Paris was very cold last week. The daytime temperature was -8C and the windchill made it a bone chilling -15c and that was during the day!

I’ve just come back from a short break in Paris with 36 travel and tourism students from Leeds City College. It was my job along with 2 other college tutors to make sure that the students had a good time, saw as many tourist sites as possible and got there and back safetly!

It was a 5am start from Leeds by coach for our drive to Dover followed by a short hop to Calais and a chance to relax on the ferry before continuing the journey to Paris. We were staying at the Explorers Hotel near to Disneyland Paris, a good 3 star hotel about 10 minutes by shuttle bus to Disneyland Paris itself. The Explorers hotel is perfect for groups and for families as rooms are spacious and sleep at least 4 people.

Disneyland Paris was very cold the next day but I managed to go on Pirates of the Caribbean, the Haunted Mansion and the terrifying Tower of Terror. After that my brain was numb with cold so we decided to have lunch at Planet Hollywood to thaw out. That night we headed back to the Disney Village for an evening meal at the Rainforest Cafe. Mojito cocktails were 9 Euros each and a burger and fries 18 Euros so its not a cheap option but the surroundings were good and we were out of the cold!

The next day all 39 of us set off for the centre of Paris. The journey should normally take about 45 minutes but we hit the notorious Paris traffic so it took a while longer. First stop was the Eiffel Tower. We couldn’t go to the top because it was closed due to the weather but we managed to get to the 2nd floor and the views were just as spectacular. Next up was the Louvre. This, of course, is where you can see the Mona Lisa. It’s a huge shopping mall underneath the glass pyramid.

After the Louvre we took the students to the Bateux-Mouches where we spent the next hour and a half looking at many tourist sites like Notre Dame. I can really recommend the boat trip if you are in Paris. Its a relaxing way of seeing quite a lot.

After the boat trip our coach driver took us on a tour of Paris. Driving on the roundabout at the Arc de Triomphe was an experience as our coach driver just seemed to go for it!. Afterwards, he said there is a method to safely getting around this iconic Paris structure but it just looked like a complete shambles to me!

The students were fascinated to see the tunnel where Princess Diana was killed and the hotel where Michael Jackson dangled his baby over the balcony as well as various other Paris landmarks before we headed back to the Explorers Hotel.

DavidB France Leeds city college Paris resi 2012, Paris city break

Our roving Travel TV Presenter, Becky Hayes, has just returned from another girls only short break to Barcelona. You might remember that Becky was recently impressing the locals in Prague. This time Becky and her girl friends hit Barcelona and here is her report of some of the best places to visit whilst in Barcelona.

Barcelona!
If you are looking for a cheap break or a weekend away, then Barcelona is the perfect option.  Just 2 hours away by plane and with extremely cheap deals to be had, you’d be mad not to book up.
It’s a mix of culture, history, arts, fantastic shopping, amazing nightlife and of course the beach.
I’ve just got back from a long weekend there with the girls but we honestly wanted to stay on longer.  We felt there was still so much we hadn’t seen or done.

 
We stayed in the TRYP Apolo Barcelonaright in the centre of the city and 15 minutes in a taxi from the airport. It’s a 5 minute walk to Las Ramblas and a 5 minute taxi ride to the Barri Gotic Quater so it’s very easy to get to everything. The hotel in itself was fantastic; we even got upgraded from a triple room to a top floor suite with 2 bedrooms! Although with 3 girls, 2 bathrooms may have come in handier! The staff were friendly and so helpful. Look out for Miguel (very white teeth and a dark set tan!) who can recommend restaurants, bars and tourist attractions.
A must is Las Ramblas. It’s a long main street heading down to the marina with so much to see. It has restaurants galore, animals, street entertainers and stalls selling nik- naks. Do keep your bags close though; it’s notorious for pick pockets. Also the restaurants here can be fairly expensive so it’s worth venturing off down one of the many side streets and looking for a restaurant there.

 
Being with the girls, we wanted to get dressed up in the evening, enjoy a nice dinner then head out and experience the Barcelona nightlife. It did not disappoint! The food, especially tapas is fantastic and there are so many bars and clubs to choose from. My favourites are below:
Little Italy– This is in the Barri Gotic Quater and is set in the most gorgeous building. It’s a mixture of exposed beams and modern architecture. The food is delicious and very reasonably priced. Make sure you try a mango mojito. They also have a live jazz band on midweek and there are plenty of bars nearby to enjoy a cocktail in after.

