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Monthly Archives: April 2011

If the Royal Wedding has inspired you to visit the UK, read on…

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Posted by admin on April 29, 2011 – 2:34 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Attractions, Events

Has watching the Royal Wedding inspired you to visit the UK?  If it has, then our sites are here to help you!

Please bookmark us for future reference.  We have one of the most comprehensive networks of sites for travel and tourism in the UK that are sure to help you with planning a trip.

A good starting point for all our sites is UKseries.com – this gives you access to our hotel price comparison service at UKhotel.com, as well as links to sites that specialise in other types of accommodation, be it bed and breakfasts, self-catering or camping.  We can also help you with places to visit, where to eat, tourist information centres, car hire and much, much more… even UK special offers.

If you’re thinking of planning a trip, please let us know by posting a comment and please do have a browse of our sites to get a feel for how much they could help. You can also follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ukseries or on Twitter at @ukseries – it would be great to hear more from some of you!

Useful links:
UK hotels
UK B&Bs
UK cottages
UK campsites

The dress #royalwedding

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Posted by admin on April 29, 2011 – 11:16 am
Filed under Events

For those of you wanting to see the first full glimpse of ‘the dress’ designed by Sarah Burton, here’s a picture of Kate Middleton emerging from her vehicle at Westminster Abbey to a huge roar from the crowds of wellwishers looking on.  Enjoy the ceremony and feel free to post a comment on the big day.

Any chance of a UK honeymoon, do you think?

Useful links:
Hotels in London
B&Bs in London
Self-catering in London
Tourist attractions in London

Westminster Abbey stunning panoramic released

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Posted by trev on April 28, 2011 – 8:36 pm
Filed under Attractions, Events

The BBC have released a stunning 360′ panoramic of Westminster Abbey, where Kate and Prince William will marry tomorrow.

In high resolution detail, the panoramic is accompanied by information and commentary from Blue Badge guide Judy Pulley, with all kinds of historic and important information about this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The panoramic does take a little while to start loading, but is worth it and do remember to scroll upwards as well.

Westminster Abbey BBC panoramic.

Free entry at ZSL London Zoo if your first name is William or Kate!

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Posted by admin on April 28, 2011 – 4:35 pm
Filed under Attractions

This weekend, from 29th April to 2nd May 2011, those lucky enough to share their first name with Prince William or his blushing bride-to-be, Kate, can enjoy a free day out at the ZSL London Zoo to mark the Royal occasion. If your name is Will or Kate (or William, or Catherine, or Wills, or Cat…) then simply take your passport along to ZSL London or Whipsnade Zoo (in Bedfordshire) on the Royal Wedding weekend and enjoy a great day out for free.

Preston receives Purple Flag award for cleanliness

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Posted by trev on April 28, 2011 – 4:28 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

Preston in Lancashire has received the the Purple Flag award for safe and clean city streets, alongside Manchester, Oxford and Bristol.

The award, that you’ve likely never heard of, is awarded by the Association for Town Centre Management and is based on the Blue Flag scheme for clean and safe beaches.

In the case of the purple flag, the recipients must demonstrate that the city is clean, safe and generally a nice place to visit. Other factors taken into account is the quality of the local tourist attractions.

Preston will receive its award in June after which the purple flag will be flown in the city centre – we suspect to the slight bemusement of locals and visitors.

More Preston Links:
Visitor attractions around Preston
Hotels in Preston

5 star grooming In Glasgow

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Posted by admin on April 28, 2011 – 4:15 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Miscellaneous

According to The Good Spa Guide, what men like is classy but understated treatments that are E.A.S.Y, that’s Effective, Active, Sensuous and Youthful. In Glasgow you don’t get more classy than the luxury spa at the city’s only AA 5 star hotel Blythswood Square.

Whether you or your partner are suffering with aches and pains of spending too much time hunched over a computer, feel you’ve neglected yourself recently or simply just want to relax, the spacious spa at Blythswood Square offers a wide range of treatments and spa experiences to make you feel a whole lot better.

