Now there aren’t that many truly traditional pubs left in the country. A bold statement, I know, but let me qualify it for a moment: by traditional I mean no Sky Sports, no jukebox – in fact, no telly or music at all. Just a quiet corner to pop into and enjoy a pint of proper ale with some civilised conversation.

Unless, of course, you are lucky enough to stumble across a Sam Smith’s pub. Still owned and operated independently by Humphrey Smith, the Tadcaster based brewery takes a pride in offering something completely different and a wee bit special. Oh – and as of recently, there are no mobile phones to interrupt your relaxing mug of ale either. Or any other electronic devices for that matter, due to a brewery ban on them. It’s taking a little while to get through despite the best efforts of the managers and staff (we popped into a few where punters are still not cottoning on), but by and large they’re getting there. And it’s oh so peaceful. Bliss, actually.

One of the finest Sam Smith’s pubs we’ve come across is the Victoria Hotel in Cleveleys, Lancashire, beautifully run by landlords Marcus Howard and Jackie Hole. It’s a bit like stepping back in time, but in every way that’s good. The perfectly kept beers and lagers are own brand, and very cheap compared to much of the competition; a decent pint of lager will set you back a mere £1.40 (yes, you read that right) and a cask ale just £2.

The Vic (as it’s affectionately known to locals) is one of those rare establishments that seems to be operated for the benefit of the patrons. Marcus and Jackie run a tight ship, and it shows in the superb levels of service as well as in how clean and welcoming the place is. The whole team are a credit to them, and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays you can sample Jackie’s fabulous cuisine – the delicious meals won’t set you back a fortune either.

What’s really great about this pub (apart from the fact that it’s a wonderful old building and full of character) is that you can see the love and care lavished upon it. There is a real sense of pride, and I congratulate the management on a job superbly done.

So if you ever happen to be in the area and fancy a real treat, give the Vic a try. We’d like to say – for all the right reasons – that it’s probably one of the best pubs in the world. Congratulations guys.

The Victoria Hotel
183 Victoria Road West
Cleveleys
Lancashire
FY5 3PZ
United Kingdom

Telephone: 01253 853306

If you are a constant traveller then by this time you must have realised that it is not easy to find a hotel that fits in your budget.

You may have to go through a number of options before settling for one. So if you believe in saving money, better follow the steps and get accommodation for less:

1. Plan ahead

If you plan things in advance and are flexible with the options, then you will be able to save a good amount of money. There are many hotels which provide good money saving deals if you book rooms in advance. Chances are there that later, the rate of the rooms may drop down from what has been previously decided, and in that case you can negotiate to bring down the price.

Many a time, hotels are very desperate to fill up their rooms the same night, so call the hotel to bargain. If you are lucky you will be able to strike a good deal.

2. Look for promo codes

If you are looking for some cheap deals, search for a hotel along with the term promo on the internet. You will get a number of promo codes which can then be later used on booking sites or on a hotel’s own website. For example, if you are trying to book a room through Travelodge, use a travelodge voucher code of £5 off on the website when you are booking the room. Sites like Hotels.com provide reward points and cashback, so you can even look out for these options.

3. Look out for sales

There are many people out there who do not have a proper plan regarding their trip. These people can look for sales on booking websites. The last minute deals and offers will help them to plan a trip for less. If you are this kind of traveller, sign up for email alerts to get fresh Travelodge discount codes direct to your inbox.

4. Loyalty bonus

This is a plus point for frequent travellers. Most of the hotels offer some perks or discounts to the guests who visit their hotels regularly. For example, Hotels.com gives an extra free night for every ten nights booked through them. Using credit cards also has its own perks. If you are a frequent visitor, take a chance and ask for a free breakfast, or an upgrade or something like that. A hotels.com voucher code 2016 can also be used to get some amazing discounts.