 
Shoko Beach Club – We went here out of season but it was still amazing! The staff were great and really looked after us putting us in VIP with a complimentary glass of champagne. Thanks to Juan for that! The DJ played a good mix of music and they had drinks deals on which all in all made it very reasonable. In the summer, it opens out onto the beach.
The Sutton Club– If you are looking for an exclusive, Ibiza- esq club then this is the place. Inside, the club is dominated by Moet and Grey Goose seating areas that curve around the dancefloor. When we went the theme was snow so there were beautiful girls in skimpy ski wear on stage, silver sprayed dancers and entertainers walking around, fake snow all over the floor and falling from the ceiling and pine trees! The club is open till 6am and is full of the in-crowd. Thanks to Kevin for sorting us out on the Guestlist

 
The W Hotel Cocktail Bar – If you’re looking for a cocktail with a view then head to the 65^th floor of this plush hotel. The barmen are good looking and friendly and at 12 euros a cocktail, you’d hope so! From here you can see most of Barcelona and the coastline. The watermelon martinis are to die for!
For 3 nights in Barcelona Thursday-Sunday we paid £166 each. That included flights and a central hotel, great value! We went out of season and it was cold but there is still so much to see and do.

DavidB Spain - Mainland Becky Hayes, city break barcelona, Tryp Apolo Barcelona

Free, Handy Travel App’s

Our intrepid traveller and Travel TV presenter, Becky Hayes, has been looking at the best travel apps for smartphones so if you are  heading abroad on holiday or business don’t leave without downloading these handy, free apps first.

 Trip Advisor

Download this to find the best restaurants and attractions when abroad and all rated by customers like ourselves.

XE Currency

Convert every world currency on the go with this. It features live currency rates and has a calculator so you can calculate prices.

City Maps and Walks

This app offers self guided walking tours for over 470 cities worldwide. It uses your exact location to direct you to see the highlights and attractions in each city. Many of the tours come with audio narration. Plus you do not need the internet whilst using it so your data roaming can stay off!

Skyscanner

This app compares millions of flights on over 600 airlines to find you the cheapest fare.

iTranslate 

Translate other languages with this handy app. It has voice recognition so simply speak and instantly see your translation. You can also listen to high quality voices in other languages.

Tripit

This is a simple stress free way to keep all of your important holiday documents in one place. From flights, taxi pick-ups to key events, everything will be stored, checked and covered. You’ll never forget or miss anything!

UrbanSpoon

Urbanspoon is the gold standard in the U.S., London, Melbourne, and Sydney: Shake your phone, watch the dials spin like an old-school slot machine, and up comes the best guide to local restaurants yet. Free.

Related Articles

Ten best uses for your smartphone whilst on holiday

DavidB Travel Advice free travel apps

The government has announced that it is to spend £4m of tax payers money promoting tourism to the UK. This money will be spent on an expensive TV advertising campaign in an attempt to persuade us all to stay in the UK in 2012 and not to go abroad.

Whilst we here at Global Holidays love the UK and want inbound tourism to be booming this can’t be at the expense of us going abroad for our holidays. Spending money on promoting the UK to those living outside the UK is great but the government is blatantly saying to us “why on earth would you want to go abroad?”

The government, of course, think we should all be staying at home to watch the Olympic Games in London and that we should leave our passports in the drawer this year. We think that this campaign is a waste of tax payers money and is damaging our already fragile outbound tourism industry. The UK outbound tourism industry employs thousands of people and there are many good reasons to go abroad, including the fact that it is impossible to buy an Olympics ticket and than going abroad is fun and it gets us away from the depressing financial news that we see almost daily.

There are, of course, plenty of good reasons to go abroad such as better weather, exploring different scenery and cultures and where you can forget about the doom and gloom at home. In addition, the outbound tourist industry can’t afford to lose jobs in an already difficult employment situation.

We think that the government has got this wrong and the message should change. They should be promoting both types of tourism. We spend a lot of money trying to encourage people to go abroad on holiday only to have £4M thrown against us all. It’s not acceptable and is a waste of money!

DavidB Travel News outbound tourism