Travel UK, Property Rental Guide

Last Chance to help Blists Hill Victorian Town win $100,000 Prise

2010-06-17T12:38:00.000-07:00

Blists Hill Victorian Town in Ironbridge has got just a few days left to beat of stiff competition to win $100,000. It is one of only four museums in the country shortlisted to win the prestigious Art Fund Prize. The Museum is encouraging people to get on line and vote as soon as possible as the voting closes at 5pm on Friday 18th June.

The on-line poll has been set up to help the judges choose which museum will win the $100,000 prize money. Steve Miller, Chief Executive of The Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust is asking anybody to support the museum by registering a vote for Blists Hill Victorian Town.

Blists Hill has already beaten off incredibly stiff opposition from museums from all around the UK. Broadcaster Kirsty Young is the Chair of the judging panel and she explained that is has been: “a very challenging task to select only four to go forward to the short list. Our visits have been eye-opening and the exceptional quality of the long list has meant that we’ve been spoilt for choice.”

Steve Miller explained: “It will only take people a couple of seconds to vote, but it really could make the difference between whether we win $100,000 or not. We are incredibly proud that our museum has made it to the final four and delighted by the support already give by people from all over the world. To actually go on and win would be amazing.”

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Blists Hill Victorian Town is now competing with museums in Belfast, Oxford and Coventry to win the Art Fund Prize.

The winner will be announced on Wednesday, 30th June at The Royal Institution of British Architects in London.

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Enjoy your holidays in Scottish castles

2009-09-13T05:58:00.000-07:00

Scotland is a destination full of big sights, whether they are cities, lakes or mountains. One of the best ways of holidaying in the country is by staying in a similarly big building - a castle.

There are many castles to rent in Scotland thanks to the fact that the country is packed with all kinds of castles, little and large.

A small research was made, and here are the results of the types of Scottish holiday accommodation we discovered:

The Scottish holiday accommodation includes not just private castles, but also castle apartments, large houses, mansions and lodges.

You could find yourself staying in a castle or mansion apartment, a quaint cottage, a traditional gate lodge, a chalet or even a church tower apartment.

Castle accommodation can range from medieval to more modern establishments, while cottages may date back several hundred years or have a more contemporary feel.

Accommodation is available to sleep a variety of groups, whether you're travelling with a partner or with a large number of friends.

Many castles and cottages are located in areas of great natural beauty, while others may be situated closer to Scotland's thriving cities and towns.

Which part of Scotland should you visit?

Scottish castle holidays can be taken all over the country. The main regions are the Highlands and islands; Aberdeen and Grampian; Angus, Perthshire and Fife; Argyll, the isles, Loch Lomond and the Trossachs; Edinburgh, Lothian and the Borders; and Glasgow, Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway.

Each area has its own urban and rural highlights, with the Highlands being the best for sweeping vistas of hills and valleys and Loch Lomond offering numerous watersports opportunities.

Wherever you choose to go, Scotland is diverse enough to offer exactly the type of holiday you want - whether it's a relaxing coastal retreat or a lively city break.

And with Scotts Castle Holidays, you can have a truly unforgettable getaway by staying in some unique accommodation, whether it is a cosy cottage or an impressive medieval castle.

Travel Postcard: 48 hours at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (part 3)

2009-08-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday

10 a.m. Grab the newspapers over breakfast and coffee at your hotel or a nearby restaurant before setting off on another rollicking day at the Fringe.

11 a.m. Take a stroll around Edinburgh's Princes Street, Nicholson Street and George Street to take in the shops because you just need to have those knick knacks for those back home. Edinburgh is filled with shops selling kilts, tartan scarves, rugs, hats, clan badges and joke Scottish memorabilia.

12:25 p.m. It's time to put the news you've gleaned over breakfast to good use before lunch. See The Early Edition at Udderbelly's Pasture in Bristo Square. Comedians Marcus Brigstocke, Andre Vincent and guests take you on a romp through the day's news to pooh-pooh the pomposity of headline print.