5. Use your affiliations

If you are a student, serve in the military or are an AAA member, chances are there that you can get a discount. Just check with hotels to know what they can offer you. Chances are, you will be able to get some good deals.

6. Consider where you’re staying

Understand one thing: staying in the middle of the city is going to cost you more. So if you want to save some money, why not stay a little bit further out? It will give you a different experience and a chance to interact with the locals who live away from all the glitter and glamour.

7. Go for other options

Sometimes it may not be possible to get the cheapest deals. Instead, you can try out options like hostels or Airbnb. Other options are couch-surfing, home sitting, etc. They may not be that comfortable but will match your budget.

So plan a trip, pack your bags and set out to explore new far away lands.

These days, the fact that there are so many low-cost airlines serving French airports from up and down the UK makes air travel to the continent something of a no-brainer. That is, until you start to iron out the actual specifics of each transport option at your disposal.

Ask any sample group of Brits what makes more sense and chances are very few will take the corner of the classic ferry crossing – even the faithful Channel Tunnel takes a backseat to air travel. Why? Well, primarily for the simple reason that planes tend to shoot across the water at a much faster speed than the average ferry. Top this off with agreeable fairs and you have what appears to be the only sensible way to travel, but as is the case with so many things in life, it’s not quite as black-and-white as it appears.

False Economy

In the first instance, it’s sensible to take a look at the real costs associated with both options. For example, when you pay to take a car over to the continent you pay a single fare for the car, its occupants and literally as much luggage as you want to take. By contrast, head over on the plane and you have to pay per person, add on the luggage fees and then pay to get to the airport in the first place. Assuming you’ll also be needing transport on the other end, car rental fees and general public transport costs can add up to a bill way in excess of the flight itself… certainly more than the ferry would have cost.

Quality Time

But, some may argue, going by plane saves you a ton of time on which a price cannot be put… or so you’d think. Admittedly, it takes a plane a couple of minutes at the very most to cross the channel, but how about the two hours you need to spend at the airport checking in, passing through security and hanging around? And the transport to the airport in the first place? And waiting for your bags on the other side? A ferry crossing may take around an hour if rounded-up, but this doesn’t come close to the three, four or five hours you’re realistically looking at to take a flight to France.

Freedom of Choice

If you want to leave things until the last minute or find you need to change your itinerary late on, chances are with an airline you’ll be looking at either a massive surcharge or an outright brick wall. With ferry and train crossings however things are much more flexible and prices don’t tend to rocket through the stratosphere in the days and weeks prior to each service departing. And as we all know how plans can change at the drop of a hat where families are concerned, locking into an airline booking doesn’t instil a great deal of peace of mind.

A Better Way to France… especially for families!

For families in the UK, holidays in France are an ideal place to take the children and enjoy everything on offer in France. The cross channel ferry provides a very attractive way to travel, especially for families as this graphic created by Brittany Ferries clearly shows.

Image source: Brittany Ferries – Ferry VS Plane to France

And the Winner Is?

Every mode of transport has its pros and cons, but when travelling the few miles from the UK to mainland Europe, there’s really not a great deal to gain by making things even more complicated and long-winded than they need to be. Or in other words, that classic ferry crossing or train service really does have more to offer than many would give credit for.

Exploring a town, city or region for the first time is always great fun, and there are various ways you can go about it, from the conventional to the wacky, weird and wonderful.

Playing it safe and taking the traditional city tour can be great for those of us looking for a dependable, reliable way to make sure we don’t miss out on any highlights.

But for those among us seeking a little spirit and adventure in our voyages of discovery, there are usually fairly inexpensive alternatives to the humdrum, injecting that frisson of excitement into our experience of a destination.

Take a look at these five delicious European mad modes of transport from east and west, to guarantee your sightseeing has an air of eccentricity about it! Click the numbered headings to read more about each quirky conveyance.

1.) Enjoy a city tour of Prague in a shocking pink Škoda Felicia convertible…

Although Prague is culturally and economically on a par with the rest of its European counterparts today, you can still hark back to cold war days with a tour of the city’s hotspots in this iconic communist convertible.

