For Britishers, France has been the traditional destination for skiing holidays. Each year, millions of British tourists descend upon the slopes of the French Alps. Despite the burgeoning popularity of Austria and Switzerland, France remains the number one skiing destination for UK residents.

Courchevel Ski Resort, France by Matt Squirrell / License: Creative Commons

Part of the reason for France’s popularity as a skiing destination is the quantity and quality of ski resorts in the country. Eastern France is dominated by Alpine ski resorts, many of which date back to hundreds of years. Some of the most popular ski resorts in France are:

1. Courchevel, Saint-Bon-Tarentaise

Courchevel is where celebrities, royalty and multimillionaires go for their skiing holidays. One of the most exclusive ski resorts in the world, Courchevel offers facilities like no other resort in France. There are 11 five-star hotels in the resort, and two hotels have even been awarded the rare and much sought after six-star, or “palace” rating. Further, there are a total of seven restaurants sharing 11 Michelin stars between them.

All these facilities come at a price, of course. Courchevel can be frighteningly expensive for the average holidaying family. But if you want the finest ski holiday possible, you can’t go wrong with a trip to Courchevel.

2. Les Deux Alpes, French Isere departement

The second oldest resort in France, Les Deux Alpes has a rich history, challenging runs and plenty to offer for beginners as well as intermediate skiiers. The resort is located at a height of 1,650m with chair lifts going as high as 3,600m. There are plenty of accommodation options, including a Michelin star restaurant. Les Deux Alpes also boasts one of the best nightlife scenes among French resorts.

3. Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, Haute-Savoie

The oldest ski resort in France, Chamonix has grown over the centuries into one of the central skiing destinations in Europe. Unlike many of the other resorts on this list, Chamonix is spread over a vast area and has extensive accommodation and dining options. Skiing in the town of Chamonix is very affordable and the views are breathtaking. You can take a cable car up to Aiguille du Midi which has stunning views of the Alps. The skiing is moderately difficult with very rough terrain.

Aiguille du Midi, Mont-Blanc, France by Cristian Bortes / License: Creative Commons

4. Montgenevre, Haute-Alpes

No resort can match Montgenevre for budget conscious holidayers. The little ski resort town is tucked away near the Italy-France border and offers plenty of challenging skiing opportunities for intermediate to beginner skiiers. The resort has plenty of cheap accommodation options, including all-expenses paid packages that run less than £400 per person.

5. St. Martin de Belleville, Rhone-Alpes

Another value-for-money ski resort nestled in the Rhone-Alpes region of France, St. Martin de Belleville is the quintessential Alpine town. Located at a height of over 3,500m, the resort has plenty of challenging ski routes and is a part of the Three Valleys ski area. Besides affordable hotels and challenging slopes, the resort is also well known for the 2 Michelin star restaurant, La Bouitte.

6. Val d’Isere, Savoie

One of the favorite ski resorts among British skiiers, Val d’Isere is famous throughout Europe for its challenging slopes. The terrain is rough and more suitable for intermediate to advanced skiiers. The accommodation is cheap and plentiful and caters to the British snowboarding/adventure tourist crowd.

7. Flaine, Haute-Savoie

Reasonably priced accommodation, good dining options, and moderately challenging slopes along with good beginner courses have turned Flaine into one of the most popular ski resorts among families. Add breathtaking views of Mont-Blanc to the mix, and you have the perfect recipe for a French ski holiday.

Brad Chambers is a blogger and journalist at Sealskinz.com a centre for sporting apparel and waterproof ski gloves. Brad enjoys, running, climbing and travel and holidaying in the South of France with his two daughters.

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Self Catering Holidays in Spain by admin

Sharing the Cost of Holiday Travel

Villa rentals and holiday flats are available in almost every destination on the planet. Find your target city and explore all your self-catering accommodation options provided by professional holiday lodging management companies. Book your holidays with friends, co-workers or family and settle in to a rented multiple bedroom home to call your own. Prices are fixed on the unit rental cost and rarely calibrated by the number of persons staying in the home. This means serious holiday savings when two or more will split the cost of the accommodation. Self-catering flats and houses are priced comparatively to four and five-star hotels, so the more people joining you on your holiday, the less financial burden it will be on your group.

