New Year…New Shows!

Those midnight bells have chimed, the fizz has run dry and your new trainers have experienced their first punishing New Year’s run – 2011 has arrived!

And with the New Year, theatre fans, comes a range of new shows!

So whether you’re looking to blow away the cobwebs with a break to London’s West End or would like to welcome in the New Year by re-visiting timeless films-turned-musicals or by toe-tapping to the million-selling songs that formed a definitive soundtrack to the fifties, you’re sure to be tempted by 2011′s shows.

Especially as Million Dollar Quartet, Shrek the Musical, The Wizard of Oz and Ghost the Musical and more are set to open in early 2011 – giving theatre fans even more reason to trip the (foot)lights fantastic.
But before you swap your armchair for a stage-side seat, don’t forget to check my guide to 2011′s top new shows, below.

Million Dollar Quartet:

Inspired by a night in 1956 when music legends Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis performed together, Million Dollar Quartet is sure to electrify West End audiences when it opens in February.

Featuring over 20 rock ‘n’ roll, gospel, R&B and country hits including Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes and Johnny Cash’s I Walk The Line, audiences are sure to be toe-tapping and finger clicking while enjoying the musical that’s taken Broadway by storm.

Remember to save and feel like a million dollars with our Million Dollar Quartet ticket packages if you’re jiving and twisting to the West End this spring.

The Wizard of Oz:

As Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Wizard of Oz is set to whirlwind its way to the London Palladium in February bringing munchkins, scarecrows, cowardly lions, tin men, witches and more to the West End, theatre fans and those who enjoyed Over the Rainbow – the reality TV show where Mr. Webber himself searched for a new Dorothy! – are sure to have the their heels a-clicking in anticipation.

Don’t forget to check our Wizard of Oz ticket packages before heading on you yellow-brick-road paved way to the stage-front.

Shrek – The Musical:

Based on the Oscar-winning DreamWorks’ feature-length animation, Shrek – The Musical is sure to spellbind children and grown-ups who join the ogre and his lovable steed Donkey as the pair encounter fairytale super-stars while attempting to rescue Princess Fiona (none other than TV favourite Amanda Holden !) from a tower guarded by a fire-breathing, and rather love-sick, dragon.

Make sure your theatre break is a fairytale from start to finish by looking over our Shrek – The Musical ticket packages before making off for your happy ending by the theatre stage this May.

Ghost – The Musical:

Inspired by the movie that encouraged me and many others to take up pottery, Ghost – The Musical will give new life to the Academy Award winning love story of a couple separated by death made famous by Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg.

With music written by the legendary Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics and special stage effects from the team behind Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – Ghost The Musical promises to send the spirits of music lovers, theatre-goers, hopeless romantics and cinema fans alike soaring.

Remember to check our Ghost – The Musical ticket packages before spiriting off to see the show in Manchester or London.

Celebrating the New Year in Style…

Posted by Becky

With Christmas fast approaching and the day all planned it’s time to start thinking about the next big event, New Year. I haven’t yet decided what I’ll be doing when 2010 moves into 2011 but there are plenty of activities and events happening across the world to inspire me.

Staying close to home I might escape the stresses of the festive period and relax with one of the many New Year breaks happening across the UK. With the celebrations all taken care of I can simply unwind and get on with enjoying myself.

While across the globe people are celebrating the New Year in style. Edinburgh is well known for its New Year celebration, with live music, a huge street party and great atmosphere Hogmanay is hugely popular, drawing in visitors from all walks of life. Further afield In Canada the mighty Niagara Falls becomes the back drop for a huge outdoor party, with food, drink and spectacular fireworks it certainly brings in the New Year with style. While in Barcelona the unusual tradition of Grape eating at midnight brings good luck for the year ahead.

What will you be doing for New Year? Whether sharing a romantic evening in with a loved one, celebrating with friends or doing something a little different let us know your plans for seeing in 2011.

New Years 2011

Posted by Danielle

 

2010 is almost at an end and its time to start planning for the New Year. Every year since I can remember I have attempted to make a resolution, eat healthy, see more live music and cut down on the partying and every year a week in it’s always the same story. I want to make sure 2011 is bigger and better than 2010, so this year I am only making New Years resolutions that I know I will be able to stick to.

