Travel deals, tips, insider news and comment by 101 Holidays editors, Mark Hodson and David Wickers
Holiday details: Spend Christmas by the coast at The Gingerbread House, a former bakery above the harbour in the Cornish village of St Mawes.
This pretty south-facing cottage for four has lots of character with a cosy open fire, ancient oak beams and a sea view.
Price: £432 for a week for 4 people (was £864)
Date: 23 December 2011
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: Tropical Sky are offering 12 night stays at the Berjaya Langkawi Resort in Malaysia with a saving of £250 pp.
The 4* resort offers a tropical spa, options for yoga and jungle trekking, as well as an excellent selection of bars and restaurants.
Price: £1,139 pp, saving £250 pp. Price based on 12 nights B&B accommodation in a superior chalet and includes return flights from London Heathrow, transfers, taxes and surcharges.
Date: book by 25 August for departures in September and October 2011
Book with: Tropical Sky
Holiday details: Helpful Holidays have slashed 30% off the price of a week’s stay at Prydes Cottage in St Mawes, in the south west Cornwall.
The smart cottage sleeps 4 and is within easy walking distance of the small harbour and village centre of St Mawes. The cottage boasts beautiful views over the water and a private courtyard at the rear.
Price: £139 pp (£556 total, down from £794) based on 4 sharing a week’s self-catering stay.
Date: week’s from 17 or 24 June
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: Helpful Holidays have slashed 20% off the price of an 18th century cottage sleeping 4 in Skilgate, Somerset, for the half term week.
Located just on the southern edge of Exmoor National Park, and only a mile from Wimbleball Lake and its opportunities for sailing and fly fishing, Skilgate makes an excellent family choice and a great secluded base for a week away.
Price: £439 (was £548) for the cottage, sleeping 4, for a week’s self catering holiday.
Date: week beginning 27 May
Book with: Helpful Holidays
By Polly Crossman
April is National Pet Month in the UK and two holiday companies – Wightlink and Helpful Holidays – are encouraging dog lovers to travel with their pets.
Dogs travel free of charge on Wightlink ferry trips to the Isle of Wight and are even allowed into the passenger lounge for the duration of the journey.
With more than 500 miles of footpaths for dogs and their walkers to enjoy and many beautiful beaches welcoming dogs outside of the peak summer season, the Isle of Wight makes a fantastic family choice.
Wightlink’s new Green Getaways programme also encourages guests to visit with their dogs, staying at a range of pooch-friendly self-catering properties. At Niton Barns (pictured above right) a week’s stay for a family of 4 and their dog in a newly-converted luxury barn costs £665, including return ferry crossings from Portsmouth or Lymington.
Helpful Holidays has more than 330 properties welcoming man’s best friend on holiday in the West Country. Properties on Exmoor and Dartmoor will be perfect for those with big dogs needing long walks, with options aplenty for lengthy rambles over the moors – a week’s stay for two at The Retreat, Dartmoor, located on a 70 acre farm, welcoming dogs and also boasting a hot tub, is £435.
For smaller or older pets, Helpful Holidays suggests houses close to gentle walking trails near the coast and sandy beaches. An 18th Century Cottage (sleeps 4) at St Kew, near the north coast, costs from £368 for a week, while water loving dogs would be at home at Carsilgey (sleeps 9), a detached house overlooking the 4-mile stretch of sand at Gwithian Towans, south of Newquay – this is available for Easter week, costing £843.
Options for holidays in the UK and abroad at this time of the year abound – with or without your dog. See our other recommendations for Easter Holiday ideas and holidays in April for more inspiration.
Holiday details: Helpful Holidays are offering 20% off the price of a 7-night stay at Trerose Farm Cottage, close to Mawnan Smith on the Helford estuary, South West Cornwall.
Set on a 200 acre dairy farm just 4 miles from picturesque Falmouth, the cosy cottage sleeps 4 and features a wood burner and a farmhouse style kitchen, making an excellent choice for families looking to get away for Easter.
Price: £379 (£94.75 pp) for a 7-night self-catering stay.
Date: from 15 or 22 April 2011
Book with: Helpful Holidays
By Polly Crossman
Helpful Holidays has created a great tool for finding things to do in the South West – just in time for February half-term week. It’s handy for booking cottages on the site, but is also a valuable tool for any holidaymakers wanting to explore Devon, Cornwall and Somerset.
Created in conjunction with West Country Tourism, the interactive map suggests a wealth of things to see and do, relative to the location of your holiday home and colour coded for quick reference.
You can narrow your options by selecting attractions (pink), activities (green), events (purple) or food and drink (orange) to make the best of your stay.
