European budget travel news

Virgin Trains Christmas service and special offers

John Williams — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 14:21:00 +0000

Virgin Trains will not be running trains on Christmas Day (25 December 2006)and Boxing Day (26 December 2006). Engineering Works are being undertaken on these days.
In addition they are relaxing the rules for Saver tickets so that they will be available for purchase all day between Friday 22 December 2006 and Monday 1 January 2007.

Express by Holiday Inn £39 / 49 euro room offers

John Williams — Wed, 29 Nov 2006 22:32:00 +0000

The budget hotel arm of Holiday Inn have some tempting offers at present starting at £39 for a room including continental breakfast. Here are just a few of the deals available right now from Express by Holiday Inn:
Valencia from 49 euros (£33)
Düsseldorf from 49 euros (£33)
London from £39
Ipswich from £39
Lille from 59 euros (£40)
Cardiff from £55

Eurotunnel creditors vote for restructuring

John Williams — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:03:00 +0000

Eurotunnel has today achieved the first part of its restructuring plans. At a meeting with its creditors got a vote favour of a deal that will lead to 50% of the debt for the operation being dropped. The vote accounts for 72% of the Junior and Senior debt of the cross channel operator.
Eurotunnel is currently operating under the French Safeguard Procedure, similar to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the USA. There is still a long way to go to finalise a deal but we will keep you informed on here.

£69 car plus 4 return to Ireland

John Williams — Sat, 11 Mar 2006 10:22:00 +0000

Norfolkline the passenger ferry arm of Maersk now owns NorseMerchant Ferries. They have an excellent offer on day crossings from Liverpool(Birkenhead) to Dublin. For £69 return plus £3 per leg fuel surcharge a car and 4 passengers can book a return trip up until the end of 2006. The offer can only be booked today, Saturday 11th March and Sunday 12th March 2006. Payment must be made in full at the time of booking, with no changes or refunds allowed. The price also includes a three course lunch.
Night crossings are also on offer at £99 return with similar terms and conditions but no free meal.

Cairngorm Ski resort to open this weekend

John Williams — Fri, 24 Nov 2006 21:51:00 +0000

The Cairngorm ski resort in Scotland plans to open this weekend (25 November / 26 November) if the weather permits. It plans to operate the funicular, the Ciste T-bar, and possibly the M1. Lifts will be open 09h30 -15h30 with the upper lifts closing at 15h00. It could be busy though as it will be the only Scottish resort open.
A ski pass will cost £16.50.

EasyHotel to open in Budapest

John Williams — Mon, 13 Nov 2006 20:51:00 +0000

The easyGroup headed by Stelios founder of easyJet is to open another easyHotel. This time the location will be Budapest in Hungary. It will follow three easyHotels in London and one in Basel, Switzerland and is planned to open in Spring 2007. Centrally located it will offer rooms starting at 29 euros a night. The hotel will have 57 rooms with en-suite facilities. The easyHotel brand has signed an agreement for 38 hotels in India, the Middle East and North Africa over the coming 5 years.

New Newcastle – Stavanger – Haugesund – Bergen service from DFDS

John Williams — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 23:43:00 +0000

DFDS will launch a new overnight service from Newcastle to Bergen via Stavanger and Haugesund tomorrow 11 November 2006. The voyage is a gateway to Norway’s spectacular fjords. The service will be served by a new ship the m.s. Princess of Norway. Connecting the ports twice a week on the low season and three times a week in high season.
Prices start at a low £28 per foot passenger and £130 for a car plus four people one way. They also have some excellent introductory offers on with a three night break to Bergen on offer for £50. The deal includes two nights onboard in a two berth cabin and a night in Bergen.

Ski offers from £149 from Opodo

John Williams — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 11:22:00 +0000

Opodo the travel company comprised of Europe’s leading airlines is offering some tempting deals on Winter sports breaks to Europe. They have 2 Star breaks in Italy, 3 Star breaks in Andorra and France starting at a low £149 per person.

New ski holiday site launched

John Williams — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:14:00 +0000

A team of Co-op Travel professionals with over 100 years combined skiing / travel experience have just have just launched new website - www.ski-direct.co.uk. The site contains a wealth of ski holiday information with helpful tips and hints as well as flight and hotel deals.

David Tonks a keen skier and one of the team behind the new site said: "We know, because we are skiers, that using general travel websites can be a frustrating experience when booking a ski holiday.

"On many holiday websites the ski resorts are in the same list as all other resorts, making it harder to find the information you want and there is a distinct lack of useful information about the natures of the slopes and resort facilities."

The site caters for all types of Winter resort fans from the adrenaline junkies to those just there for the apres ski parties.

David says: "Over the years working in the travel industry and going skiing, the team has seen many changes in the sorts of ski holidays customers prefer. For example, in the last ten years or so snowboarding has become hugely popular, especially among younger people."

People who have already booked their ski holiday can keep an eye on the weather where they are going by checking out the www.ski-direct.co.uk Snow Reports.

Ski-Direct is a member of the Co-operative Travel Trading Group.