Take A Leisurely Pace

The self-catering holiday craze is the best way to beat the rat race. Take your time and explore the countryside or take a break in the world’s most dazzling cities. Unlike a standard holiday tour that keeps you on a tight schedule, the self-catering way to stay and play affords you the maximum freedom and flexibility to see what you want without watching the clock. Add a car hire to pick up the pace and the self-catering holiday plan is a custom fit to meet your budget and personal touring style.

Saving Money On Food and Beverage

Self-catering flats, villas and houses come complete with a fully stocked kitchen and plenty of counter space to whip up your own meals. On a traditional hotel holiday, the food and beverage bill can take a bite out of your budget when you must rely on hotel restaurants and costly room service deliveries three times a day. However, the self-catering accommodation allows you to cook your own healthy dishes just the way you like them and save a bundle on food costs. Rather than draining your wallet in expensive restaurants, the local grocery stores are just minutes away.

Extended Living Spaces

The self-catering holiday is like having a home away from home. Choose an efficient studio or one bedroom unit or upgrade to a four or five bedroom home. Guests enjoy a private balcony or patio space in the smaller units and the larger homes provide a furnished backyard ideal for outdoor entertaining at the BBQ. Swimming pools are available upon request and many homes and villas provide a single or double garage.

On-site Amenities

Guests at a self-catering flat are entitled to all the perks and privileges of a full- time resident at that address. High-end rentals include access to the gym, sauna, game rooms and may provide a concierge service on select units. Washers and dryers are available inside the flat or provided on-site in a self service laundry room.

Self-catering flats and private homes are available in all the places you want to be. Choose a fabulous Orlando villa located just minutes from the Disney World attractions, a romantic beach house in Portugal, or a classic cottage in England’s Lake District. The popularity of the self-catering holiday industry has expanded the lodging inventory and brought the prices down to meet most budgets. Get more and spend less when you trade your tiny hotel room for a spacious and gracious private home for hire.

Rosie writes for Highcliffe Holidays, who have a great selection of Polzeath Cottages self-catering accommodation. They love pets and are proud to be amongst the top providers of dog friendly cottages in North Cornwall.

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Bath

As the site of one of the most famous baths in Roman Britain, the same springs are still in use today. Locals get a big discount on the modern iteration of the city spa, but the Thermae Bath Spa is still open to visitors wanting to experience Bath’s purportedly healing waters. As a hub of social activity during the Regency Period, Bath was also the setting for a number of Jane Austen’s novels. Fans of her novels can visit the Jane Austen Centre to learn more about the city during this period.

Bath Abbey / Harpreet Riat

York

This northern city got its start as a Roman town known as Eboracum, and then Viking settlement known as Jorvik. Every year, York holds a Viking Festival celebrating its past, which a definite must-see for families. During the Victorian period, the city was also important for the industry of the North, which can still be seen in its National Railway Museum. In particular, the city was known for confectionary with the Rowntree Mackintosh and Terry’s factories.

Edinburgh

Scotland’s old capital city has plenty of historic sites to satisfy even the most picky of its visitors. Discerning travellers will appreciate the five star hotels within a stone’s throw of all the must-see locations in the closely-places old and new towns. As a centre of the Scottish Enlightenment, Edinburgh was also an important city for scientific learning during the Georgian period. Nowadays, you can see some of this past in the Surgeon’s Museum, where examples of the anatomical teaching equipment of past centuries are kept, as well as on the University of Edinburgh campus itself.

Edinburgh castle / Edinburgh Castle Entrance

Oxford

It may mainly be on the map for its esteemed university (incidentally, the oldest university in the English speaking world), but Oxford is also a city with a lot of history, with buildings representing every architectural style in England since the Saxons. It’s not surprising that the Christ Church College hall was rumoured to be an inspiration for Hogwart’s Hall in the Harry Potter series. Like Edinburgh, a number of Oxford’s hotels are also well-placed for exploring historical sites. The Macdonald Randolph Hotel, for instance, is right across the street from Britain’s first public museum. In addition to the cities, the UK also has a fantastic array of country houses and historic properties to explore. When planning your vacation, be sure to pencil in some time to tour around the surrounding areas.