2:30 p.m. Get lunch at B'est restaurant for some good old fashioned British hospitality brought to you by "Faulty Towers," a comedy based on the John Cleese TV classic "Fawlty Towers." Basil, Sybil and the bumbling Manuel serve up a lunch time classic. Three-course meal included. There is a dinner show too.

3:30 p.m. Get in one last show or have a last wander along the Royal Mile to see the buskers, who change spots every day. If you stumble across "The Flash" -- two former American circus performers doing acrobatics, juggling and jokes -- stop and watch some top tumbling talent at work.

6 p.m. It's time to start winding down, so find a good place to settle in and recount your trip to Edinburgh in a comfortable spot with whisky and a spot for dinner afterwards. The 180-year-old Cafe Royal on West Register Street, just off Princes Street in the center of Edinburgh, has a bar and a restaurant. Take a seat at one of the booths surrounding the carved wooden bar and order some of its famous oysters, local beer and of course a whisky or two.

The Edinburgh institution is surrounded by original stained-glass windows, Victorian plasterwork, irreplaceable Doulton ceramic murals and is said to be haunted.

Article source: reuters.com

Travel Postcard: 48 hours at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (part 2)

2009-08-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Saturday

10:00 a.m. You could hit a show straight away alongside breakfast at the B'est Restaurant on Drummond Street and kickstart your day with Richard Simms, the effervescent fitness guru with a the big heart and tiny shorts. Hilarious health advice and celebrity silliness with breakfast included.

11:30 a.m. Go see the buskers along the Royal Mile and walk straight along the road to Edinburgh Castle.

Small troupes promoting themselves will lie on the pedestrian zed Mile begging for you to come to their shows, people in pajamas, funny hats, colored hair, dressed as poppies or in giant lizard suits may roar for your attention and there is an army of young women all toting placards, handing out flyers and even Chinese fortune cookies. Drink it in.

When you get to the castle (www.edinburghcastle.gov.uk), you'll discover it's perched on an extinct volcano and is classed as a World Heritage Site. A fortress of some kind has stood here since 600 A.D.

1 p.m. If you hear a booming noise then that's the one o'clock gun fired from the castle almost every day since 1861. Head to any sandwich shop nearby for lunch, or make your way down the Mound past the National Gallery and the Royal Scottish Academy, over Princes Street to the parallel Rose Street, which is filled with pubs, restaurants and bars.

Alternatively, book a posh lunch at The Witchery (www.thewitchery.com) located in an historic 16th-century building by the gates of Edinburgh Castle. The oak-paneled walls are hung with tapestries, mirrors and carvings. But make sure you've made a reservation.

3 p.m. You could go to "Barflies," gleaned from the literary talents of American writer and alcoholic Charles Bukowski, in which the main character "Henry" extols the liberating -- as well as confining -- effects of alcohol abuse.

The performance is held each afternoon in the Barony bar on Broughton street and audience members are offered their choice of drink as they walk in. But you might go off the booze afterwards.

4 p.m. Take in another show, cruise the Royal Mile and watch the buskers or take a spooky walking tour with Auld Reekie tours (www.auldreekietours.com), who advertise on the Royal Mile or the nearby Mary King's Close (www.realmarykingsclose.com). Both take visitors on tours of the forgotten bits of the city that lie beneath the Edinburgh of today. See the old haunts of body snatchers, criminals and witches.

6 p.m. You're tired and hungry, so you'd best head for food and drink before a busy evening of shows and fun. It's time for traditional Scottish food: Haggis neeps and tatties or Sheep's offal boiled in a sheep's stomach and served with mashed parsnips, potatoes and covered with a whisky jus.

There are a number of places that serve traditional Scottish food and one close by the festival at 15/16 Market Street is the Doric Bar and Restaurant (www.the-doric.com), which bills itself as Edinburgh's oldest gastro pub.

