Booking Europe Holidays

Europe provides an incredibly varied range of cultures and sites for you to visit and this makes it one of the very best continents to visit whether yo are going on holiday or want to go travelling. The question is though, how do you go about booking these holidays and what’s the cheapest and most efficient way to go about booking Europe holidays?

Many people with go through estate agents when booking Europe holidays. This has its perks and many people will enjoy using this method for its simplicity and the fact that its being organised by an official body meaning you have support should anything go wrong. However this is not the cheapest way to go about booking Europe holidays, and if you are willing to take a little more risk, then you can get a more varied experience at cheaper prices.

One other way to go about booking Europe holidays is through Expedia. This is a site that lets you book holidays all around the world and ‘build’ them yourself by selecting each part individually. This gives you more flexibility to move between hotels during your stay or to fly at times more convenient to you. At the same time it will usually be much cheaper than booking Europe holidays through a travel agent.

If you are willing to be even more adventurous when booking Europe holidays then you can also book elements of your journey separately. Many flights can be found cheaply by searching online and travelling at unusual hours, and you can find lots of hotels this way not available through package websites. Hotels.com is a particularly good site for booking European holidays – not for flights but for a vast range of very affordable hotels.

Of course the final option is to forego booking Europe holidays altogether and to instead ‘wing’ it while you’re out there. You can get many cheap flights if you are willing to turn up on the day and ask for flights with spare seats and you can get similar discounts by turning up to hotels on the day. Normally it will be possible to find hotels with space and hostels almost always can provide a cheap bed.

Choosing not to go through the process of booking Europe holidays is a risky decision and it will mean that you are forced to be more flexible and less picky. If you are travelling with a family in tow and lots of luggage then, it is not normally advisable, however if you are going to

Posted under Europe, Travel

Halloween in Europe

Halloween is a festival that is celebrated on the 31st of October and that involves for many in the US the act of dressing up as witches and devils and trick or treating. Halloween in Europe is much the same in a majority of countries, where this commercialisation has found much success. In other places however Halloween in Europe is also treated more seriously as a religious event.

In fact it is likely that Halloween spread from Europe originally, combining the ‘Roman Feralia’ which was designed to commemorate the dead, and with the Pagan Celtic Samhain which itself originated in the British Isles. In the latter, the Celts would leave food at their doors in order to lure in good spirits, and would wear masks in order to scare away the evil. When the Romans later invaded England, they would add extra traditions such as honouring the dead.

The festival as we know was in fact born in the Vatican when Pope Gregory IV declared the day ‘All Saints’ day in an attempt to replace the pagan festival. At the time this was on November 1st, and was intended to honour all of those saints who did not have their own day. The night before was then celebrated as ‘All Hallows Eve’ and during this time many Christians would travel from door to door begging for food which they would use to feed the hungry which was a slight variation on the pagan tradition of leaving food outside to attract positive spirits. This tradition did not completely distract from the pagan festival, and instead resulted in a new permutation that takes aspects of both: ‘trick or treating’. Here children dressed as creatures of the night will knock on the door of local residents and offer them the option of handing out sweets or falling foul to one of their tricks – which might involve fart gas or silly string. Interestingly there are some reports that Halloween in Europe also owes some of its origins to France, with Celts in Northern France being believed to have also celebrated the date.

It seems that Halloween in Europe travelled to the US via Irish immigrants who brought their traditions with them. In the US this tradition caught on and was highly commercialised with cards, decorations, cakes and the introduction of more traditions such as pumpkin carving. These commercialised aspects then travelled back to Halloween in Europe and in the West (England, France, Germany etc) many of the same practices take place with families decorating their homes, buying in sweets, and dressing up as ghouls and skeletons. Many individuals in England, France and Germany etc will also dress up in order to visit clubs and parties. Halloween in Europe is arguably slightly less of a ‘big deal’ than it is in the US with fewer people dressing up and less lavish decorations and costumes.

In other countries in Europe, particularly Poland, Halloween as we know it is even less well known and there is a lot less dressing up and partying involved. However here ‘All Saints Day’ is much more recognised with Poland being a very Catholic country. Polish Catholics thus will attend church and visit their relatives’ graves where a priest will throw holy water. They will also light candles, leave flowers and pray for their relatives. Here Halloween in Europe is a sad day and very different from that celebrated in the US and Western Europe, though some of these traditions are gradually starting to catch on.

Posted under Europe

Holidays in Europe

There are many potential holidays in Europe and no matter what kind of holidays in Europe or experience you are looking for you should be able to find it in Europe. Holidays in Europe range from the hot and sunny such as Spain and Portugal, to the romantic such as Rome and Paris, to the historical such as London and Rome, to the snowy such as Austria or Switzerland, to the up and coming such as Poland. Here we’ll look at some of the holidays in Europe available for sight-seeing, tourism and culture and help you choose one that will suit you.

Rome:
Rome is a best holidays in Europe for several reasons. Firstly of course it has stunning architecture and history. From the Vatican city to the Coliseum to the Roman Forum to the Trevi Fountain there are countless historical sites of stunning architecture and that’s just to name a few. This makes Rome one of the best holidays in Europe for sight seeing or tours, but at the same time it also has a great night life (check out the Ice Club), transport system (use the Metro) and shopping (particularly for those who enjoy fashion). Then there’s the great climate…

Athens:
The capital of Greece and one of the holidays in Europe for site seeing due to its rich history and cultural and political influence, Athens is thus full of great statues, buildings and other historical things to see. Highlights include the Parthenon, the temple of Poseidon, mount Lycabettus and the Agora-Athens central market among others.

Krakow:
Poland is an up-and-coming country that’s recently becoming a great location for stag-dos and other holidays in Europe. While Warsaw is the capital, it is Krakow that boasts the most sights with Wawel Castle, the salt mines and Auschwitz all within reach. At the same time though Krakow itself is a vibrant town with spectacular gothic architecture, some kind of fair or show in the square almost every night, plus a great selection of restaurants and clubs all located underground for an exciting atmosphere. If you feel like travelling a little farther afield for your holidays in Europe (though be careful of the train system) then you can also visit the amazing Zakopane mountains – a snow capped and accessible mountains for one of the best little-known skiing holidays in Europe. Another bonus is that it is also one of the cheapest holidays in Europe.

London:
London is another popular tourist spot for its many sights and attractions. In the nicer areas of London the city is underrated for its beauty with a walk along the well lit Thames bringing you to Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Trafalgar Square and Nelson’s Column among many other points of interest. This large variety is partly what makes it one of the number one holidays in Europe. Watching the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace is a popular activity that everyone should do if they’re there, as is riding on the gigantic London Eye and looking around the wax-works at Madame Toussauds. Then there’s the science museum and Natural History Museum, both of which are completely free to look around.

Posted under Europe