Bugbog Travel Guides and Pictures Happy New Year of the Dragon!
Some good weather destinations for March - April 2012: Walk China's Great Wall; climb dunes in the Sahara Desert, Morocco; stroll Kathmandu, Nepal; see festivals in Japan.   Bugbog Pages   March - April and the good times start to roll in the northern hemisphere as springtime spreads the green and flamboyant festivals in Europe spread the cheer, even if the Eurozone has morphed into a well stuffed turkey over the last few months. You gotta laugh. Americans meanwhile will be celebrating pretty good economic news as well as the departure of winter. Note that Easter day is April 8 and America's Spring Break for most college students runs from March 5-9 and 12-16, so around those times hotel prices will soar and accommodation options shrink. Americas, March - April: Tourists heading towards southern USA in springtime, whether California, Texas or Florida, will find beach resorts humming under warm blue skies and both Disneylands hyperactive as this is the best time to visit. Florida tempts tourists with some superb festivals such as Daytona Bike Week [March 9-18, two wheels god], Epcot International Garden Festival [March-May], Florida Strawberry Festival [1 -11 March] while away from the beaches 17 March sees St Patricks Day celebrations and parades, especially in US east coast cities and San Francisco; 3 March is the start of the Iditarod Dog Sled race in Anchorage, Alaska; 19-29 April Texas goes wild during the San Antonio Fiesta with a variety of lunatic events. Up in Whistler, Canada, the ski season winds down with a massive free concert blow-out at the Telus Ski and Snowboard Festival [13-22 April]. For a low-cost exotic trip with definite sunshine and easygoing culture Mexico and Cuba are just a hop away, though Americans wishing to visit beach resorts in Mexico beware spring break madness [mostly 5-9 and 12-16 March] and Cuba tourists would have to travel via Mexico, Canada or Bahamas [with separate bookings] to avoid State Department penalties. Europe, March - April: This is the season of unhinged European Festivals so travelers might consider a two--for-one. See a spectacular city under the influence of a crazed and colourful event. March warms up with pre-Lent festivities such as Nice Carnival [17 February-March 4, parades and giant effigies] in the south of France, Spain's literally explosive Fallas de Valencia [15-19 March, an old city wired for fire] and Ireland's St Patrick's Day in Dublin [16-19 March]. April offers more striking action with the exceptional Semana Santa [Holy Week, pointy hat processions] in Spain's gorgeous Seville as well as the more upbeat La Feria de Abril [24-29 April, lots of horsey activities], Netherland's Orange Day in Amsterdam [30 April, a wild mass of colour orange, music, booze and dope]. Asia/Africa March - April: For best value beaches with almost certain sunshine and warmth near Europe sunseekers might take a short flight to Egypt's Red Sea. Cairo's a riotious mess but Red Sea beaches are well away from the rough stuff and cheap because of the capital's problems. Tourists could also safely take advantage of the massive drop in visitor numbers to see Luxor's incredible temples and tombs without the incredible crowding. Morocco seems to have survived the Arab Spring without much upheaval so beaches in the south, the Sahara desert and exotic culture are all attractive, though Moroccan food is short of appeal. The weather in the Spanish Canary Islands is superb in the spring and the islands offer a huge number of package holidays and varied and lively environments even if Easter prices will be higher and the Atlantic waters will still be cold, so consider a hotel with heated pool. South Africa is in Autumn, the big heat is off, it's inexpensive, there's no jet lag from Europe and English is spoken! In Asia China, Japan and Nepal are at their extraordinary best for tourism in March/April, though the weather is by no means guaranteed. Other Asian countries have little appeal at this time. Whatever, wherever, have a happy New Year of the Dragon!
Special Deals and Vacation offers from Tour Operators: Trek America discounts [USA, Canada, Central America] Adventure Life discounts [Latin America, Alaska, Antarctica] Adventure South specials [New Zealand] UncoverTheWorld Specials: Egypt, Nepal, Thailand Intrepid Travel special promotions [Worldwide] Special deals on city breaks or adventure holidays.

Saving money on low cost flights

Times are still tough for world travel with austerity budgets spreading and fuel/flight costs higher than ever, so consider a vacation destination that isn't long-haul and do some thorough research.

There are obvious downsides to flying with low cost airlines so check 'legacy' airlines, their fares may be competitive if you take in account all the extras [food, drink, baggage+!] and if you have problems you are much more likely to receive satisfaction.

Flight Travel Tips:
1: Book online and pay by debit card, [Ryanair may charge for this]. If using a tour operator check they have ATOL insurance coverage. According to industry research the optimum time to pre-book is 8 weeks before departure.

2: Keep check-in baggage to the minimum, preferably zero, for cheap flights and ensure the airline knows how many bags you'll have. n.b. Ryanair will not permit musical instruments as hand baggage.

3: Eliminate any 'world care fund' or 'carbon footprint' contributions - they probably go straight into the airline's revenue stream.

4: If you already have travel insurance make sure the airline doesn't add it to your charge by default. If not, check offerings through a price comparison site, and consider multi-trip insurance if you take more than one holiday abroad in a year.

5: Check flight status before leaving home.

6: If you are planning to drive yourself to the airport, choose your parking area and book it well in advance to get the cheapest rate. Alternatively explore public transport options; buses are often fast and good value for couples, though not perhaps if travelling as a family.

7: Never change money at the departure airport - apart from a little emergency cash if essential. Check around before you leave for the best exchange deals; for example the UK's Post Office offers good value. If you forget and need some cash pronto, exchanges at your destination usually give better rates, assuming you don't arrive in the middle of the night.

