Let’s be honest, when it comes to summer holidays, it isnt hard to find a great destination at a great prive, especially with ton special offers and deals available from thousands of tour operators offering the latest and greatest destinations, but putting together the perfect winter holiday presents far great challenges and are just generally much harder to plan and ultimately enjoy.

You’ll have heard a ton of stories from friends and relatives about nightmare summer holidays too, from half finished hotels to finding half eaten animals in the bread pudding as well as a paddling pool passed off as an olympic sized swimming pool, yet you might not have heard the misery of a badly thought out winter holiday in the alps.

With a summer holiday, you at least have the sun to look forward to, but you might not be so lucky if things go wrong on a skiing holiday for example, especially with temperatures as low as minus 20. Yes, ok, you could just take out travel insurance to protect against most things on your winter holiday, but the weather isnt usually one them, so make sure you get good weather reports and select a destination which has few eather warnings and plenty of sunshine.

If you get it wrong, you could be facing force 10 gales and a week of blizzards, unable to go out on the slopes and that winter sports and ski insurance you took out won’t be bailing you out either. If you are really unlucky, what would happen if you broke your leg or cracked a bone? The good news is you will probably be covered by travel insurance, if you took it out, but thats small consolation to a ruined holiday and will impact your work when you return, so make sure you take plenty of rest, dont take on major challenges too soon and learn at your own pace. Don’t be tempted to take on something you know you can’t achieve, especially if you are a beginner. And as hard as it is, dont be goaded by your friends in to something you arent comfortable with, it might not be nice, but its better for your limbs if you decline.

If you are off somewhere slightly warmer during our winter months and intend to be backpacking in Asia, mountaineering in the USA or perhaps bungee jumping in Australia then whatever you do, make sure you take out specialist adventure travel insurance. Unlike other standard travel insurance, it will help cover you for things like bungee jumping or rock climbing and you will have the peace of mind you and your family need to be able to go out and enjoy things without worry.

With the childrens school summer holidays almost over, many parents will be off to buy new unform and text books. But for the rest of you, it should signal the perfect time to get away.

With the weather still great in many places around Europe and beyond and no pesky kids around, you are assured of a much quieter, relaxing holiday.

In addition, with the kids back at school, the package holiday prices also drop and it’s much easier to find a cheap flight and even savings on things like travel insurance too.

If you plan on making this a truly relaxing holiday, then you’ll find some real bargains at Heathrow and Gatwick airport hotels just to make things even nicer and then there are further savings to be made thanks to plenty of bargains for airport parking too. Further good news is found at your local supermarket who will be clearing out their summer stock at ridiculously low prices and you can find everything you need for your trip from towels to sun cream and swimwear.

This isnt a dig at kids in general, but even the most devoted and loving parents will admit to needing a break sometimes and for those who don’t have children, the last thing they want to do is have their stress free environment ruined by screaming children and obnoxious kids flicking bogeys at them and wee’ing in the pool.

It’s a no brainer really, there are lots of very good reasons to holiday when the children go back to school. Finally, it’s worth remembering that as your resorts are quieter, you’ll spend less time queuing, waiting for food and drink and more time doing the things you originally booked the holiday to do, like being lazy.

One of the best ways to travel around Europe is by train and the many amazing deals which are on offer makes it almost criminal not to avail of them. These days we can travel by train all the way from London to anywhere in Europe without the need to use any other form of transport. Europe has some of the most spectacular railway journeys in the whole world which all add to the relaxation you feel when you travel by train. Continental Europe has one of the best railway networks in the world which means that it is possible to get almost anywhere by using this method of travel.

One of the nicest train journeys that you could take in Europe is Amsterdam to Prague. This amazing journey allows you to travel through the Netherlands, Germany and the Western part of the Czech Republic and will ensure that you are met with some picturesque scenery on your travels. Although night travel will not allow you to see some of the fantastic sights, you can take advantage of a sleeping compartment and get a good rest. The trip will take about fourteen hours and if you still feel like moving after a few days in Prague you can hop on a train for Budapest further east.

If you want to combine train travel with skiing then the Paris to Lausanne route will be a great choice. This journey will take you about four hours but you will be taken there on one of the French high speed trains. If you are happy to ski in Lausanne you will find plenty of resorts to choose from but if you want to keep going to the Alps, you can do so by train.

Rail travel really does offer us so many different choices. Travelling by train is a wonderful way to get where you want to go; you get to see much more of a country by rail and the relaxed way that you get there makes it so worthwhile.

Searching for Disneyland Paris tickets for a fun few days away with the family? Driving is always an option once the tickets have been acquired, but you have to think about European breakdown cover. Getting this cover will give you peace of mind. And don’t travel without European travel insurance.