2.) Take the longest trolleybus ride in the world – from Yalta to Simferopol…

Most tourists opt for a plane or taxi, but you can cruise through the Crimean mountains in a genuine old Škoda trolleybus on this epic 86 kilometre journey at the pace of a snail.

3.) Ride the meanest, greenest solar train to see what’s what in Maastricht…

It’s quirky, clean and fun, and will get you round the sights of the Dutch city of Maastricht using nothing but the power of old Phoebus himself.

4.) Drive your own Trabant around Berlin’s east side…

Get behind the wheel of a real, live genuine Trabant and explore Berlin as part of a Trabi Safari. It’s not so bad once you’ve mastered the revolver gear shift…

5.) From the French frontier to the Dutch border, discover the scenic Belgian coastline on the Kusttram…

The De Lijn Belgian Coastal Tramway is a great way to cover the whole of Belgium’s diverse coastline – all 68 kilometres of it!

Travelling for business can be a challenge at the best of times. Whether you’re crossing thousands of miles to seal a deal with a major new client, or heading a few hours down the motorway to see a long-standing customer, you’re still doing business – and that has its own pressures. Throw in the difficulties of travel, and you have a potential nightmare scenario.

It doesn’t have to be like this, though. A few straightforward steps can make a huge difference to your business travel experience, and can transform the end result. Hotel group IHG have created a comprehensive guide to how you can minimise the disruption that travel makes to your business life and your personal well-being. Some of the advice seems obvious, but is all too often overlooked – for example, do you make a proper checklist of everything you need to take with you?

Then there are tips which save time and prevent you from getting stressed when you don’t need to. Key among these is collating all your travel essentials into a single wallet which you keep with you at all times. It’s simple, but could save you all manner of hassle!

There’s also plenty of advice which you’ve probably never considered; the kinds of things which you think won’t ever happen to you. You’re all dressed for a meeting, you’re prepared, you’re confident – and then you spill coffee down your best shirt, while your spares are in your suitcase. If you’d kept a spare in your hand luggage, you wouldn’t have to worry!

The full list of tips makes for a great read, and could make business travel a whole lot better for you, no matter what line of work you’re in. Click here to read the full article.

One thing that is almost as important as where you stay in Northern Ireland is where you eat. Belfast has undergone a little bit of a culinary revolution and has some fantastic places to visitors and locals alike to enjoy. There is a variety of fare and prices so there is something for everyone to enjoy and here are five of the top choices according to research and reviews from sources such as TripAdvisor.

Bia: 216 Falls Road, Belfast BT12 6AH:

The food served at Bia is listed as Irish, Bistro, Asian fusion, Sandwiches and it gets top marks all around. They serve Breakfast/Brunch and Late Night food so you can stop in just about anytime. With a focus on high quality food, service and reasonable prices.

Holohan’s: 1 Lanyon Quay, Belfast BT1 3LG:

This hot spot has a focus on classic Irish cuisine and serves it all day fresh and hot. Customers who go rave about the service and how good the food tastes, the often time special seared scallops served on pearl barley risotto with pea puree and bacon seems to be a favourite.

The Dock: Titanic Quarter, Belfast BT1 2QH:

This restaurant boasts European cuisine and a unique twist, it is an honest box café. What this means is that the buns, soup and coffee have no price tag on them. The café just trusts that people will pay a fair price for what they get. The staff is even volunteers! This unique aspect and the great food make it a must stop café.

Howard Street: 56 Howard Street, Belfast BT1 6PG:

A restaurant that offers a variety of gourmet food including lavender infused Hendricks. They have a lunch menu, Ala carte and a Pre theatre menu as well.

Saphyre: 135 Lisburn road, Belfast, BT9 7AG:

Serves Irish contemporary food and serves a menu for Breakfast/Brunch through late night. The fare here is fine dining and you will leave being impressed and feeling like you have been treated like royalty.

