Europe a la Carte Blog

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You can buy a return Sail Rail ticket to Dublin for only £54 from UK cities such as London and Newcastle. Sail Rail is a partnership of British and Irish ferry and train operators. The ferry crossings used are Fishguard to Rosslare, Holyhead to Dublin, Stranraer to Belfast.

I did a search for a Sail Rail ticket from Edinburgh to Belfast on 27 July, in 2 days time and found a single ticket for £26.

I think that is a really good offer as it appears to be available even at peak times and without having to book months in advance. You also have to consider that you don’t have the hassle of getting to and from the airport, the train will take into the city centre. You can also take as as much luggage as you like.

Have you used Sail Rail?

Ryanair are offering flights from the UK to Ireland for only £2 return if you book by midnight on Friday 18 July 2008. However as I highlighted previously Ryanair do charge card handling fees, even on free flights. It’s now £4 for a credit or debit card for each flight but if you have an Electron card then there is no charge.

by dllisbona

The offer is available for flights from 1 September 2008 to 31 October 2008 with certain blackout dates. You can only fly on Mondays after 12:00, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, Thursday before 12:00 and Saturday after 12:00.

I did a quick availability check and found several flights from Edinburgh to Dublin during the first two weeks in September for £10 return, including the £8 card handling charges.

Hiring a boat to cruise around Ireland is a great way to see the country at a relaxed pace. With the recent renovation of the Shannon Erne Waterway, there is access to the longest inland waterway in Europe. There are hundreds of mooring points along the rivers Shannon and Erne so there’s plenty opportunity for stops. You can fish from your boat with no licence required on the Shannon. There’s also the option to play golf as 20 golf courses are within easy reach of the waterways.

River Shannon by IrishFireside

Carrick Craft offer a choice of well equipped, comfortable boats from 2 - 8 berth all with onboard cooking facilities, shower and toilet. The have three pick up locations Carrick-on-Shannon, Banagher and Tully Bay. It’s possible to do one way trips, It’s fairly easy to pick up how to operate your boat and you’ll receive instruction and an onboard demonstration before taking to the helm.

I had a quick look at prices and found a 2+2 berth boat for 756 euros for a one week hire from Saturday 23 August with a start and finish at Banagher. There is a separate charge for fuel which is estimated at 100 - 150 euros for a one week hire. There are other offers such as 10 day hire for the price of 7 in April and October, child discounts and 2nd week discounts.

If you book by midnight on Sunday 13 July 2008 you’ll save 20% on fares with Aer Arann between Ireland and the UK. The discount is applicable to all flights taken during 2008. Aer Arann has a good network of regional routes including Manchester to Kerry, Cardiff to Dublin, Edinburgh to Cork and Birmingham to Waterford.

Waaterford Sunset by Corey Leopold

Have you flown with Aer Arann, what your opinion of them?

I’ve started a swicki, an intelligent search engine, for cultural and activity holidays in Europe. If you’re thinking of a themed holiday in Europe, whether it be walking, cycling, painting, horseriding, language, water sports, tennis or cooking, try searching in the swicki. If you find any great companies you add them to the swicki and vote for your favourite site. Help build a great resource.

check out the European Cultural & Activity Tours swicki at eurekster.com

[tags]Swicki, Europe themed vacations[/tags]

Peter Scott writes two “alternative” guide websites Hidden-Dublin.com and Hidden-Italy.com to give visitors a more realistic picture of these destinations.

1  What is the aim of your business?
Firstly, while it does cost me a lot of time and some expense to run hidden-dublin.com, I don’t consider it as a business as such. My aim is to continue to provide alternative information about Dublin and to cover my expenses through affiliations such as GoogleAdSense. I consider anything more as a bonus; in recent years I have been very happy to cover my costs.

2  What prompted you to start your business I began writing the site in 2001, having emigrated from Dublin to a job in the UK. I thought that the standard Irish tourist guides lacked insight and depth, particularly relating to such issues as culture and identity. In my opinion, the tourist board’s view of the country, with its idealized green scenery, open roads and an army of welcoming people, was already being surpassed by a brasher, harder Ireland. I wanted to show people that there were still interesting things to do and great people to meet, beyond the mainstream tourist haunts. One of the most successful parts of the site are the Irish sayings; I notice several other sites have copied this feature in highlighting our colourful use of language!

In 2006 I decided to write a sister site called hidden-italy.com and it explores the more unusual Italian regions (specifically Le Marche and Abruzzo). It is still in its infancy but has received reasonable traffic. I try to upload at least once a month; my unusual pictures have proved popular.

3  What is the hardest aspect of running your own business?
Firstly, trying to get time to research, write and update material. It is extremely time-consuming but enjoyable; the difficulty is achieving a balance with my proper job. Secondly, it has been hard to keep up with the latest developments in SEO (search engine optimization), crucial if you are to keep a flow of traffic and interest. Google have tightened their rules of review; it has taken a lot of research to adhere to these. I am very pleased with my success in placing search terms and they consistently appear on the first page of results in Google for such terms as “irish facts”, “dublin music”, “dublin pubs”, etc.

