Deal hunting in the UK

THERE’S something unique about travelling or shopping in the UK – you always find great bargains, no matter what time of the year or season.

TTN met with several top–notch tourism suppliers at the recent Hosted Buyers Marketplace held in London and organised by VisitBritain, the national tourist board.

If you’re planning to leave London and check out central England or travel deep into Scotland, you will find a huge number of options. Virgin Trains, part of Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, offers a gateway to the UK linking London to major destinations including Liverpool, Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow with conveniently times services. Wish to travel faster than air or road? Virgin’s Pendolino trains travel at faster than 200 km per hour, while offering Standard and First Class comforts.

If you prefer coach travel over train, Golden Tours offers some out of London coach trips, allowing you sit back and relax. The full-day trips include some of the UK’s most renowned World Heritage Sites, such as Stonehenge, Bath and Blenheim Palace. Professional guides will offer a knowledgeable commentary during the trips.

Golden Tours also has a special deal on Emirates, one of London’s latest attractions across the River Thames. Those planning to explore UK capital via Golden Tours will find that apart from the popular hop-on, hop-off tours (two days for the price of one during winter), the touring company has a number of special tours such as the “Total London Experience”, “London by Night on Open Bus Top” and “Ghost Bus Tours”.

You can even take a fully escorted day trip to Paris for £208 ($348) or, if you feel adventurous, a free-to-create-your-own-day-schedule trip for £120 ($200). If you’re planning for a group travel, JacTravel offers some net rates and special offers for travel trade, including more than 7,000 hand-picked hotels worldwide and instant confirmation. At the time of writing, JacTravel is offering some exclusive deals at the Sloane Club in Chelsea and the Savoy Hotel in central London.

Pathfinders is a relatively small, independent family-run business, established in 1949. “While tailor-made tours are our speciality anywhere within the British Isles, we normally organise them via tour operators,” Jonathan Taylor, director at Pathfinders, told TTN. “Though there may be occasions when a group comes direct to us.”

While Pathfinders specialises in coach travel, they can also book rail transportation, flights and ferry boats to Denmark, France and Belgium as well to Scandinavian countries, with several travel and accommodation options, Taylor highlighted.

Pathfinders will also arrange special interest travel across several themes such as gardens, music, history, educational and British heritage, among others. Sinclair Global works with the travel trade to offer bespoke experiences for UK tourists. The firm offers luxury brands in the best of shopping and leisure in the UK. Clients include Fortnum & mason, Covent Garden and Selfridges.

“Sinclair can customise a tour just for your group, incentive trip or independent traveller,” Gina Gisborne, account director at Sinclair told TTN. This includes “custom made fragrance or a special outfit for an event”.

The travel services firm also has access to luxury gourmet experiences in Piccadilly and St James that cover the best of British including the famous afternoon tea and wine, cheese and chocolate tastings.

An English Collection represents to the travel trade worldwide a hand-picked group of world-class English attractions, local operators and hotels. The English Collection website (anenglishcollection.com) offers inspirational ideas, individual advice or itinerary suggestions; behind the scenes programmes; special interest ideas; events, festivals and destination details.

Tourists may build an itinerary to visit a stately home, castle or gardens, get on a scenic tour, have fun on a cycle tour or boat trip or visit the fabulous city of York, which is surrounded by medieval walls and offers over 30 attractions such as the National Railway Museum and Jorvik Viking Centre to York’s Story of Chocolate. The 101st Tour de France Grand Départ, Stage 2 is also setting off from York on July 6. Britain offers bargains even when it comes to brand name shopping. You’re most likely to find it at McArthurGlen Designer Outlets, where the world’s top brands in fashion apparel, accessories and homeware are always offered at up to 70 per cent savings.

McArthurGlen is home to more than 800 of fashion’s most-loved brands. The designer outlets are located close to Europe’s hottest cities for style, culture and heritage.

Mideast travellers may expect VIP rooms, hands-free shopping, prayer rooms and play areas for children. The store also has in-house style consultants. Visitors from outside the European Union can also enjoy tax-free shopping.

By Ravi Kalmady