Win a free night at a Golden Tulip Hotel

John Williams — Sat, 15 Jul 2006 10:52:00 +0000

Golden Tulip Hotels are giving away 500 free nights in their hotels in the Untied Kingdom and Ireland. To enter all you need to do is visit www.gtsummernights.co.uk and pick a room at one of the participating hotels. The competition rooms are available on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays up until 3 September 2006. If you are the first person to pick it then you win a free night there. Even if you are not successful you will be offered 10% off the room rates so it is well worth having a go.
The hotels in the offer are:
Dublin
Glasgow
Leeds/Castleford
Manchester
Newcastle Gateshead
Portsmouth
Rooms start at £44.50 at Leeds Castleford.

Travelodge £26 rooms

John Williams — Sat, 17 Jun 2006 13:31:00 +0000

Travelodge, the budget hotel chain still have some of their rooms for Â£26. The chain has hotels all over the United Kingdom and Ireland. To get rooms at Â£26 you will need to book at least 7 days in advance.

Latest Ferry prices

John Williams — Wed, 14 Jun 2006 21:23:00 +0000

Ferry prices are stll very good value. Information on how to book a crossing can be found on our ferry pages. Here are some of the deals that can be found at present:

P&O FERRIES
Dover-Calais: Return - Car+9 - from 70GBP
Please note, you are most likely to obtain the 70GBP fare on early morning and late evening sailings.

Hull-Rotterdam / Zeebrugge: Car+2 from 143GBP each way including standard ensuite cabin.

Portsmouth-Bilbao: Car+4 from just 361GBP each way including standard ensuite cabin.

SEAFRANCE
Dover-Calais: 5-day return - Car+5 - from 60GBP

NORFOLKLINE
Dover-Dunkirk: Mega deal standard return - Car+9 - from 38GBP

EUROTUNNEL
Folkestone-Calais: Return - Car+2 - from 98GBP
Please note that we charge an additional booking fee for Eurotunnel.

BRITTANY FERRIES
Portsmouth-Caen: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 150GBP
Valid for selected Monday-Thursday departures.

Portsmouth-Cherbourg: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 150GBP
Valid for selected Monday-Thursday departures.

Portsmouth-St Malo: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 150GBP
Valid for selected Monday-Thursday departures.
Friday night departures from the UK and cabin accommodation on all overnight crossings are excluded from this offer.

Poole-Cherbourg: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 150GBP
Valid for selected Monday-Thursday departures.

Plymouth-Roscoff: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 170GBP
Valid for selected Monday-Thursday departures.

Plymouth-Santander: 5-day return - Car+2 - from 570GBP
Selected departures, includes reclining seats.

STENA LINE
Stranraer-Belfast: Single - Car+driver - from 50GBP

Fishguard-Rosslare: Single - Car+driver - from 65GBP

Holyhead-Dublin: Single - Car+driver - from 70GBP

Holyhead-Dun Laoghaire: Single - Car+driver - from 70GBP

Harwich-Hook of Holland: Single - Car+driver - from 59GBP
All above prices are based on travelling out and back Monday - Thursday. Extra adult 15GBP single, extra child (4-15 years) 5GBP single, under 4 years FREE. Please note that we charge a booking fee for Stena Line.

IRISH FERRIES
Pembroke-Rosslare: One way fare - Car+driver - from 69GBP

Holyhead-Dublin: One way fare - Car+driver - from 79GBP

Holyhead-Dublin (Swift): One way fare - Car+driver - from 89GBP
All above prices are based on travelling out and back Monday – Thursday. Subject to availability. Book 14 days in advance, and by 22 June, for travel completed by 6 July.

P&O IRISH SEA FERRIES
Cairnryan-Larne: 5-day return – Car+2 adults / Children go FREE - from 134GBP

Troon-Larne: 5-day return – Car+2 adults / Children go FREE – from 164GBP

Liverpool-Dublin: 5-day return – Car+2 – from 169GBP

CONDOR FERRIES
Weymouth-St Malo: One way fare - Car+2 - from 144GBP

Win a year of French Apartment Holidays

John Williams — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 19:43:00 +0000

Pierre & Vacances, Europe's largest vacation apartment chain have a competition running at present. The prize is 5 weeks accommodation in an apartment at their Holiday Villages or Residences. The stay can be taken in a Pierre & Vacances, Maeva Residence, Latitudes Hotel, MGM or Pierre & Vacances City Residence in France.
Click here to enter competition.

Eurostar sets record for longest high speed rail journey

John Williams — Sun, 21 May 2006 20:38:00 +0000

A Eurostar high speed train has set the World Record for the longest high speed International train journey. The Eurostar named "The Da Vinci Code" left London's Waterloo Station at 09h40 on 17 May 2006 bound for the Cannes Film Festival. On board were the cast (including Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou) and the production team for " The Da Vinci Code". The journey 7 hours 25 minutes during which the train covered 1421 km
Upon arrival at Cannes the journey was certified by the Guinness Book of Records.

Innkeepers Lodge special offers from £29.95 GBP / room

John Williams — Tue, 02 May 2006 22:14:00 +0000

Innkeeper's Lodges are having some special offers on at present. For three night weekend stays rooms start at £29.95 per night including continental breakfast. Subject to availability the Sunday night will be free if staying Friday and Saturday at one of the participating Innkeeper's Lodge.