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Posts Tagged ‘holidays abroad’

Anyone who has been watching the steady rise in popularity of Sharm el Sheikh over the last 20 years will have been impressed by both its determination and consistency. The region has made the successful transition from out-of-the-way backpacker village to mega tourist Mecca and, what’s more, has made it look easy. Nowadays, it’s firmly established as a leading holiday resort that has just one reason for being: to provide the ultimate holiday experience. Its all round appeal is reflected in its excellent year-round weather and its unique desert-versus-ocean contradictions. Added to this, with Egypt currently attracting praise as a great value holiday destination, visitors to Sharm el Sheikh can benefit from a good mix of luxury and affordability as well.

Accommodation

You’re unlikely to find uninterrupted calm and seclusion on your visit to Sharm el Sheikh, but you’ll find pretty much everything else. The range of Sharm el Sheikh hotels is staggering, with everything from top end luxury resorts to affordable family accommodation. Hilton, Sheraton and Ritz Carlton are just some of the big names that have taken up residence over recent years. Prices across all hotel types are being made even more attractive by early bird deals and special offers, meaning that five-star luxury on a budget is easily within grasp. If this doesn’t sound quite your style, then you’ll be more than satisfied by the range of smaller boutique resorts and budget hotels.

Activities

If you’re keen to find out what Sharm el Sheikh can do for you, then you’ll be pleased to hear that its range of activities is just as varied as its hotels. Located on the southern point of the Sinai Peninsula and looking out over the Red Sea, the region’s greatest attractions have always been underwater. Its breathtaking coral reefs and exotic marine life have made Sharm el Sheikh particularly popular among scuba divers, but there are plenty of other watersports on offer as well.

If you’d prefer to keep your feet on dry land then there are plenty of health and sporting facilities to get involved with – or if you fancy relying on someone else’s feet for a while then horse riding or camel trekking are some of the more adventurous options. Desert safaris, quad biking, shopping and, of course, lazing in the sunshine on the beach or by the pool all add to the experience.

Culture and history

With so much on the activity front in Sharm el Sheikh, history and culture may seem to have taken a back seat. One of Egypt’s most important religious sites lies just nearby, however. St Catherine’s monastery is said to be the place where Moses saw the burning bush before he travelled up the majestic Mount Sinai nearby to receive the Ten Commandments.

Nightlife

For those after a wild night out, Sharm el Sheikh is more than happy to oblige with its Las Vegas style bars, clubs and casinos. It’s bright lights and buzzing atmosphere mirror Vegas nightlife. It does, however, have one real advantage over the Nevada’s isolated playground… Sharm el Sheikh’s beautiful coastlines and stunning underwater scenery will always be a central part of its charms.

Sharm el Sheikh may have been crafted to be many things to many people, but its natural wonders will prevail. Explore them to the fullest through hotels4u.com with some excellent deals on Sharm el Sheikh hotels this winter.

Holidaymakers keen to make the most of Lanzarote’s sun-drenched beaches, easy going atmosphere and numerous entertainments will be pleased to hear about the launch of a new route to the island by Aer Lingus this autumn. As of October 25th 2009, the well known airline will be running flights between Gatwick and Lanzarote’s Arrecife airport three days a week, making year-round sunshine, stunning scenery and cheap Lanzarote hotels even more accessible than before.

The new route news follows an announcement by the Spanish government earlier this year about discounts on airport taxes for many airlines flying to Spanish destinations. This is the government’s latest attempt to boost tourism, both on the mainland and surrounding islands, and there is the hope it will encourage other airlines to introduce new flights to the popular holiday spots. With the credit crunch hitting holidaymakers hard at the end of last year, Lanzarote – like a number of other European destinations – suffered a drop in visitor numbers. Its airport saw a reduction of 3.3% in December 2008 compared with the previous year, which sparked concern about the health of the local tourist economy.

The new route between London and Lanzarote will be definitely welcome news to the island. It’s good news for holidaymakers too, as sun-seekers now have the opportunity to enjoy an idyllic island break at a great price. The new flights start from £34.99 one way, meaning this popular Canary Island destination is shaping up as an excellent choice this winter. There are also some fantastic deals on Lanzarote hotels to be had. A bungalow for two in a four star resort at the end of October, for example, can be found for as little as £14 per person per night, while all-inclusive hotel options can be booked for around £27 per person per night. So, with troubled financial times meaning great deals both in the air and on the ground, an autumn sunshine break is well within reach this year.

At some point there has been discussion about whether or not we should fly, after all we don’t have wings. But why would we have been given the intelligence to create these massive flying machines.

Aeroplanes have been the fear of many travellers; some people won’t even fly at all, but is this an irrational fear? If you really want to think about it, the odds of being in a plane crash are ridiculously low. In actual fact the odds of being in a plane crash are on average about one in five hundred thousand!! In fact the odds of being in a car accident in your life time are about 1 in 4. On planes, the amount of safety equipment is immeasurable, there so muchdesigned to look after us.

So for those people scared of being in Planes, are they also scared of being in a car? This all means that flying is actually about 100,000 times safer than flying. Flying to Caribbean holidays is always looked forward to, as long as the air con above your seat works. It is important to remember that although you don’t have direct control of the plane, the people that do have control, know exactly what they are doing. Sometimes you will feel a little scared, but overall you are safer in a plane than you are in your car. And if you haven’t been on a plane before, then go now, the sun is shining and the weather looks great for this summer.

If you want some ideas of where to go on your first holiday abroad, then why not take a plane on holidays to Tobago, the cricket nation. Or there is always St Lucia holidays, now also a popular destination for weddings, what better way to spend your first holiday abroad.

The government are planning to increase the tax on air travel to over twice the current amount, in a bid to cut carbon emissions. The new ‘green tax’ will apply to long haul flights and will supposedly be spent on green issues and helping to reduce global warming. It sounds like a good plan, even if it does mean paying more to fly, after all aviation emissions are a huge contributor to climate change and one of the biggest areas for concern, right?

Well, no actually they’re not. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that aircraft emissions are a myth or that they don’t contribute to climate change, because they’re not and they do. But if you look at the figures it becomes clear that air travel accounts for only two per cent of our total CO2 emissions. Yes, there is certainly room for improvement, and any way to reduce carbon emissions can only be a good thing, but is doubling the tax on air passengers who want to see the world or take tropical or Caribbean holidays really the way to go about it?

I suppose the theory is that luxury holidays are not a necessity in life and those who can afford them can afford to pay extra to help alleviate the environmental cost, but the bottom line is this scheme is not reducing global warming at all, it’s just charging people more for it. An alternative scheme, proposed by the travel industry, suggested that rather than taxing passengers the government could instead tax the airlines for any seats left empty. Considering that on average 1/3 of all seats remain empty after the plane is in the sky, this plan could have actually changed things by encouraging airlines to run less flights and ensure that planes were always as full as possible.

Unsurprisingly this proposal was rejected. Perhaps it was realised that although it could cause a serious reduction in carbon emissions, there was far less scope for making money out of it than taxing passengers more. As far as saving the planet goes, although airline pollution could and should be reduced, before this can be done people’s attitudes need to change. And in my experience there is no better way to change the way you feel about the planet than to see it – whether you go exploring in the rainforest, backpacking in Australia or just chilling out on a beach in Jamaica, holidays open people’s eyes to the world and let you see what’s out there worth saving.