My first New Years resolution is simple. I want to see as many unique and traditional events as possible, I want to travel on the Eurostar to celebrate Bastille Day on the 14^th of July. Joining the hundreds and thousands of people celebrating the storming of the Bastille Prison, that led to the French Revolution. I know we haven’t even had Christmas yet and July seems ages away, but the Paris Hotels will fill up so quickly that I know to cram everything I want to into 2011 I need to act fast. This leads me to my second New Year’s resolution, plan ahead!

As well as France I want to fit in a trip to Spain for the 5 day celebration known as La Tomatina. 50,000 people, 150,000 tomatoes and one hell of a clean up job afterwards make this huge food fight amazingly popular with people worldwide. Although not a great deal is known about this festival outside of Spain it’s going to be huge.

Finally I plan on sneaking in a nice long trip to Australia to catch up on some year round sunshine while making sure I am there in time to celebrate Australia Day. The day for most will be spent with friends and family with a nice mixture of rest and beach parties but there is some real tradition behind this day. It commemorates the landing of ships in Sydney harbour and appreciation of all the progress that’s been made since that day. Travelling to Australia also fits in perfectly with my final resolution, see as much of the world as possible.

What have you got planned for 2011 and what New Year resolutions are you making?

Top Tips for New Year Savings

Whether you’d like to stop smoking, lose a little weight, stop biting those fingernails or wave goodbye to any other niggling habits, you’re likely to make a New Year’s resolution to behave a little better over the coming months.

By the time those bells have chimed in the New Year and rather-less-festive January looms ahead, chances are that making your pennies stretch a little further will also have made your list of New Year’s resolutions.

With a grey and drab January seeming to stretch on and on, you’re sure to be tempted to spend a little on a much needed New Year break – whether you’re looking for a family fun break, surprise get-a-way or capital experience for less, erm, capital.

But with my top tips for New Year savings, you’re sure to be able to recreate that Christmas sparkle and festive cheer without breaking your budget.

A capital time:

Whether you’d like to kick-start the year ahead by catching a wining and dining, sightseeing or catching a show in London Town, you’ll find that it’s easy to enjoy a cheaper New Year break to the capital with our London for Less deals.

By booking a London for Less deal in the New Year, you can choose to add free exhibition entry, free sightseeing tours or free dining to a two night break. So you can explore Shakespeare’s Globe exhibition, visit historic London Bridge or eat out at Planet Hollywood, as a way to banish those bah humbug blues and save!

Family Fun:

After they’ve finished playing with those empty gift boxes and the novelty of new toys and festive snow has worn off, keep the little ones entertained (and out of trouble!) with a New Year family break.

With our Legoland packages, when adults buy a two day ticket, kids go free – leaving them happy and you with more than a few Lego bricks left over to play with.

A little mystery:

With all those surprising (or perhaps unimaginative) Christmas presents un-wrapped and your Secret Santa most likely unveiled, it’s safe to say that New Year can often lack a little mystery. But it’s easy to add a little surprise sparkle to you lack-lustre January by booking a cut-price Mystery hotel deal.

By booking a mystery hotel in your chosen destination, you can save on accommodation costs without compromising on quality. Simply choose where you’d like to visit on a New Year break and let our Mystery Hotels add a little fun to the booking process.

Pamper with a festive spa break…

The token Christmas gift: for some it’s a badly patterned woolly jumper, for others a pair of novelty socks or some miscellaneous toiletries, sprays or ‘smellies’.

Even though most Christmas gift toiletries are likely to remain un-opened on the bathroom shelf, I suppose disappointed recipients can take heart that they’re well-wished a relaxing soak or some self-indulging ‘me time’ far off from the stresses of the Christmas season.

Though, it’d be so much nicer to swap those disappointing ‘smellies’ for a relaxing pamper day at a luxurious spa (hint hint, mother dearest!).
While escaping from the bickering relatives, turkey-basting or present-wrapping is sure to be a gift in itself, a stress-relieving massage or indulgent beauty treatment is sure to be utter bliss.

