CD Traveller » Travel Partners

Win a pair of tickets to the Cruise Show

Editor — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 08:00:07 +0000

Thanks to the team at the Cruise Show we have 20 pairs of tickets to give away. Held in Glasgow at the SCCC on 23rd and 24th October and at the NEC in Birmingham from the 29-30th October, all you have to do is send an e-mail to competition@cruisingshow.com with CD-Traveller in the subject line. Add your name and address so they know where to send the tickets to and e-mail by midday on Monday 17th October. Twenty names will be drawn randomly and the tickets will be posted to you the following day.
To find more about the show click here.
If you’re not lucky enough to win one of the twenty pairs of tickets you will still be able to save £4 on a £10 ticket by booking in advance.
If you’ve not been to Cruise before then bring a pen with you. Why? Because most cruise companies there will probably be having a draw for a free cruise for two. That means there will probably be over a dozen different free cruise competitions once you get there.
Watch out for Telegraph Travel’s cruise correspondent Jane Archer who will be letting you know both on Saturday and Sunday what to look out for in 2012. And if you haven’t cruised before, there will be advice in the clinics. And you can talk to other visitors and get the lowdown on what cruising is really like. It must be great because the number of people cruising is rapidly increasing even in these times. And more and more cruise companies like Thomson for example, are basing cruise ships in UK ports so no flight delays, airport queues of changing money into a different currency.
Ocean and river cruises will both be represented as will adventure cruises, a burgeoning part of the market.
Good luck in the competition!

Discover Britain’s Gardens, Historic Homes & Castles

Editor — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:30:55 +0000

One of the problems with deciding where to go is the information that you start with. Many guides are out-of-date as soon as they are published. What is open and when can vary quickly so a new, quarterly magazine called Discover Britain’s Gardens, Historic Homes & Castles is useful for the regular day-tripper as well as the traveller.
It is an all-colour magazine with a minimum of 56 pages per issue. Coincidentally there were 56 articles in the last issue which gave information about opening times, admission prices, contact details and even some events were listed. More than a magazine, it is part guidebook (but more up-to-date) and part news source about our gardens and heritage.
We have decided to make this our first reader offer so we contacted them. Now, each CD-Traveller reader is entitled to a 50% discount on the subscription price by clicking here.

Buckinghamshire

Editor — Wed, 04 May 2011 02:30:12 +0000

Burnham Beeches, Bucks

Ever visited Buckinghamshire? Have you been to Aylesbuy? Walked the Chilterns? Been on the Grand Central Canal? Followed the Roald Dahl trail?

Do you think of Buckinghamshire as London commuter land and nothing more? Or do you link it with the name of a duke in The Three Musketeers who was given diamonds by the Queen of France? Some people even think there is a palace there?

Whatever your thoughts, we need your help. In partnership with Visit Buckinghamshire we are conducting research to find out what people think of the Buckinghamshire. Would you visit it or holiday in the county? Have you been there? Please help by clicking here and spending a few minutes answering the questions. The results will be published in CD-Traveller in the early summer.

Image courtesy of VisitBritain

Win a Glencoe Shortbreak

Editor — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 08:41:30 +0000

Glencoe, Scotland, looking north.

Glencoe is a popular destination for walkers and skiers. Rather than just being looked on as a place to visit in the winter, it has more people who meander over its stark countryside in the summer. Now Glencoe calls itself an area for all seasons.

So here is an opportunity to renew your acquaintance with the area or visit it for the first time because the local tourist association, Discover Glencoe, have just launched a prize draw to win a 3 day break for two people.

Birchbrae Lodges near Fort William, Lochaber

Some draws offer a single prize. Some holidays are just at one place. This prize draw allows you to experience 3 different parts of the attractions that make up Glencoe. To start with, the lucky couple will stay at one of the luxury lodges operated by Birchbrae. There are only 7 lodges and all are of Scandinavian design and construction. About 8 miles south of Fort William, the lodges are surrounded by woodland so just out of the front door and you’re already in a walker’s paradise.