The Doric was built in the 17th century and serves locally sourced homemade food in its ground floor bar and traditional fare like haggis in the wooden-floored restaurant upstairs with an extensive wine and whisky list.

8 p.m. Head out to some shows you've booked or chase the nightlife in Edinburgh. With more than 2,000 theater, comedy, dance, art or other shows you're spoiled for choice.

Or you can soak up the festival atmosphere down at the Pleasance Courtyard at 60 Pleasance street, where six bars, three cafes and 16 venues play host to festival-goers, actors, comedians and locals out for the night. The venues are packed with evening shows and there is a box office on site.

If you're in the mood for something really strange go see "My Name is Sue," an hour of bizarre piano-playing narrative by a man dressed as a woman all about "Sue" from Cardiff, who was bullied at school for smelling of wee.

Edinburgh festival staff have been buzzing about this show, which teeters on the edge of insanity and rushing for seats to hear Sue mourn the sudden deaths of her parents and her expulsion from the lost paradise of her Swiss finishing school after an ill-advised night of outdoor passion with a handyman.

11 p.m. Go home, hit one of the many night shows such as the "Late Night Gimp Fight," comedy cabarets or lose yourself in the Pleasance Courtyard atmosphere before walking the streets of Edinburgh on a pub crawl from the Pleasance to your apartments.

Travel Postcard: 48 hours at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe (part 1)

2009-08-16T03:43:00.000-07:00

August is the month to criss-cross Scotland's capital on foot to see the best of the wacky, weird and chaotic Edinburgh Festival Fringe, so bring a good pair of walking shoes.

The world's biggest open access arts festival offers more than 30,000 performances at more than 200 venues around the city and that's in addition to the international book, art and jazz festivals as well as the military tattoo, which are all part of the cultural cornucopia that is Edinburgh in August.

Friday

6 p.m. Book into your hotel and then hit the streets, probably after arriving at Edinburgh Waverley train station, which lies at the center of the city under the brooding shadow of Edinburgh Castle. (!) Top tip: You can order a Fringe program before you go, online at www.edfringe.com. Wander over to the Royal Mile and fight your way through the hordes of tourists and buskers to the Fringe box office so you can book a few shows to see.

8 p.m. Head for some food and drink. Try the Royal McGregor pub at the heart of the Royal Mile and a few doors down from the Fringe box office (www.royalmcgregor.co.uk). The pub is run by the McGregor family and boasts of its links to the MacGregor clan. Have a pint of local ale to slake your thirst and order from the traditional and modern food menu.

10 p.m Head to bed because Saturday will be a long slog running from show to show and seeing the sights, or if you're feeling like making it more of a night out head off the Royal Mile. One Edinburgh treat is The Royal Oak pub at 1 Infirmary Street (www.royal-oak-folk.com), a focal point for traditional folk musicians.

Wild in Wales: Three men brave the rain in Snowdonia to discover majestic scenery – and some fine food

2009-08-02T12:18:00.000-07:00

A Frenchman, an American and an Englishman went for a walk in Wales. The Frenchman was worried about the food. "What do they eat in Wales?" Hervé asked repeatedly. "Are you sure you can eat well in Wales?"

The American was worried about the weather. For many weeks beforehand, Mark checked the Welsh weather each day on the internet at his apartment in New York. At regular intervals, he sent an email to Hervé which said, in effect: "Oh my God. It is still raining."

The Englishman – me – was worried about everything. We had previously walked together in the Luberon hills and the Basque country in France (as related in The Independent Traveller last year, see independent.co.uk/threemen). It was my idea to take my French friend and my American friend to somewhere more exotic this year; to somewhere more challenging and risky.

"There is a part of Wales," I told them, poetically. "That is wild and beautiful with unspoiled estuaries and mountains sweeping down to the sea. As a child in the late 1950s and early 1960s, my father would take us there every summer holiday. On a fine day, there is no more beautiful walking country in the world..."