Whilst Blythswood Square treatments are perfect for both men and women, the spa has created two results oriented treatments for men concentrating on releasing stress, tension and targeting aches and pains.

ila Men’s Vital Energy Full Body Massage – 60 minutes – £80.00
A revitalising treatment that works by stimulating and balancing the natural energy within you through marma massage, lymphatic drainage and the application of Scottish herb poultices. This body massage combines various ancient healing techniques to harness and restore the energy in your body.

ila Men’s Vital Energy Body Scrub – 60 minutes – £80.00
This is an invigorating and revitalising energy-boosting scrub that helps clear the mind and prepare you for busy days ahead.

If you want to look as good as you now feel, then book in for some essential grooming with a natural manicure and, if you are not taking advantage of the thermal experiences, you can whisk away those unsightly hairs with some ‘gentle’ waxing.

In between treatments, take the waters as the Romans did with a dip in the 12 metre vitality pool with massage fountains and test your swimming skills against the endless pool jets. For something more relaxing, float away in the adjoining Dark Pool. Follow this with a tour of the spa’s thermal and ice experience suite to relax both the body and mind before you finish with an invigorating cold drench shower.

After you’ve treated yourself to such an E.A.S.Y day you can enjoy a delicious lunch in the Spa Café or for something even more memorable and ‘classy’, opt for an overnight spa break when you’ll be able to take advantage of the hotel’s lively cocktail bar and popular restaurant.

Blythswood Square spa days start from £125 per person and spa breaks from £260 per room for two people.

Pick up a picnic in East Yorkshire

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Posted by admin on April 28, 2011 – 3:45 pm
Filed under Accommodation, Attractions, Eating & Drinking

Visitors to Hull and East Yorkshire can combine a delicious selection of this region’s finest foods with a visit to their choice of attraction for a bargain price thanks to Visit Hull and East Yorkshire’s (VHEY) Pick up a Picnic!

Specially created hampers filled with the very best local produce –  all encased in uniquely designed Yorkshire Wolds cool bags – can now be picked up from a selection of top East Yorkshire accommodation providers and taken along to be enjoyed at some of the region’s fabulous attractions.

Visitors can make their choice from three mouth-watering menus comprising local delicacies and homemade products including home baked bread rolls, East Yorkshire Strawberries and mouth-watering fresh cream truffles!  Accommodation providers renowned for their top quality food and homemade produce have created the menus: Tickton Grange, Wolds Village and Field House Farm Cottages.

Visitors can choose from seven of East Yorkshire’s leading attractions to enjoy their picnic in including: Stewart’s Burnby Hall & Gardens, Sewerby Hall – the two-time winner of a national picnic destination award, Fort Paull, RAF Holmpton, Cruckley Animal Farm, Burton Constable Hall and Burton Agnes Hall.

Millions of picnics are enjoyed in the UK every year, with people competing for the best locations at the first sign of sunshine, and with the beautiful weather that Hull and East Yorkshire has been basking in so far this year, it looks like 2011 will be a bumper year for eating al fresco!

All of this can be booked online and is available for just £25, which includes the picnic and a family ticket to the chosen attraction.

Useful links:
Hotels in Yorkshire
B&Bs in Yorkshire
Self-catering in Yorkshire
Tourist attractions in Yorkshire

Have you been Tarnbagging in the Lake District?

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Posted by trev on April 28, 2011 – 2:46 pm
Filed under Miscellaneous

We’ve had Staycation, Flashpacking and Glampacking, but now there’s a new neologism specific to the Lake District – Tarnbagging.

At least there is if you’re reading Richard Nelsson’s latest post in the Guardian post in which he describes this new pastime which naturally needed a new buzzword name.

What is Tarnbagging? In essence this is similar to train spotting, but rather than sitting around on a cold platform all day with a flask of tea and Parker jacket, you go out into the Lake District countryside and find yourself a tarn, or two and mark these off your “official” list. The flask of tea and jacket are optional in this case, although generally recommended, but the views are generally much more enjoyable!

