Travel

Virgin East Coast has announced this morning that they will offer a further 22,000 seats on the Edinburgh to London route and that they have been given permission to run a further 42 services per week from May.This means that there will be a further four trains in each direction from 16 May onwards, ensuring that the Edinburgh to...

Nira Caledonia reopened on Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony, some fizz and canapés. It has been closed for a nine month refurbishment following a fire last year in Gloucester Place.The work entailed 3 km of cabling, 300 litres of paint, 2000 square metres of carpet and 1092 square metres of wallpaper.The result is a stunning boutique hotel with...

THE LAVENDER SPA AT ATHOLL PALACE HOTEL  – REJUVENATION 21ST CENTURY STYLE!Drawing on its heritage as a Victorian health hydro, the luxurious Lavender Spa at the Atholl Palace Hotel in Pitlochry uses the powers of natural spring water to rejuvenate and restore. The water, which comes from the nearby mountains of Ben-y-Vrackie, is unique to the Atholl Palace and is...

For the first time, solo travel has tipped the balance of hotel bookings with one in three weekend visitors to Jurys Inn being a single traveller.The desire to have ‘me’ time, see new places, and get away from everyday life are the top reasons Brits have been taking more solo trips for pleasure this year.The hotel group, with Scottish...

London North Eastern Railway (LNER) will have hundreds of thousands of tickets for sale from Tuesday to cover the Christmas and New Year period.Tickets will apply to travel between 21 December and 6 January 2023.You can sign up today for alerts on the LNER website and App.David Horne, Managing Director at LNER, said: “We are looking forward to...

According to research conducted for Expedia Edinburgh Castle is one of the most Instagrammable Sights in the UK, coming in at number 7, just ahead of Glencoe.The research totted up the number of Instagram posts and unique hashtags over the year to determine the results and found that Edinburgh Castle was photographed on the social media site 294,255 times...

Quinta do Lago in Portugal’s sun-kissed Algarve is synonymous for golf and boasts three testing courses which are claimed to be among Europe’s best. Accolades including being named Europe’s Best Golf Destination at the World Golf Awards in 2015 and 2016. And, they were given Editors’ Choice Award for Best International Resorts in 2016 and 2017 by Golf Digest. It is...

With the quirky touch of public rooms named after Shetland Ponies originally stabled in the nearby Stud on the estate, it is obvious that there is a great deal of history surrounding the original buildings which now form part of Garvock House Hotel in Dunfermline!Formerly known as Transy House, the House was owned by a wealthy family and formed...

The Giant’s Causeway was once named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in Britain.I can see why. It is a mind-boggling arrangement of mostly hexagonal columns.And the tops form stepping stones that lead from the base of a large cliff and disappear under the sea.That description does not do this UNESCO World Heritage Site justice.It is a must see...

We have been watching it take shape and now The Edinburgh Grand opens its (very big) doors to the very first guests today.This is one of Edinburgh’s landmark buildings and the renovation has been carefully choreographed by Chris Stewart.Today will be the very first time the doors have been opened to the former bank building since the Royal Bank...

M8 Motorway users are set to benefit from an improved road surface at Ratho, with £750,000 worth of resurfacing set to begin on Monday 30 November. The overnight works will see 2,990m of the eastbound carriageway resurfaced, creating smoother and safer journeys for road users.To keep roadworkers and motorists safe during these works, the eastbound M8 will be closed...

Loganair has cut the number of flights from Edinburgh Airport and others throughout Scotland due to the impact of coronavirus.The airline has cut half of its flights for April and May and will put a quarter of its aircraft into temporary storage.Loganair’s Chief Executive Jonathan Hinkles said: “The coronavirus situation has worsened materially in the last four...

Ryanair announced its new Edinburgh to Cornwall route for Summer 2023, operating twice per week from June to September. Edinburgh customers looking to bag a bargain on their summer staycation can now book Ryanair’s new Cornwall route on Ryanair.com.Ryanair’s Dara Brady said: “Ryanair is pleased to announce our new Edinburgh to Cornwall route for Summer ‘23, giving Ryanair’s Edinburgh customers even...

VisitScotland Chief Executive, Malcolm Roughead, claims Scotland continues to be a must-visit destination in the global tourism market.He was responding to the release of the International Passenger Survey (IPS) tourism statistics by the UK Office of National Statistics (ONS).Mr Roughead said: “These latest figures show that Scotland continues to punch above its weight in a hugely competitive global market,...

Dan Brown's mystery thriller, the Da Vinci Code, was published 20 years ago and the novel has had an enormous impact to visitor numbers to atmospheric Rosslyn Chapel in Midlothian.Ian Gardner, director, Rosslyn Chapel Trust, said the chapel continues to welcome visitors from all over the world throughout the year, seven days a week, but he stressed that the chapel is...

