Come fly with me
To get a good deal, you have to look outside the peak season. “You just aren’t going to find a bargain in July and August,” asserts independent travel agent, Pádraig O’Driscoll. “May, early June, there are excellent bargains to be had, but come that last weekend in June, you’ve had it.”
Last-minute cancellations do occur during the high season, but they are scarce, and not necessarily a bargain. “If you do get one, it isn’t likely to be the place you want, the kind of accommodation you need, and in the end nobody’s happy.” When it comes to family summer holidays, he says, you have to consider the kids first of all. “That’s because if they’re happy, mum and dad can relax too. That’s something you have to keep in mind.”
Even in peak season, though, there are ways to save. Self-catering is better value than all-inclusive packages. Buying food and drink at local supermarkets reduces costs considerably. Camping and mobile home sites are another option. Forget rainy Irish weekends under canvas, European style is blissfully comfortable.
That’s the hard facts out of the way. If you are free to choose the time you travel, then there are excellent bargains to be found. Flights first. For Europe, low-cost airlines like Ryanair, Easyjet, Jet2, offer incredible bargains. Become familiar with how prices vary within a week. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are often cheapest.
For long-haul flights, forget the direct non-stop, it’s always the most expensive. Use an airline like Etihad or KLM that brings you to its main hub in another country, and then on to your destination, and be flexible about dates.
Changing flights is no big deal. Bring a book, get coffee, and have some relaxation time. Some airports (like Amsterdam) offer quick sightseeing tours if you have a few hours between flights.
London might sound expensive, but plan in advance and it can be done.
Hotels are always overpriced and usually overbooked, as are the restaurants.
If it’s the famous sights you’re after, like Madame Tussauds, the Tower, et al, then it’s usually a much better idea to stay well outside — in Tunbridge Wells, maybe, or Oxford — and come in for the day. That way you get all the London sightseeing and have somewhere nice and peaceful to get back to in the evenings. Most theatres have matinees, and you can find cut price tickets at a booth in Leicester Square.
Don’t even think about driving into central London. There is the Congestion Charge, for one thing, horrendous parking problems for another.
Let the train or the bus take the strain.
Train tickets cost far less after the morning rush hour, buses cost far less than trains, and a day ticket for both Underground and bus is a great way to get around the city once you’re there.
France is very accessible, thanks to the ferry.
That way, you can pile in everything you need without having to worry about draconian regulations imposed by cut-price airlines.
Plus you can pile in all that bargain wine, food, junk shop finds, for the homeward trip. Be aware, though, that Paris is not for the faint-hearted motorist.
It helps if you can drive with one hand and gesticulate with the other while shouting insults in fluent Parisian, but don’t expect the gendarmes to be on your side. Stay outside (the Forest of Compiegne? Chartres?) and come in by le train or le bus. If you’re heading for the sea, accommodation is cheaper inland than on the coast, and if it’s midsummer, don’t even think of the fashionable Cote d’Azur, not if you’re counting the pennies.
Dining out in rural France is both a delight and a bargain if you choose the fixed price menus (often with wine) for €10 or €12.
America is genuinely affordable too if you get a cheap flight and do your own thing.
Two vital things to remember: book all flights before you leave Ireland (internal flights are horrendously expensive when bought within the States, very little extra on to your main ticket when booked here) and shop around online for inclusive (that word is important) car rental before you leave home too. An RV may sound wonderful, but is very expensive to rent, and you are legally supposed to use official hook-up sites which often cost just as much as a motel room. Plus they’re not good for driving up tiny back roads or popping down to the shops. Motels are cheap, and you can often bargain if they aren’t full. Big city accommodation is more expensive during the week, seaside and resort charges are higher at the weekend.
Further afield in India, you don’t have to pay the frighteningly high prices quoted for package tours of that fabled land. All it takes is a bit of planning and a genuine desire for adventure. For example, a current brochure quotes a Rajasthan tour, ex-Dublin, 14 nights, €2,708 per person, based on two adults sharing.
You can fly to Delhi from €678. That leaves you with a whopping €4k between two of you to cover accommodation, food, transport, and peripherals — more than you’ll ever need in a country like India.
It’s the same for Thailand, Cambodia, all those exotic Oriental destinations.