What is a tarn? Although not exclusively used in Cumbria, the term “tarn” generally means any small body of water within the hills which is a bit too small to call a lake. For it to be called a tarn, the body of water has to be formed within mountains and is almost exclusively created as a result of a glacier.

How many tarns in the Lake District? There’s no absolute agreement on this, but generally it’s agreed that there are at least 60 named tarns in the Lake District although in reality there could be well over 100. Not all the tarns even have a name yet, so you could extend the game to discovering new ones and enter them into Wikipedia tarn page. Should be plenty here to keep even the most enthusiastic walker happy.

Could this really take off? Considering it appeared in the Guardian and we know that Guardian readers are generally more outdoors type people, then I’d say look out for it in the next tourism promotions for the Lake District and Northumbria.

More Lake District Links:
Richard Nelsson’s tarnbagging idea
Lots of things to see in the Lake District
Hotels in the Lake District
Lake District self-catering cottages
Lake District campsites

In search of the most remote guesthouse in Britain

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Posted by trev on April 28, 2011 – 1:45 pm
Filed under Accommodation

Have you ever wanted to really get away from it all to a place where your only neighbours are seals and red dear? If so, then Skiary B&B is for you.

Skiary B&B sits alone overlooking Loch Hourn in the Knoydart Peninsula in North West Scotland, with absolutely no neighbouring houses as far as the eye can see. The 200 year old croft however, also has no electricity and seems to be missing a road, although luckily for guests, the owners have a handy boat to pick you up in.

The only visitors you’re likely to see are the red deer, one of which has been tamed enough to pick-up kitchen scraps from the cottage kitchen window, and a few grey seals wandering by and no doubt wondering why these humans don’t come in for a dip in the loch.

Originally the croft was part of a small community, but the last people moved out in the 1950s and it wasn’t until the 1980s that Skiary was renovated and eventually turned into the remotest B&B in the country.

Many might ask why you’d want to holiday here, never mind actually live there. The easiest way to answer that is with this picture from their web site:

If that isn’t a view worth sacrificing a few creature comforts for, I don’t know what is. So it isn’t quite a Premier Inn, but you find a Premier Inn with that kind of view!

In case you’re worrying about straw mattresses on the floor and porridge for breakfast worry no more. The gallery on their web site gives a good idea that even without electricity, you can still sleep well and dine well.

For more details and booking information, see the Skiary B&B web site.

More Scotland Links:
Original Guardian article on Skiary B&B
Visitor attractions around Mallaig (nearest town)
More hotels and B&Bs around Mallaig
Self-catering around the Kyle-of-Lochalsh

£10m wildlife motorway service station by M6

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Posted by trev on April 28, 2011 – 12:47 pm
Filed under Attractions, Transport

A new service station has opened up just off the M6 (J31) at Preston which is hoping to serve both drivers and wildlife in a unique experiment.

The Brockholes service station opened at the beginning of the Easter weekend and uniquely combines the usual facilities you’d find at a traditional motorway services with a new floating visitors centre and wildlife reserve.

Owned by the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, the £10 million project was originally envisioned to be another traditional wildlife reserve, but the location close to the M6 prompted an idea to extend the project to bring in visitors passing through the area from nearby Preston and the motorway.

Because the area is a flood plain, the trust needed to build the facilities in a way which would prevent buildings flooding, so they took the idea of floating buildings which are common on South Asia and Southern Iraq which also has the least impact on the wildlife of the reserve. Now the 400 tonne concrete pontoons on which the buildings are placed can raise by a maximum of 4 metres.

The placement of what is essentially a new motorway services might also have other benefits as it mirrors in many ways Tebay Services near J38 and Killington Services close to J37 (southbound only).

The wildlife reserve is still being created with reed-beds going in soon and various other enhancements, but if you’re travelling up or down the M6 and want to get away from the usual traffic noise of a motorway services, this might well be the perfect answer.

There’s more information on the Brockholes web site.

 

The video below shows how the project came together in March 2011:
The service station is now fully completed.

 

More Preston Links:
Visitor attractions near Preston
Hotels in Preston
Ribble self-catering cottages