On a fine day.

Hervé and I set off by car from Paris. Mark flew overnight from New York. We picked him up at Heathrow and we drove to Dolgellau, southern Snowdonia, where we had booked rooms at the Royal Ship Hotel. We had planned four days of walking and eating: four days of truancy from our families for a trio of fiftysomethings.

My friend Hervé, 57, is a Parisian importer and exporter of high-quality, specialist paper. He is as international as a Frenchman can be but ultimately very French: ie very critical, especially of food. He has something of the comic manner, but a greatly improved version of the looks, of Jacques Tati.

My friend Mark, 55, has lived with bushmen and swum with sharks. He is 6ft 6in and absurdly handsome, a former accident and emergency doctor from Maryland. Think Indiana Jones meets Dr Kildare. He now invests in small companies with promising medical ideas. After six years in France, and a world tour, he lives once again in the United States.

Walking and eating together have exposed friendly cultural rifts. Mark believes Hervé is over-critical, especially of food. Hervé, without quite saying so, regards both his Anglo-Saxon companions as undiscriminating, especially when it comes to food.

On the whole, therefore, I was more worried about Hervé's views on the Welsh food than I was anxious about Mark's feelings about the Welsh weather. In the 1950s, it never rained in Wales.

Day one: rain in England; sunshine in the Welsh border country. Hervé telephones home and asks for emergency supplies of sun-cream. By the time we reach Dolgellau it is raining. Cader Idris, 2,900ft, our objective for the next day, is shrouded by a black, swirling cloud.

Hervé insists that we must attempt our first short walk before dinner. We drive to Morfa Mawddach, formerly Barmouth Junction. I spent many happy hours here as child watching the steam trains crossing the long, low, mostly wooden, railway bridge to Barmouth. In my memory, the panorama of the Mawddach estuary from the toll footpath alongside the track is the finest natural spectacle in the world.

The rain stops. The clouds lift, but not from Cader Idris. A dull, silver-coloured Arriva diesel train passes. We see a small part of the view.

Nevertheless, we return to the hotel very happy. Dinner is a triumph. The Welsh specialties include rack of Welsh lamb, cooked beautifully by the twentysomething chef, Simone, who comes from Bucharest. The meal is served with great aplomb and humour by her fiancé, Ioann, who also comes from Bucharest. The hotel is brilliant value, run with warmth and efficiency by a Lithuanian, Romanian, Canadian, Irish, English and Welsh staff.

We ask Ioann what he thinks the weather will be like tomorrow. "This is Wales," he says. "It will rain... wait a moment." He pops his head out of the door and comes back to us. "Yes, rain."

The next day it emerges that Ioann is wrong. It is not just raining but blowing a gale from the Irish Sea. We decide to delay our attempt on Cader Idris, still hidden by black, swirling cloud.

We visit Harlech Castle and buy some brown bread for a picnic lunch. The bakery does not have a slicing machine. The baker's husband rough-hews our loaf into uneven lumps. Hervé is suspicious. What kind of bakery doesn't have a slicing machine?

The rain eases but not the gale. We go for a walk on Harlech beach: six miles of sand. We cross the dunes in a severe sand-storm. On the beach, the seagulls are flying backwards. We drive inland to the Rhinog mountains, one of the wildest parts of the British isles. Beside the lake at the end of the long, narrow road to Cwm Bychan, we eat our sandwiches in the car. The bread is a triumph, among the finest loaves the two Parisians and one ex-Parisian have ever eaten. Wales one, France nil.

In dull, windy weather, but no rain, we make the ascent of the Roman Steps, an extraordinary stairway to the heavens built 800 years ago. But why are there no proper trail-markers? In France, there are colourful signs painted on trees and rocks. Here, we get lost a couple of times in the mist.

Dinner is at the Royal Ship in Dolgellau, again. The Welsh rack of lamb is served by Simone from Bucharest, again. It is excellent, again.

