A driving holiday is a superb way to really get to know a destination, and many countries are well suited to this style of holiday. Darren shares some of his favourites. The USA is one of the most popular self-drive destinations and there are a myriad of routes and itineraries you can consider, from the theme parks and beaches of Florida, the volcanoes and coastline of the Hawaiian Islands or the classic Route 66 from Chicago to Los Angeles. One of the most popular itineraries combines the states of Nevada and California, taking in Las Vegas, San Francisco and LA, plus a host of other locations in between. From Vegas it’s only a short drive to the Grand Canyon, albeit in the wrong direction, while the route through to San Francisco will take you via Death Valley and Yosemite National Parks. Then follow the Californian coast south to LA, stopping in the likes of Monterey, Carmel and Santa Barbara en route. If you want to combine your transport and your accommodation, then hiri...

Japan is a fun and crazy place and nowhere is crazier than the Robot Restaurant in Tokyo. Mark visited this amazing place when he was in Tokyo on a trip around Japan. We have some amazing holiday ideas to Japan -  http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/far_east/japan_holidays.html Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk

Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk

If your ever in the Far East and looking for somewhere to stopover for a few days to spend abit of money on yourself, or others if you’re feeling nice... Bangkok is great! There are tons of shops and lots of shopping to be done in Bangkok . Anything from clothes to watches and handbags can be found for the collectors out there. These can be purchased in various parts of the city. There's a bargain to be had everywhere depending on what it is that you want and how much luggage allowance you have left! A trip to the Grand Palace and the surrounding areas is fantastic and getting around here is easy on foot or by tuk tuk, which you can rent by the hour for next to nothing. One place that is well worth a visit is MBK, which is a fantastic shopping centre for the bargain hunters! It’s full of floors and floors of merchandise from upmarket designer outlets to market-style stalls. It’s situated at the end of the skytrain line and the port for the river taxi is at the other end. On ar...

Plan your Travel Year with the help of our Travel Calendar! If you're looking for holiday inspiration in 2012, check out our travel ideas month by month - this week, suggestions for January, February and March, taking in the Red Sea, Thailand and Tanzania. For more details about any of the holidays we feature call us on 020 8989 0970 or e-mail us at info@escapeworldwide.co.uk     Click Here to check out our travel calendar. JANUARY - The Red Sea is the perfect place for some winter sunshine and relaxation, without your wallet taking too much of a strain. Just a 5 hour flight away, the various resorts offer quality accommodation at excellent prices - the perfect post-Christmas break! FEBRUARY - Having your own private pool is the ultimate romantic room, and nowhere does pool villas quite like Thailand - the perfect option for a valentines holiday. Pool villas are found in most Thai beach resorts - some are set within their own walled garden for privacy while o...

Mark was invited to a wedding on a recent trip to Sri Lanka... "Sri Lanka is one of the most popular destinations we feature for overseas weddings – it’s great value, very romantic and the paperwork is minimal, and there’s a good selection of hotels that can arrange weddings, so it’s a good option overall. I was visiting the Jetwing Lighthouse Hotel , and a couple from the UK were getting married – somehow I managed to get myself an invite to the ceremony! They’d opted to get married in traditional Sri Lankan dress, which the hotel had arranged for them, so guests were also asked to have a touch of local dress about them – I bought a sarong from the gift shop, which was ideal, although actually working out how to wear it was another story! The wedding ceremony was taking place in the gardens of the hotel, as the couple had decided this was easier than the beach, although personally I think there’s something really special about getting married on the beach itself, and most...

Yes is the answer to that, Darren recently visited a lovely hotel in Makadi Bay in Egypt call the Makadi Palace Family Star which is a beautiful 5* hotel and offers a great all inclusive package. The Makadi Palace Family Star has fantastic family rooms that sleep upto 2 adult and 4 children (11 and under) and what’s even better is that the children only pay £399 per child anytime of year, making it a great value option. The rooms are well configured with a large sofa bed, two separate single beds which are screened for the living area and a separate bedroom for the adults! Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk/   The hotel offers a comprehensive all inclusive which allows you to dine in pretty much all of their restaurants so you’re not just stuck with the buffet. The hotel also has a good sized swimming pool, with children’s pool, various sporting activites, direct beach access, kids club even FREE wifi in the receptions. All in al...

