Category: France

Tyke’s travel tips

Tyke tips

Here are some travel tips for those planning a trip to south america.

1- NEVER ARRIVE AT NIGHT – chances are you’ll be making those gruelling 20 hour plus bus journeys, the last thing you want is to be wandering round a strange town with all your stuff at the dead of night.

2- YOU WILL GET ROBBED – depending on your outlook, this may be funny, mildly annoying or a personal tragedy. Keep you passport and sexually integrity intact, these things are more difficult to replace.

3- BRING A RUCKSACK NOT A SUITCASE – it may have handles, but I’m afraid that won’t cut it. Lima doesn’t have a Marriott, holiday inn, motel 8 or McDonald’s. Expect to get sand in your wheels and strange looks.
my advice buy a nice purple rucksack (like mine :)).

4- LEARN TO SPEAK SPANISH – better than waving your arms around, you can make friends and get yourself out of trouble, converse in shops etc. etc.
it costs nothing.
invaluable.

FlyBe – Birmingham to Perpignan

FlyBe operate what they call a local network, basing their business model on cheap regular flights. An alternative to other modes of transport for scheduled travellers.

It was the first time I’d been on a FlyBe flight and I was impressed that I didn’t have to walk across the runway, you could pay with plastic, and you didn’t have to queue for boarding as seats were issued at check in. All advantages over the competition, Easyjet, Ryanair et. al.

Flying conditions were more or less perfect.

It was one of the planes with propellors and having a window seat looking out I could watch the propellor spinning if I got bored, (bit like the washing machine only faster).

Would fly with them again, I think their prices could be lower though.

Thomsonfly – Nice to Coventry

Thomsonfly operate a number of services from Cov. Spawn of a much larger fish Thomson (TUI), the service on board is much the same as you would expect from an large operator. The toilets were smelling a bit, but that disappeared when we got going.

Coventry airport is the preverbial shed in a field.
From airport, was directed to small village bus stop where I waited for an hour for a bus to Cov.

In summing up: The extent of local amenities was limited, but the price for the flight was under £40.
Like Ryanair, Thomsonfly have slashed their overheads. If you don’t mind a little extra travelling, or in my case waiting around, these are the flights for you.

Budget Coté D’azur – Costs Summary

Here is a summary of the costs you can expect to pay. I have used my experiences as an example, these are not always representative of truely the cheapest, you will always find cheaper if you want to work through all the options, but here we go:

ESSENTIALS
> Flight Birmingham to Perpignan and from Nice
(£81)
thomsonfly
flybe
> Hotels/Hostels – 13 nights
(£465)
2x Barcelona – (£48)
2x Nimes – (£45)
2x Cassis – (£95)
1x St. Tropez – (£80)
5x Nice – (£197)
> Cost of Travel Barcelona – Nice (via St. Tropez)
(£68.00)
> Cost of 1 Beer – ave.
(£3.30)
> Three course set menu meal – 1 person
(£14)

ADDITIONAL OOSTS

> Cost to get into a nightclub – Nice
(£10)
> Tour bus
(£12)
> Ice cream
(£1.66)
> Marinated Mussels (France)
(£3.42) without chips