dublin to spain for new year ...

looking to go to spain for new year ...

the best prices are all to barcelona, with the options:

mon 27th
dep 06:40 for 107 eur or dep 17:50 for 127 eur
tue 28th
dep 06:40 for 127 eur
wed 29th
dep 06:40 for 149 eur or dep 10:05 for 170 eur
thu 30th
dep 06:40 for 107 eur or dep 17:50 for 127 eur


the options for flights back to dublin on mon 3rd jan are:

dep barcelona 08:10 for 92 eur or
dep alicante 20:35 for 76 eur

Gibraltar to Morocco ...

Looking to travel from Gibraltar to Morocco on Fridday 15th October ... there is a departure at 19:00, arriving into Tanger Med at 18:00 for 42 EUR per foot passenger with FRS ... the new port of Tanger Med is about 40km from the city and there is apparently a free bus service as part of the ferry ticket ...

Alternatively, there are ferries from Algeciras to Tanger Med departing at 07:30, 11:00, 15:00 and 18:00 (all arriving one hour before departure!) for 37 EUR per foot passenger ...

london to morocco ...

departing london thu 14th october ...
morning flight: dep STN 07:50 arr FEZ 10:10 for 30 gbp
evening flight: dep LGW 18:50 arr AGA 22:00 for 90 gbp

departing london fri 15th october ...
morning flight: dep LTN 06:00 arr RAK 08:35 for 73 gbp ... or ... dep LGW 09:55 arr GIB 13:45 for 48 gbp
afternoon flight: dep LGW 16:10 arr RAK 18:50 for 125 gbp

departing london sat 16th october ...
no morning flights listed ... but could dep LGW 07:15 arr GIB 11:05 for 58 gbp
afternoon flight: dep STN 15:50 arr AGA 18:40 for 45 gbp


departing morrocco sun 31st october ...
dep FEZ 19:35 arr STN 22:55 for 67 gbp
dep GIB 19:15 arr LTN 21:00 for 124 gbp
dep RAK 17:35 arr LTN 21:15 for 176 gbp ... or ... dep RAK 15:30 arr LGW 19:05 for 177 gbp
dep CMN 12:20 arr LHR 15:50 for 182 gbp
dep AGA 12:00 arr LGW 15:35 for 189 gbp

car hire in swansea ...

looking at hiring a small care in swansea from 17-19th july ...

the cheapest appears to be enterprise with 42 gbp ...

next is hertz with 60 gbp ...

then they start getting a bit silly ... alamo want 74 gbp ... europcar charge 82 gbp ... avis demand 108 gbp and sixt reckon on a ridiculous 131 gbp ...

edinburgh for the august bank holiday

the cheapest accommodation in edinburgh for this august's bank holiday weekend appears to be at edinburgh university with single ensuite rooms available from 57.5 gbp and single rooms with shared bathrooms at 43 gbp per night ... however over at laterooms they have single rooms with shared facilities available from 38 gbp per night ...

in order to get there trains from london to edinburgh would cost about 85 gbp return [37 outbound on saturday morning / 48 inbound monday evening] ... booking through eastcoast mainline would save 5 gbp outbound, and could get first class on the return for just 5 gbp extra ...

travelling from london to glasgow would be a bit cheaper at 46 gbp return [27 outbound / 19 inbound] ...

an outbound train on friday afternoon to glasgow would could 55 gbp single ...

london to edinburgh flights cost over 100 gbp return at sensible times ...

london - aland islands ...

looking at visiting the Aland Islands for a weekend at the end of August ...

best option for decent priced flights seems to be with ryanair STaNsted to TaMPere, departing London on the Friday at 18:00 arriving into Finland at 22:40 - and then spending the night in Tampere.

then on the Saturday, getting one of the regular trains to Turku ... and then in the evening, getting the ferry departing at 20:15 and arriving into Långnäs at 00:40 - and then spending the night in the Aland Islands.

after the Sunday morning on the islands, getting a different ferry departing at 14:25 and arriving back into Turku at 19:55 - and spending the night in Turku.

finally, on Monday getting one of the regular trains to Tampere, and getting the flight departing at 23:05 and arriving back into London at 23:55 - with the last Stansted Express train departing at 01:30

the flight cost is approximately 118 gbp, with the ferries, a very reasonable 10 eur each way !

dublin to south africa ...

with the Lions tour in South Africa in June and July ... i was looking for flights from Dublin to South Africa ...

trailfinders assert that their best price to DURban is eur 650 with Etihad, and eur 519 to JohaNnesBurg with Swiss - but since you can't book online, i have no idea of their availability ...

Etihad's own website doesn't allow bookings to DUR [presumably trailfinders use another airline for the final leg] - but their flights to JNB don't look cheap - mostly around eur 715.