Day three: rain in the morning; sun in the afternoon. Unfortunately, we walk in the morning. We drive 30 miles north to the beautiful village of Beddgelert, at the foot of Snowdon. The rain hits as we are climbing up through an old copper mine, close to the reputed birthplace of the wizard Merlin. The walk ends with a spectacular river-side path through the Aberglaslyn pass. We arrive back at the car soaked to the skin.

For dinner, we make an expedition to the George III Hotel at Penmaenpool, beside the Mawddach Estuary. I remember the George III when it was just a pub beside a railway line. A few yards away was a small locomotive shed, where two steam locomotives would simmer between trips up the valley to Ruabon and Chester. The old station building is now part of the hotel.

Hervé points out that the food he has eaten so far is Romanian, not Welsh. So this is the real test. He chooses bream. Mark and I eat steak. "Gentlemen," Hervé says. "I have to tell you that this food is fantastic." He goes into the kitchen, uninvited, to say "bravo" to the chef.

Read the rest of the story here

The Guest list: What to read - and what not to.

2009-08-02T12:10:00.000-07:00

To help you enjoy your time on the beach, our literary editor Katy Guest offers her alternative selection to the Man Booker longlist, which will be announced on Tuesday.

The Most Embarrassing book to be seen reading on the beach

In a bumper year for The Bookseller magazine's Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, it turns out that Grow Your Own Drugs by James Wong is nowhere near the most embarrassing book to be seen with.

In fact, it contains nothing more sinister than "easy recipes for natural remedies and beauty treats". Which is more than can be said for Katie Price. Her latest novel, Sapphire, is already at No 5 on amazon's bestseller list based on pre-orders alone, but she recently admitted that she didn't have time to actually write it. Nor should anyone find time to read it.

The book with the biggest hype to have come completely out of nowhere

To the sound of snotty weeping from children everywhere, Harry Potter cast his last spell (on paper, at least) in 2007, but the publicity machine rolls on. The Harry Potter Adult Boxed Set (RRP £59.99) is Not For Grown-Ups – unless you want everyone to know that you have the same reading age as Wayne Rooney. But the madly-hyped Tomas, by James Palumbo, is. With celebrity endorsements from Stephen Fry and Noel Fielding, the gritty satire by the Ministry of Sound founder has had more advance publicity than almost any debut novel, ever. But is it any good? Niall Ferguson thinks so. "Rabelais meets Tom Wolfe," he calls it.

Best book by a stand-up comic

I would rather be stuck in a lift with Russell Brand than read a single word by Jonathan Ross or Frank Skinner, but if using vacuum cleaners as masturbation aids (Ross) appeals to you, or you find paedophile gags (Skinner) to be the cutting edge of wit, then by all means buy Why Do I Say These Things? and On The Road. For those with more sophisticated senses of humour, two books of short stories stand out. One, by stand-up-turned-author Rich Hall, is Dangerous Bastards. But it is the author-turned-stand-up AL Kennedy who really dazzles, yet again, in her exceptional new collection What Becomes, published on 6 August.

Best book about buses

Ever since Roger Deakin "wild swam" across the country in Waterlog in 1999, and Iain Sinclair's London Orbital achieved the apparently impossible feat of making the M25 glamorous in 2002, weird ways of travelling around Britain have proved inspiring to quirky authors with a nose for a tale and an elegant turn of phrase. Now Magnus Mills, who refused to give up his job as a bus driver even when his first book was shortlisted for the 1998 Booker Prize, has finally written a novel about plain old bus-driving. The odd and marvellous The Maintenance of Headway is published on 6 August. All aboard!

Best book by a dead man

Do we really need to tell you to ignore the rash of rushed-to-print Michael Jackson biographies that is currently disfiguring the publishing industry like a bad nose job on the face of a much-loved friend? No. Instead, prop up the estate of another American icon whose image may have suffered slightly towards the end but who remains the King of Popular Literary Fiction: John Updike. His last collection of short stories, My Father's Tears, has just been published, six months after his death in January. It uses, writes David Baddiel in our books section today, "the imminence of death to provoke the memory of life."