Thinking of a culinary exploration of Belfast? Base yourself at the nearby La Mon hotel for as little as €87 per night. You won’t even have to travel far for a taster of what Belfast has to offer as their Shakespeare restaurant has a menu worth travelling for and the awards to back it up.

You can pretty much guarantee that London will give you a good time, no matter who you are.

Whether you’re a tourist visiting the bright lights of England’s capital for the first time, or a hardened Londoner who chews on jellied eels, bellows Knees up Mother Brown at passers-by and understands why taxi drivers don’t go “sath of tha riva”, there are always new discoveries to be made in this sprawling city.

Of course, other guides might try to fob you off by recommending the staples – Buckingham Palace, Westminster, the National Gallery. But we’ve put together something a little different, the places that it might not occur to you to visit.

If you’re travelling from Gatwick Airport, drop your car off at the Gatwick Meet and Greet, make your way into the city and get ready for a good time.

Have your Great Expectations met at the Charles Dickens Museum.

Charles Dickens – writer of Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol and countless others – used London as the canvas for almost all his tales. Famously, the esteemed writer would wander around the most impoverished areas of the capital at night, using the squalor as inspiration.

The Charles Dickens Museum is the home to this legend’s canon, and features a slew of facts, relics and manuscripts from the writer’s life. Situated in the house where Dickens once lived, it’s a truly unique experience that almost lets you breathe the same air as one of Victorian England’s true greats.

The finest grub in Chinatown

Chinatown is one of the finest places to eat in all of London – that is, if you’re a fan of Chinese food.

To start with, try out the modestly priced Four Seasons, a restaurant famed for its Cantonese-style roast duck. If you’re heading down Wardour Street, you’ll find it easy to spot – it’s the one with the barbecued meats displayed in the window.

If you’re looking for a more authentic look to your dining, try out Longji on Charing Cross Road. Kitted out just like a Hong Kong fast food joint, it’ll give you the flavour of Asia in both sight and taste.

A laugh of an evening

The Comedy Store has become a mecca for stand-up comedy in the UK, priding itself on presenting the best in up and coming comics.

Originally making its name during the alternative comedy scene of the 80s, it played host to figures like Alexei Sayle, Rik Mayall, Paul Merton, Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, among others.

Now, it’s where comics come to make a name for themselves and, if you’re up for a laugh, it’s the perfect end to your night.

Brazil is THE place to be at the moment. Not content with being one of the most stunning holiday destinations on earth, it’s the host of the 2014 World Cup and is gearing up to welcome the planet back again in 2016 for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. If you fancy somewhere different for your triathlon cycling training then why not make the leap to Brazil – and come 2016 you can watch the Olympians on television and say “been there, done that”!

The first thing to consider when planning a trip to Brazil is that it is a big country and in some parts very different culturally from the UK. It is therefore probably a good recommendation to seek out an organised tour so that you are in the company of local experts who know not only the terrain, but the way of life. Various companies specialise in cycling trips to Brazil and in fact you could join a charity expedition and raise funds for a good cause at the same time as discovering this beautiful country.

If you fancy taking the charitable route, Discover Adventure organise fundraising expeditions to destinations all over the world and have a number of Brazilian trips lined up. Their Cycle the Coast to Rio challenge sees you first of all fly into São Paolo, from where you are transported to the coastal resort of Guarajá. Guarajá is where you begin five days of cycling that will also take in Juquehy, Ilha Bela, Lagoinha, Picinguaba and Paraty, before driving to Rio de Janeiro where you get to spend a free day and enjoy sights such as Copacabana Beach and the Statue of Christ the Redeemer.

Rio de Janeiro itself is an interesting city in which to cycle. It has an impressive network of cycle paths that takes you through an eclectic variety of surroundings – from tunnels and busy highways to beachfront promenades, where you will be in the company of other cyclists, joggers and inline skaters.

