% – €1 for toilet paper – with O’Leary’s face on it
• 24% – €3 to smoke in a converted toilet cubicle
• 14% – Annual subscription to access Ryanair.com
• 8% – €2 “corkage” fee for passengers who bring their own food onboard.

Ryanair is now considering how to implement such a charge and is now asking it’s passengers to vote, on which format the charge should take:

• Charge per kg over 130kg/20 stone (male) and 100kg/15 stone (females)
• Charge per inch for every waist inch over 45 inch (male) and 40 inch (female)
• Charge for every point in excess of 40 points on the Body Mass Index (+30 points is obese)
• Charge for a second seat if passengers’ waist touches both armrests simultaneously.

Again according to Stephen McNamara of Ryanair:

“The above four points seem to us to be the simplest, fairest and administratively easiest to apply.

“In all cases we have set limits at very high levels so that a ‘fat tax’ will only apply to those really large passengers who invade’ the space of the passengers sitting beside them.

“These charges, if introduced, might also act as an incentive to some of our very large passengers to lose a little weight and hopefully feel a little lighter and healthier.

“The revenues from any such fat tax will be used to lower the airfares for all Ryanair passengers yet further. Passengers can vote for their preference on www.ryanair.com until April 27.”

So, do you think Ryanair is seriously considering charging extra for larger customers, or is this is all another publicity stunt?

Tags: Cheap Airlines, Ryanair
Posted in Europe, Flights | Comments Off

Prague City Breaks

Tuesday, April 21st, 2009

Now I know that Prague is nowhere near the beach, but this is a follow on from a post that I made a few weeks back about a company selling rooms at hotels in Prague for £1 per night. This deal was way too good to miss and I decided to snap up a 2 night Prague city beak for myself. So now as a follow up I have decided to review not only the hotel, but also include my short guide to cheap Prague holidays based on my experience.

Prague Flights
To find the cheapest holidays, especially to European destinations, I usually recommend booking a package holiday deal with the hotel and flights included. Because I had already got an incredible deal and booked the hotel separately, I would also have to find the best deals on flights to Prague. I went through all the airports nearest to us, looking to find the ones that offered Prague flights, we eventually booked our tickets with the ever popular easyJet, they flew on the days that we needed and were the cheapest.

Airlines that fly to Prague that you can look at include:

• EasyJet who fly from London Gatwick, Stanstead, East Midlands and Bristol
• British Airways
• Swiss Airways
• Ryanair, who fly from the East Midlands, Birmingham and Dublin to Prague
• SkyEurope (http://www.skyeurope.com) Who fly from London Luton to Prague

Hotels in Prague
As you would expect with any of the worlds favourite city break destinations, Prague has plenty of hotels as well as other types of accommodation to suite all types of budgets. Unless you know specifically which hotel you want to stay at, I would recommend booking through a site like lastminute.com, or like I did, HotelConnect.co.uk. Now I can’t promise you that you are going to get a stay at a hotel for £1 per night like I did, but these sites do often have promotions on and even if they don’t have one when you wish to travel, the fact that you can quickly compare hotels makes choosing the right one for your needs that much easier.

Botel Racek
We ended up staying on a floating hotel and whilst it is probably true to say that the boat hotel is more unique than it is luxurious, it was perfectly comfortable. I think that it’s usual price of around £62 per night for a double bedroom works out as good value. The hotel was less than 15 minutes away to the old city centre by tram, which runs right behind the hotel. You can even take a very pleasant walk into the main part of Prague along the Vltava river, something that I did twice over the weekend. If you are on a real budget, you may wish to stay at the Fortuna Rhea Hotel in Prague that offers basic accommodation at a very affordable price, around £30 for a double room per night. Both this and the Botel Racek are available to book from HotelConnect.co.uk.

Holidays To Prague
As mentioned earlier, unless you get a really good deal on either your Prague flights or your hotel, you will probably find the cheapest holidays to Prague by booking an all inclusive package holiday. My favourite website for this is www.lastminute.com who not only offer Holidays, but also flights and hotels and so make it really simple for you to compare what will work best for you.

Prague Weather
Our trip to Prague was in mid April and the weather was fantastic, what I would call perfect spring weather. Cloudless blue skies without being to hot. Generally Prague has a continental climate meaning that they have hot summers and cold winters. Probably the best time to visit Prague is late April and May and then again in September when the weather is not too hot or too cold and the city is not too crowded. In the middle of summer, it is not unusual for daytime temperatures to reach 35C and in winter it can be as cold as -15C. The average high temperature from May to September is 22C and the average low is 12C, with an average of 7 hours of sunshine. Spring and summer are usually the sunniest months while the period between May and August is the wettest.

