Rail Fares set to rise

Southeastern train company customers will be charged extra to use the new 'Javelin' service. The Javelin is a new highspeed (140mph) train from Hitachi which is planned to run between London St Pancras and Ebbsfleet International, with a few services extending to Ashford International, Ramsgate via Canterbury West or Dover. From 13 December 2009 Southeastern plan to operate a regular high-speed domestic service into and out of London St Pancras. The services are marketed as Southeastern Highspeed and the trains will be named after British personalities associated with speed.

The second price rise will come in January and will be across the board under the regulated fares formula (allowing prices to rise a set amount above RPI), despite assurances by Government that rail prices would fall in 2010. Some existing services may also be cut to help fund the new investment.

Drink your way to Calais

P&O are currently offering a great day-trip offer if you are planning to stock your cellar with French wines, which includes a case of Californian wine into the bargain.

Thanks to the MoneySavingExpert for bringing this one to our attention...

For £24, you get a return Dover-Calais ticket for a car and up to 9 people (worth c.£35), and a free case of Ernest & Julio Gallo Winemaker's Seal Red or White wine (worth £25). The wine is redeemable on the outward leg of your journey only; you'll get a voucher for it along with your tickets.

Valid for travel between now and 1st December 2009 (though excludes travel on 23, 24, 31 October and 1 November), and can be booked until 12 Nov. To get the deal, go to P&O UK's website and enter 'freewineDT' in the box when booking to qualify.

This is an online offer only....and if you enjoy your wine and are looking to do a quick booze cruise before Christmas, this is a no-brainer...

What to do in London?

It's exciting to travel to a new City whether it be a day trip within your own country or a long overseas trip, but when you get, there you may well realise that you don't know the best places for a quick bite, or where to get the best entertainment, a quiet pint or a gourmet meal.

That's when a site like Qype comes in - an extensive insight into night-life, restaurants and watering holes with reviews completed by ordinary folk like you or me.
The information on their database is not limited to night-life, you can search for a hairdresser, travel information, libraries or any number of services that you might require when staying away from home.

By default, the site shows information for London in general, but simply by clicking on the link to 'change', you can select any UK city or even a specific area of London. Ideal if you are searching for restaurants london by name or by district. Qype extends globally, and you can select from a list of countries and then select an area within that country. In fact, you can use Qype to gather information about your home town too - I checked out information about local parks and leisure centres, and was surprised to find not only a full list of amenities, but personal reviews written for every search result that came up - even reviews of local parks...

Whatever you are looking for, Qype is essentially a directory, but importantly a directory with a difference. The Qype directory not only gives you bare essential information such as address and essential contact information – it gives you an independent review from the viewpoint of an ordinary customer or facility-user. Next time you are stuck for a venue, or a shop or just need to do a search for pubs london why not try Qype, not only will you find something in your chosen locality, you will learn something about it too.

Losing business at Heathrow

Industry experts are claiming that Britain is losing out to the tune of £1bn annually because of the lack of a third runway at Heathrow. Travellers even from the UK are using European airports as a hub for long-haul flights that could potentially fly from Heathrow if the long-awaited third runway was in place and working to increase capacity.
On the other side of the argument there are environmental factors to be overcome, and the fact that the world market for flights is in decline and the proliferation of cheap flights indicates that the development could become a white elephant if the sales of flights and travel in general does not pick up.
Charles De Gaulle, Frankfurt and Schipol have all experienced a growth in business compared to a more or less static turnover at Heathrow for the last 5 years. The threat however is not solely from European airports as growth at Middle-Eastern airports has been astronomic. Dohar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai airports have seen rises approaching more than 100% in the last 5 years.

Swansea - The Mumbles

I am fortunate to live only about 40 miles from Swansea, and although there are beaches nearer to us, The Mumbles holds a special attraction - hence we took a day-trip there last Sunday as the weather was very pleasant.
It is such a popular spot, that if you leave it late in the day, it is always tricky to get through the traffic and find a parking spot - Once there however, there are plenty of things to do. The Swansea coastline is very extensive leaving plenty of room for sun-worshippers, sand-castle builders, paddlers and swimmers. When you have
become drenched enough with either sun or sea, there are all the usual sea-side attractions such as small parks, shops and crazy golf, yet the Mumbles is surprisingly un-tacky and remains a relatively tasteful haven for locals and visitors alike.
After a pleasant hour exploring rock-pools and a walk along the promenade, the highlight of the afternoon was Fish and chips from 'Yallops' an idyllic sea-side meal in an idyllic setting. I don't think this will be our last visit to Mumbles, but next time, I would like to be there a little earlier and beat the traffic. There has been such a lot of development in Swansea Bay, but correspondingly little done to ease the flow of traffic at peak times.

Cheap stop-overs in the UK

I usually use somewhere like Travelodge or Premier Inn for my work and leisure stop-overs within the UK, but lately I have been sticking exclusively to Travelodge because they have such good deals when you book up front.
Check out their saver deals for their £12, £19 and £29 special offers - there are even deals for EUR12 in Ireland and Spain included.
This is not by any means a sponsored post, I am genuinely a customer of Travelodge (stayed there twice in August, both times were a special offer) and am committed to writing about good deals that I find...
Normally when booking, you are not required to pay until you arrive or leave, and cancellation is available until 4pm on the day - under the terms of the special offer, you pay when you book AND bookings are non-refundable and non-transferable.

Peaceful Norfolk Broads

Having just returned from a few peaceful days on the Norfolk Broads, we are refreshed and ready to apply noses to various grindstones. The Norfolk Broads (Beccles in this case) remains both genteel and entertaining with plenty to see and do.This region of the East of England presents countryside, water and wildlife in a way that no other British region does - this is the Everglades of the UK, with little chance of losing a limb to an alligator. In all seriousness though, for those with a penchant for boating, accidents do happen on the Broads so safety should be paramount.
When you tire of the wildfowl, there is always the option of the North Sea coast and various attractions such as the Africa Alive wildlife park, Sandringham Gardens in fact a plethera of venues to suit all sorts of tastes.
There are plenty of camp sites and B&B's for those who don't want to live on the water, but hiring a boat is the finest way to see the Broads in all their glory.