Emirates claims to have flights from DUB to JNB for eur 608 [using EI flights to LGW], but they aren't bookable online ...

AirFrance has a good selection of dates from DUB to JNB for eur 570 - such as o/bound 17th june, and i/bound 1st july.

Swiss has flights from DUB to JNB for eur 511 with good availability on the outbound legs, but the only return dates are 12th and 13th july ...

netflights is better at searching by fare - selecting their Latest Offers menu, and then clicking on any of the flight options, you can access their full list of fares, and then play around with dates to look for availability at the lowest rate. they only offer fares from the UK.

they have flights on Etihad from MANchester to JNB for an amazing gbp 254 - the o/bound leg is reaonably flexible, but the i/bound has little availability - the latest return date is 23rd june. with a 9.30am departure time, and an arrival back into MAN at 7.30am - the first flights of the day arrive into MAN at 7.30am from DUB, with a lunchtime return flight ... using a departure date of 17th june - the price is approx eur 20 with FR or eur 52 with EI ! and to go over the previous night before the o/bound flight would be a similar price.

netflights also have Etihad flights from LHR to JNB for a similarly amazing 262 gbp - again the o/bound leg has reasonable availability, but the latest i/bound date is 23rd june. the LHR departure is at 9.10am, arriving back into LHR at 7.20am - the first arrival into LHR from DUB is at 8.05am - too tight for an intercontinental flight. using a departure from DUB on 16th june - the last flight into LHR, and an early morning flight back on 24th june [overnight from JNB], the price would be about eur 70.

the usually reliable websites expedia, ebookers, opodo & travelocity aren't so good for very flexible travel ... but they have the same Etihad deal [travelocity also has a departure on 24th] ... but when DUBlin is selected as the departure point - the prices double, and AF becomes the cheapest option ...

a weekend in Sighisoara ...

am looking to go to Sighisoara in Romania from London for the 2nd May bank holiday weekend ...


one option is to fly to Bucharest and drive [the 300km] to Sighisoara ... the best flight option is an 08:00 departure on Sat 23rd from LUTon with WizzAir for 91 gbp, with a return departure to LHR at 17:05 on Mon 25th with BA for 132 gbp ...

a closer option is Cluj - just 150km from Sighisoara ... but there are no direct flights that weekend ... so the best option would be an LH departure from LHR at 06:05 via MUC, arriving in CLJ at midday for 164 gbp ... with a return departure at 18:00 again via MUC, arriving into LHR at 22:20 for 164 gbp ...

there is a direct departure on friday at 08:10 from LUTon with WizzAir for 136 gbp ...

skiing in dolomites in january ...

i'm looking for a week's skiing in dolomites for a week from Saturday 17th January ...

Val Gardena seems like a good location - not too far from the airports, not too expensive a resort, in the heart of the Dolomites and with access to the Sella Ronda ...

to get there from London the best option seems to be the Ryanair flight to Bergamo (BGY) dep 15:50 and arr 18:45 for 39 gbp including the 12 gbp baggage charge ! the best flight back is from Brescia (VBS) dep 21:10 and arr 22:20 for 34 eur including the 15 eur baggage charge. there is a connecting bus service with return tickets for 29 eur.

there seems to be a good choice of bed and breakfast accommodation with prices from 200 euro for the 8 nights. so the total flights and accommodation from 250 gbp - a lot cheaper than package holidays, and an extra day of skiing !

a ski pass for the 7 days in Val Gardena is 191 eur, and for the full Dol0miti Superski area is only slightly more at 205 eur. "premium" ski and boot hire is available from Snow Rental for 138 eur.

so the total for the 7 days skiing would be 530 gbp plus drinking and eating money !

skiing in dolomites in january - from dublin ...

i'm looking for a week's skiing in dolomites for a week from Saturday 17th January ...

Val Gardena seems like a good location - not too far from the airports, not too expensive a resort, in the heart of the Dolomites and with access to the Sella Ronda ...

the best flights seem to be with Ryanair to Bergamo (BGY) - outbound on saturday dep 07:40 and arr 11:20 with the inbound on sunday dep 11:00 and arr 12:45 for 93 eur including the 30 eur baggage charge. there is a connecting bus service with return tickets for 29 eur.

there seems to be a good choice of bed and breakfast accommodation with prices from 200 euro for the 8 nights. so the total for flights and accommodation from 322 eur - a lot cheaper than a package holiday, and you get an extra day's skiing !

a ski pass for the 7 days in Val Gardena is 191 eur, and for the full Dol0miti Superski area is only slightly more at 205 eur. premium ski and boot hire is available from Snow Rental for 138 eur.

so the total for the 7 days skiing would be 665 eur plus drinking and eating money !