The easiest and cheapest way to travel to Scotland is by air. Direct flights to Glasgow or Edinburgh can be found from almost all of the major cities of the world. There are also a few flights from European cities to Aberdeen and Inverness. If a particular airline does not fly to Scotland directly, they may have a flight that stops at Dublin or London first. It’s important to research where airlines go and how to get there (whether with a stop or direct). Sometimes it’s cheaper to not even fly into your main airport!

Knowing an airport can save much time and hassle. Just like it’s important to think about whether or not to fly into Heathrow or Gatwick, you want to fly into the right airport in Scotland. The country is small so it’s easy to move around but you can save good money if you fly into certain airports. Here is a look at three of Scotland’s largest airports.

The airport at Glasgow is one of the busiest in the UK. Its international and domestic flights accommodate over 8 million passengers a year, flying to over 90 destinations worldwide. The arrivals areas for domestic and international passengers are at opposite ends of the main terminal building, on the ground floor. International arrivals are on the left, and UK and Ireland arrivals look to the right.

Edinburgh Airport has been recently renovated, with £100 million spent to upgrade and extend the terminals. The ground floor houses check-in for arriving passengers, with international flights on the left and domestic travellers on the right.

Over 2.5 million people travel to Aberdeen annually; this number is dominated by business travel. There are 26 daily flights to London, and many other direct flights to UK’s regional airports. The terminal comprised of one floor and has shops, boutiques, currency change counters and infant care facilities. Check-in is at the front of the concourse, and all departures and domestic arrivals are at the back of the concourse.

Founded as a 10th century fortress by a descendent of Charlemagne, Brussels has continually grown over the years until today it is home to roughly two million inhabitants. Travellers are continually visiting the city on cheap flights due to the fact that Brussels is now a major metropolis, and as well as being the largest city in Belgium doubles as the de-facto capital of the European Union. Not only does it host a number of the principal European Union institutions, it is also the home of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and ever since the end of the Second World War has been one of the major cities in the world for international politics, bringing in leaders from all around the world.

Above and beyond its importance within the international community, there are a large number of tourists coming in on flights from Edinburgh and London, as well as those heading out on flights to London, Aberdeen and many other cities.

The city is a complex mixture of medieval architecture dating back to the 10th century, juxtaposed with modern edifices. In addition, there are a variety of French and Dutch speaking communities throughout the city. French is spoken by the majority of the population these days, although it was traditionally and historically a Dutch speaking community and as a result the languages used in the markets and restaurants throughout the city will vary, depending on which district you happen to be in.

Me and my girlfriend love Spain. We’ve been traveling here for a couple of months now. We started in Torrevieja before moving up to Valencia, Madrid and Zaragoza. The one thing we’ve noticed is how different each city is. So it was with great excitement we decided to end our trip in the Catalan city of Barcelona. Barcelona is truly a tale of two cities. Spanish by name, Catalan by nature.

We arrived in Barcelona in December and were amazed that even without the Spanish sun, it looked more spectacular than any of the other cities we’d been to. The Sagrada FamÌlia is widely considered Gaudi’s master piece and it shows. We nearly forgot to check in to the hotel because we’d spent so long admiring it.

We had a bit of money left and since we were only there for a few days we splashed out on a hotel. I had been hoping that the hotels in Barcelona all looked like the Sagrada FamÌlia but my girlfriend enjoys her creature comforts so was a lot more happy in our modern hotel with fully functioning power shower.

Once we were fed and watered we decided to head out into the city for a quiet night. Iíd always assumed that Barcelona was a party city. Now this is true if that is what you are looking for. Night Clubs are legendary in this town and easy to find. Me and my lady actually prefer something a little more quirky and we decided to eat in a Frank Sinatra styled restaurant. The food was incredible and was actually really cheap.

We had managed to get a really good deal on theatre tickets online and after dinner strolled across to the Gran Teatre del Liceu to check out one of my girlfriends favorite Operas. I’ve never slept so well in all my life! The music was so loud not even my girlfriend heard my snores.

The trade for a night at the Opera was my girlfriend attending the Barcelona game the next day with me. It’s been a lifelong dream to visit the Camp Nou and I wasn’t disappointed. Even my girlfriend enjoyed it!(sort of ).

We went back online later to compare flights back to the UK and found the cheapest were actually the next day. We really wished we had stayed longer but some deals are just too good to pass up. It is not often a city can cater for two such different people but it is not so surprising when you realize it caters for two different cultures everyday.