And as a spa gift is bound to be just the thing for over worked mums, aunts, grans, wives, sisters or girlfriends – gifting a pamper day is sure to be relaxing for a present-buyer too, as you’ll be able to chill-out knowing you’ve got it just right!

So forget scented toiletries, petal-infused soaps, sweet-smelling scrubs and perfumes this Christmas and pamper yourself or your loved ones with a spa break or spa day gift package.

Boxing Day Football

Posted by Matt

For many people Boxing Day is all about cleaning up after the havoc of Christmas Day, watching cheesy films on TV and of course braving the mad Boxing Day Sales! For me however Boxing Day is about one thing and one thing only; the football.

Football matches on Boxing Day have been a tradition in England for decades and this year is no different. No matter what the weather, football fans around the country will make it out to watch their team on Boxing Day and hope for an exciting match, which there are sure to be plenty off given the strong fixture list this year.

In the Premiership there are many tasty fixtures to keep you excited this Boxing Day, including Newcastle v Manchester City, Aston Villa v Tottenham and Manchester United v Sunderland. Meanwhile in the Championship, top of the table QPR will be battling it out with Swansea whilst Hull and Sheffield United compete for bragging writes in a Yorkshire derby.

After stuffing myself on Christmas Day I will be going out to watch my beloved Leeds United take on Leicester City this Boxing Day. Will you be making out to watch a Boxing Day match this year? And who will you be supporting?

Get your skates on…

As temperatures drop, snow falls, windows frost and pavements glisten – it’s almost impossible to think of anything else but ice.

But, with open air ice rinks popping-up in some of Blighty’s most breathtaking locations it’s easy to fill yourself with festive cheer by swapping the bothersome, step-slowing street ice for the glistening and festive ice rink.

With magical rinks set by Edinburgh castle, London’s iconic landmarks and Cornwall’s Eden project, there’s sure to be a destination, near or far, that will fill your winter nights with Christmas sparkle – whether you’re looking to amuse the children on a family friendly Christmas break or to romance a special someone as you swirl hand-in-hand across the ice.

I’ve listed my top festive ice-picks below, so you’ve every reason to get your skates on this winter!

London:

With open-air skating rinks appearing by London’s iconic landmarks, there’s every reason to indulge in a little festive skating when visiting the cosmopolitan capital. Whether you’d like to skate by canary wharf, the London Eye, the Natural History museum, the Tower of London or historic Somerset House, you’re sure to find a winter wonderland waiting.

Don’t forget to check London hotel offers when planning your merry-making in the capital this Christmas!

Edinburgh:

Set in the shadow of Edinburgh’s historic hill-top castle, there’s sure to be something magical about taking to the ice on Edinburgh’s Princes Street ice rink. And with a traditional Christmas market on-hand serving warm mince pies, mulled wine, hot chocolate and Scottish shortbread along with crafty Christmas presents, there’s plenty to occupy the skate-shy too.

Please remember to check our Edinburgh hotels before sloping off to bonny Scotland this Christmas.

Manchester:

Whether you’re looking to shop or indulge in a glass of bubbly or two, Manchester’s Spinningfields ice rink is the place to hot-foot to. With an open air rink on Hardman Boulevard, twinkling Christmas trees, a two tier log-cabin themed pop-up bar and boutique shops aplenty nearby, a visit to Spinningfields is sure to feel like an early Christmas present for even the most winter-weary of adults.

And with our sparkling Manchester hotel offers, you’re sure to feel even more care-free as you spin and glide across the ice or shelter from the cold in the lively Lodge bar.

Cornwall:

Find your own Christmas skating paradise at Cornwall’s eco-haven, The Eden project, and whizz by tropical plants and greenery from inside its soaring white geodomes. Parents taking skating-shy little ones or toddlers to the Eden project can shun the skates and walk across the ice in special children’s sessions, where the excited little things can make-believe they’re in giant, domed igloos – not far from Santa’s North Pole workshop.

Don’t forget to check our Cornwall hotels for winter-warming deals.

Celebrate Christmas with some seasonal feasting!