The rest of the country offers variety too, not least in terms of the landscapes. In the state of Rio Grande do Sul for example, the landscape from Chuy to Capão da Porteira is pretty much flat the whole way – which lends itself to the farmland that will make up much of the scenery that you see. Rio Grande do Sul is also home to the Taim ecological reserve, and if you are a nature enthusiast this is the place to have your camera ready – crocodiles, marshland birds and the unique capybara rodents are among the sights to see.

The state of Paraná is a little more hilly than Rio Grande do Sul. Here – on the 644km stretch between Foz do Iguaçu and the state capital Curitiba – you can expect an altitude gain of over 8,500 metres.

With so much colour, so much variety and so many weird and wonderful sights, after a cycling experience in Brazil you will never view triathlon training in London in the same light again.

If the romantic, literary moiety of your soul needs an infusion of traditional English indulgence, you could do a lot worse than repair to the East Yorkshire seaside town of Whitby.

With the ancient peaks and haunted heights of its ruined abbey having played home to England’s first poet, Caedmon, and later shelter to that evilest of vampires, Dracula, in Bram Stoker’s nineteenth century gothic novel of the same name, and its maritime memorials to Captain Cook and William Scoresby, this phantasmagorically beautiful fishing hamlet fires both the imagination and the spirit in spades.

The abbey is a ruined Benedictine specimen, disestablished in Henry VIII’s famous Dissolution and, now a Grade 1 Listed Building overlooking the bleak North Sea of the town’s East Cliff, it is one of Yorkshire’s greatest ruins.

As you take the 199 steps down toward the harbour, stunning views and quixotic vistas present themselves at every turn, until you make your final descent into twisty weinds and shaded alleys lined with bric-a-brac and curio shops, cafés, restaurants, tearooms and inns.

And, of course, those famous fish and chip shops. Whatever the style of your sojourn to this picturesque retreat, you must at some point sample Whitby fish ’n’ chips. Whether eaten out in the fresh air as nature intended, or ingested enthusiastically in one of the many excellent eateries, this North Yorkshire delicacy is to be savoured with relish.

Then, replete and with your evening rounded nicely with a mug of the finest Yorkshire ale, you can turn your gaze once again abbeywards, heaving a sigh of melancholy satisfaction before bending your steps homewards, wherever you may have chosen to lay your weary head for the night.

We’ve been waiting for so long…it’s been hard and we almost lost hope. But you’ve finally arrived and we are ready to enjoy you and your #LongerDays…

WELCOME SPRING!

The long winter, with its meagre daylight hours, is at last drawing to a close. There is a freshness; a lightness in the air that hails the oncoming spring to summer, and the promise of long days and bright nights. It is time for adventure.

The North Face® are inviting those intrepid walkers, runners, hikers and climbers to explore longer, making the most of those wonderful, longer days ahead. And for those more sedentary specimens amongst us, why not take up the challenge and make this the season to do more, live more and seek out adventures you’ve never dreamed of. Most of us lead busy, hectic lives these days, so take the opportunity to embrace your inner explorer and revitalise your spirit.

Take up the inspiration and get involved in the fun and action, head over and like
The North Face® on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and Instagram, and check out their official website for the skinny on how you can become part of the great adventure.

Don’t forget to include @thenorthface.europe when posting on Facebook, or @thenorthfaceEU for tweets, and to embrace the experience to the fullest, download the Explorer app to your mobile now, create your profile and start adding your pictures and stories – the more the better! And keep the excitement going by retweeting and reposting every time you or the campaign get a mention. Keep your followers up to date and share, share, share!

There are daily prizes to be won in the Explorer Photo Competition, so whether you’re on a mountain summit or blazing your favourite trail, share your pictures and experiences using #LongerDays.

Make the most of the longer days, and live life to the full with The North Face®.

Post sponsored by The North Face®