With a separate map for each cottage, the tool can be used to help decide which property to plump for, as well as a great resource for planning what to do after booking your holiday
Once an attraction takes your interest, simply click on the pointer for a short description, then choose ‘more details’ to get further information and to visit the website of the relevant company or operator for full details.
If, for example, you’d booked half-term at The Shippon, Swimbridge (the yellow icon in the image below) you’d see that there is something for everyone.
You are just:
7 miles from Exmoor Zoo
10 miles from Combe Martin Wildlife & Dinosaur Park
12 miles from The Big Sheep centre
13 miles from Damien Hirsts Quay Restaurant and White Hart Bar
Less than 20 miles from ‘Snowdrop Valley’ on Exmoor
Helpful Holidays offer hundreds of holiday homes across Somerset, Devon and Cornwall.
Holiday details: spend a relaxing half-term week at a nautically-themed 17th Century former fisherman’s cottage with views over the estuary at Fowey, sleeping six for only £449 for a week, or £75 pp.
The cottage is ideally located for the half-term Rainforest Time Quest event at the Eden Project, near St Austell, allowing children the chance to learn all about rainforests, making this a perfect option for a family break.
Price: £449 for a 6 bed cottage for a week’s stay. Admission to the Eden Project is £18 per adult and £6 per child. Under 5’s go free.
Date: from 19 February 2011
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: spend Christmas week in a former milking parlour in the cobbled village of Clovelly, North Devon. Buttery Barn is a Grade II listed building, superbly converted to retain its original beams in a coastal Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. With an open plan living and dining room, vaulted bedrooms and galleried first floor landing, this is a charming festive getaway.
Price: reduced from £835 (£139 pp) to £550 (£91 pp), sleeping 6 people over Christmas week.
Date: 7 nights from 20 December.
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Find the best holidays for 2011 and more fantastic Christmas breaks.
Holiday details: Helpful Holidays are giving a free half-case of wine to kick-start your Christmas at Riverside House, Newton Ferrers. With its wonderful river views, this house, sleeping 10 people, is the ideal spot to spend Christmas. The coastal path is on your doorstep when you need to walk off all that turkey and free wine!
Price: £3,750 to rent the house for the week, just £375 pp based on 10 sharing.
Date: one week from 22 December 2010.
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Find many more December 2010 holidays.
Holiday details: for just £275, stay for a week in the spacious Jubilee Cottage in the centre of Timberscombe over the magical ‘Dunster by Candlelight’ weekend. This comfortable cottage, which sleeps six, is the ideal place to experience this little Exmoor village when it’s illuminated with candles and reverberating with pipe and drum music.
Price: Jubilee Cottage costs £275 to rent for the week.
Date: one week from 3 December, subject to availability.
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Find more December holiday ideas here.
Holiday details: an elegant Georgian/Victorian house sleeping 12, near South Brent in Devon, is available for Christmas week. Spacious, yet warm and cosy, Garfield House has all the ingredients for the perfect countryside Christmas from open fires to spacious grounds for walking off the Christmas pud.
Price: £2,201 rental for 7 nights – £183 pp based on 12 sharing.
Date: arrival on December 21
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: 7 nights – saving 25% – in Devon staying at a modern six bedroom, semi-detached family house in Charmouth. Just a few metres from the beach and cliffs of the Jurassic Coast and close to the pretty seaside town of Lyme Regis, the house sleeps up to 12 people and has a small graveled patio garden for BBQ’s and evenings enjoying the Devon sea air.
Price: from £1,623 – saving £542. The price is to rent the whole house. Parking is available on the grounds of the property.
Dates: valid for a week from July 31, 2010.
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: 7 nights – saving £168 – staying in the quaint 300-year-old detached Quince cottage in the small village of Kingston, South Devon. Just a short walk to the village pub and nearby Wonwell beach, the 3 bedroom cottage also has a large garden, perfect for a summer BBQ.
Price: from £502 – saving £168 – on a self-catering basis, sleeping 6. Parking is off the public road on the grounds of the property. (Ref L39).
Dates: week commencing June 25, 2010.
Book with: Helpful Holidays
Holiday details: 7 nights during May half-term week in the beautiful village of Morwenstow in North Cornwall, staying at Sunshine Alley. Recently refurbished, this 2-bedroom 17th-century thatched Grade II listed cottage, is close to the sea and cliffs for great walks as well as being handy for the village pub.
Price: from £545 per cottage, on a self catering basis and sleeping up to 4.
Dates: from May 28, 2010 (quote P53 when booking)
Book with: Helpful Holidays