8: Car hire costs differ dramatically place to place, so research will be required in this area too. If you're planning to head for a city first then drive around the country, it will be easier and cheaper to taxi or bus into town from the airport then rent a car after you've finished the city sightseeing.

Check consumer rights and protection against airlines and tour operators going bust, hotel overbookings, TripAdvisor fake reviews and more. Consumer Protection.

See our cheap flights comparison listings:
UK Cheap Flight Comparisons | USA Cheap Flight Comparisons

Using bank cards abroad efficiently

Buy goodies or pay bills [checks] with credit cards when on vacation as they provide insurance as well as delayed repayment but don't draw cash out from ATMs with them [unless it's a new-wave, no-fee card]. Interest starts accruing immediately and bank exchange fees in addition to the ATM fee may be unreasonable.

It's better to buy foreign cash at home from a commission-free provider though, of course when you travel you'll have to carry a fat wad around, so the best solution depends on the security of your holiday destination. If you travel a lot and want to get cash from an ATM do some research on transaction fees and get the lowest fee debit [not credit card] card you can find.

Gap Year travellers might consider also acquiring a prepaid Travel Money Card [aka Currency Card] which can be loaded with any amount of any currency before travelling and then topped up by family or friends while the Gappist is still in the big nowhere. Compare prepaid Travel Money Cards.

And of course never pay for anything abroad in your home currency [the exchange rate will be absurd], insist on paying in local currency.

To summarise, buy stuff abroad with a credit card, but try to pay off the balance each month before interest charges blow the wheels off your trolley; get cash from ATMs with a debit card.

Finally, don't go short of travel insurance if you're going to be participating in any kind of marginally dangerous activity, or even a non-dangerous activity in a third world location, that's NOT the way to save money! Use your brain while it's intact!

Cheap Phones when travelling

Using data abroad can be expensive but most UK and US networks offer prepaid European travel data bundles –15 MB daily for a modest fee for example. In addition networks are obliged to cut you off when your monthly data bill reaches €50.

To keep data bills as low as possible, iPhone users should install Onavo. Fire up this app in a new country and it keeps you updated as to your usage and compresses data heading into your phone, thereby squeezing perhaps 50 per cent extra out of any data bundle. The app is free from iTunes for now, but charges are planned. Find a list of supported networks in almost 100 countries at Onavo. An Android version is scheduled for release later this month. For now, the 3G Watchdog app tracks your data use; it's free from the Android Market.

Unfortunately, you could eat up a few megabytes just finding your hotel on Google Maps, so these tricks still don't exactly enable seamless home-and-abroad smartphone use.

To avoid data bills altogether, switch roaming off before you leave. On an iPhone, push the data roaming slider to off at Settings>General>Network. Android users should uncheck data roaming at Settings>Wireless & Networks >Mobile Networks. This eliminates some of your phone's functionality, but it doesn't hobble it altogether – and has the odd benefit, such as extending battery life. Instant access to a local map is one of the smart-phone's key benefits for travel, and all is not lost if you're without a web connection.

Android users can pre-download a map covering a 10-mile radius from anywhere: enable the 'Download map area' feature via the Labs tab in your Google Maps app and follow instructions. For iPhone users, an app called ForeverMap gives offline access to zoomable European country maps. Destinations outside Europe should be available soon. Download whatever countries you need over Wi-Fi before you leave. Any onboard map should work in tandem with your device's inbuilt GPS to guide you as you walk without using data.

If you're downloading a travel-guide app, make sure that it also includes 'offline maps'.
- Time Out publishes iPhone apps, with a range of eight cities.
- Lonely Planet covers over 70 destinations.
- Apps from Spotted by Locals are written by locally-based writers with a real insider voice and offbeat cities among 33 titles.
- Travelfish's eight apps are the best for Asia.
- The best Android traveller apps are in the DK Eyewitness Top 10 series covering 10 cities.
Source: Telegraph newspaper, UK.

The cheapest foreign phone options are:

1 - Skype phone by internet via wifi on a laptop/smart phone/or even iPod Touch, costs are tiny tho' sound quality can be erratic. We're especially impressed by international video calls from a iPod Touch 4 in a wifi zone to a PC via Skype, incredible sound quality and pretty good pictures. USE WIFI WHERE POSSIBLE.

2 - sign up with the new breed of cheap international calls providers.

3 - get a 'world' sim card at home or buy a new sim card on arrival at your destination and change the card over. The main drawback is number will be new and you may have to own an unlocked phone [either get your unlocked or buy an already unlocked extra phone], but it's convenient and you only pay for what you use if you buy the right package.

4 - check out new generation phone cards to call just about anywhere.

'The world is a book and those who do not travel read only a page' St. Augustine

Bugbog is an independent travel guide that helps plan holidays - whether it's beaches, wildlife safaris, adventure travel, exotic vacations or European tours - quickly and efficiently. We provide guides to the world's best destinations, with key tourist information, festival dates, travel pictures, travel health and safety advice, maps, videos and thousands of useful exit links.

We summarise the best times to go, good and bad points of different great holiday destinations and give you an idea of what they look like with a mass of travel pictures in various photo galleries as well as some informative and scary stuff in World Travel Videos.

Bugbog is not attempting to be a detailed reference, but rather a concise and inspirational guide for fast, informed destination decision-making. Use us, then buy the guide book!

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