Category — United Kingdom

The continent of Europe is one big playground when it comes to festivals and events. No matter the time of year, there is certain to be something fun and entertaining on, whether it’s a music festival or a festival steeped in tradition.

Carnevale

Based in Venice, Italy – Carnevale is a wondrous and decadent renaissance festival. With amazing costumes and set against Italy’s picturesque water city of Venice, Carnevale is not to be missed!

St. Patrick’s Day

Get your green on for St. Patty’s day in Dublin, Ireland. With a massive parade, a treasure hunt that haves people ferreting all around the city and the ‘Skyfest’ (an enormous fireworks display) – St. Patrick’s Day is a week of ‘craic’ where it will be hard not to have a great time.

Edinburgh Fringe Festival

What to say about the Fringe festival? Well it has got to be the largest arts related festival on earth, with thousands of performances every year in 300 venues all around Edinburgh. It runs for three weeks in August, and quality of the comedy and drama and everything in between seems to get better every year.

Notting Hill Carnival

This London based festival will often get over half a million spectators, with crazy floats and costumed dancers – it’s a lot of fun. The festival is on the last weekend of August.

Oktoberfest

It may well be steeped in history, but we all know Oktoberfest is all about one thing, the beer! With huge tents full of the delicious and frothy stuff – you’ll mingle with a lot of Australians, Italians and Germans too of course. It’s one of those festivals you really need to go to at least once, just to experience it. Occurs every year – with the majority of the event actually occurring in September and running into earlier October.

So there you have it, five fantastic festivals you should surely check out next time you’re traveling or backpacking through Europe.

This was a guest post from Tom at http://www.activebackpacker.com – he loves writing about places, tips and tricks all about backpacking.

There are many places to visit once you are in the UK, however one of the most famous tourist attractions in the UK is the Cotswolds also known as the area of outstanding natural beauty. The Cotswolds is spread across five English counties and is famous because of the old architecture that this place has.

There are buildings that are constructed in the eighteenth century and are made out of rocks. The churches here are also one of the most visited sites by a lot of tourists. Now like every other tourist attraction even in Cotswolds there are no hassles to find accommodation while you are there.

There are plenty of hotels that offer you services and also help you with the sightseeing and things to do while you are planning your stay at the Cotswolds. However if you find that the prices of the hotels are a little too much to handle then you can also choose to have a cottage owned by one of the locals on rent.

Renting out a cottage for your stay is a very good idea if you are looking to go to the Cotswolds with your family and friends. Normally the cottages are big enough and are designed to hold around twenty people in them. This way you can also enjoy the natural beauty of the Cotswolds and not shell out extra money on your accommodation.

If you are planning to go to the Cotswolds for a romantic vacation then it will be a great idea not to rent a hotel room or a complete cottage. You can opt to rent out only one room out of a cottage where a homeowner already stays. Do not feel that it will embarrass you as the locals are very used to doing so. This not only gives them some extra cash for the house but also has the tourists to visit the Cotswolds more number of times.

Inspired by the Royal Wedding? If Prince William and Kate have got your dreaming of historic places like Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Westminster Abbey, don’t give up, a trip to England might seem expensive, but you can save on many of your travel expenses and bring that trip to England within your reach.

First of all, consider visiting during one of the cheaper times of year. Of course summer has the best weather for visiting England, and lighter evenings too, but it also has higher prices and more crowds.

But even with a summer family holiday in England you can still make some savings by going during the time when your local school is on summer break but the UK schools are still in session. Flight and accommodation prices are highest when the UK children are on their summer holidays, from late July to the beginning of September.

So even during your own school’s summer break, you could still get early summer deals on package holidays, including hotel breaks and caravan rentals at holiday parks in Devon, Cornwall and other seaside areas, as well as the London area and other popular cities.

Some online shopping around will help you compare flight dates to find the cheaper deals. Travel agents are also a good source of discount package holidays and bargains. And if you are planning any train travel, you should try to book tickets as early as you can, as this can save you a lot of money.

Bed and breakfasts in England tend to be cheaper than hotels, but in some cases you might have to share a bathroom. Youth hostels are even cheaper, and although they are aimed at single youngsters staying in dormitories, some of them also have private rooms and family size rooms. Camping is another option, which varies in price. For all the facilities and entertainment, a holiday park is a good option, offering tent and caravan camping as well as static caravan rentals.

So don’t let the price put you off your vacation in England! See the famous sights of central London: Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, Big Ben and the London Eye. The Cotswolds, the Westcountry and the Lake District are also beautiful areas to visit in England.