At the Loch Leven Hotel, the second part of the prize will be dinner. At the foot of Glencoe in Ballachulish is this old inn that dates back to Bonnie Prince Charlie with stunning views and food you’ll remember.

Loch Leven Hotel, North Ballachulish, Lochaber

Finally what could be more Scottish than to enjoy a round of golf. But this round will be at the Dragon’s Tooth Golf Course by the side of Loch Linnhe at Glenachulish. It’s one of the more recent golf courses but has become a fast and firm favourite.

Dragon's Tooth Golf Course, Ballachulish, Lochaber

To enter you need to do two things. The first is to go to the website, http://www.discoverglencoe.com/Discover_Glencoe_Competition and the second is to sign up for the newsletter. There is one question to answer and then e-mail your answer in to enter. (Try looking at the website for the answer!)

Good luck to all our readers and let us know if you win.

Buckinghamshire, Caldicot Castle, Glencoe, Littlehampton and Scottish Borders

Editor — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:31:47 +0000

These are the names of the winners of the Tourism 2010 grants which are sponsored by Travel XRay (jointly owned by Arkenford and Consumerdata) and CD-Traveller.

The awards are for those destinations that feel they could encourage more visitors to come to them but are constrained by any number of reasons be it financial, staffing or whatever. In practical terms, each destination will receive marketing support over the next year and you will be able to read stories about them in CD-Traveller. Each will have their own pages in the “Partners” section.

So who are the winners?

Buckinghamshire, named after an Anglo-Saxon landowner, is a county to the north west of London. Major towns include Aylesbury (the county town), High Wycombe, Buckingham itself, Marlow and the London Metropolitan outskirt places of Amersham and Chesham. Two features are the Grand Union Canal that snakes through the county as do the Chiltern Hills.

Caldicot Castle is a Norman castle set in 55 acres just off the Severn Bridge in Monmouthshire. Now maintained by the local county council, the castle is open to the public for a fee but free to anyone who lives in Monmouthshire. Over the years it has probably not attracted as many tourists as it could since other castles in the county have received more promotion.

Glencoe & Loch Leven is a relatively small community with just 80 members in its marketing group. Probably best known for the massacre of the MacDonalds in 1692, much of the land is owned by the National Trust for Scotland. Hiking and walking are two obvious attractions since there are 43 Munros within a short distance to climb. Stunning scenery is what draws the tourists to this rural part of Scotland

Littlehampton is found on the south coast in West Sussex. Possibly overshadowed by some of its bigger neighbours like Worthing, Brighton and Bognor Regis, Littlehampton is more than a family, sandy beach seaside resort. Most visitors come for just the day so that means there are few visitors from abroad or even from very far away.

The Scottish Borders are within an hour’s drive of Edinburgh, Glasgow or Newcastle. And that maybe the problem. Often it is a place you drive through rather than stay over. So the Borders will be trying to persuade you to visit the area for the scenery, the heritage links with Robert the Bruce, Robert Adam and Walter Scott and the home of Scottish cashmere.

Regrettably there is no Irish winner as no entries were received.

British Travel Awards

Editor — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:19:34 +0000

Most of you will have come back from your holiday by now. You might still be thinking of the great times you had. Well if that’s true, and you have had a terrific time with whoever you went with, then here is your chance to let us know.

The British Travel Awards reward those companies that you, the holidaymaker, the traveller vote for. Nobody in the business can vote for these consumer awards, they are just for you.. If you had good service, went to a destination and had such a great time that you want to tell everyone, then vote them an award. Click on the button below, or the following link http://www.britishtravelawards.com/tip_rp.php to vote. There you will find categories for just about every type of holiday and travel. Vote for who impressed you the most.

See the website for full details of the prizes and keep on looking as new prizes are being added. A full list is at http://www.britishtravelawards.com/prize_main.php

But do vote, let us know which is your favourite. And as ever, if you have any other thoughts on your holidays or travel send them to me at editor@cd-traveller .com