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Many folk like to take vacations in unusual places and increasing numbers of travelers are finding vacations at the seaside increasingly boring. The challenge to discover is ever and travel agents are constantly looking for new and exciting places to visit or which offer something of interest. In the article below I introduce the port of Stornoway on the remote Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles and describe the reasons why this is a great destination for a vacation.

The Island Of Lewis

The Isle of Lewis, with Harris, is the largest island in the Outer Hebrides/Western Isles.  The archipelago is found a fair distance off Scotland’s west coast a little further out from the Isle of Skye, needing a ferry journey or flight to get there. As a result of the extreme remoteness it was only since the middle to late 20th century that ordinary people have been able to access to the islands for a vacation, before then it was only those with enormous funds who could afford the enormous cost of the trip. The only other way to visit the  Outer Hebrides was to arrive on business.

Stornoway

A long time ago the town of stornoway was an immensely busy fishing port. Herring was the main quarry of the multitude of fishing boats and throughout the season Stornoway’s population increased from about 6,000 to over 30,000. An amazing  number of Stornoway Hotels, bed and breakfasts and guest houses were built to satisfy the needs for lodging the incredible influx of temporary workers created. Nowadays the population of the town stays at just over six thousand (excluding visitors).

Unfortunately the herring industry fell into a dramatic decline after the First World War with the utter collapse of the the markets in Russia and Germany. A tiny fishing fleet can still be found in Stornoway however few buildings from that time remain and Stornoway lost a great deal of its charm during the redevelopment of the 1970’s.

Recently the local council has sympathetically enhanced Stornoway installing several works of modern sculpture focusing on the association with the herring industry as well as also adding such things as fountains and flower beds. New buildings are also more aesthetically pleasing, for example An Lanntair, the local arts centre.

Although there are far fewer Stornoway hotels existing today, only the Royal Hotel dates back to the heyday of the Herring industry, you will still find a great many bed and breakfasts in Stornoway, plus hostels, inns and guest houses. You will even find a caravan park on the outskirts of the town centre.

If you are thinking about a vacation in the town of Stornoway please take a look at our comprehensive listings of Stornoway hotels.

Situated in the mouth of the Firth of Clyde the Isle of Arran is commonly referred to as “Scotland in miniature”.  Like the country of Scotland the island of Arran has varied scenery and a diverse range of flora and fauna, Arran has moors, glens, rocky coves, lochs, sandy beaches and even features a lowlands and highlands region. Completing the likeness Arran also has ancient standing stones, castles, a brewery, a distillery, museums and superb local produce and crafts. The Isle of Arran is a terrific destination for a vacation, especially for tourist who enjoy rambling or similar. In the following article I introduce Arran tourist attractions and a quick examination of hotel accommodation on Arran.

Brodick Castle

Brodick Castle is an impressive red sandstone structure which at one time was the property of the dukes of Hamilton. Found outside the town of Brodick, encompassed by extremely pleasant gardens and parks the castle is built upon the site of an old Viking fortress. Visiting Brodick Castle is a superb day out for all of the family children will thoroughly enjoy the adventure playground while older family members will enjoy the castle’s impressive collection of silver, works of art and porcelain. Roughly two hours can be spent visiting the castle.

Arran Heritage Museum

Arran Heritage Museum is located, on the site of a small school, in Rosaburn, Brodick and opens from April to October from 10:30am to 4:30pm. Featuring a collection buildings; a smiddy (blacksmith), cottage, farmhouse and croft plus milk house, stable, laundry, coach house and harness room and more. Exhibits reflect the geology, archaeology and social history of the island.

Isle of Arran Distillery

Wherever you go in Scotland it seems as though are never any great distance away from something to do with the whisky industry such as a whisky distillery. The Isle of Arran Distillery uses traditional techniques in the newest working distillery in the country. The distillery is open to tourists from April to October and it has a restaurant and visitor centre.

Isle of Arran Brewery

The Isle of Arran Brewery is located next to entrance of Brodick Country Park.  Folk can view the process of brewing from viewing gallery and observation windows as well as getting a sample of the produce. The brewery utilises high-tech equipment to brew an ale using traditional ingredients without artificial additives.

Lochranza Castle

The final Arran visitor attraction I wish to talk about is Lochranza Castle situated on the North Coast. On first look it appears little more than a ruined 16th century tower-house but it is possible to get inside using keys from the Post Office (which is also the local shop). Once inside the L-plan tower you begin to see hints of a grand structure.

Accommodation On The Isle of Arran

Finding the best accommodation on the Isle of Arran shouldn’t be much of a problem as hotels on the Isle of Arran can be found in most of the main villages and towns (Brodick, Blackwaterfoot and Lamlash all have the minimum of 1 hotel as well as guesthouse accommodation). Places to look out for include the Glenisle Hotel and the Lamlash Bay Hotel (in Lamlash), the Auchrannie Spa Resort (in Brodrick,) and the Best Western Kinloch Hotel (in Blackwaterfoot) which all have an excellent reputation.

