Theoretically, the weather in the UK is at its best in July and August, which is why many people not tied by school holidays choose to go away at the end of the summer, in September and even October. There are big advantages to going away at this time - you don’t need me to tell you, but I will anyway: villas and apartments are cheaper after the peak summer season; the weather is more pleasant - you can actually go for walks and not be uncomfortably hot; the sea is at its warmest; and there are fewer people around, particularly little people.

If you decide to take an end of summer break, well here is a taster of some of the cultural events on offer in popular villa holiday spots:

FRANCE

29 Sept-5 Oct 

BIARRITZ FESTIVAL 

This year’s Biarritz Festival is dedicated to Latin America. There’s a week of exhibitions, concerts and workshops as well as the film competition, in which respected directors hope for festival prizes.

Every month (but more pleasant when not during the heat of the summer)

OLD BOOK MARKET

Aix-en-Provence

On the first Sunday of each month, you can browse through old and rare books at the Place de l’Hotel de Ville. Birthplace of Emile Zola, the town has great charm and a strong literary tradition.

October

INTERNATIONAL GUITAR FESTIVAL 

Montpellier

Guitar playing in all its guises at venues all over town. The festival features guitarists from around the world including Australia, Venezuela and the USA.

SPAIN

10 Sep-11 Oct 

SEVILLE FLAMENCO FESTIVAL 

Seville

 What better place to see flamenco than in its birthplace city? Seville’s 15th biennial flamenco festival features world famous artists – dancers, singers and guitarists  – performing all over the city, mainly in theatres, but some in the open-air.

October

CAVA WEEK

Sant Sadurní d’Anoia

Catalunya’s main Cava-producing town celebrates by crowning its Cava Queen; a huge bicycle race; an art exhibition; lots of music and the annual Barcelona train ride: every Oct 12th, 1000 people from Barcelona board the Cava train, are met by carnival characters and treated to a tour of cellars, lunch and entertainment.

ITALY

Oct 2008 

FOOD FESTIVAL 

Abbadia San Salvatore

Local cooks compete to create the best Tuscan meals in the main square of this medieval town. If you’re lucky you get to sample some of the dishes, all based on local ingredients. The two day festival also features dancing and live music, arts and crafts exhibitions and antique stalls.

2nd week, Oct

CHESTNUT FESTIVAL  

San Giovanni Ilarione

The scent of chestnuts roasting permeates the air  at this festival. The chestnuts are de-shelled in the main square where there is live music and parades.

CROATIA

Nov

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC FESTIVAL 

Pula

Croatia International Music Festival features contemporary Croatian music from soloists, ensembles and guest musicians in various venues.

BARBADOS

3-11 Oct 

TASTE OF BARBADOS

Sample Barbadian dishes at venues all around the island during the Taste of Barbados Food Festival. There will be talks, tours of rum factories and sugar plantations and farmers’ markets amidst a party atmosphere.

USA

11-12 Nov 

ORLANDO BEER FESTIVAL 

Orlando’s Universal CityWalk turns into one massive celebration of beer for one weekend in November. During the 8th Orlando beer festival,  more than 150 beers will be featured. Plenty of food, live music and entertainment, too.

13-15 Nov

NATIVE AMERICAN CELEBRATION

Silver Springs

This annual festival celebrates Native American Culture with dance performances, food and live entertainment, including various educational  events put on by the White Buffalo Society.

Here’s an item I’ve used in the Update pages of the next issue of Holiday Villas, in the shops at the end of the month, and in the on-line magazine which should appear on Villaseek.com at around the same time: read it and it may just save you a few headaches when you’re travelling abroad!

Credit cons 

Credit card crime committed using British-issued cards abroad shot up by 77 per cent last year. A staggering £207.6 million were stolen, says Apacs, the organisation representing debit and credit card companies.                                                                              

Apacs advises us never to let our cards out of sight, as they could be ’skimmed’ – that’s when a receptionist, or similar, swipes a card twice. The first swipe is to record the actual payment, the second is to record information from the magnetic strip. This latter is all a crook needs to make a counterfeit card. Though a false card will not contain a microchip, making it no good for chip-and-pin purchases, it could be used in places relying on signatures only and on-line, says Apacs. 

