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February 22nd, 2010 Ashley
Planning a group holiday offers its own particular challenge to coordinators of all kinds and levels of experience. Travelling with your own built in group of friends and acquaintances can be a truly enjoyable experience, but the logistics of managing food, entertainment, and lodgings for so many people can be mind boggling, especially for amateurs. If you are planning a group holiday, or merely part of one, then you need to begin by choosing a destination site. For group trips, which are as much about the company as the location, a campsite or holiday park in Devon may be the answer.
The Benefits:
- A campground or holiday park is often the most cost effective method of accommodating a large group. Hotels offer group rates, but the costs of the hospitality industry as well as food and travel for the group may simply prove to be too much. It is much easier to share costs and labour in a camp setting.
- Campsites are almost endlessly expandable. No matter the size of your group, you will not run into caps on room capacity or worse, a booked hotel. In a campground, the more people you bring, the merrier your vacation.
- Feeding your group mates and planning activities for them is also easier in an outdoor setting. One good outdoor barbeque, for example, will keep you entertained for hours. You won’t find that your group is too big for the restaurant and you can make as much noise as you want. Not to mention that you get to plan the menu.
In the end, campsites in Devon are simply more fun for group travel. The lack of rules and structures coupled with the people you enjoy most and the opportunity to get away from it all means that you get to have the vacation you want rather than the one that the hotel personnel dictate to you.
Have it Your Way
Your trip is ultimately supposed to be something you want. With a little research you can find a campsite that is not only available for your entire group when you want it, but one that offers access to all the facilities and activities you want. When you choose the right campground, there is no need to forgo your pool access or your group hike, let alone the after party. A campground will have rules and regulations that you need to obey while staying there, but ultimately you will be free to have your own fun, your own way.
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February 20th, 2010 Ashley
When you plan a family holiday or a trip away from home, the first consideration that you must take into account is where you will be staying. Every trip needs a base of operations, a place you can come back to and recharge at between adventures, as well as a staging ground for new experiences. Though there are many different types of places and ways to fit this particular need for shelter and habitation, most boil down to a rough division between two categories. There’s camping and there are hotels. Each option offers a very different type of experience, but which one is best when you are travelling with the whole family? For example campsites in Woolacombe, North Devon would be very different to a hotel in the middle of London.
Campgrounds: Where Wild Children Run Free and Free Children Run Wild
The advantages that a campground offers for any traveller are based upon its lack of structure. Depending on your level of commitment and experience, you can find sites with a range of infrastructures from the campsite with running water, toilets, and entertainment facilities for the family to the campsite you make yourself. It all depends on what you and your family want. This makes camping ideal for all types of families and age ranges. If you pick your site carefully, you can feel free to make all the noise and fun that you want without ever disturbing anyone else. Furthermore, camping allows you and your kids to get a little closer to the beauties of nature, offering a slight touch of the profound to your vacation experience.
Hotels: Where Comfort Reigns and Rules Hold Sway
Like campgrounds, hotels come in all shapes and sizes, offering a range of accommodation experiences, but unlike campgrounds, most hotels offer a certain base level of infrastructure. There will always be a bed, a bathroom, and electricity. This means that you can always expect to have neighbours who will demand their own consideration and that your accommodations will take on a certain level of expense. The structure that defines the hotel experience can be comforting, but it may infringe on your ability to determine the structure of your vacation. You will be forced to consider costs, check in and check out times, and how to deal with children who may rebel at being cooped up together at night.
Hotels V.S. Camping: Who Wins?
In the end, where you stay depends on what you want and need for your holiday, but when you travel with children and families, campsites offer a much more flexible experience. Camping and Caravan Holidays in Devon and other UK destinations provide will provide great memories for you and your family.
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February 18th, 2010 Ashley
It’s that time of year again. Now that winter is over and the New Year has begun, it’s time for a change of season and setting. You may have noticed that cabin fever is already setting in at your home. One of the easiest and best ways to combat this is to begin planning your next holiday. Even thinking about getting away and having new experiences is likely to help perk you up. And this year, when you are thinking and planning that perfect summer holiday, consider bringing an oft forgotten family member along: your dog or cat. Pet Friendly holiday parks are great accommodation for taking your pet on holiday.
Why Bring Your Pets?
Well, animals appreciate holidays for much the same reasons that you do: they provide opportunities for stimulation, bonding, and relaxation.
- Holidays are fun. Pets enjoy the stimulation of a new setting with new people, animals, and territories to explore and get to know.
- Your pets are happiest when you are together. They are bonded to you and though boarding or pet sitting may not actively hurt them it can still cause a certain amount of distress.
