The only real way to see the Northern Lights is by cruise. One of the natural wonders of the world, also known as ‘Aurora Borealis’, the lights occur during the winter months throwing colourful bands of light across the sky. The phenomenon is a sight that will stay with you for the rest of your life and people return to see them every year. The aura season runs from early October to late March, but they are notoriously unpredictable, so do some research to avoid disappointment. There are several cruise forums, including CruiseLineFans, which will provide you with up-to-date reviews... Continue reading

It's often the case that ferry routes are thought of as being simply a way to cross the English Channel - and this is fair enough in that the cross channel ferry is a part of British holiday life. Who among us hasn't enjoyed the experience of sailing to France and back? But there's a whole load of other ferry routes out there too - the UK is after all an island, which gives us more ferry opportunities than most. After the ferry to France, the most well known destination is probably Amsterdam - a great tourist destination and with... Continue reading

A couple of news reports about a very interesting cruise - DFDS was offering a whisky cruise to Scotland for Belgian lovers of the uisge beatha (that's Gaelic for whisky by the way). It may seem surprising that these cruises were so popular with the Belgian public but it makes perfect sense when you think about it: the two small nations of Belgium and Scotland have a lot in common - and both share growing respective repututions within the food and drinks worlds. And of course Belgian beer is loved all over the UK, so there's a bit of reciprocal... Continue reading

There are plenty of options for a winter break, but few are as tempting as the chance to wander round a Christmas market in one of Europe's amazing cities. The medieval splendour of cities like Hamelin or Bruges just can't be beat during the Christmas season. Pack a fleece, and make room also for all the brilliant presents you'll be able to buy - and see what ferry deals are on offer to take advantage of Europe at this time of year. This video shows some of the Bruges Christmas market, (but sadly none of the amazing city backdrop). Continue reading

I've always been fascinated with Shetland but haven't had the chance to visit yet. This video gives a pretty positive impression of the place - and some quality ferries action too: Continue reading

In some news reported this week, it looks like CalMac's ships (but not the company) could possibly go private in order to help with the £600 million worth of new ships it requires over the next decade or so. Hopefully the ferry services to the Western Isles will benefit from the phenomenon of the 'staycation' whereby people don't fly off to other continents for a holiday, and go somewhere nearer to home. But there is also of course a lot of ferry traffic in the isles that is a lifeline for people who live there, so any financial boost to... Continue reading

Time to break with new year tradition and do something new? All those street parties - basically standing around in the rain. Or stay at home and have a party - and wake up the next day with that familiar New Year's refrain. No, not Auld Lang Syne but, "never again...". You could of course go far away to another continent - if you had the time off work - but for most of us there's only so much holiday time left at that time of year. New Year breaks are going to be the next big thing - no... Continue reading

The news that DFDS Seaways has taken over Norfolkline means that the UK ferry sector is definitely in good shape and that DFDS itself is growing as a company not only in terms of its amount of ships and employees, but also the stature of its brand, as it will now operate new routes and take more passengers. There have been no news stories yet about the ferries sector as a whole, but I'd wager that what with the Eyjafjallajökull reuptions of earlier this year, takings must be up - and given the hassle of airports these days, probably will... Continue reading

In every recession there seems to be winners and losers. The much-mentioned phenomenon of 'staycation' has been getting a lot of press attention recently, presumably at the expense of longer-haul destinations eg across the Atlantic, and other popular holiday hotspots in mainland Europe. But with this new austerity vibe doesn't necessarily come ration books and a summer holiday comprising of a caravan two miles down the road and a spray-on tan for the return. I'd wager that this is going to be the era of the short break - in fact in my experience a short break can provide just... Continue reading

I love how a lot of stuff in European countries isn't corporatised, so markets of every kind seem to do really well. The big thing in Holland is flowers - all that flat land must make them easier to grow, maybe? Interesting report here: Continue reading