Also watch out for: •An extra 0 added  to a payment slip – altering, say, a €50 purchase to €500 •Double-charging – if a vendor says he or she has made a mistake and asks you to sign another slip, make sure you get proof of cancellation of the first payment •Any offers to convert your money into sterling at the time of purchase – not illegal but expensive.                                                            

Fortunately, card companies block payments if their systems suspect fraud. Their computers know, for instance, what you regularly spend and where you spend it, so if there’s a £500 payment made in a foreign country, you will be warned. This is great – unless you’re actually in the foreign country. If this is the case, your card could be blocked when you need it most.                                                                                                                                           

To prevent this happening, especially if you don’t travel a lot, it’s best to let your card company know which country you are visiting and when. Also: take more than one card with you, as then you’ll have a backup.

I think it’s very clever the way Tom K has put Holiday Villas magazine on-line. It’s a pity that it’s tucked away in a blog entry (June 4th) but I believe it’s shortly to be made much more visible when Tom and Jason complete a new Villaseek front page.

I suppose the question arises: why print a magazine if you can read it on-line? Well, there are lots of reasons: for a start, there are still people who do not use the Internet. I know several elderly people who love to go on villa holidays but who have no idea what a URL is, and they’re really too old to learn. The phone has served them well up till now, so why change? they say. Then, there’s the scenario of being curled up on the sofa with a glass of wine or, indeed, a cup of cocoa with a magazine full of fantastic sounding places to go. Yes, using the laptop on the sofa is almost as good but not quite and most people (I assume anyway - are there any figures?) have desktop computers rather than laptops. I’ve spoken to lots of people who love the magazine and a few people who now only book their villa holidays on-line. So I think we’ve got all angles covered. Well done, Tom. When will the new Villaseek front page be ready?

Eve

Love the holiday but hate the hassle of getting there?

Travel writer Gillian Thornton has 30 stress-busting tips

• Travelling by car to the Med? No need, then, for
  minimalist packing, but have you packed everything
  that’s legally required for your vehicle, such as spare
  bulbs, a warning triangle, and a fluorescent yellow
  vest? Check with the AA, RAC or your car insurers
  before you travel. www.drivingabroad.co.uk
  provides detailed info on the rules of the road in the
  USA, Western Europe, South Africa and Australia.
  And remember you’ll need a Green Card if you want
  fully comprehensive cover while driving abroad.
• You can save money by pre-booking your airport
  parking. Off-site car parks are usually the best value,
  but allow extra time to reach the terminal. Purple
  Parking offer competitive off-site parking at almost
  20 UK airports (www.purpleparking.com) or try the
  British Airports Authority website, www.baa.com.
• If you’re travelling by low-cost, no-frills airline, you
  can save money by packing snacks for the journey
  rather than buying at airport or airline prices. But don’t
  forget that current security regulations about carrying
  liquids mean that you will need to buy bottles of drink
  once you have passed through security.
• Check to see whether your villa owner or holiday
  company includes the option of pre-booking a
  welcome pack on arrival. If you’re arriving late or
  have a long transfer time, the last thing you want to
  do is head off in search of a supermarket. But it’s
  always worth taking a few non-perishable essentials
  such as tea, coffee, sugar, biscuits, dry pasta and a
  sachet of pasta sauce.
• If you’re planning on trying any adventure sports
  such as paragliding, rafting or jetski, make sure that
  your holiday insurance covers you. Better to pay a
  small supplement than a big hospital bill.
• Travelling within the European Union? Make sure
  you all have a European Health Insurance Card,
  which entitles you to free medical treatment. Full
  details from your local Post Office.
• Make two photocopies of your passport, driving
  licence and travel insurance documents. Leave one
  with friends or family at home and take the other
  with you, keeping it separate from the originals.
• Put one member of the party in charge of tickets
  and passports, but give everyone a copy of essential
  details such as villa address, directions for finding it
  and contact phone numbers.
• Cancel the milk and newspaper deliveries, and
  ask a neighbour to keep watch for post or free
  papers sticking out of the letterbox. If the house is
  alarmed, make sure someone has a key to get in and
  turn it off if necessary.
• Check the five-day weather forecasts on the
  internet before you travel, so you know whether to
  take waterproofs or extra layers.
• Know where you’re going. It sounds obvious, but
  make sure you know exactly how to get to the
  airport at this end (some people do actually go to the
  wrong one!) and to your villa at the other. A bit of
  pre-planning can save a lot of frayed nerves and
  family arguments on the road.
• Leave more time than you think you’ll need.
  Better to sit at the airport over a snack or a good
  book, than stuck in a traffic jam. Don’t underestimate
  the time it can take to get through security checks in
  peak season.
• If your departure airport has more than one
  terminal, check which one you need with your tour
  operator or via the airport website.

