Travel Tips

Some information to help you plan your trip.

(see also our LINKS page for Tourist Information and overseas accommodation agencies)

BANK HOLIDAY DATES:
TELEPHONE NUMBERS
RATES OF EXCHANGE:
WEATHER FORECASTS
TRAVEL MAPS
INTERNATIONAL TIME ZONES

CAR HIRE
AIR TRAVEL
RAIL TRAVEL:
COACH TRAVEL
FERRY TRAVEL
HOLIDAY INSURANCE

BANK HOLIDAY DATES:Back to top

St Patrick’s Day, Ireland……………………… March 17

Easter ……………………………………..…… March 29-April 1

May Bank Holiday …………..…………………… May 6

Spring Bank Holiday ………….…………….….. May 27

Bank Holiday (Northern Ireland) ……………. July 12

Bank Holiday (Scotland)…………………….. August 5

Bank Holiday (others) ………………………. August 26

St Andrew’s Day (Scotland) ………………. November 30

Christmas ……………………………………. December 25-26

TELEPHONE NUMBERSBack to top

Our contact numbers are for use in the UK. If you are telephoning from abroad you need to prefix the number with 00 44 and then omit the first 0 of the telephone number, eg. 01234 123456 would be 00 44 1234 123456

To telephone the Irish hosts from outside Ireland prefix the number with 00 353 and omit the first 0 of the telephone number, eg 012 34567 would be 00 353 12 34567

RATES OF EXCHANGE:Back to top

The prices on our website are pounds sterling in the UK and euro in Ireland.

For today’s rates see RATE OF EXCHANGE

WEATHER FORECASTSBack to top

Get a 15 day weather forecast of the area you wish to visit at:

Accuweather

TRAVEL MAPSBack to top

To help you plan your route from A to B use AA ROUTEFINDER

For detailed maps of a particular area see GOOGLE MAPS, BING MAPS or STREETMAP

Public transport information, for travel by rail, air, coach, bus, ferry, metro

INTERNATIONAL TIME ZONESBack to top

To compare time differences please visit TIMEANDDATE.COM

CAR HIREBack to top

There are a number of agencies. Contact them to find the best deals. Some allow you to hire a car from one town and return it at another. Some of the main agencies are:

EUROPCAR, NATIONAL CAR RENTAL, HERTZ, AVIS, BUDGET, ALAMO CAR HIRE, CAR RENTALS, ARGUS CAR HIRE

ARNOLD CLARK – over 30 locations throughout Scotland, Northern England and the Midlands.

NOVA CAR HIRE including one way rentals from many locations around the UK

IRISH CAR RENTALS (low cost car rentals in IRELAND)

BUDGET CAR HIRE IRELAND for low cost Irish car hire

TIGER CAR RENTAL Low cost car hire provided only by the leading car rental companies in their particular country.

GLOBAL AUTO RENTALS will search for the best offers from leading car rental partners

RHINO CAR HIRE offers the lowest car rental rates at over 20,000 locations worldwide.

AIR TRAVELBack to top

These are the major airports in the UK and Ireland:

Heathrow Airport Guide - the definitive resource to help you find everything you need when travelling to, from and around the world’s busiest international airport

Airport Parking Discount Travel Airport parking information, availability and prices with secure online booking, tickets and directions. Parking at 21 UK airports including Gatwick, Heathrow Stansted and Manchester

UK Airport Parking Secure and friendly service for airport parking at great prices.

Help Me Park Gatwick Airport meet and greet parking to the North and South Terminals. Secure, valet parking service with fully insured mature drivers.

Purpleparking Park & Ride or Meet & Greet secure airport parking across the UK

Help Me Travel Compare the UK’s cheapest airport parking including on-site airport car parking, meet and greet airport car parking, and shuttle transfer airport car parking.

Totallyairports You fly, we drive. Securely pre-book a car to take you to or from the airport

For a list of bed and breakfast homes near airports please click here.

There are a number of airlines flying to the UK and Ireland from all over the world and some also have internal flights for travel within the country. These include:

BRITISH AIRWAYS, AIR CANADA, QUANTAS, RYANAIR,

BMI, AMERICAN AIRLINES, KLM, IBERIA, SOUTH AFRICAN AIRLINE

CHEAPOAIR! Cheap flights to all tourism destinations of the world

RAIL TRAVEL:Back to top

There is a railway network all over the UK. Look at THE OFFICIAL UK RAILWAYS WEB SITE for routes, fares and timetables.

THE TRAINLINE is the easy way to buy train tickets online

There are special rates for travel booked in advance and Britrail Passes, Rover Tickets are available at discounted rates for International Travellers.

TAKETHETRAIN Buy train tickets online with no booking fee

BRITISHRAIL.CO.UK helping you find the cheapest available train tickets on the UK National Rail network.

BRITISHRAIL.COM is the official outlet for British Rail in the U.S

For details about rail travel between England and Paris/Brussels visit EUROTUNNEL

NATIONAL RAIL

Many of our homes are near railway stations but if you do not have your own transport ask before booking.

COACH TRAVELBack to top

Travelling by coach has become a more economical way of seeing the country with some very good deals about. Please check on the day of travel and time to find current offers.
NATIONAL EXPRESS covers many areas in the UK. CITYLINK is Scotland’s leading coach company

FERRY TRAVELBack to top

For a list of bed and breakfast homes near ferryports please click here

There are ferry services to many ports in the UK and Ireland. The major ones are covered by BRITTANY FERRIES, P & O, CALEDONIAN MACBRAYNE, NORTH LINK FERRIES, FASTNETLINE

FERRYONLINE provide the very latest deals comparing prices from all the leading ferry operators. Buy online with instant confirmation

HOLIDAY INSURANCEBack to top

Columbus Direct Low cost travel insurance from a leading specialist

Trip Medical Insurance offers affordable, low cost Medical Travel Insurance from companies you can depend upon

Travelersmed.com offers a wide selection of travel insurance companies so that you can compare and buy direct on-line

Bed & Breakfast in your area