Catherine Halsey writes for a digital marketing agency on a range of subjects. This article links back to https://www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/our-hotels/london-south-england/oxford/

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When one is in London, darling, one should procure an appropriate residence. Park your corgis on the silk scatter cushions and order a banquet of cucumber butties from your butler. Five star hotels in London may require you to martyr the contents of your wallet, but if you’re sleeping soundly in a four poster bed after a luxury spa treatment, who cares?

Buckingham Palace / Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by OwenXu

Hotel 41, on Buckingham Palace Road no less, is a fabulous choice. Sew some pearl buttons onto your cardie, attach a feather to your bonnet and you’ll fit right in.

Rock and Roll

Not sure you’ll get away with smashing TVs or guitars at the Pavilion Fashion Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel (believe me, even if you only smash the remote they won’t let you back in again) but I’m sure you’ll want to lounge over velvet upholstery and play air guitar to yourself in front of an extravagant gold mirror. These things can all be done, my friend, at the Pavillion Fashion Rock ‘n’ Roll Hotel. You can also even choose your own musical theme.

Book the ‘Honky Tonk Afro’ suite, perhaps, or go all mystical in the ‘Enter the Dragon’ room.

And the best thing about all this? You’ll actually be able to afford the hotel, even on a musician’s wage, you can get a double room for £100 a night, done!

Bohemian Boat Adventure

Hipsters and bohemian lovelies across the capital will no doubt feel that the Olympics, quite frankly, is a little passé. Take your hamper of lightly salted rice cakes, almond milk, and whiskey, and head out to West London where you can get away from all the hype of the games.

Why not rent a house boat on the Thames? The Bush Houseboat, moored near Kew Gardens, is fully kitted out and essentially a floating flat. Hug trees and take bark rubbings in Kew Gardens, write some poetry about the passing swans or star gaze with your loving companion on the roof of the boat ; allow the Olympics to completely pass you by.

London canal houseboats / aaron.bihari

Miss Scarlet, in the Hostel, with the walking boot

Hostel dorms don’t need to look like something out of Escape from Alcatraz, and there are plenty of London hostels with style, class and quirk that will still save you money. Palmers Lodge in Swiss Cottage looks rather like the setting for an Agatha Christie novel:  Grand staircases, high ceilings and lots of red drapes. Time to perch on a pew to sip your martini at the chapel bar and get your free breakfast.

City Slicking, Local Style

Book yourself a Thames side apartment to live like London’s sexy city slickers for a couple of weeks. With apartments for rent on numerous websites you can have a whole place to yourself and cook exactly what you like. You’ll be able to enjoy your own Thames balcony whilst breakfasting on coffee and cigarettes and in the evening, you’ll be just a short walk from London’s trendiest clubs.

These are my picks of the day, but if you’ve got any other suggestions about styles of accommodation in London, get in touch and I’ll test them out for myself!

Sophie McGovern writes for Hotelopia, an online hotel booking system with hundreds of hotels in central London. When not writing, she can be found scouring the streets of the capital for interesting places, fabulous hotels and the best cakes.

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I mean…£8 for a coffee anyone?

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by GeekGrunge

But France has plenty more to offer the jaded traveller, and I’m going to show you how to put some joie back in your vivre.

France is the third largest country in Europe, with over 547,000 square kilometres to explore, outside of Paris you will feel like you have France to yourself. By car, you will find it safe, fast and really enjoyable if you keep off the auto routes and keep on the B roads.  Alternatively, you could take the train, using France’s super-fast TGV network. You could hop around the whole country in a fraction of the time.

Secret: the South of France is not the sunniest

The first region I am going to tell you about is the Poitou Charentes, with the regional capital of Poitiers.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by sybarite48

This actually is the sunniest region in France, although not a lot of people know that! This is where you get those famous fields of sunflowers and lavender that you see on the postcards in souvenir shops in Paris!

It is famous for its coastal oyster beds, and the French themselves holiday here, stressed out Parisians in particular, holiday at the Ile de Rey or Ile d’Orelon. These are two beautiful islands just off the coast near La Rochelle, these are the perfect spots for beach life and cycling breaks.

Culinary treats are on offer at Rochefort, for their wonderful fromage, or the vineyards of Cognac should keep you well oiled for an afternoon or two!

Next door to this is the region of Aquitaine, most famous for its incredible natural coastal parks of sand dunes and big waves of the Atlantic Ocean, so the silver surfers among you will not be disappointed. It is a really popular spot for camping, as the camps are nestled in woods right next to the sea.

