Lets Get Travelling

If you’re looking for a summer sun holiday with a difference this year, why not avoid the crush on the beach and head for the mountains.

The Alps offer a fantastic summer holiday with clean mountain air, lush green countryside, beautiful fresh water lakes and of course plenty of warmth and sunshine. Best of all perhaps there are no annoying French ski instructors to be found anywhere in sight!

For the energetic tourist, it’s a great time of year to go hiking, especially as many of the chair lifts, cable cars and gondolas that shuttle skiers up the slopes also run in the summer. With a well-maintained network of hiking paths, mountain huts and cafes there’s plenty for both the serious walker and amateur rambler to enjoy.

If you prefer your travel a little faster then there are plenty of options to mountain bike or horse ride. Climbers are of course well-catered for, but you can also enjoy paragliding, balloon rides and the world’s highest dry luge at Pfingstegg and the world’s longest at Pradaschier.

Holidaymakers planning a trip to Lanzarote could find it more difficult to get a hotel room after 22 hotels were ordered to be demolished.

The demolition order follows a court case that ruled that 22 hotels were illegally built after two councils had openly flouted a ban on building hotels.

Eight five-star hotels, 10 smaller hotels and four others under construction were ruled illegal. All together they account for over 7,700 rooms or apartments on the island.

Top class hotels that could be pulled down include the Melia Volcan, Iberostar Papagayo, Gran Castillo, Natura Palace, Rubicon Palace, Papagayo Arena and Son Bou.

Authorities may grant an amnesty in the same way as the council in Marbella did when it discovered thousands of illegally built hotels and homes, many owned by Britons, in 2006. In return for not sending in the demolition crews, the council forced developers to hand over large areas of land into public ownership.

However, not everyone would welcome this outcome and the final decision on action remains unclear.

Carlos Espino, a Socialist Lanzarote councillor, said: “These councils broke the order which we put in place to preserve the island, which is a biosphere. We will not have an amnesty. We will knock down what we have to.”

More court cases against other hotels in Lanzarote are expected to follow.

According to reports from industry experts, the French Atlantic Coast is becoming more popular with British holidaymakers.

Property-Abroad.com which specialises in offering overseas property for sale in worldwide destinations, stated recently that holidaymakers have discovered they can enjoy sunshine in France at a cheaper price than on the Mediterranean coast.

Les Calvert, director of Property-Abroad.com, said: “Areas that tend to be showing more interest than previously are Aquitaine on the Atlantic Coast. The Mediterranean has always been popular, but now the Atlantic Coast is catching up and visitor numbers to the Silver Coast in Portugal are also increasing.”

He stated that holidaymakers can get the same amount of sunshine in France for about “half the price” of going to Mediterranean destinations.

French property company VEF Group also said recently that environmental concerns are making France a more popular overseas investment destination and holiday location for UK residents as it can be easily accessed by modes of transport other than air.

In February, low cost airline easyJet announced a new flight to Palma, Mallorca, from East Midlands Airport three times a week.

easyJet already flies to Mallorca from Belfast, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, London Gatwick, London Luton, London Stansted and Newcastle. With BMI Baby and Monarch also flying to the island, Mallorca is readily accessible from pretty much anywhere in the UK.

Mallorca is popular with both property buyers and holiday makers. With 300 days sunshine a year, 23 golf courses, 25 marinas and some of the most stunning scenery in Europe, it’s easy to see why. New roads in the north of the island have now made many of the picturesque mountain villages more accessible and the coast benefits from beautiful natural harbours.

And with a ban on the island on any development within 25 metres of the coast, if you’ve got a beachfront property with a stunning sea view, or got your eye on buying or renting one, then you can be confident little is going to get in the way of your picture postcard view.

Where else but in Florida can you find beaches, theme parks, stunning natural reserves, alligators and, if you travel at the right time, a Space Shuttle launch at the Kennedy Space Center. Known as the Sunshine State, Florida more than lives up to its name. The average lowest temperature in Miami throughout the year is only 20ºC so Florida is the place for year round warmth.

Swim and snorkel in the colourful coral reefs of the Florida Keys, or just sit back and relax on the white sandy beaches. Take the family, or just be a kid again yourself at Disneyworld’s Magic Kingdom, relive your favourite Hollywood scenes at Universal Studios, or get up close and personal with killer whales at SeaWorld. After such an adrenalin buzz you’ll appreciate the time to recharge your batteries on the beautiful Gulf Coast beaches. Don’t forget to share a Gulf sunset with someone special and check out the amazing seafood.

All this and more makes Florida the ultimate holiday destination.

The holiday resort of Puerto Pollensa is located on the north of the island of Majorca (Mallorca), the largest of the Balearics. It has remained very popular due to the stunning scenery, the gently sloping large sandy beaches and an overall more laid-back and friendly atmosphere to some of the larger resorts in the south.

The sheltered horseshoe shaped bay makes the beach a particular favourite for families with young children and the renowned Pine Walk is the only place for promenades on a warm summer’s evening, leading to the marina where million-pound yachts are moored. With small apartments on the beachfront to large villas tucked away in the surrounding hills, there is something for everyone at Puerto Pollensa.

The Semana Santa de Sevilla, or Easter Week in Seville for those less fluent in Spanish, has been attracting visitors for over 500 years. Today the celebrations feature over 50,000 people in traditional robes carrying out around 60 processions during the evening and at night throughout Easter Week.

The costaleros in the procession carry the pasos, ornate religious statues, shoulder high. Processions can all start from any church but they must all pass through an official section from Calle Campana to the Cathedral, making this section an extremely popular tourist spot. Easter in Seville, and many other Spanish towns, is a truly inspirational experience.