Travel Spain

Travelling to Girona

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 20:32:22 +0000

Flights to the Costa Brava are both plentiful and cheap both during the peak season and during the low season. With low cost car hire Girona airport, not only is it cheap to get to this part of Spain, but exploring the area is equally reasonably priced.
The Girona weather tends to range from hot summers in the peak tourist season to mild Mediterranean winters. During spring and autumn, the weather is ideal for visiting and travelling around this beautiful area of Spain. At this time you will be avoiding the summer crowds and yet it’s still warm enough to have a great time outdoors. Girona is located a little inland from the coast and so is, is slightly warmer in summer and cooler in winter than the coastal regions.
Girona is an interesting medieval town situated on the banks of the Onyar river. There are plenty of museums, churches and other old buildings, full of character. The 11th century Gothic cathedral is always worth a visit, and when you walk around this quaint town you will realise that it has been relatively untouched. Girona has many activities scheduled all year round including fiestas and exhibitions. If you’re looking for culture, Girona is a good choice for you as there are six museums here. If however just doing nothing is your idea of a perfect holiday then drive out to the coast and just lie back and soak in the sun.

Tour of Spain

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 16:44:28 +0000

The Tour of Spain cycle race will be returning to the Basque region in 2011 for the first time for over 30 years.

When the race last visited the region in 1978 the event was disrupted as Basque separatists blocked the route with barricades and other obstructions.

The 2011 route will feature two hilly treks through the Basque Country, with a stage finish in the final week looping through Bilbao.

Travel to Girona

admin — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 16:54:03 +0000

Many visitors to the Costa Brava will pass through Girona Airport en route. The city of Girona (spelled as Gerona in Spain) is situated approximately 100 km north of Barcelona, and around 7km from Girona Airport. There is a regular bus service from the airport to the city centre.

Girona Airport is the main gateway to the Costa Brava, so in summer months it is generally very busy. For the rest of the year the airport is quieter, although it is an all year destination with low cost flight operator Ryanair. In the winter months the airport is mainly used by visitors to Barcelona. There are coaches to Barcelona which connect with all the Ryanair flights.

Girona has a population of just under 100,000, and is a relatively quiet, typical Catalan city. Built on the banks of the Onyar river, Girona has a spectacular old town with many medieval buildings. Overlooking the old town area is the beautiful 11th century Gothic cathedral. The city retains its Spanish charm and has been less noticeably affected by tourismthan many of the coastal towns on the Costa Brava.

Girona’s mediterranean climate means that even in the winter months, daytime temperatures are generally very mild. Early spring and autumn are good months to visit and enjoy the warm sunshine. Being located around 30km inland, the temperatures are slightly cooler than on the coast in winter, and a little warmer in summer.

The old town area has a market on Tuesdays and Saturdays (9.00-13.00) selling local foods, crafts and clothing. Many of the stalls are set up on the bridge which divides the new town from the old town area. From the bridge there are spectacular views over the river.

The new town area of Girona has less charm than the old town area, and is much like any Spanish town or city. There are plenty of modern shops, and a selection of bars and restaurants. The Plaza Mayor is a traditional Spanish plaza with some good traditional bars and restaurants, and is quite lively at weekends in the evenings.

Driving is relatively straight forward in the Costa Brava, there are plenty of Girona Airport car hire companies operating direct from the airport.
There is a Novotel located just 1km from Girona Airport, if your flight arrives late in the evening, and Girona itself has a plenty of hotels.

For anyone visiting Barcelona, a detour to the historic town of Girona is always worthwhile.

More visitors to Spain

admin — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:16:27 +0000

Spain is the third most popular holiday destination in the world and it looks like staying that way. The number tourists visiting Spain rose in October for the sixth consecutive month. While the number of visitors from Britain and Spain dropped, those from other countries such as Holland and Scandinavia increased significantly.

October showed a 4.2% increase over the same time last year, bringing total arrivals in the first 10 months of 2010 to 47.2 million, up 1.2%

Tourist arrivals from Scandinavian countries soared by 28% in October, from Italy by 23% and The Netherlands 33%, according to official tourism ministry figures

Barcelona Car Hire

admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:47:13 +0000

Barcelona Car Hire

There are numerous locations around Barcelona where cars can be hired including Barcelona Airport and the main railway station.