Shop around for the best value flights and then enjoy the incredibly low cost of living when you get there.
FEW of us tourists deliberately turn into hordes of invasive aliens after disembarking from our charter flights, charging like wildebeests towards the waiting buses. But the sad reality is that more and more places we visit are plagued by endemic problems such as water shortages, pollution, disruption of local habitats and loss of bio-diversity due to tourism. Tourism related activities, due to their nature and size, also contribute to environmental and social problems, damaging destinations and communities.
Sustainable tourism, experts argue, is the only means of guaranteeing the long term survival of the travel industry, ensuring destinations stay intact for the future. Tourism destinations are considered sustainable if they do not adversely affect habitats, local communities or cultural heritage, according to the Global Sustainable Tourism criteria.
Increased consumer consciousness and an ever more demanding public when it comes to travelling responsibly will drive change. So what should we be doing to ensure that our favourite destinations are protected for generations to come and how can we make a difference when we travel?
The Travel Foundation (thetravelfoundation.org.uk), believes tourists can make the world of difference — to their own holidays and to the lives of the people and the places they visit by participating in responsible and sustainable travel.
* Before you go do some background reading on the people and places you’ll visit and learn a few simple phrases in the local language.
* Respect the local culture and traditions. Ask permission before taking photographs of people or their homes and don’t be offended if they decline or expect to be paid for the privilege.
* Don’t bring your litter on holiday. Remove packaging from clothing, toiletries, etc. Minimise waste by re-using plastic bags and take your batteries home.
* Try to use water sparingly by taking showers instead of baths and tell staff you are happy to re-use towels and bed linen rather than having them replaced daily.
* Turn down/off heating or air conditioning when not required and switch off lights.
* Take excursions run by local suppliers.
* Buy locally made products and visit neighbourhood restaurants, boosting the local economy.
Cyprus, the third largest island in the Mediterranean — attracts more than two million tourists annually. Most are lured by splendid beaches and year round sun, as well as the throbbing night life. Special interest, cultural and heritage tourism were once the mainstays of Cyprus. But rapid development of beachfront infrastructure has steadily enticed tourists away from the archeological sites and cultural attractions in modern times.
Daring to be different, notwithstanding intense market competition in the Med region, Cyprus has taken a brave stand on sustainability, developing what is known as the Cyprus Sustainable Tourism Initiative (CSTI) so holiday-makers can find the real Cyprus beyond the resorts.
CSTI chairman Philippos P Drousiotis reports that the mountains of plastic cups and bottles used by resort hotels have been radically reduced, and other environmentally sound practices introduced. The growth of the ‘all inclusive’ concept discourages holiday makers from venturing out of resorts and local businesses and communities lose out so a drive has begun to persuade tour operators to arrange vouchers to entice guests to eat out locally once or twice.
Cyprus’s hidden gems, including de-populated villages in the magnificent Troodos mountains, are blossoming once more and benefiting from much needed revenue thanks to the initiative’s series of six self drive guides taking visitors along ‘the road less travelled’. Details on the routes and also authentic holidays are available online at www.visitcyprus.com and www.agrotourism.com.cy.
Other good sources of information on sustainable travel can be found on the websites of Sustainable Travel International.
Hundreds of sustainable and responsible travel opportunities include adventure travel and eco-tours, B&Bs, and voluntourism, where a holiday is combined with volunteer work.
Also see responsibletravel.com, who work with more than 1,000 tourism suppliers who are promoting sustainability and responsible travel.
British providers not only give a far greater range of dates and destinations, the prices are usually competitive.
Supplies can be bought cheaply from the local supermarket, and you can always splash out on a good value restaurant from time to time. Check out camping options too (www.keycamp.ie)
If possible, avoid major dates like Easter, Bank Holidays, school holidays, half terms. For anyone ready to travel at a moment’s notice, there are several websites: www.latedeals.ie, www.cheapholidays.com and more.
Use low-cost airlines and book your own accommodation online. Special offers only run for a limited time so grab them while they’re there. Sites like www.cheapflights.ie are useful too.
Yes, you’ll lose the reassurance of having someone else take all the worry off your shoulders, but you’ll almost certainly save. www.tripadvisor.com is very useful for genuine opinions on what a restaurant, hotel, attraction is really like.
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