- It’s good to get away. Pets often live and die by their routine. A holiday can help to vary that routine, improving your pet’s overall quality of life and reducing its daily stress.
Finally, bringing a pet along can actually help to enhance your experiences on vacation. Having someone you love to share your leisure time with, even if that someone is a pet, will make your trip that much more enjoyable. It can even help you get out of a holiday rut. Your dog or cat’s presence will force you to make different choices than the ones you might make alone. This will result in a completely different type of vacation experience for you both. You will see and do new things even in a setting you may have already visited.
Planning a Pet Friendly Holiday
Bringing your faithful companion, canine or feline, along for the ride can be very rewarding to you both, but just remember that it is important to consider their needs when you do so. If you’ve never travelled with your pet before, a camping trip, for example Camping in Woolacombe, may be the best way to test the waters. Make sure that you pack the necessary gear for your pet’s comfort and safety and do your research before you leave.
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February 15th, 2010 Ben
The Bath Skyline walk has proved the most popular amongst users of the National Trust website with more downloads of its 6-mile guide than any other walk.
The route takes in woodlands, meadows, Roman remains, an 18th century folly, an abundance of wildlife and an Iron Age fort on its trail around the World Heritage City.
One highlight of the walk is Little Solsbury Hill, which offers wonderful views over Bath. The Site of an Iron Age fort has gentle grassland slopes, which is home to a number of plants and wildlife.
The beautiful Prior Park is another highlight of this walk. The stunning landscape garden contains the famous Palladian Bridge, one of only four found in the world.
During the last year downloads from the National Trust site for walking routes more than doubled to 250,000. The site currently has 130 walks to download, a number that is set to increase to 1,000 in just two years time. The huge demeaned on the site just goes to show that people are eager to get out into the beautiful British countryside and explore all that it has to offer.
It’s hardly surprising that Bath has become the most popular amongst walkers, the city and beautiful surrounding countryside just has so much to offer.
If you are planning on taking a short break in Bath then why not download the guide yourself and try the walk out to discover all that Bath has to offer.
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February 12th, 2010 Nikki
This weekend, why not step outside and take a brisk walk along Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire? This beautiful countryside will provide an exhilarating walk for you and your family if you are looking for things to do in Bedfordshire. Along the way you will discover diverse wildlife, Iron Age hill forts and burial mounds but make particular effort to look out for Five Knolls, a scheduled ancient monument which is the largest round barrow cemetery in Bedfordshire. Lying on the edge of the Downs, there are visible burial mounds which are seen as bumps belonging to the late Neolithic and bronze age. Drovers Way is part of a network of tracks and paths which were traditionally used to take livestock to market by Drovers. Wildlife is especially interesting as the chalk grasslands support a wide range of rare wild flowers and butterflies like the chalk hill blue and Duke of Burgundy.
But if you and your family are looking for something a bit more exciting then Dunstable Downs can facilitate, set so high, it provides a fantastic opportunity for kite flyers and Para gliders and has become famous for it. The National Trust has a Visitors Centre at the very top of the Downs where you can buy a kite and get some advice on constructing it and also tips on how to fly it. Their selection offers something for beginners right up to professionals so there is something for all levels. Anyone that is on a Bedfordshire Holiday shouldn’t be allowed to leave until they have flown a kite on the Dunstable Downs. The challenge has been set.
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February 8th, 2010 Nikki
The Red Squirrel has been decreasing in numbers for years and fewer than 140, 000 individuals are thought to be left. Approximately 85% reside in Scotland but the remainder are scattered across other parts of the UK. A large part of their decrease is due to the introduction of the grey squirrels from North America, these grey squirrels carry a deadly virus for Red Squirrels, Squirrel pox, and as a result it is illegal to bring in a grey squirrel to red squirrel territory.
The Isle of Wight, a firm favourite for holiday makers staying in a bed and breakfast Isle of Wight, is an important strong hold for Red Squirrels as the solent acts as a barrier to keep the grey squirrel out. The woodland on the island can provide habitation for around 3, 500 red squirrels and they now occupy broadleaved woodland across the island.
The Wight Project, is a charity based on the island working to help keep Red Squirrels from extinction. They tackle anything to do with squirrels from contentious planning applications to campaigning for ‘Squirrel road crossings’. From fundraising to sponsorship they also offer Squirrel Events throughout the year for people on Isle of Wight breaks or locals who have an interest in the beautiful red squirrel. It is a sad fact that a large percentage of people, especially the younger generation, have never seen the Red Squirrel, the only squirrel native to the UK. Chances to see them in their native environment through event walks and talks with the likes of The Wight Project should be taken at any given opportunity and if there is a chance you could help to keep charities like the Wight Project going through help with funding and sponsorship then it would be greatly beneficial to the Red Squirrels.