Source: The Guardian

The festive season is fast approaching and gourmet chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall tell us, Christmas isn’t just a time for celebrating – but feasting.

And with stuffed birds, slow-roasted meats, mulled wines, creamy cheeses, fresh breads, glazed vegetables, cakes, puddings and more spread across many a Christmas table, it’s little surprise that Christmas t’is the season to be jolly – particularly if you’re a food fan.

But if choosing between turkey, goose, duck, chicken, ham, salmon, beef and other firm Christmas dinner-table favourites is enough to shake a little sparkle from the season, why not indulge in more than one festive feast this winter?

Just the thought of leaving the basting and stuffing and peeling and plucking to the kitchen-bound Nigellas, Hestons, Gordons and Jamies is enough to have my mouth-watering – and that’s before I’ve even got to thinking fondly of the brandy-butter and mince pies to be eaten during an indulgent dinner break.

Whether you’re looking to shop and feast on a two night break before Christmas day itself, or want to retreat far from home and bickering relatives long-after the crackers have been pulled, we’ve two night dinner breaks to top hotels and destinations across the UK to choose from – ensuring that you can wine and dine in true Christmas spirit.

So whether you’re looking to go to historic Stratford-upon-Avon – home of the bard – or glamorous Glasgow, you’ll find plenty to tickle your taste buds.

And even if you’re not fussed about the thought of Christmas dinners themselves and are a bit more “bah humbug!” when it comes to the festive season, you’ll be able to make sure that you don’t miss out on the gastronomic delights with our UK hotel and dinner package deals throughout the year.

Getting cosy this Christmas

Posted by Becky

One of my favourite things when I was a child was when my parents brought home the Radio Times and we could all plan what we would watch during the Christmas holidays. Now with Christmas just around the corner I’ve got out the TV guide and am planning my days viewing.

With the door tightly closed and treats to hand there is nothing better than getting together with family to enjoy the magic of Christmas TV. I’m sure my niece will love watching all the antics of the Meerkats on BBC2 on Christmas morning, while my nephews will be keen to catch up with all the Dr Who action in the evening.

In years past we have all gathered together amidst the discarded paper and piled up gifts to settle down after dinner and relax in front of a film. Flicking through my guide I can see that there is a great selection of family films throughout the day to keep everyone entertained.

As the family leaves and the night draws in I can sit back and unwind with some late night comedy on Channel 4. Alan Carr’s Tooth Fairy live show will see me through to the end of the evening.

What will you be watching this year? Maybe the best Christmas adverts on Channel 5, just catching up with Family guy or viewing as many Christmas films as possible.

Give Scrooge a smile with a Bah Humbug break

Lacking Christmas cheer? Refusing to write Christmas cards? Hate itchy ill-patterned Christmas knits? Can’t face pulling another cracker? Tearing down the tinsel? Plugging your ears at the very mention of Christmas carols?

If you think arghhhhh instead of fah-lah-lah-lah-lah (or know a certain Scrooge-like someone who does), why not head on a “bah humbug!” break and leave traditional Christmas festivities far behind?

Whether you’d like to make for sunnier climes or stay closer to home, it’s easy to leave Christmas (and those bickering relatives and Brussel sprouts!) far behind and swap traditional seasonal breaks for something a bit-less festive and a bit more cheer-worthy.

Sick of Christmas shopping or perusing craft stalls at traditional Christmas markets? Spend a shopping-break in the glittering arcades and glamorous shopping malls of Dubai.

Want to say “Boo! Hiss!” to the seasonal panto? Try a trip to Paris‘s famous Moulin Rouge and have an alternative Christmas knees up.

Think ‘stuff the turkey!’ when it comes to seasonal dinners? Throw some shrimps on the barbie in Australia and swap snow for glorious sunshine.

Bored of family board games? Swap Cluedo for a murder mystery break that lets you get in on the action, and with a group of potential new friends to boot.

Hate festive channel hopping? Why not swap the television for the scenery of the Lake District or the rugged Scottish Highlands on a mini break that will let you get closer to nature in real life, not just through the Christmas TV guide.

However you’d like to spend the season, remember there’s always a bah humbug break for those who just don’t do Christmas.