You may not have heard of Bangsaen before, as it is only recently that non-Thais have started spending their vacations there. Affluent Thai people have been visiting there for many, many years though. Due to increased interest, new shopping malls, bars and restaurants have now sprung up to supplement the beautiful beaches. Its infrastructure is as good as any of Thailand’s big cities, but it has kept the charm and peacefulness of its former days as a fishing village. To accommodate the increasing amounts of visitors, several new exclusive housing estates have been built in Bangsaen. Cutting edge interior design, landscaped gardens and swimming pools definitely put these properties in the luxury category. You will be 10 minutes away from the beach at most, and quite possibly even right next to it. As the owners of these homes normally have other properties elsewhere too, they are not in Bangsaen for most of the year. Therefore, they often rent out their Bangsaen property to tourists to earn extra income when they are not living in it themselves. This means that you have access to a great range of luxury homes during your stay in Thailand. How much you end up paying to temporarily rent a luxury home in Bangsaen depends on the type of property that you opt for. You will pay a fraction of the price for a beach-side property in Bangsaen compared to how much a similar property would cost in your home country. Prices start at around $100 a week for a modern 4 bedroom home, which is a great deal. The longer you stay, the cheaper the price becomes. The process of buying or renting a home in Bangsaen could not be easier, as there are several real estate firms set-up there that are ready and waiting to help you. Contact them, tell them what type of property you are looking for, and what your budget is, and they will show you a range of first class properties from their portfolio. Alternatively, you can visit their websites and browse through all of the available properties at your leisure.

Liverpool is a cosmopolitan city in the north west of England.  Liverpool lays claim to numerous world firsts. The most well known of these was the first commercial wet dock.  The Liverpool docks were, by the beginning of the 19th century, England’s busiest with approximately forty percent of the world’s trade passing through the port. With such impressive wealth it is not surprising that the city of Liverpool is home to some of the most interesting galleries and museums in the whole of Great Britain, with only one other city in England having more, London. In the article below I examine some of the various other factors which help make the city of Liverpool such an amazing destination for vacations.

Lots of people assume that Liverpool does not have any castles, historical buildings, fortified houses and country houses and despite the fact that Liverpool Castle disappeared long ago the city of Liverpool is home to a few structures which are known all around the world.

The Beatles

The Beatles, Paul, Ringo. John & George, are one of the most commercially successful acts in popular music the world has ever seen. The Fab Four were a Liverpool band and you are able to take a look at their old homes by going on one of the tours. Of course there are much more Beatles associated places to visit such as; Mathew Street Gallery, The Beatles Shop, The Beatles Story and The Cavern Club, as well as a handful of pubs (The Grapes in Mathew Street, Ye Cracke in Rice Street and The Jacaranda in Slater Street) and an incredible number of places associated with Beatles songs such as Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane.

Every Beatles fan will be thrilled to know that it is possible to enjoy Liverpool bed & breakfast in a Beatles themed hotel.

Other Liverpool Attraction

To be one hundred percent truthful the list of tourist attractions in the city of Liverpool is simply so enormous that there is not enough room here to list them all. Some of the most popular include Speke Hall, The Merseyside Maritime Museum and The Albert Dock plus Liverpool’s two Cathedrals, Knowsley Safari Park and The Tate Liverpool as well as a great many more.

As well as all of the tourist attractions described above Liverpool has a long association with comedy.  The list of comedians hailing from Liverpool is enormous but a few worth mentioning include Craig Charles, Alexei Sayle and Kenny Everett, readers who are older may remember Faith Brown, Arthur Askey and Stan Boardman or Jimmy Tarbuck, Ken Dodd and Les Dennis. So when you next visit Liverpool ensure that your bed & breakfast in Liverpool is in a Beatles themed hotel and that you visit a comedy club.

If this does not appeal to you maybe you should go to a soccer match? The city of Liverpool has two superb football clubs (Everton FC and Liverpool FC both of which having has astounding success. Their grounds are found at Anfield and Goodison.

Booking a holiday abroad has never been easier.  Thanks to the advent of the Internet, which to a large extent has rendered travel agents redundant.  With tourists now able to book breaks to holidays hot spots such as Lanzarote direct online.

Lanzrote forms part of the Canary Island group.  Which is part of Spain and the EU but which is located close to the coast of West Africa.  During the 1980´s these islands briefly became a byword for package holidays – but today there are just as many upmarket luxury accommodation options as there are good value choices.  With Lanzarote for example boasting no less than six 5 star hotels.

Lanzarote, the fourth largest of the islands and one of the most unspoiled, boasts no less than six 5 star hotels.  Including the sumptuous Gran Melia Volcan, which is located right at the southern tip of the island in the fast growing resort of Playa Blanca.  The Volcan forms part of the stylish Rubicon Marina development which is home to loads of luxury yachts.  And along with sister establishment the Gran Melia Salinas in Costa Teguise is regarded as one of the best Lanzarote hotels.

Arguably the best known hotel on the island though is the Arrecife Gran.  As this occupies a building which was a notorious landmark on Lanzarote during the 1990´s.  As it was originally built by flouting local planning laws – which prohibited high rise constructions taller than a Canarian palm tree.  So for many years this building lay burnt out and derelict right on the seafront.  Eventually though the island government took the pragmatic approach and granted permission for creation of a luxury hotel.  Which spans 17 floors and is the tallest edifice on the island.

The Gran Melia hotel is owned by Spain´s Sol hotel chain, who also have another 5 star establishment in the southern resort of Playa Blanca.  The Gran Melia Volcan is situated right next to the upmarket Rubicon Marina development, which provides an atmospheric environment for dining out or strolling around the shops.  The Volcan also has a unique entrance hall atrium which is designed to echo the islands most famous landmark – the volcanoes of the Timanfaya National Park which are located just a short drive away from the resort.

Around half of all visitors to Lanzarote prefer self-catering accommodation to hotels and there’s a wide selection of Lanzarote villas for them to choose from across the island.  Apartments in Lanzarote also provide a good value alternative for these seeking to book a break in the sun on a budget.

You can find details of Lanzarote 4 star hotels and further Lanzarote villas here.