Posted in attractions, isle of wight, walking | No Comments »
February 3rd, 2010 Alex
Travellers around the UK will no doubt already have seen the huge amount of shops and kiosks that sell Cornish pasties on high streets, train stations and cafes, but now there’s a way to take home a novelty item for pasty lovers who aren’t going on a trip, or don’t have any trips to cottages in Cornwall coming up.
Pasties with chocolate in them have been available for ages, but pasties made purely out of chocolate are something new and tasty. This is, however, exactly what the chocolate and fudge manufacturer’s County’s have done. Supplied to pasty suppliers and delicatessens, these solid chocolate pasties, made from high quality cocoa beans and containing 35% cocoa solids, are ideal to take home for a pasty lover. It doesn’t even matter if they go cold.
Of course, it’s not just a tasty treat, but also a reminder of your family holiday in Cornwall. Whereas some people might bring home sticky rock that ends up looking unappetising very quickly, you’ll still have delicious chocolate in a form that is truly Cornish.
There are plenty of other products available from County’s, including Cornish fudge, and tracking these down in delicatessens or gift shops will make your holiday a whole lot more interesting, not to mention tasty.
Posted in Cornwall, fun | No Comments »
February 2nd, 2010 Alex
The Peak District is, as you might have guessed from the name, full of peaks.
Well, they’re peaks in one sense of the word. The district actually only has two peaks, the white and dark. The former consists mostly of limestone and has the flowing hills and valleys associated with that, and the latter consists mostly of gritstone rock and shale, giving it a much harsher appearance, with tors, moorland and bear rocks jutting up. It all makes for fantastic views for the Peak District cottages that are available to rent there.
The “peaks” of the tors, rocks, and hills, though are all a draw. And as with anything high, most people feel a compulsion to get to the top of it. The best way to manage this in the Peak district is normally the most simple: walking.
The district was the first national park, created in 1951, and since then has drawn millions of visitors to participate in all sorts of activities, but walking has always been one of the favourites, Coleridge and Wordsworth both spent much of their lives there, walking around and generally being inspired by the beauty of the landscape, something which you can also experience on your own Peak District holiday.
Walking can be exhausting, so it’s very important to make sure you’re properly equipped. Comfortable shoes, and enough food and water to get you through however long your trip may be are a must. Hopefully, this will have convinced you to take a healthy walking holiday somewhere, possibly even the Peak District.
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February 1st, 2010 Alex
Plenty of places in the UK are rumoured to be full of ghosts and other forms of paranormal activity, but what many people fail to realise is just how many ways to explore these rich, unearthly tapestry there are, especially for holiday makers. Sussex is a great place for those looking to have an otherworldly experience.
The number of abbeys in the county is the first sign that there should be plenty of tortured spirits around, due to so many of their inhabitants being horribly killed at various points in history, often on the behest of a king or through religious conflict. As I’m sure you’re aware, people being put to death by kings are some of the most likely to have unfinished business and wander around posthumously. There are plenty of paranormal groups who investigate these places and allow guests to join them for a fee, meaning you get all the benefits of their ghost hunting equipment on your Rye holiday.
There are also plenty of ghost walks around castles (another source of gruesome deaths) or other areas of ethereal note, many of which are available for people of any age. It’s an interesting addition to a holiday, and something that many people take part in during their stay in East Sussex hotels.
Posted in Destinations, adventure, attractions | No Comments »
January 30th, 2010 Alex
A popular activity among tourists visiting any destination is exploring the history of the place, but some areas can offer a lot more with regards to this than others. For instance, those who are visiting the Isle of Wight for an Isle of Wight holiday in the near future will no doubt be astounded to find out that very recently (the end of December last year) a three thousand year old bronze dagger was found in a field on the western side of the Island.
It’s never been contested knowledge that the Isle of Wight has been inhabited throughout most of the period in which humans have lived in Western Europe, and so this find is not interesting because it brings new evidence to light; it is interesting because the dagger was then donated by the man who found it (using a metal detector) and the owner of the land it was found on to the Isle of Wight Council’s Museum of Island History.
This means that anybody visiting the island can see this spectacular find for themselves, and the amount of people coming to see it should prove a boon to Isle of Wight hotels. Archaeological finds and artefacts have always been a draw to tourists. Think of the pyramids in Egypt or the Great Library of Alexandria. The Isle of Wight may just have found their own big draw to match these two.
Posted in Destinations, attractions, isle of wight | 1 Comment »