Barcelona Airport flight code is BCN

The airport is located SouthWest of the city, on the coast, approximately 13km (8 miles) from downtown Barcelona (Barcelona City centre) The best route is to use the Autovia C-246 and takes about 20 minutes. The train takes 17 minutes from the airport railway station to Sants railway station in Barcelona. You can access train information at RENFE.

Map showing location of Terminals and Parking BCN

Car hire Companies

The following car hire firms have desks at terminal 2: Hertz, Avis, Europcar and National Atesa. It is usually cheaper to book in advance on the web, than to try to negotiate a price at the terminal.

Madrid Car Hire

admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:44:27 +0000

Madrid Car Hire

There are numerous locations around madrid where cars can be hired including Madrid Airport.

Madrid Airport flight code is MAD

Madrid Barajas Airport is the main airport for Madrid. The airport is located approximately 12km (8 miles) North East of the City. You can access train information at RENFE.

Car hire Companies

The following car hire firms have desks at Terminal 2: Hertz, Avis, Europcar and National Atesa. It is usually cheaper to book in advance on the web, than to try to negotiate a price at the terminal.

Spain travel bouyant for 2011

admin — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 19:30:50 +0000

Despite the eurozone debt problems, 2011 looks like being a good year for the tourist businesses of Europe according to one industry expert.
Holiday destinations in the eurozone will perform well over the coming year, a travel expert has predicted.

Ian Bradley, a spokesman for the Association of Independent Tour Operators (Aito), said that countries such as Spain, Portugal, France and Italy will benefit the recent gains that the pound has hasd against the Euro

It could also be that the recent increase in air passenger duty may make people think twice about travelling to long-haul destinations.

Property in Spain

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:41:31 +0000

Reasons to Buy Property in Spain

Author: Scott James

If you are after unlimited sunshine, unlimited beautiful beaches, truly wonderful food, a wide choice of entertainment, and a wide choice of homes at affordable prices, then you will find Spain hard to resist. Although the vast majority of holiday makers (and residents) come to Spain to laze about on the beach, there’s much more to the country than the Costas and its islands .

Spain offers infinite variety with something for everyone, including terrific beaches for sun seekers and unbelievable scenery with tremendous views and wonderful mountain walks. For those who wish a more urban based life there are some of the most sophisticated cities to be found anywhere. For food lovers, you will find some of the best food to be found anywhere and wine to match.

To buy a home in Spain is not just to buy a dwelling but your chance to buy a lifestyle, and as a place for your holiday, second or retirement home, Spain is unrivalled, particularly if you’re seeking year-round sunshine.

So, why buy in Spain?

You can come up with a number of reasons why you would want to buy a home in Spain , although it’s important not to fool yourself or try and manufacture something that isn’t there with regards to what you can expect. Be consistent and realistic about what you can expect, ask fundamental question about what it is exactly that you want from a home in Spain? For example, is it a second home, holiday home or retirement dwelling that you wish to buy?

The south eastern Mediterranean coast of Spain has the highest percentage of retired persons in the world, when both Spaniards and foreigners are included. If you’re seeking a second home, what exactly will you want to use it for and how long will you wish to stay there? Do you plan to rent all or a portion of it to offset mortgage and operations costs? If that is the case, how essential to the overall plan is the property rental income? Is the decision to buy purely based on investment criteria? Do you plan to work or start a business in Spain? These are questions that need answers no matter where you purchase , but especially in Spain because of the variety of choices Spain has to offer.

Quite often potential buyers have a number of reasons for purchasing property in Spain. For example, many people buy a holiday home with an idea of living there permanently or semi-permanently after they retire. In a lot of cases the motivation is to start by purchasing a holiday home with the intention of retiring there later on. If this is the case, there are many more factors to take into account than if you were simply buying a holiday home that you will occupy for just a few weeks a year. If, on the other hand, you plan to work or start a business in Spain, you will be faced with a whole different set of criteria. You may be thinking of buying a home in Spain and commuting to another European country to work. More and more people are now doing that as they find that Spain has much more to offer nowadays.

Whatever the reasons for buying a home within Spain whether purely for residential or investment purposes, life in modern day Spain makes it such a difficult option to refuse.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/travel-articles/reasons-to-buy-property-in-spain-217268.html

About the Author

Scott James writes about a great many Internet Travel based issues and more on the above can be found at Hoteles Galicia For a more complete overlook at Tourism in Galicia try http://www.turgalicia.es

Villas in Spain

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:39:26 +0000

Visit HolidayLettings.co.uk for a great selection of villas in Spain.

