The last year has seen some fallback in cheap breaks abroad from the UK due to the Strength of the Euro against the pound whilst there’s been a resurgence of cheap breaks and short city breaks within the UK.

Next year will see further developments and small changes but one things for certain, with modern life the way it is there’ll always be a need from time to time to get away from it all somehow, somewhere.

Happy New Year everybody wherever you are, and may your 2010 dreams all come true.

Technorati Tags: blog, Breaks, Cheap, cheap break, cheap breaks, City, happy new year

The reason is because I’ve heard that hotels in Belfast are slashing their prices in a bid to attract more people to the region, so that’s good news for  anybody planning holidays to the North of Ireland in the near future.

According to one website, various hotel chains are offering good deals, including the Travelodge, which has rooms from £17 between February 1st and June 6th, if accommodation is booked at least 21 days in advance.  Value breaks across the country are also being promoted by the Irish Hotels Federation for two-night stays at hotels with three stars, which may be tempting for people interested in city breaks, with best prices at weekends.

The Radisson Blu Hotel, Belfast is ideally located in the city centre, formally the Gasworks area. The hotel is close to the city and out of the way of its hustle and bustle, allowing our guests to have a good night’s sleep and a good time out.

Here are some of the best Belfast Attractions to get the most out of cheap breaks to Northern Ireland

• The Odyssey Arena
• Grand Opera House
• Botanic Gardens-
• Belfast City Hall
• Ulster Folk and Transport Museum
• Queens University
• The Lagan Look Out
• Harland and Wolfe Belfast’s ship yard
• Belfast Zoo
• Belfast Castle

Arriving at Belfast for cheap breaks by Ferry

Belfast Harbour

The Port of Belfast is Northern Ireland’s principal maritime gateway, serving the Northern Ireland economy and increasingly that of the Republic of Ireland. About 60% of Northern Ireland’s seaborne trade and 20% of the entire island’s is handled by the Port which receives over 6000 vessels each year.

The Port is also a major centre of industry and commerce – its Harbour Estate is home to some of Northern Ireland’s most important urban regeneration projects and it is the region’s leading logistics & distribution hub.

With 1.2 million passengers and half a million freight units annually, Belfast is Ireland’s busiest ferry port. It is also the island’s leading dry bulk port, dominating the market with regard to imports of grain and animal feeds, coal, fertilisers and cement, and exports of scrap and aggregates. Over 95% of Northern Ireland’s petroleum and oil products are also handled at the Port.

www.belfast-harbour.co.uk

Larne Harbour

Belfast can be reached by ferry from Liverpool in England and Stranraer in Scotland. Norse Merchant Ferries operate the Belfast to Liverpool route and the journey takes around 8 hours. Stenaline runs the Belfast to Stranraer route and the journey takes less than 2 hours by fast ferry, and 3 hours 15 minutes by slow ferry. Larne, 23 miles north of Belfast has ferries from Troon (Summer only) and Cairnryan (near Stranraer) operated by P&O while Stenaline have a service to Fleetwood (near Blackpool).

www.portoflarne.co.uk

Bangor Marina

Bangor Marina is situated on the south shore of Belfast Lough, close the Irish Sea cruising routes. The marina has become well known since it opened for providing a safe berth in the centre of Bangor, a highly attractive town with many places to visit.

Bangor Marina is operated by Quay Marinas under a 15 year licence granted by North Down Borough Council. The Marina Manager, Andrew Jaggers, and his friendly team are there to make your stay at Bangor Marina as enjoyable and safe as possible so please speak to a member of staff if you need any help. The Marina is staffed 24 hours a day so there should always be someone on hand to provide any further information.

Carrickfergus Marina

The marina area at Carrickfergus boasts excellent amenities for berthing, setting sail and relaxing. The impressive marina building hosts the customer service team, who are friendly, confident and experienced, ready to greet any visitor 24 hours a day.

Carrickfergus Marina’s excellence has been reflected by receiving the prestigious quality accreditation of 5 Gold Anchor and European Blue Flag Status as well as designation as an RYA Sailability Centre. There’s always a warm welcome from the staff at Carrickfergus Marina and the exclusive amenities provided in the Marina building will make your stay all the more enjoyable. No detail is overlooked in the exclusive berth holder facilities. Immaculately presented showers, and personal laundry service, together with a bespoke marine services area and state of the art meeting/conference facilities, are just some of the facilities available.

The area around the Marina is a hub of activity, with a modern complex that offers restaurants, a childrens’ play facility, a hotel, a multi screen cinema, convenient superstore and a vibrant sailing club. There are inviting bar/restaurant facilities overlooking the marina and harbour – the ideal way to laze away a long summer evening or enjoy a hot drink on a winter’s night. The customer service team, located at the marina local information point, will also be delighted to provide information about other activities and places of interest in the town and beyond.

There are also ferry services available from Holyhead in Wales, and Liverpool in England to Dublin Port and Dun Laoghaire. Other ferry routes to Ireland include Pembroke and Fishguard in Wales to Rosslare in Co Wexford; and Roscoff and Cherbourg in France to Rosslare.

For details on routes and schedules please visit:

P & O Irish Sea:
Troon & Cairnryan to Larne
Dublin to Liverpool
www.poirishsea.com

Stena Line:
Stranraer to Belfast
Fleetwood to Larne
Holyhead to Dublin & Dun Laoghaire
Fishguard to Rosslare
www.stenaline.co.uk

Irish Ferries:
Holyhead to Dublin
Pembroke to Rosslare
Roscoff & Cherbourg to Rosslare
www.irishferries.com

Norfolkline:
Liverpool to Belfast & Dublin
www.norfolkline.com

Technorati Tags: belfast, Breaks, Cheap, cheap break, cheap breaks, hotel, Ireland

Following on from the potentially devastating news for Spain, as thousands of holiday-makers are axing trips to the Costas, Times Online has reported this week on how the tourism industry in Paris is facing difficult times.