The lights in Southampton quayside flickered in the darkness as the flybe plane from Edinburgh made its approach over the extensive dock area. The South Coast port is, of course, synonymous with cruising with two million passengers going through the city every year.Many cruisers sadly never see this port city, jetting in and sailing immediately out, but Southampton is undergoing...

Properties are available at this holiday park within a short distance away from Edinburgh, with no site fees to pay until 2021A new phase of holiday homes has just arrived at Camelot Holiday Park, near Carlisle,in Cumbria.With prices from just £24,999 these industry leading models are from some of the UK’s top suppliers, such as Pemberton and ABI.Supplied fully...

Point A Hotels has released rooms for sale in its newest hotel in Edinburgh, meaning that nearly 4000 hotel nights will be available in August.The Point A Hotel Edinburgh, 152 Morrison St, Edinburgh EH3 8EB opens today 8 July and as a special offer the hotel is offering a 20% discount for direct bookings on PointAHotels.com. The latest addition to the Point A Hotels...

A BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP THAT’S 20 YEARS IN THE BAKING!Kenmore Bakery used its special 25th Anniversary Afternoon Tea, held on Saturday at the bakery in Acharn, Kenmore, to thank one of its most loyal customers in the Highland Perthshire area, which has been buying the bakery’s award winning shortbread for nearly twenty years.Five star Mains of Taymouth Country Estate & Golf...

Historic Mansion House on Unst, Shetland thanks its funders, supporters and customers as it looks ahead to post pandemic recoveryThe historic Belmont House on Unst, Shetland, now run as a commercial self catering business, is celebrating the 25th Anniversary of its rescue by five volunteers whose connections to, and love of the island, inspired them to step in to...

Ryanair have announced more routes to be added to their Winter 2021/22 schedule from Edinburgh Airport.The total number of routes which the airline is flying from Edinburgh is now 50 with hopes for tourism recovery in Europe. The four new routes include Cork, Madrid, Palermo and Paris. Beauvais.Ryanair’s Director of Marketing, Dara Brady said:“Ryanair remains committed to re-building...

Following its purchase by Karma Group, a collection of worldwide luxury resorts established by British entrepreneur John Spence, Karma Lake of Menteith is able to offer its guests the opportunity to taste a very special red wine created and blended by John Spence himself, together with his 90-year-old father, Mike.A 2019 Bordeaux, the wine, which John has named Père et...

Scotrail is putting millions of half-price tickets up for sale between 26 January and 2 February for travel before the end of February.This is part of the Yours to Use campaign to encourage more people to use the train than the car this winter.The half-price tickets can be purchased in the following ways, quoting the promo code SALE23: Online at scotrail.co.uk/sale. Via...

SILVERWOOD LOCHAN ADDS EXTRA ATTRACTION TO STUNNING NEW PERTHSHIRE RESORTA new luxury lodge resort at Errol in Perthshire is offering an additional attraction for both lodge holiday makers and visitors – its own fully stocked small trout loch, or “lochan”, an old Scottish word for a small loch.Silverwood Luxury Resort is situated between Perth and Dundee in the Carse...

Jet2.com has partnered with Yorkshire Tea to introduce the popular tea brand to its new in-flight menu and the hot drink will be available to buy on-board or offered as a hot drink option with pre-ordered adult meals.It will be served in Yorkshire Tea’s well-known, 12oz plant-based red cups and the airline's in-flight menu also has a number of other...

A luxury city hotel has come up with a novel scheme to encourage guests to book a future stay and perhaps help to shake off any misery over missing holidays.Nira Caledonia – a former ‘Boutique Hotel of the Year’ award winner located in Edinburgh’s New Town – is giving a 25% extra credit to anyone who buys a monetary voucher...

Rugby fans heading to watch Scotland in the Autumn Tests 2018 this month are being advised to take note of traffic and travel information.In their first match this Saturday (10 November, kick-off 2.30pm), Scotland are playing host to Fiji and tens of thousands of spectators are expected to flock to BT Murrayfield Stadium for the sell-out fixture. To ensure pedestrian...

New direct flights to Turkey will begin next year.A new service between Edinburgh and Turkey will launch for summer 2022 as SunExpress will begin to fly to and from Edinburgh Airport.The new service to Antalya will begin in April 2022 operating on Tuesdays and Saturdays, then stepping up to Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from May 24 2022. The service...

The Bay Hotel has just celebrated its ten year anniversary since opening its doors in 2008, when it was added to the popular ‘Bay Leisure Complex’ at Pettycur Bay Holiday Park in Kinghorn, Fife.The Hotel was a major development for the Wallace family, who aimed to add an extra dimension to their successful leisure business by creating a visually appealing, high standard,...

Swap the city for the highlands with Highland Safaris Autumn WatchLooking to get out into the fresh air this autumn? Discover the sights and sounds which makes this season so special, with a short journey of around an hour and a half from Edinburgh to get to Highland Safaris at Aberfeldy.Their Autumn Watch Land Rover Safaris – taking place...