Once you have purchased a holiday villa or apartment in Spain (I suppose this is true in other countries also) and you have hardly got any bookings, despite what that wonderfully charming salesman & your real estate agent told you. What should you do next? I get asked this all the time and the reply is invariably the same, the first thing to check is the rates you are asking, mostly they are way too pricey. I see citizens trying to get the same for a 1 bedroom apartment as you would pay for a 3 bedroom villa & then wonder why they have no bookings. So you must be realistic, do your home work and find out what they actually go for throughout the year. This is very, very important as virtually anyone can get bookings during the main holiday season but to get bookings all year through it would be all extra profit. In the winter if the pool is not heated owners and agents should ignore the pool as well, only the very hardy would use it in January.

The next thing to do is to make sure you have good photos & by that I mean ones that help sell the dream, after all that is what a vacation is. I have seen over the years that if the main photo is an attractive one of the villa or pool with a blue sky background, it will get masses more visitors than a similar one with a cloudy or grey sky backdrop. Even worse is to use a photo of your sitting space as the main photo, you may be very proud of it, but it will not attract the punters!

Thirdly, take your time to write a good detailed description, include everything that vacation makers would want to see, do not just assume they already know. The description of your holiday rental should contain more details such as how far away being swimming pool, bars, fine restaurants, beaches, nightlife, aqua parks, golf clubs, airport etc. At the very least certain basic information on all these attractions should be shown as well. Also remember most visitors undoubtedly have not a clue about the locale your rental is in, you need to tell them, do not rely on phrases such as “phone for more details”, most people will not and why should they as the next advertisement gives them all and sundry that they could possibly need to know.

Finally and you would think this was very obvious, make sure you include a phone number or numbers that they can actually reach you on, advertisera that are out most of the week must include their mobile or even work number. I have found customers generally will not phone back or leave a message, they only go on to try their next selection. In the same context, check your emails regularly, once a week is not good enough, for best results I have found replying to emails immediately & phoning them (if they included their number) worked exremely well.

For more advertising help and useful information please visit Advertise Holiday Rentals

Golf in Spain

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 20:37:25 +0000

Spain is renowned from some great golf courses.

If you are considering of playing a round for the very first time of Golf in Spain there are a couple things that you should know about to aid you in enjoying the experience. Below I will give you a few handy tips, the very obvious and the not quite so obvious to ensure your golf holiday is not spoiled. Many UK golfers book a package with very few problems, but increasingly others book their own Spanish Hotels, flights and golf tee times themselves, this is not quite as straight forward as it would at first appear.

Firstly check out the general availability of the golf tee times by telephone directly with the club, as there may be a members or local competition on there the day of your choice. It should be noted that some Spanish golf clubs will only allow you book them one month in advance, do not worry though, this need not be a big problem. I can speak from my own personal experience here as I have resided in the Costa Blanca for six years and have lost count of the number of messed up tee times that I have experienced. So rule number one is to book or confirm the tee times by fax. If the golf course does not reply you should assume it is not booked, if it does, retain the fax to take with you on holiday to show the caddy master on your arrival. Do not forget to confirm if you require golf buggies or not, if you are not used to the extreme heat of the summer, I would certainly recommend one.

You should also consider the tee times that you ask for very carefully, playing your round at nine in the morning might appear very good, but are you and your party really going to get up that early after the previous evenings drinking session? Now having said that, it is nice playing before the sun gets too hot, remember the noon sun in Spain especially in July and August is extremely powerful. Considering this take lots of drinks with you so you do not get to dehydrated. I always stuff a few of bottles of “aqua” and one of those freezer blocks in the bottom my bag in the summer.

Take a good sun cream and use it regularly is also most important, it has almost certainly been a very long time since your pale legs and arms have seen the sun and they will burn very, very quickly. Taking and actually wearing head gear of some type and keeping the nape of your neck covered is also most important in Spain, at the very least it will help prevent you getting a painful headache.

Finally, if you have not played a round in Spain previously, you should play within yourself. Do not reach for the driver out on every tee, be more conservative and aim only where you are able to see. This might sound very obvious but I have witnessed so many people strike a huge shot into a hidden hazard that they did not realise was there. The greens will usually be much quicker than you are used to at home, but be positive it always pays off, so go for it and enjoy a good holiday and game.

For more golf advice about Spanish courses, information and help please visit Golf Spain