29 January 2010

P&O Ferries sale on Dover to Calais crossing

P&O Ferries have launched a winter sale on their Dover Calais ferry crossing to France. Prices are as low as £20 each way for a car or motorbike and its passengers. The sale does not apply to the already highly competitive prices for foot passengers.

As with all these promotions the actual price will depend on the crossing time, but these bargains are available on many sailings right through the year. The sale starts right now, January 27th, and continues for bookings made until February 2nd at 22.00.

So visit our page for P&O Ferries Dover to Calais ferry crossings and click to pick up a great deal.

18 January 2010

P&O Ferries to axe Portsmouth to Bilbao crossing

P&O Ferries has announced it will be withdrawing its vessel the Pride of Bilbao from the ferry route from Portsmouth, England to Bilbao in the north of Spain. The last sailing will be on September 27th 2010.

The route has been losing money since 2001, and the Pride of Bilbao is now nearing the end of its working life, so P&O have decided not to replace the ship. All bookings up to the final day will of course be honoured, and any bookings already made beyond that date will be reimbursed in full.

Coincidentally Brittany Ferries recently decided to purchase a second luxury cruise ferry for the crossing from Portsmouth to Santander in Northern Spain. This ferry has now been named Cap Finistere and will start work in March 2010.

More on the P&O Ferries Portsmouth Bilbao ferry crossing.
More on the Brittany Ferries Portsmouth Santander ferry crossing.

8 January 2010

New Year Offers from Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris are really out to attract your custom! They have a couple of very enticing offers at the moment.

New Year Offer - From £150 per Adult for a 2 night/3 Day stay at Disneyland Paris PLUS All Kids Go FREE!

Your Holiday package includes:
- Accommodation in a Disney Hotel including breakfast
- Tickets to the 2 Disney® Parks for each day AND
- All Kids Go Free
Just Book by 15th February for arrivals from 3rd January to 1st April 2010

Strikes us as a pretty good deal!
Visit the Drive-Alive Disneyland Paris page to book the Disneyland New Year Special.
Need to book a ferry, Eurotunnel or Eurostar?

7 January 2010

Vehicle breakdown insurance - Green Flag our choice

Because we aim to be the premier website for driving holidays in Europe, we believe we should offer Vehicle Breakdown Insurance as a part of our service.

After our research we have decided to partner with Green Flag. Together with the AA and RAC, Green Flag are the foremost providers of this valuable cover. None of these three are the cheapest, but we think reliability and speed of response are vital factors in considering which breakdown insurer to choose.

The AA states that it has an average arrival time of 40 minutes, while RAC aims to get to you within 40 minutes.* Green Flag claim they take an average of under 30 minutes to get to breakdowns.**

And if you only want basic UK cover then prices start from just £20 per year. European short-term cover starts from £10.40 for one day, while a 3 day trip will cost just £25.70. Two weeks cover is available for £51. Green Flag also offer annual European cover which is great value if you travel abroad frequently by car.

Click for more on Green Flag Vehicle Breakdown Insurance

*Source: AA and RAC websites, July 2009)
**based on 770,718 callouts, Oct '08 – Sep '09

5 January 2010

Petrol and Diesel Price Comparison chart update

The Drive-Alive chart comparing fuel prices in Europe has just been updated, using data acquired during December 2009.

Prices have been reasonably static since our last update. Diesel is cheaper than petrol in every country surveyed, except the UK.

Luxembourg is the cheapest country in the EU for petrol, closely followed by Spain. In what used to be Western Europe Switzerland also offers low prices, as do most of the former Eastern European countries.

In the rest of western Europe Austria is reasonable, while the other countries, including the UK, are all within a few Euros of each other.

Click to view Petrol and Diesel prices in Europe.

4 January 2010

Brittany Ferries - Portsmouth to Santander - twice the service

Brittany Ferries has enjoyed a great start to its ferry service to Santander from Portsmouth. The service was only launched in March 2009, yet it has proved so successful that Brittany Ferries has acquired another luxury cruise ferry to run an additional two return trips per week.

Starting in March 2010 there will now be four car ferry services operated by Brittany Ferries to Santander, three from Portsmouth and one from Plymouth.

The new ship does not yet have a name, but it will operate the route along with Brittany Ferries' flagship, the Pont-Aven. Both vessels share a high cruising speed which means that the Portsmouth Santander ferry crossing takes just 24 hours, the fastest route from Portsmouth to Northern Spain. The new vessel also enjoys similar high quality facilities to the Pont-Aven, namely great restaurants and bars, excellent shopping facilities, a movie lounge, on board entertainment and, weather permitting, a swimming pool.

The two routes to Santander, from Portsmouth and Plymouth, offer a speedy and convenient way to get to the relatively untouched delights of this beautiful part of Spain, rightly known as Green Spain.

When the new ship is not on the Portsmouth Santander crossing she will augment the current Portsmouth Cherbourg crossing.

More information on the Portsmouth Santander ferry crossing from Brittany Ferries.
More information on all Brittany Ferries' routes to France and Spain.