According to the report by Chris Haslam, international arrivals are down by 8.1% on last year, hotel occupancies by more than 10%, and the queues for the Eiffel Tower – celebrating its 120th birthday this year – have rarely been shorter.

The growing crisis has prompted hotels to slash prices by up to 70%, in an attempt to win back tourists to the world’s most visited city.

So if you fancy a cheap Paris break, there’s never been a better time to grab a bargain.

Technorati Tags: birthday, Breaks, Cheap, cheap break, cheap breaks, Chris Haslam, costa, costas, holiday, holiday makers, hotel occupancies, hotels, Paris, spain, tourism, tourism industry, Travel

Theses latest stats come from research by the new domestic tourism body VisitEngland and were released at the recent Best of Britain and Ireland trade show in London.

photo credit: Dean Sas

More than half of people involved in the research (63%) expect to take a break or holiday in England in the next year and 90% will be cutting back on their overall spend.

However, the study also highlighted that the importance of holidays means that they are “more protected” than other areas of expenditure backing recent claims by Kayak.co.uk that we are a nation obsessed with holidays, even when times are tough.

These rosy prediction for UK tourism are also shared by national tourism agency VisitBritain, whose deputy chief executive Sandie Dawe was recently quoted as saying; “As well as generating more business for the industry to help tide them through the challenging economic climate, Best of Britain and Ireland will be a key opportunity for us to capture the imagination of the five million extra Britons considering taking a holiday here instead of abroad. It could be a real tipping point for British tourism.”

VisitBritain is to launch a £3 million promotional campaign highlighting the value of taking breaks in England. TV and national press advertising are planned from next month.

Technorati Tags: Breaks, Britain, British, british tourism, Cheap, England, holidays, Ireland, london, national tourism agency, Newquay, tourism, Travel, uk tourism

Glenn from Brilliant Trips told me about the ideas behind their website:
“We at Brilliant Trips believe that free time is precious and we hate wasting it on the sofa watching rubbish telly. So we’ve put together some of our favourite days out, weekend breaks and short break ideas to inspire you and your friends to join in and have some fun.”

The site seems to be aimed at younger people rather than couples and offers the opportunity to join or form “brilliant groups” then choose an available date and book online for just yourself or with friends. Destinations for weekend breaks, day trips and short breaks are mostly in the UK and Europe, similar to the concepts behind London Theatre Weekend Breaks and Paris Breaks

Technorati Tags: break, Breaks, Brilliant, day trips, europe, london, london theatre, Paris, short break, short breaks, Theatre, Trips, UK, weekend breaks

Theatre Breaks in London just got a lot more affordable with offers that include a Free Hotel for a long list of top west end musicals.

These are for for Monday to Friday performances of
Billy Elliot, Blood Brothers, Buddy, Chicago, Sound of Music, and We Will Rock You throughout January, February and March 2009 and also for Monday to Thursday performances of Carousel, Grease Hairspray Joseph Wicked and Zorro

Theatre Breaks in London

Theatre Breaks include top seats in the stalls or dress circle of one of London’s famous old theatres and a free night in a three star central London hotel. You can even upgrade to a four star hotel for only £10 extra per person. To take advantage of this fantastic offer and have something really special to look forward to, all you have to do is book a theatre break with free hotel now over the internet for two people seeing a show before 26 March 2009.

Here’s the list of shows again:

Monday to Friday offer:

• Billy Elliot theatre breaks
• Blood Brothers theatre breaks
• Buddy theatre breaks (before Feb 7th)
  
• Chicago theatre breaks
• Sound of Music theatre breaks
• We Will Rock You theatre breaks

Monday to Thursday offer:

• Carousel theatre breaks with Lesley Garret
• Grease theatre breaks
• Hairspray theatre breaks with Michael Ball
• Joseph theatre breaks
• Wicked theatre breaks
• Zorro theatre breaks

** Check Availability for these shows with Free Hotel Offer **

Free Hotel Offer with London Theatre Breaks

For more information and news about any of these shows and a lot more visit London Theatre breaks

Technorati Tags: Breaks, free hotel, london, midweek, Theatre, theatre breaks, weekday

please enjoy/comment/rate

Duration : 0:2:41

Technorati Tags: 12, Breaks, episode, Gellar, Gilmore, girls, Jamie, Paris, season, up, with

TBL’s second show EVER

Duration : 0:3:37

Technorati Tags: auto, box, brandon, Breaks, casey, dumbleton, heald, Like, live, Loose, lovelace, matt, Nights, poop, Theatre, These, toney, tune, zach

The 2 best priced packages I bought with the Eurostar were found on lastminute.com, my partner and I went to Brussels for 3 days and also to Paris a few months later. Might be worth the try, I don’t know if ours were specials or just standard fares but both times the hotels were ideally located and they were very good

Technorati Tags: best deals, break, Breaks, Brussels, Eurostar, hotels, london, package, Paris, short breaks

Maddermarket Theatre
Norwich Arts Centre
Norwich Playhouse
Norwich Puppet Theatre
Theatre Royal & Studio

Have Fun!!

Technorati Tags: Arts, Breaks, fringe, fringe theatre, Maddermarket, Norwich, norwich arts centre, norwich playhouse, norwich puppet theatre, Playhouse, Puppet, Theatre, theatre breaks, Theatres