Packing up

• If you’re travelling by air, eliminate the tedious wait
  at baggage carousels by carrying hand luggage only,
  especially when you’re travelling in the summer with
  light clothes. But check hand baggage allowances
  with your airline before you travel – weights and bag
  sizes vary – remembering that you may want to bring
  extra purchases home with you. Some airports and
  airlines now allow two pieces of hand luggage while
  others still enforce the one bag rule.
• With tough security measures still in place, you can
  only take liquids, gels and pastes in containers of up
  to 100 ml in your hand luggage – with the exception
  of baby food and baby milk – and these must be
  packed in a re-sealable plastic bag no larger than 8” x
  8”. Visit www.baa.com for the latest regulations.
• Most people pack far too many clothes, so I advise
  women to lay their holiday wardrobe out on the bed
  and be ruthless about leaving things behind. Go for
  coordinating items in neutral colours then jazz up
  with a bright top or accessories. Don’t forget the
  golden rule: work out how much clothing you think
  you’ll need, then halve it; calculate how much
  money you’ll spend, then double it.
• Wherever possible, choose fabrics that don’t
  crease, but remember that if you roll clothes rather
  than fold them, they’ll come out looking far less
  crumpled. Remember, too, that if you haven’t got it,
  you can almost certainly buy it at your resort, and if
  your villa has a washing machine, you’ll need to take
  even fewer clothes.
• Travel in your bulkiest pair of shoes, then pack a
  pair of flip-flops and some lightweight shoes for
  evening. Blister plasters are far less bulky than taking
  extra footwear!
• Carry a basic sponge bag, clean underwear and
  swimwear in your hand luggage; if your luggage
  goes to Costa Rica and you’ve gone to the Costa
  Blanca, you can still enjoy a dip in your villa pool
  and freshen up afterwards until your bags arrive.
  Swop an outfit with a travelling companion so you’ve
  both got something to wear if your luggage is
  delayed. A sarong can be used in a multitude of ways
  until your full wardrobe arrives – just ask David
  Beckham!

First, up, direct travel have provided a list of top ten things to do in Cyprus, including the historic mosque of Hala sultan tekksi, the city of Famgusta, and a walk through the forests of Limassol and Machairas.

Hari Nair writes in his blog about a trip to Cyprus, and posts some pictures of the trip, and Cyprus Informer has a checklist for people renting a villa in Cyprus.

To search through a range of villas in cyprus and beyond, head to our main site, Villaseek Holiday Villas - that has a wide range of villas and apartments available direct from the owners, and many of these properties have availability calendars, so you can see if the villa is available to book for the weeks you’re intending to travel to cyprus.

Tom K

In this article from Issue 68 of Holiday Villas Magazine, Ron Toft turns his back on the beaches and bars of Cyprus to follow the tourist trail celebrating the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.

In Search of Mighty Aphrodite

It was an uncomfortably hot day –
somewhere around 35°C – as the
sun’s rays blazed down on us from a
cloudless, cobalt sky. But after a 30-
minute climb up the dusty, pebble-
strewn track, we eventually reached
the top of the hill above stunning
Lemesos Bay on the south coast of
Cyprus, and there, all around us,
were what we had come to see: the
remains within ancient Amathous of
the sanctuary of Aphrodite – the
Greek goddess of love and beauty,
and the divine protector of the
delightful Mediterranean island on
which, the myth has it, she was born.

Amathousis is one of the highlights of
the cultural trail comprising 36 sites,
including 11 museums, associated
with and celebrating Aphrodite.
The first traces of a sanctuary on the
acropolis date from around 800 BC,
when Phoenicians settled in
Amathous. Another important date
on the Amathous timeline is 22 AD,
which was when Rome allowed the
Temple of Aphrodite – then one of
the island’s three most important
temples – to retain the right to offer
asylum.

Aphrodite worshippers were driven
from the temple when Christianity
was established at the end of the
fourth century AD, after which it was
repaired in the fifth century and used
as a church for 250 years until the
site was destroyed by Arab raiders.

By far the most striking
archaeological structure is a colossal
stone vase – dating from the seventh
century BC and weighing 12 tons –
at what was the entrance to
Aphrodite’s sanctuary. Originally
there were two of them – the other
is now on display in the Louvre in
Paris. It’s thought that both vessels,
quarried from the north cliff of the
acropolis, held water used in
purification and other rituals
associated with Aphrodite.