Most of us just go to Amsterdam for 3 or 4 days and stick around the metrpolitan area. This is fair enough - there's plenty to see and do in The Dam (that's what we regular Amsterdam visitors call it. It saves syllables (ok, it saves one syllable). But there's more to The Netherlands than Amsterdam. Why not take an afternoon or a day and explore furhter afield? One place that's not too far away (about 45 minutes by car) is Utrecht. Utrecht is a compact city of 300 000 people with much to recommend it in terms of architecture,... Continue reading

The Dutch have always had a certain mastery when it comes to growing flowers. This is exemplified in full by the beautiful Keukenhof Park near Lisse - only around 40 minutes from Amsterdam. The park covers 32 hectares and is a quite stunning collection of millions of flowers. We would highly recommend that you visit if you are in the region - it is a spectacular destination. You can find out more information from the official Keukenhof Park website. You can also get a Mini-Cruise ferry trip to Keukenhof from the UK. Continue reading

Big Jump In Ferry Passengers Lately due to the problems the Volcano over in Iceland has caused as you can imagine there has been a huge demand in people wanting a ferry to Denmark from UK. It's only causing people on holidays problems but anyone traveling for business purposes have been caught out big time by this. Obviously because Denmark's a neighboring country to Iceland over in Scandinavia they are one of the countries most effected along with us over in the UK but after six days of Airports shutdown they have re opened today. Will this convince people to... Continue reading

Holidays Suffering From Volcano Eruption Unless you have been hiding away on a desert island you will know all about the Volcano that’s erupted over in Iceland. It’s totally disrupted most people’s holidays or even people trying to get from and to work i.e. the likes of this week’s Champions League fixtures and Europa League have been completely thrown up in the air with most footballers having to travel by either coach or ferry. It’s also been reported in today’s papers that the British Navy has been planning on picking up stranded Brits over in Spain by sending Ships over... Continue reading

World Famous Statue One of the most visited and a famous attraction is one well known Disney character, The Little Mermaid. Hans Christian Andersen from Denmark wrote a fairy tale about her and then not long after Disney made it into one of the all time classical films. If you ever want to pay a visit to see where it all began then all you need to do is a book a break over in Copenhagen. Ever since the fairy tale was written the people of Denmark have been extremely proud of her and rightly so. Unsurprisingly she is and... Continue reading

Despite being a prominient city in terms of its commerce (Rotterdam is the largest port in Europe and was the world's busiest until it was finally overtaken by Shanghai a few years ago) Rotterdam hasn't really featured massivley on the radar of would-be tourists - the majority of whom have decided on Amsterdam as their Dutch destination of choice. However, all of this seems to be changing very quickly and Rotterdam is evolving into a major cultural destination in its own right. Rotterdam - some things to go see........ The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra is well established and boats world famous... Continue reading

Well it looks like time is up for the Renfrew Ferry. This lovely way of traversing the Clyde will come to an end in March 2010, according to Strathclyde Passenger Transport, the current operators. The ferry has been in operation for more than 200 years and was only remaining one anywhere near the city centre. But in recent years the volume of traffic had lowered considerably in recent years and it was felt that it couldn't continue without complete public subsidy. I think its a shame that people always seem to be in such a rush these days that they... Continue reading

A quick point in the direction of the DFDS Seaways website, where they are offering 2 for 1 on mini cruises to Amsterdam and Esbjerg. Ive been lucky enough to go on these trips, they are great fun. The offer ends on the 31st of January so there's not alot of time to book. Thanks to everyone who let me know about this offer! Continue reading

A story broke just after the festive period that some of you may have missed. Of particular interest to our Scottish readers, The Scotsman reported that the first challenge to CalMac ferry crossing to Arran for 40 years may be about to materialise. Many local residents and business leaders on the island have been complaining about the sevice being operated by CalMac. Private operator Western Ferries is looking to compete for the route, claiming it will undercut the fares offered by the state run CalMac. All very interesting im sure you'll agree, can this route sustain two ferry operators? Anyway,... Continue reading