Prague Top Tips

Use the Trams: The trams around the city are fantastic and cheap as well. You can buy 24 hour, 3 day or even week long passes that will save you even more if you use it often.

Something to Eat: Take a walk around the district known as the Mala Strana side (lesser side) – located just across the Charles Bridge from Old Town, at the bottom of the hill that leads up to Prague Castle Compared to the other side of the river, the area is quiet and very up-scale, it is the most exclusive neighbourhood in Prague and is home to many of the worlds embassies. Many of Prague’s finest restaurants can be found here, as well as elegant cafes and tourist shops. Situated alongside the river.

Get away from the crowds: Prague has many excellent parks and none better than the Vojan Park, the oldest partly preserved garden in Prague. It is a part of the former fruit garden, founded after 1248 after a bishop´s court was demolished it became a garden of the Carmelite convent in Prague in the 17th century. Kampa Park not far away is also a nice place to enjoy the beautiful views of Prague.

Tags: Cheap Hotel, Cheap Hotels, Europe, Hotel, Prague
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Ryanair: How to Beat their Hidden Costs

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009

A while back I wrote an article on how Ryanair is not as cheap as they say on the box, with all their “hidden” fees it can make comparing the cost of flights with other airlines a real nightmare and perhaps give you a real nasty surprise when you arrive at the airport to check-in. Should you decide to read the additional charges page on the Ryanair website, it will probably take longer than many of their flights and so with this in mind and if you are still hell bent on flying with Michael O’Leary’s money grabbing machine, here is the Beach Holiday Guides tips to lessening the pain with Ryanair this summer:

No More Check in desks at the airport.

From May 1, if you book with Ryanair, you’ll have no choice but to check in via www.ryanair.com and print your boarding card yourself. If you fail to do so the fee for airport check-in has just risen from £4.75 to £10 per person per one-way flight, and from May 1 it doubles again to £20. That’s not all… let me explain, these fees are what you pay if you opted for airport check-in when booking. If you don’t pay then but just turn up at the airport check-in desk, the fees double again. So if you as a family of four check in this summer for your beach holiday, the traditional, unplanned way could find yourselves having to pay £320 extra on a return flight this summer (£40 per person each way).

Even if you check-in on-line, you have to pay, it has introduced a new ‘web check-in fee’ of £5 per person only for those who have baggage… who can possibly go on holiday without baggage?

• So pay for you checked-in baggage in advance, online. If you pay at the airport, Ryanair’s fee for checking in a bag is twice as high – that is, £40 on a return flight.
• To avoid Ryanair’s stupidly high debit and credit-card payment fee Pay with Visa Electron. If you don’t have one.. either get one or you will have to pay!
• Keep within luggage limits. Ryanair recently started being much stricter in enforcing its one-bag hand-luggage rule and this includes duty-free purchases. You will risk being fined £30 at the departure gate for an extra bag. As for checked-in bags, try using less bags, Ryanair charge per bag…. hell why not get one massive bag for the whole family!
• Don’t bother with the £3 per flight priority boarding, it is a load of rubbish!
• Make sure you get the names right and are exactly as they appear on the passports, changing them costs £150 for a return flight!
• Beware of the Ryanair’s travel insurance, it can be way more expensive than using other companies.

So are we picking on Ryanair?

Whilst it is true that pretty much all the budget airlines have extra charges, but Ryanair’s are usually the highest and, given that the airline’s advertised fares are often the lowest, it does look like they are trying to cheat everyone into thinking that they are the cheapest airline. So it is vitally important that when comparing the cost of you flights to Ibiza this summer to make sure you are taking into account the whole expense of flying with different airlines, including all extras, before booking. (It’s a nightmare I know!)

If you have bags to check in, you will probably find that it is cheaper to fly with an alternative to Ryanair that has lower fees for checked bags, airlines like easyJet, or even with a full-service airline, like British Airways.

British Airways has a generous free checked-in baggage allowance and doesn’t charge extra for carrying most pieces of sporting equipment such as golf or ski bags, ogh and you don’t have to run for your seat!

… enjoy your flight!

Tags: airlines, Cheap Flights, cost of flights, Flights, low cost airlines, no frills airline, Ryanair, Tips
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