The book with the most authors

Proving that authors are generous types with tiny egos and plenty of time on their hands, Oxfam has persuaded some of Britain's finest literary talent to contribute stories to this wonderful collection. Divided into four little books, Earth, Air, Fire and Water, the Ox-Tales collection draws together stories from Sebastian Faulks, Lionel Shriver, Ian Rankin, Kate Atkinson, John Le Carré, Vikram Seth and many more. DBC Pierre's "Suddenly Dr Cox" begins with the "baroque"image of butterflies crushed on a road and, astoundingly, gets even better. Just reading the list of authors is almost too much excitement.

Best book about eggs

If you'd like to learn to cook from a woman who is arguably most famous for losing a lot of weight then by all means spend £18.99 on Miss Sophie Dahl's Voluptuous Delights and marvel in wonder as the literary supermodel "shares delicious secrets from her slinky kitchen, funny stories and favourite recipes ..." (or, in other words, teaches her granny to poach eggs). On the other hand, Sunnyside, by Glen David Gold, is not really about eggs, but this fictionalised life of Charlie Chaplin and chums was described by our reviewer as "a cane-twirling, bowler-doffing triumph" and is far more fun on the beach.

Best book with no lesbians in it

Sarah Waters is almost single-handedly responsible for transforming the image of lesbians in fiction from a dangerous and murky niche market, considered only by the women's publisher Virago, to a blockbusting BBC drama staple, ripe for adaptation. So imagine Andrew Davies's disappointment when he discovered that her new book, The Little Stranger, contains not a single velvet-tipping scene. The novel is nonetheless a masterpiece of quiet drama, described by our reviewer as "a classic thriller", but if your holiday is nothing without some fictional gays then try Jake Arnott's The Devil's Paintbrush or Paul Burston's The Gay Divorcee instead.

Tourist information award for worst publicity for a place

With the Year in Provence school of travel writing officially as tired and clichéd as a Frenchman's onions, fiction seems determined to discourage long-haul travel. Brooklyn by Colm Toibin and Harare North by Brian Chikwava both sound better to read than to visit. Jeff in Venice by Geoff Dyer is slightly more encouraging. But MJ Hyland's fantastically creepy This is How, set in a fictional English seaside resort, may put off bookish foreign tourists for a while. Meanwhile The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society wins a dual award for best title and best PR for the British seaside.

The best celebrity memoir that was actually written by the celebrity

Not meaning to shatter any illusions, but most celebrities have about as much input into the stories of their lives as Michael Jackson had into this month's crop of Jacko biographies. Just before last Christmas, however, several books (what is the collective term for celebrity autobiographies? A gloat? A shimmer?) were published that defied the flimsy genre. Just Me, by Sheila Hancock, Dear Fatty by Dawn French and At My Mother's Knee ... And Other Low Joints by Paul O'Grady are well-judged and witty. But Me Cheeta, by Tarzan's co-star redefines a genre in dire need of redefining. Rumours that it was ghost-written by James Lever have been laughed off as jealousy by the great pioneer of "simian thespianism".

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A Little Insight Into British Camping

2009-05-28T10:09:00.000-07:00

With the recession situation in the world economics, many Britons are opting for cheaper holiday variants. That’s why camping is facing the inevitable increase this year.

The most favorable places for camping include Dorset, Cornwall and Devon in South-West, as well as Lakes District in North-West England.

More and more people are choosing wild camping as a way to spend their holidays with minimal expenditures. But one should be very judicious, when pitching their tents, as it can result in unwanted consequences from the landlords. Wild campers should better embark to trip to Scotland, as this way of camping is acceptable their, while it’s strictly prohibited in England and Wales. There is still a number of rules that one should follow, for instance to keep the site clean after leaving it, follow the toilet etiquette, as well as never leave any waste.

