France Hire Car Holidays Popular Again

According to reports, France self-drive holidays are becoming more popular again for us Brits. Car hire is preferable to flying due to more stringent security checks and resulting delays at airports.

One of the advantages of hiring a car in France or travelling by rail is that, under the right circumstances, the journey can become a pleasurable part of the holiday. Unfortunately, car hire prices have increased quite substantially compared to the same time last year according to a recent survey by Travel Supermarket, so the advice is to book early and look out for deals.

France is well known for its appeal to foodies. Local markets are a fantastic source of fresh produce for the self caterer looking for something other than supermarket offerings, not to mention an ideal place to practise language skills with the locals.

There is also a lot of history to discover, such as the amazing Roman remains of France’s lost city of Glanum, a pair of monuments and an excavated Roman town on a site dating from the 4th century BC, which is accessible by car or bicycle from Via Aurelia.

Driving from Calais to the South of France is made considerably easier and enjoyable by the high quality of the French autoroutes. You will pass through pleasantly undulating countryside, past sleepy villages with plenty of places to stop and break up the journey before reaching the coast.

New York Marathon Win For Yamauchi

Mara Yamauchi made a stunning comeback to racing at the weekend, winning the New York Half Marathon, setting a new course record of 1hr 9mins 17secs.

The New York event is seen as a warm up to the London Marathon in just under 5 weeks time. Professional runners often use these events as part of their training, Mara Yamauchi has only recently returned to racing after a foot injury.

The Japan based British runner was forced to miss the World Championships in Berlin due to the foot injury and produced an excellent performance to overhaul the American Deena Kastor who was leading by 200m with 2 miles left of the race.

St Patrick's Day Mate's Rates Flights

Good news for people flying to Ireland with Etihad Airways this month. In recognition of St Patrick's Day, they have introduced special Irish Mate's Rates Fares. Couples can get the mate's rates through Etihad's companion fares. Its not clear how widespread the offer is, it seems to be available in Australia, but its not obvious whether its available from other parts of the world as well.

It may be worth taking advantage of the special offer by using Ireland as a stop off for flights to London for example. Ireland is a lovely place and would make an excellent add-on to a holiday with flights to the UK. There is a choice of transport for the crossing the the UK mainland of course. Flying is the quickest and easiest way to get to London, but for people with more time, a ferry crossing might allow more time to take in the view.

Tenerife Retirement For Ricky Hatton?

Ricky "Hit Man" Hatton has allegedly confided to his friends he may hang up his gloves for good.

The statement came as he was on a friend's stag weekend in Tenerife. Hatton was knocked out for several minutes by his opponent in his last fight and was undertaking a light training schedule at the end of an Australian holiday, but possibly hired a car in Tenerife shortly afterwards to join his friends.

Spain is a popular destination year round, so flight bargains are easy to come by. Once there, the easiest way to get around is car rental, once again there are generally a variety of good deals to be had with a bit of searching around. It's always a good idea to book well in advance in busy periods as there is a well documented shortage of hire cars in Spain, leaving may disappointed and more to the point, without transport.

Hatton is reputedly enjoying the social scene of Tenerife and is more than 50lbs over his fighting weight at a little over 14 stones. Official sources say he hasn't reached a firm decision yet, but if I was close to him, I'd be trying to persuade him to stop. He's had a distinguished career and the fact that he lost his last fight isn't going to change that.

Triple Marathon Run For Charity

Its quite incredible what people will put themselves through to raise money for charity. At this time of year, some people are running multiple marathons - I have been watching the story of Eddie Izzards amazing achievement in aid of Sport Relief, something in the order of 42 marathons in 50 days and its quite a moving story.

The London Marathon is the biggest single day charity fundraising event on the planet and it is incorporated into multiple marathon runner Marcus Fearon's fundraising efforts for the Anthony Nolan Trust, which researches Leukemia treatment.

Marcus is running three marathons this year, the first was the Barcelona Marathon which he completed on Sunday, he is then running the London Marathon on 26th April, and he will finish with the Berlin Marathon in December.

He hopes to raise £1,500 for the charity and can be sponsored via his Just Giving Page at www.justgiving.com/marcus-fearon.

Hala Abu Dhabi

Hala Abu Dhabi is Etihad Airway's new destination management company. Based in Abu Dhabi, it will offer travel products, services and activities throughout all seven Emirates of the UAE and will include:-

• tours and desert safaris;
• event management;
• bespoke experience packages and VIP services;
• airport meet and assist;
• ground transportation;
• a full range of accommodation options - from luxury to economy;
• world-class business conference and meeting venues with state of the art technology and facilities.

“Our Hala Abu Dhabi team has recently developed and managed inbound packages for the very successful Formula 1™ Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2009, and the V8 Supercars hosted in Abu Dhabi last month,” Mr Baumgartner said.

Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority wants to increase the number of guests staying in Abu Dhabi hotels from 1.5million in 2009, to 1.65 million in 2010. There are a number of new tourist attractions to help boost visitor numbers, such as Ferrari World Abu Dhabi – the world’s largest indoor theme park –, the Louvre Abu Dhabi, the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi and the eco-friendly Saadiyat Beach Golf Course, designed by golfing legend Gary Player as the Arabian Gulf’s only ‘ocean’ course with several beachfront holes.

Spanish Car Rentals Shortage To Continue 2010

It looks as if car hire shortages are set to continue into 2010. The car rental industry was one of the worst affected areas of tourism in the recession last year, with Spain hardest hit.

The recession meant that car rental companies cut the size of their fleets significantly last year in order to save money. Not surprisingly this led to shortages, especially at peak times such as bank holidays. Car hire in Spain was particularly difficult to secure if it was not booked well in advance as it is one of the most popular destinations in Europe.

A similar situation is anticipated this summer as rental car companies have not replenished their stocks of cars to hire out. It is worth keeping an eye out though as some car hire bargains may become available.

The best advice is still to book a hire car well in advance to avoid disappointment as well as avoiding potentially higher costs when booking a car on arrival. Many people were disappointed last year when they landed at Malaga airport to find that there were no cars left. There is always the taxi or bus option, but it's not as convenient as the freedom of your own car, so book ahead if you need your own transport.