4  What is the funniest thing that has happened to you running your own business?
I offer free independent advice on Ireland and Italy. Occasionally, I receive messages from ladies looking for free, independent advice on relationships and marriage! Since I’m happily married, I politely decline their thoughtful offers!

5   What would you do differently with hindsight?
The most important element in building a web business is foresight. I began piecemeal, originally uploading pages to my university server space, following which I bought a dedicated domain name. It was some years later before I bought dedicated server space, allowing me to refer to specific pages on my site (where previously I could only refer to my index page). In hindsight, and with a budget, I should have bought domain and server space immediately. At least I discounted those useless free server space options, where you’re at the mercy of the providers.

My comments - Peter and I think along similar lines in that we want to help visitors get a more authentic experience during their trip.  I certainly struggle with SEO and most technical issues but you have to get on top of these issues for your business to prosper. I’m fortunate that I have my son, a 2nd year computing student as my IT consultant.

I thought I’d focus on Northern Ireland for this weeks selection of late availability deals. I’ve read that Belfast is very popular for short breaks but I thought I’d feature hotels all over the area.  Easyjet fly to Belfast from several cities on the mainland. It’s also easy to catch the ferry to Belfast or to Larne.

The Radisson SAS is a stylish modern building a ten minute walk from the city centre. A double room without breakfast costs £89 a night. If you stay for 2 nights it’s £105 a night with breakfast included. There’s a option which includes dinner for £135 a night.

The Old Schoolhouse Inn is on the shores of Lough Strangford, seven miles south east of Belfast. The inn receives very good reviews, double room costs £60 per night.

The Ballygally Castle hotel is on the Antrim coast, twenty miles from Belfast, six miles from the Larne ferry terminal. Double rooms cost £95 per night.

The City Hotel in Londonderry sits on the banks of th River Foyle in the city centre. Double rooms cost £100 per night.

[tags]Northern Ireland, Belfast, Londonderry, short breaks, weekend breaks[/tags]

Rough Guides have published a list of 25 top travel experiences in the UK and Ireland. As a Scot, I was happy to see that a Scottish attraction, the Edinburgh Festival, was number one. While the Edinburgh Festival is a great event, the city is really busy and accommodation prices high.

What would be your top tips for travel experiences in the UK and Ireland?

I am always a bit dubious of lists. I felt that a lot of the things mentioned would have too many other tourists around, meaning that they wouldn’t be particularly authentic experiences. Even doing things in rural areas like “breathing the sea air in Tobermory” on the Scottish island of Mull, or “wandering Borrowdale” in the Lake District. you are likely to be among the tourist hordes. I say get a bit more off the beaten track with my ideas for Edinburgh spend some time in Perthshire or the Scottish Borders.

River Tay, Perth

At least here’s one thing about which I am in complete agreement with Rough Guides founder, Mark Ellingham, “When we think of holidays, a lot of people immediately associate this to going abroad. But, believe it or not, you don’t actually need to jump on a plane to have an amazing time.”

[tags]travel. travel tips, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland,[/tags]

Surprising, yet true, according the research by Cambridge University based on data from the annual European Social Survey. Greece and Portugal also languished near the bottom of the happiness league. Top were the Danes, followed by Finns and the Irish.

Photo by Antikris
Just goes to show that it could be a fallacy to think you’d be happier if you lived in a sunnier, hotter climate? Are you happy with your country of residence. I like living in the UK. that’s not to say that there isn’t room for improvement.

According a to a survey by Travelcare, Prague is the cheapest destination for a short break in Europe. The cost of £204 was based on costs such as a stay at a four star hotel, a three course meal, museum entry fee etc. London came third at a cost of £267 with Paris the most expensive at £577. I was surprised by the fact that Dublin at £385 was slightly more expensive than Copenhagen at £380. Yet Scandinavia still has a reputation as a pricey destination.

I think that if you shop around a bit, stay perhaps slightly outside the city centre or trendy areas and don’t travel in peak season you can get a good deal in most European cities. This survey doesn’t appear to include transport costs to your destination so that could have quite an impact on the overall cost of your trip.

I decided to have a quick look at the price of hotel rooms for a weekend in April Friday 13 - Sunday 15 April. I found a superior room in 4 star hotel in Prague with Laterooms for £47 a night. The cheapest four star I came across in Paris, the Champs Elysees Friedland cost £101 a night for a standard room. It is quite a difference in price. However I don’t think I would always choose one destination over another solely by price. I haven’t been to Prague but I’ve been told it is a beautiful city. I’ve visited Paris once, thought it was a wonderful city and would like to return.