Most people prefer campsites to wild camping though, because of the running water supply and other facilities like showers, shops and many more.
No matter whatever you opt for the wild camping or campsites, you’ll obtain unforgettable memories to look back on afterwards.

The Scots Prefer Native Soil for Family Vocation to Foreign Countries This Season.

2009-05-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

The industry is gearing up for a bumper summer as Scots opt for weekend breaks on home soil.
As the result of weak pound force many of Scottish families decided to switch to having breaks in their motherland rather than visiting exotic resorts. This has resulted in Scottish tourism revenue 10 % rise.

Caledonia is becoming the tourism hot place this summer, due to many people opting to stay at homeland to save some extra money. No wonder that most caravan parks and self catering facilities are already booked.

The weather forecast for the summer encourages Scots to spend the holidays at home. The summer is predicted to be warm and with the average temperature of about 16C.

So, everyone who is still thinking about how and where to spend the coming summer holidays, have an extra idea for that ;)

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While Travelling to UK Try Keeping Costs Down

2009-05-17T10:46:00.000-07:00

onsider alternatives to Devon and Cornwall. Holidaylettings.co.uk provides owners with guidance on average rental rates for properties in various parts of the country. For a two-bedroom property in August, rates in the West Country are by far the costliest of any of the major UK holiday areas - more than 20 per cent higher than Pembrokeshire (which has beaches that are just as good), 30 per cent more than Yorkshire and 40 per cent dearer than the Scottish Highlands.

Want the West Country for less? Head for inland North Devon, which is less gentrified than the south of the county.
Consider alternatives to the Lake District. Accommodation is cheaper in less popular national parks. You can find characterful two-bedroom cottages for a week in August in the Brecon Beacons for less than ?400 - in the Lake District, they cost more than ?500.

Turn to regional agencies. As a rule, their rental rates are lower than those charged by the big national agencies.

Or book direct. All agencies take sizeable commission fees from owners, which can bump up rental prices. Bear in mind, however, that booking direct is riskier - good agencies are selective about what accommodation they take on and carry out regular inspections.

Compare prices for different weeks. It's not just that rentals during school-term time are much cheaper - some school holiday weeks cost less than other school holiday weeks.

For example, some agencies and owners charge a little less for the last week in August than for other August weeks, and May half-term rentals can cost 25 per cent less than August ones. (I found plenty of availability over half term with many of the agencies I've recommended above.)

Check the late-availability sections you'll find on agencies' websites. Rates for last-minute bookings are often discounted, typically by ten to 25 per cent.

British breaks

2009-05-17T10:44:00.000-07:00

The signs are that more of us are going to stay in the UK for our holidays this summer than in previous years. The reasons are clear. Once you've factored in travel costs, domestic breaks generally work out cheaper than foreign ones - and that is very appealing in these financially challenging times. Also, the unfavourable pound-to-euro exchange rate is deterring some people from heading to continental favourites such as Spain, France, Italy and Greece. A further enticement to keep to home soil comes from the Met Office. It recently predicted that the UK is set to enjoy a drier and warmer summer this year than in 2007 and 2008 - ideal for getting out the barbecue. So, it's hardly surprising to hear that big UK self-catering agencies such as the Holiday Cottages Group and Hoseasons are trumpeting significant increases in bookings.

Holidaylettings.co.uk, another major player, says that enquiries for rentals of English properties featured on its website have more than doubled this year. If you're planning on booking a cottage in the peak summer weeks but haven't got round to it, I'd recommend you get on with it. However, there is no need to panic. Earlier this week, I did a website trawl to see what was still available for the school summer holiday weeks for a property sleeping four in prime holiday regions - and the short answer is quite a lot. On www.cottages4you.co.uk - the main website for the Holiday Cottages Group - I found 85 possible rentals in Cornwall for the first week in August.

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