Wednesday 29 April 2009

Ferry to Spain, for a Family Holiday in France?

Ferry Crossing, Photo Credit: Andy Hay
Yes the heading is right, I think that catching one of the Ferries to Spain could make for a fantastic family holiday in the South of France.

The Spanish ferry leaves from Portsmouth and takes 2 nights to get to Bilbao on Spain's northwestern coast. From here it is a very scenic two hour drive along the pretty Spanish coast and then up and over the Pyrenees mountains.

Sure it does cost more than the many cheap ferry crossings to France (Dover to Calais or Dunkirk), but in this way you get two nights to relax on the ferry, with all it's restaurants, live entertainment, casinos, saunas, beauty salon and gym, instead of the ten hour drive down the length of France. You must also remember that you are also saving on the fuel and toll road costs this way.
Why not fly to France?
I am not going to knock flying to hard as I use it often, but that is just the point, we travel so much by air these days, it is no longer exciting and more of a chore, something to get out of the way. I feel that doing something a little different, like catich the ferry can make it part of your holiday. If you do fly, you will also then have to hire a car in France, where as by using the ferry, your holiday starts from the moment you lock your front door.

To read more about our proposed trip to the South of France read the Beach Holiday Blog post on the
Ferry crossing to Spain

Wednesday 22 April 2009

Prague City Breaks

Charles Bridge in Prague
I have recently returned from a fantastic long weekend city break in Prague, where the spring weather was simply glorious and I would highly recommend a visit before it gets too hot and the city gets too crowded with tourists.

Prague Weather
Because Prague sits in the middle of Europe, it has an almost Mediterranean climate, with cold winters. Prague tends to get really hot winters and short very cold winters. This means that probably the best time for a city break to Prague is in the spring or autumn.

Flights To Prague
The flying time for us from London Gatwick airport was only 1 hour 40 minutes, with our outward flight leaving very early on Saturday morning and returning on Monday Afternoon, meant that we had plenty of time to explore the city.

Prague Holidays
Our hotel (actually a floating hotel – Botel Racek) was located just outside of the city centre on the river, it was a very simple tram journey into the main tourist part of Prague, but we decided to walk in most of the time as the walk along the river was fantastic.

I am not usually a city break type of person, but I must say that Prague, like a few other smaller European cities (Amsterdam & Edinburgh) are fantastic to visit, you can walk them without feeling too overwhelmed and the river, whilst not only beautiful with it's bridges, makes for a fantastic point of reference making the city really simple to navigate.

So to sum up, I highly recommend a visit to Prague, it makes the ideal long weekend city break location as it is a fantastically beautiful city with something pretty much for everyone: River boat cruises, castles, cathedrals, beautiful parks, restaurants, cafes pubs, museums and more.

For more information check out this page on Prague City Breaks