Travel News and Deals: What Makes the Perfect Holiday?

Would your ideal trip be spending time with the family in the sunshine?

Or a break with no children in sight, relaxing with friends? Or would you rather go it alone, drifting on a boat miles from anywhere? Read on to find out what makes the perfect holiday, and the rest of this week’s travel news and holiday deals too.

Let’s get ready for the weekend…

Brits Abroad

Do you try and speak the local language on holiday? According to a recent survey, 14% of Brits refuse to make the effort when travelling to foreign destinations, and turn down local cuisine in favour of traditional English dishes as well. Some of the most popular choices? Roast dinners and burgers and chips. The good news is over half said they’d be willing to swat up key phrases and sample local delicacies. Hurrah!

No More Window Pains

Does your family always fight over the window seat? One aviation engineering firm in Boston has revealed plans to build a new supersonic jet where everyone wins (well, to a certain extent). Rather than using actual windows, the jet will feature full-length digital screens with images created from micro-cameras outside of the plane. The jet is expected to fly faster than average and should be able to get from London to New York in just four hours. That’s almost Concorde timing!

Friendly Finish

We all appreciate a cheery welcome when we arrive at our holiday accommodation, but which European hotel staff are the friendliest? If you hanker after a warm smile and a polite service, it seems Finland is the place to be. A recent survey gave the country 8.38 out of 10 for accommodating hotel staff, just ahead of Germany and Austria. It’s bad news for British manners though, as the UK failed to even make the top 20. Oops.

E = SunSea²

What makes the perfect holiday? One psychologist has come up with a scientific formula based around the theories of ‘anticipation’ and ‘expected memories’ to help people maximise their enjoyment. The formula suggests that a trip should be booked at least 120 days in advance and at least one unique activity should be planned to do every day. According to the research, trying new things helps to generate many more episodic memories. That’s good news for the planners out there.

London Eye Sore?

Finally, despite being named the fourth most photographed city in the world last year, London has surprisingly been voted as the world’s second ugliest place to photograph! With only Detroit listed as being less photogenic than the English capital, it seems visitors are put off by some of the grey and grimy concrete parts of the city. With beautiful structures like St Paul’s Cathedral, The Shard and the Houses of Parliament, we’ll have to agree to disagree on this one.

Holiday Deals

Get the weekend off to a flying start by booking your perfect holiday away:

Exclusive 4* offer to Malta saving up to £100pp (including free upgrade to a Seaview room)
City break in Amsterdam: 4* Bed & Breakfast from only £159
Ibiza Self Catering from only £169

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