Or you can try Biarritz if your camping days are over, five star hotels and fantastic regional cuisine will await your arrival.

Aquitaine borders the Pyrenees mountain range, offering hikers and climbers plenty to do. The regional capital is Bordeaux, so is home to some of the finest wines known to humanity, so a bottle or two to take home is definitely recommended.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Ryan Gsell

Mix it up

If the South of France is more alluring, but you don’t want the high prices and crowds, Languedoc-Roussillon will be much more your scene. It borders the easterly side of the Pyrenees, with Spain only a very short drive away, meaning the cuisine here is very fusion, with tapas and chorizo often found on the menu.

Fringed by the Mediterranean, the pace of life is slower. From here, the Canal du Midi winds its way from the south coast, all the way to Bordeaux, and offers the budding cyclist miles of hassle and car free cycling along the shady tree-lined avenues.

A must-see is the incredible town of Carcassonne, a town perched high on a hill top, preserved since mediaeval times – you will really feel like you are on a film set, but people actually still live in the town.

Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by Henri Sivonen

Closer to home

If a long journey puts you off, you could drive from the south of England over to Picardie in the north of France in just six hours, including the ferry ride that is!

History buffs will be fascinated by the Somme region and its bare, tree-less fields, a relic from the extensive bombardment it endured during the First World War. The war cemeteries are dotted all over the area, and serve as a reminder of the fallen soldiers.

If you are a pork lover, Picardie is the place for you! Sausages, hams and pates in every kind of variation can be found here. It is also a gastronomic centre for Maroilles cheese, and be careful of the locals brandishing the local calvados – that stuff is not for sissies!

Instead, stick to the local cider, made from the acres of apple orchards from the region.  If you get bored, it’s only a 2 hour train journey to Paris!

Please comment on your secret French finds, whether it be cities, towns or even cuisine dishes!

Kate Dawson is an appreciator of fine food and even nicer wines. She currently blogs for Optegra.  Their Clarivu procedure offers fast cataract surgery recovery times. Refractive surgery has never been easier or quicker.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by phileole

Nice

The capital of the French Riviera Nice is the fifth largest city in France and one of the most exciting places to spend a summer on the Riviera. The city became a popular tourist destination in the 19th century thanks largely to an influx of British traveller’s seeking the warm Mediterranean sun. The beach may be largely pebbled but the city is beautiful. The Promenade des Anglais is one of the most famous sights and provides a beautiful beach side walk. The Orthodox Cathedral is well worth a visit and the medieval town centre is the perfect place for a leisurely afternoon stroll. Here you can find the remnants of the old Chateau and a rambling collection of narrow alleys and beautiful ochre houses. In terms of places to stay apartments in Nice provide you with a real sense of luxury but the many five star hotels are equally impressive and elegant.

Cannes

Cannes is famous as a millionaires playground and is one of the most outwardly extravagant destinations on the Med. The May international film festival is perhaps the most famous draw for the rich and famous and tourists more generally but the town has a rich warm atmosphere throughout the year. The seafront promenade and La Croisette and the Vieux Porte around the bay are a fantastic place to while away your afternoon’s while Le Suquet which forms the central part of the old town is a fantastic series of rambling streets and medieval buildings as well as the impressive 11th century castle. Nearby you can access the popular Iles des Lerins via a brief ferry ride and enjoy some fantastic beaches. In terms of staying here in France, villas are at their most luxurious and hotels aren’t far behind. Further inland you can find cheaper accommodation and numerous camping grounds.

St. Tropez

St. Tropez is one of the most laid back and stunning parts of the South French coast. It manages to retain village like charms despite being an incredibly popular destination. The port and surrounding streets are messy in an ever endearing way and the beautiful buildings and very traditional French culture mean that St. Tropez is one of the best destinations in France all year round. The 11th century citadel with its museum is perhaps the most interesting sight but the views are the most impressive thing about it. The town hall is fairly impressive but really the culture is the most interesting and exciting thing about visiting this town. The real pleasures for many though are the beaches with St. Tropez being in close proximity to some of the region’s most beautiful and popular beaches. In particular Les Graniers and the beaches on Baie des Canoubiers are particularly impressive.

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