From the 1st January 2012 the answers is YES. Until now British Passport holders visiting on holiday didn’t need a visa to go to Sri Lanka , but unfortunately from the 1st January they do. Having been to Sri Lanka a few times it was nice not having to worry about a visa, but I believe they have made the process pretty painless. The Sri Lankan immigration have set up a good website with all the information you need on the new visa system - http://www.immigration.gov.lk/ though I’d probably check this from time to time as things might change as the visa system is so new! Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays www.escapeworldwide.co.uk

As happy a time Christmas is, by January, there’s not better feeling than putting your feet up and taking a deep breath of relief knowing that you’ve got 300 odd days until the next round of festive cheer. But seeing as you’ve been buying gifts and treating others around you, why not reward yourself with a New Year’s getaway? Abandon the cold weather, rainy days (and maybe even snow) and fly of to somewhere with abit of winter sun. There’s many places worth going on late deals in January - Luxor would be my personal choice offering great value for money aswell as the nice weather! Other destinations I would suggest include Cairo for a slightly busier sightseeing trip. Going away in the New Year may initially seem expensive, but you can actually find some great deals - Stay for 7 nights in Luxor 3* from just £309! Or see the amazing Pyramids in Cairo 4* for 4 nights from £599 Dubai or Abu Dhabi for either a beach or city break are also great options - Stay for 5 nights in Dubai 3* fr...

Unfortunately not, there aren’t any direct flights to Bangkok from Manchester. Direct services to Bangkok are only from Heathrow with Thai Airways, British Airways, Qantas and Eva Air. There are a few easy indirect options for example with Emirates, which is a world class airline and would fly direct from Manchester to Dubai and then you would change aircraft for an onward direct flight to Bangkok. You can even fly on the new double decker A380 aircraft on the Manchester / Dubai leg, which I loved when I flew on the A380. You can do a similar thing with the likes of Etihad Airways, which would go via Abu Dhabi and Qatar Airways which would go via Doha. There are also options with Air France or KLM going via Paris or Amsterdam. Escape Worldwide - Home of Long Haul Holidays http://www.escapeworldwide.co.uk

Mark's currently sitting in a bar in Vietnam, so it seems like there's no better time to ask him about the beverages he's been 'testing out' there... The cost of beer in Vietnam depends on what you drink and where you drink it, but overall the simple answer is - beer is very cheap in Vietnam! Hotels are obviously the most expensive place to drink beer in Vietnam, but even here things do vary dramatically. Business-orientated hotels in the main centres are the most expensive, with a bottle of Heineken or similar at the Sheraton Hotel and Towers in Saigon being 110,000 Dong (£3.65), although in their rooftop Bar add an extra £1 (worth it for the view!) At the other end of things, you can easily get a beer at 12,000 Dong - a mere 40p! In many local bars (and for local read tourist bars, but outside of the larger hotels), a bottle of local beer such as Saigon or Larue will cost 12,000 to 15,000 (40p - 50p), or up to a whopping 30,000 Dong (£1) in a pricier venue. That’...

There are one or two All Inclusive hotels in Thailand , but to be honest the food and drink is so cheap out there you wouldn't want to be staying in your hotel! Last time I was out there I visited three of the beach resorts - Phuket , Krabi and Phi Phi - and I think the most I paid for a meal was £25 and that was the most amazing lobster I've ever had in Phuket. Even the more remote beach hotels have a couple of beach restaurants close by, and if you are in one of the more touristy areas, such as Ao Nang in Krabi, you will be spoilt for choice. You will be able to get a really good meal for about £5 or £6, or just some chicken satay for £1 or so. The bottles of beer are enormous! Singha, Tiger and Chang beer are all very common, as are Happy Hours, so make the most of them! Happy Hour quite often runs from 4 in the afternoon until about 9 in the evening, and the offers tend to be 2 or 1. Given the full price is about £2 for a large bottle, you might not need to be there after...

Karen recently spent a week in Taba , on the shores of the Red Sea – “Taba is a great place for chilling out for a week or two in the sun – there’s very little there apart from some exceptionally nice hotels, mostly situated on the beach, a dive centre and great weather, perfect! We spent a week at the newest hotel in Taba Heights , the 5* Intercontinental, which is an excellent hotel with a great tapas bar on the lagoon, and did a trip to Petra and a trip to Cairo from there, although I would quite happily have done nothing for the week! I think there will be more hotels there in the next few years as it is a purpose-built resort that is growing quickly, so if you are looking for peace and quiet now is the time to go! My friend and I tried our hand at snorkeling, which is fantastic in the Red Sea , and most people there were raving about the diving and reeling off the names of the fish they had seen. Not being a swimmer diving isn’t for me, and I felt I saw a lot of these fish...