Vacations Blog

Going on holiday is supposed to be the time of the year when you try new experiences and meet new people. However if you find it hard to make friends and are travelling alone, a holiday could be one of the most nerve wracking experiences you’ve ever have to face. A contingency plan is your best bet to get you over this uncomfortable hurdle. If you don’t want to spend your holiday avoiding people and would like to make some friends, here are a few tips to help you, whether you’re backpacking in Peru, enjoying a luxury city break or letting your hair down on Gran Canaria holidays.

Traditionally romantic destinations are a no goer as the couples on them only have time for each other. The idea of going away on a romantic holiday was to spend time alone with each other and they certainly wouldn’t want to include you in their holiday itinerary. Stick to Ibiza, Turkey and Gran Canaria holidays where visitors tend to be in search of a more sociable experience.

Choosing package holidays should, in principle, mean you have a little more to spend on fun stuff while you’re away. Sign yourself up for group activities and you’re sure to meet more like-minded souls. Speak to your hotel reception or head to your resort’s visitor centre to find out what’s available during your stay.

Slightly smaller hotels tend to give the best holiday deals. The more luxurious and big a hotel is, you will find that people don’t socialise in the communal areas but tend to relax in their own rooms. In the smaller hotels, you tend to see a lot more people milling about and relaxing in social places like the bars or by the swimming pool.

Keep a look out  for fellow solo travellers and don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation. People love to give advice, so a simple “have you found anywhere you’d recommend for lunch” is usually all it takes to get conversation flowing. Alternatively ask them for help with your camera, your phrase book or your luggage as not many people can refuse a plea for help.

Offering up a beach game is a good ice breaker. Joining in a game with others can be fun and you won’t have to keep the conversation flowing. Conversely make the first move and invite a fellow traveller to a few games of beach frisbee.  

Morocco is a fantastic place to take the family for your next holiday, with its magical culture and amazing sights. Its proximity to Europe and Africa offer both convenience and a year-round temperate climate. The amazing sights, sounds, smells and flavours will have the whole family enthralled, and you can enjoy great holiday deals on your Morocco experience whenever you choose to go.

Whatever your family is into, you’ll love the mountains, beaches, deserts and magical cities in Morocco. Explore the souks and markets where you can buy clothing, gifts, and amazing food. Participate in a desert trek and view the extraordinary landscape from the back of a camel in the magnificent Sahara. If you like to chill out on the beach or go diving and swimming, head to Morocco’s wonderful coast. Adventurous families might like to go hiking or skiing in the Atlas mountains. Whatever you and your family are into, you’ll find your ideal Moroccan destination to suit, and there are great holiday deals all year round.

Everyone who visits Marrakech becomes entranced by the mystical nature of this incredible place. This city is a popular tourist destination, so you can find cheap holiday deals throughout the year. Take the sightseeing bus which travels around the city, or explore its many beautiful parks on foot, including the Majorelle gardens just outside the Medina. For a great day adventure, visit the Oasiria Water Park where children can play on giant pirate ships, slides and join in with water activities for all ages.

Water enthusiasts will enjoy Essaouira, on the Atlantic coast, where there are many beach activities to take part in. Better yet, you can even spend a day enjoying family camel or horseback-riding tours of the area. Or there is the desert town of Taroudant, where you and the family can discover the traditional way of life. Here you can ride donkeys, visit Berber villages and take in the Moroccan wildlife in the desert oases – you might see lizards, snakes, tortoises or even the famous tree-climbing goats!

There’s a lot to think about when preparing for a holiday. However budget is the number one issue for most people. Having made your choice, you just have to figure out how to get the maximum for your money. Today most people start their search online. The Web certainly gives you the ability to shop without leaving your house. The big disadvantage is there are a plethora of special offers available the world over. In this article we will look at how to filter through the offers to help you find the best travel deal for you.

Air fare deals

If you haven’t travelled internationally before, perhaps you think that the air fare will be the most expensive part of the holiday. That’s not automatically so.

For example, there is now intense competition on air routes to Europe which has lead to a massive drop in rates to the point where a return trip can cost less than a week’s accommodation in a 2-star hotel.

If you’re already locked into a particular frequent flyer program, the choice of carrier is not an issue. But if you’re not in a program then you have a ton of options. Fierce competition is seeing fares drop to unprecedented levels, and there are a heap of online travel agents pushing special air travel deals globally almost daily.

Naturally the dates you want to fly will affect the pricing. Keep away from peak-season dates and you stand to save hundreds of dollars.

If you look around, you may find that buying your air fare with other parts of your vacation is beneficial. Tour operators, like European coach operators, negotiate considerable volume-buying discounts with airlines and can offer fantastic fare levels in conjunction with their tours.

Car rental deals

At first glance, it would seem that renting a car is relatively easy. Independent motoring certainly offers more options than coach or rail travel, enabling you to stop when and where you like, and make sudden itinerary changes to see sights you weren’t originally aware of.

