Take Advantage of Those Cheap Flights

For quite a few years now a number of the airlines labelled “low-cost airlines in Europe have been taking part in a price war attempting to offer the lowest air fares to a huge number of European cities. It’s quite normal to hear that one of the leading low cost carriers for example Ryanair or Easyjet is offering return flights from Britain to Spain, France or Germany for £1 (approx $1.45). There are taxes and airport landing fees to be added to that, but it’s still an absolute bargain if you’re looking to visit a variety of cities throughout Europe. The downside of these cheap flights is that they frequently fly to the smaller municipal airports instead of the more well known majorinternational ones. This sometimes means that a flight that is advertised to a big European city actually lands up to 50 miles away. In fact there are a number of plus-points with this situation, the municipal airports will always provide a much slicker turnround on check-in and luggage since they are servicing a lot less flights. The disadvantage is that public transport serving these airfields can be patchy at best and an extremely popular alternative is hiring a car from the airport. Here are a variety of the great cities that we have visited whilst making use of cheap floghts from the low cost airlines. We’re sure that you’d enjoy visiting any of these great, you can rest assured that they have a lot to offer to visitors to their country.

Glasgow, Scotland

Glasgow, once known for its hard, unforgiving living conditions has seen a Renaissance and is now a fascinating, architecturally divine city supporting a vast number of visitors throughout the year. The trendy West side of the city is the home of the fourth oldest university in the United Kingdom. Perched on a hill amidst the Medieval region of the city, its students bring a cosmopolitan, fun loving atmosphere to the city. The budget carriers utilise Prestwick Airport which is approximately 35 miles (51 km) to the north east of the centre of Glasgow and there is an excellent road between the airport and the city centre. It’s a popular area for sightseeing, so it is advisable to hire a car at Glasgow Airport before setting out on your trip. An uncrowded 30 minute drive from Prestwick along the M77 motorway takes you to the centre of the city. Glasgow is a perfect starting point for a journey to the Trossachs National Park. Just 13 mile (20 km) drive out of the city and you might discover sensational countryside seated upon a pony, whilst a 30 mile (50 km) drive east along another excellent motorway will find you in Edinburgh together with its ever popular festivals, Princes Street shopping, the historic Castle and Holyrood Palace.

Florence, Italy

Without doubt one of Europe’s most impressively beautiful cities, Florence is served by the airport at Pisa, which is 50 miles (84 km) west of the city. Rent a car at Pisa airport and you will be perfectly positioned to take in the leaning tower at Pisa, the wonders of historic Florence and some of some of the most picturesque countryside in the whole of Europe, that of the disturbingly beautiful Tuscany. Thus it is hardly surprising that Florence is high in the popularity stakes when looking at European cities. Once you arrive at the city of Florence you will find that a large proportion of the city centre is pedestrianized protecting the many ancient statues and architectural treasures from the pollution and vibrations caused by heavy traffic. The complete lack of traffic overwhelms you with a feeling of peace and quiet as you meander from one fragment of history to the next. You don’t have to stray too far before experiencing the evil, ear splitting roar from Florence’s legion of scooter riders. Apart from the Ponte Vecchio the remainder of the bridges leading to centre of the city are noisy, polluted places, thus giving us a further incentive to stay within the ancient alleyways and tranquil inner sanctums of Florence’s wonderful piazzas.

Tours, France

Tours, the centre of the famed Loire Valley chateaux but without a single chateau to its name! The perfect centre for discovering the Loire Valley renowned for its amazing selection of palatial residences, the city has quite a number of its own charms. Although the small airport is only a few miles from town, you really need to hire a car at Tours airport in order to explore a selection of the most picturesque towns and villages to be found anywhere in France. Along the banks of the River Loire between Chalonnes and Sully-sur-Loire, a host of cultural treasures are presented for the tourist to feast their eyes on. A UNESCO site, the Loire Valley offers beautiful countryside, heaps of flamboyant castles plus a good scattering of historic villages. During the middle ages the Loire Valley was known as the “Retreat of Kings and was a big favourite of French royalty. Built originally as working fortified castles, the buildings were converted into the palatial chaeaux that you will find today. Tourists from all over the world are drawn to the historic towns that are situated along the banks of the Loire. Towns such as Blois, Chinon and Tours have lots to see and do whilst the most popular of all the chateaux is maybe that on the estate of Chambord. Throughout the area you will find small, family owned vineyards selling a variety of great wines at very low prices. Keep your eyes skinned for the word “degustation”, which means sampling I guess, and provided that ‘Le Patron’ is not enjoying a long leisurely lunch you will be offered a warm welcome and he will be more than willing to lead you through a tasting of all his wines. Of course, it is vital that you take a tee-totaller as your chauffer, some of these tasting sessions can become extremely alcoholic!.