One of the sites worth visiting as
much for its natural beauty as for its
connection with the goddess of love
is Petra tou Romiou– the
legendary birthplace of Aphrodite
15 miles east of Paphos. A series of
rocks jutting out from the sea, Petra
is where Aphrodite is said to have
emerged from the briny foam…

You can read the full, illustrated article in our online version of the magazine.

A Taste of the Real Spain

Spain has a glitzy Costa for every day of the week
but the Costa Calida, which has only recently
been discovered by foreign tourists, is a
leisurely destination for discerning visitors and
Spanish families. South of Alicante, in the province of
Murcia, the ‘Warm Coast’ is keen to assert its
individuality, and with good reason. It claims more
sunny days than any other, more than 140 miles of
shore fringed by crystal-clear waters and a lush
hinterland dotted with historic towns and hill villages
tucked among vineyards and citrus groves.

A long forgotten corner of Spain, Murcia is
developing fast but, with a few exceptions, high rise
sites remain refreshingly sparse, with areas of natural
beauty carefully managed and protected. It offers the
best of both worlds: a taste of real Spain with delightful
holiday villas and amenities on your doorstep.

Golf and spa

Ours was a short break so we headed straight for the
Mar Menor Golf Resort at Polaris World, where the
nine-hole course, open to non-residents, will soon be
extended to 18 by the Nicklaus Design team. It plans
a total of six prestigious courses, each one unique,
‘challenging and enjoyable’, suitable for all levels and
landscaped to enhance the environment, enough to
inspire any golfer keen to follow in legendary
footsteps.

Duly impressed, the men set off to tackle the
course while we vanished in search of the spa.
Imagine stepping into a subdued sensuous world of
sound and fragrance, closing the door on all your
cares as you edge into the vitality pool, feel the
warmth of the sauna or the freshness of the ice
fountain, then relax in an inner patio straight out of
the Arabian Nights – and all this before your
treatment even begins.

Then it’s decision time, hot stone, ayurvedic, body
wrap, massage or the ultimate age-defying facial? I
must admit, my greatest need was for the last option
and one hour and 50 minutes of blissful dreams. Cool
aloe and spearmint, scented cypress, lavender, sweet
almond, frankincense, avocado and more, a
gorgeous garden of Eden was at work to enhance my
looks, without the slightest effort on my part.
My face was sprayed with extracts of ivy, jojoba oil
and mallow; my eyes revitalised with an antioxidant
mask and my hair massaged with pink mud. Scrubbed,
moisturised and smoothed to a polish, I emerged on
top of the world, hoping there would be enough time
before dinner to wash the mud out of my hair.

Click to read the whole article, or search for a villa in Spain.

We’ve got a new system for viewing Holiday Villas Magazine online, directly in your browser. It’s great for our overseas readers, as it means they can get hold of the magazine and read it straight from their computer.

We’ve just produced an online version of 68, which has been on sale here in the UK since the beginning of May.  Issue 69 is about to hit the shelves, and we’ll have an online version of that out very soon too.

Here’s a useful tip - interested in golf holidays, beach holidays, or holidays in a specific area? Use the binoculars icon at the bottom of the page to begin searching the document - and you’ll get a list of all the editorial and adverts which are relevant to your search.

Or if you’re an advertiser with Holiday Villas Magazine, simply enter your reference number into the search page, and you’ll be taken directly to the page where your villa advertisement appears.

Tom K
Villaseek.com

So I thought it was time I researched the alternatives to flying. You can read the results in the current issue of Holiday Villas; a cut-down version has been added on this site today. Please click to view.

But what surprised me is that despite all the hype about the new, faster Eurostar trains from St Pancras, London, they really haven’t got their act together as far as family holidays are concerned.

First, on the Eurostar website you can only find out prices and book three months ahead. Which isn’t much good if you want to book your summer hols now. And prices are way more expensive than taking your own car on the ferry, especially if you need to hire a car at the other end (which you probably will, if you’re staying in a villa).

There doesn’t seem to be any quick way of researching through-routes (Birmingham-Alicante was the example I was trying, for a Costa Blanca holiday), though the Spanish rail website (www.renfe.com) works brilliantly if your Spanish is good enough.

If Eurostar really want to persuade holidaymakers away from planes and cars and onto their trains, there’s a lot more work to be done. Like making tickets bookable 6 months ahead, providing cheap family tickets (how about children travel any distance at off-peak times for €10, if with one or more parents paying full fare?) and getting a Europe-wide pricing structure together.

Until it’s as quick, cheap and easy to book a train to Milan or Malaga as it is to book a plane, Eurostar will remain the preserve of business travellers and couples off for a city break.