It’s often less expensive than holidaying by train or air. If there are several people travelling together, it will cost less to share a car then to travel the same distance by plane, train or bus.

Car rental deals available in many countries can also lower costs. France is a great example. European car manufacturers including Citroen, Peugeot and Renault have a rental system that gets you a tax-free car for as little as $30 a day. You can also get some free driving time and cheap pick-up/drop-off charges.

Another way to get a great deal is to check when car hire firms cut prices in order to move many vehicles from one part of a country to the other after a period of heavy use in one locality. A great example of this is the seasonal movement in the US between Florida and the north-eastern states.

However there are a number of things to deliberate, especially if you’re a first time renter. Large people need large vehicles, especially if they have a lot of luggage. It is the pits to be cramped-up in a car when you’re travelling for five or six hours a day just to save a few bucks.

Also, many countries have a right-hand drive traffic system, which can be nerve-racking for older travellers used to driving on the left. Signs in foreign languages can add to the problem.

Further, though vehicles can be hired in most countries, not all countries have safety measures which makes it safe for Westerners, in particular, to travel into rural areas.

Cruise specials

The only true all-inclusive style of vacation is cruising as it includes transport, accommodation, activities and meals.

That’s mostly accurate if you don’t count mandatory tipping which is sometimes, but not always, included in the fare.

Apart from the extraordinary range of special deals being offered year-round, cruising has at least one other thing going for it. Baggage only has to be packed and unpacked once. And throughout the cruise, the room is tidied so it is unnecessary to clean up.

Last minute cruise deals are common and can result in significant savings. Cruise operators will reduce fares by 50% or 60% to fill remaining cabins, knowing that travellers will still be spending on drinks, gifts and casino visits.

If you cruise during off-peak periods, the price can be as little as $100 a day, especially throughout the Caribbean and the Mediterranean.

Hotel and resort offers

Hotels have two main uses. They can be city or highway overnight accommodation for business travellers and tourists moving from place to place. Or they can be resorts catering solely to longer stay holidaymakers.

It’s vital that you pick the right one, otherwise your holiday will be spoilt. You’d be upset if your special offer saw you stuck in a hotel filled with rowdy convention delegates when all you wanted was a quiet break. This is becoming more frequent as resorts are promoting midweek specials to businesses looking for conference facilities.

There are plenty of websites offering up-to-the-minute rate information for tons of hotels and resorts globally, sometimes with better prices than the hotels themselves are offering. But these sites don’t usually include special deals which large hotel chains and even individual properties offer from time to time.

When you use the Internet to search for a special rate, check out major suppliers to see if they have good deals. You can also book hotel specials through tour operators who often have packages just before and just after a tour.

Package specials

The term package holiday implies that you’re getting a fully-inclusive product comparable to a cruise. That’s not necessarily the case.. A package will likely consist of transport, accommodation, some air travel and sightseeing. But you can’t count on it including all meals. Breakfasts are usually covered, but normally only half of all dinners (or fewer) and hardly ever lunches.

A package, however, does have a number of advantages over independent travel, because among other things it offers the security of touring with a group, with regional guides and sometimes with an escort from start to finish.

Another benefit is the time that is saved hunting down each piece of the vacation including accommodation and air fares. And because package tour firms buy in bulk, they can offer better rates than individuals can hope to obtain.

Well-constructed packages will include the cost of having the concierge carry your baggage between your hotel room and your transport, as well as the cost of your visas and even travel insurance.

Most will also include visiting places of interest and admission to attractions, another significant benefit. Large tour groups often get to skip the long queues at popular sites.

And while main meals aren’t always covered by the package price, an experienced tour escort or local guide is able to recommend value-for-money restaurants and gift stores.

Rail specials

It was assumed some years ago that an increase of air routes and the start of low cost airlines would spell the end of train travel in many parts of the world. The opposite has occurred. Rail travel has expanded, with faster trips and better-equipped facilities.

For example in Europe, rail travel is both quicker and cheaper than travelling by air. If you take into consideration the time to travel to and from airports and boarding time, it is faster to travel from London to Paris by rail than by air.

The French calculated years ago that it was faster to travel by high-speed TGV train from Paris to Lyon (435km) by train than by air.

Of course, you don’t get the same flexibility with rail travel as you do with motoring. But it is perfect if you need to jump between locations that do not take in sightseeing along the way.

Most major tourist destinations offer both commuter and tourist trains, the latter in most cases including prestige businesses like South Africa’s Blue Train.

Pricing is also attractive. Travellers can get special tickets such as the Eurail Pass that provides significant savings.

Travel Monitor

This is where it is very important to know which website to count on. Travel Monitor was built to help Australians find all the up to date travel holiday deals. The site is not connected to any travel companies so the specials are trustworthy, up to date and correct.