Usually, one visits a country to see some spectacular historical buildings or the location of famous battlefields or events, to view great natural wonders, or to bask in tropical warmth and splendor. With Ireland it’s different. People visit Ireland and return often just because it’s – well – Ireland. The country is an island packed full with history. It’s a virtual museum; just the right size for a two week visit.
It’s compact. Every place is easy to get to. There are an abundance of bus tours available, and driving by rental car is easy if you can remember to drive on the left side of the road. When driving on many back roads, it makes no difference on which side you drive as the roads are only one lane wide, and oncoming cars must gracefully move to the shoulder to pass by. It seems that every other home is a Bed and Breakfast inn, and the price of accommodations is quite reasonable.

The country is filled with historical wonders. You could spend a lifetime walking to them all, and you’d never be more than ten minutes away from the next historical marvel. In the United States, we are impressed with buildings built in the 1600s. Gravestones with dates in the 1700s seem ancient and evoke awesome looks from tourists. In Ireland the concept of time and the span of history are different.

My wife and I stood in quiet respectful awe as we looked at the large monolithic grave markers at ruins of an ancient abbey to see the date 400 AD carved into the wind worn stone. I stood on a stone wall built in the fourth century, a wall which is used to this day to keep sheep from wandering. And I still get a thrill when I remember moment when I placed my hand on a Stonehenge like structure, one of many that were built 3000 years before the birth of Christ.

Don’t think, just because I babble about historical treasures, that Ireland does not offer occasions to rock and roll. Dublin and Galway have a robust and active downtown scene. Dublin is delightful with its crowded pubs, fine restaurants, excellent shopping, and a choice of fine shows where you can sip a Guinness dark while enjoying great Irish comedy, music, and dance. When you’re not eating or being entertained, you’ll find that Dublin is a great walking city, with its assortment of street musicians, mimes, and jugglers. To revert to my historical affections, The grounds of Trinity college are always open for a stroll through, and viewing the stately Post Office where the 1914 uprising began is a powerful experience – emotional if you’re Irish.
If you plan a trip to Europe in the near future, you couldn’t do better than to start with a visit to Ireland, the European country that is closest to home. The only problem with a visit to Ireland – once is never enough.

While traveling through Salzburg, Austria, we had the opportunity to visit the largest system of ice caves in the world. Eisriesenwelt made a great day trip and gave us a chance to do something that was not typical or on the itinerary for our group.

It was fast and convenient to get to the caves from Salzburg. We took a cable railway and got there in about half an hour. The cable was incredibly full of people but we were pretty used to crowded transport by this point in our trip. When we got to Eisrieswelt, we didn’t have to wait long for a tour guide to be available because a tour starts roughly every six minutes.

When we reached the entrance to the caves, we were given a lamp. During our guided tour there was additional lighting inside the caves that highlighted the ice sculptures and gave them a cool effect. It was frigid, however, and I’m very glad I had my warmest coat on as the temperatures were below freezing even though it was June.

The tour through the caves was interesting and informative. Our guide was excellent and very knowledgeable. He told us how the ice caves are made completely out of ice and rock. The caves are like a labyrinth and make up an area of over 40 km. And, even though the caves’ formation started over 100 million years ago, they are still developing today.

The only disappointing part of the tour was that we were not allowed to take any pictures. The caves were so beautiful I would’ve wanted to take some pictures. Instead I opted to purchase a postcard of the cave in the gift shop. At least I have something to remember it by.

Last summer I took a month long trip to Italy. I used a car hire italy service. We managed to visit Rome, Florence, Capri, and Venice before having to go back home. Florence was my favourite stop. Even though every city had its own fabulous attractions, Florence was just so beautiful and had so many architectural and historical landmarks to see.

While in Florence, our incredibly long, and sight-seeing filled, days took place during the incredible heat of a warmer than usual July. On one such day we had planned to see the magnificent Gothic Duomo. Before we could think any better of it, we decided that the only way to properly experience the Duomo was to climb up to the top so we could look out on the city.

However, about halfway up the 463 steps it wasn’t looking like such a great idea anymore. The heat alone inside the stuffy stairwell was suffocating; but it was the tiny steep staircase that really put me over the edge. It was so narrow that even if I wanted to turn around and go back down, I couldn’t. There were so many people below me waiting for me to keep climbing that I started to feel claustrophobic inside the stairwell. I never realized how terrifying climbing up stairs could be.

When we did finally reach the top, though, the view was fabulous. It was almost worth the agony of getting there. You get the opportunity to see Florence from a bird’s eye view and you can see the whole city in a way that you wouldn’t get to if you hadn’t climbed to the top of a cathedral. I also remembered to take about a hundred pictures while I was up there because I knew I would never be climbing back up. The only thing that ruined the moment was the realization that I was going to have to climb back down the 463 stairs.