Ryanair at London Stansted Airport
Will you be flying with the newly improved Ryanair soon? If you're looking for a low-cost car hire to go with your cheap flight, we've got car hire locations throughout Europe. Already know when you're going? Get a quote here...
With the majority of Ryanair's improvements already in operation, the differences are clear and I'm really rather loving them too! Having booked and flown with them since the changes, it's just all so much easier. From less clicking on the website to book a flight right down to how relaxed the boarding process is, it's great. I reckon both passengers and staff must approve. I can't remember how many times I'd see really stressed out passengers trying to squeeze all their belongings into their single cary on bag. It wasn't exactly a barrel of laughs for staff having to police it all either.
If you had previously written them off as an airline to use, perhaps it's time for a rethink! They've also recently announce a host of new services from their London Stansted base to entice you further...
12 new routes for 2014
Ryanair are increasing the number of routes they fly from London Stansted Airport to 126 with 12 new routes from April 2014.
The 12 new routes include fairly well known destinations such as Bordeaux, Lisbon, Prague, Basel, Bucharest, Dortmund and Rabat in Morocco. But there are some more 'off-the-beaten-track' destinations too like Brive in France, Comiso in Sicily, Podgorica in Montenegro, Osijek in Croatia and Skelleftea, Sweden… I've never even heard of a few of the latter lot. This only actually fills me with excitement at exploring somewhere new.
Here's a quick look at where you could be heading...
Bordeaux
Port at L'Herbe in Cap Ferret is just 60kms west of Bordeaux
Photo by Estelle
Bordeaux is a beautiful city for strolling with picturesque boulevards and squares aplenty. It also makes for a fabulous place to base your trip as you explore more of the region. There are of course the surrounding vineyards but you're also less than an hour and a half's drive from the beaches around Arachon Bay and Cap Ferret. If you do go, don't miss Dune du Pilat, the tallest sand dune in Europe. And if you prefer your grapes made into stronger stuff, Cognac is about the same distance north. Choose to pick up a Bordeaux Airport car hire on arrival or if you prefer to collect your car rental from the city centre, we've also got great deals on Bordeaux Railway Station car hire.
Lisbon
Quinta de Regaleira in Sintra
Photo by Flickr.Whisker
Between Lisbon's hilly-scapes and its location right by the sea, it'll be difficult not to be thoroughly charmed by it. As well as enjoying all that Portugal's capital has to offer, there's lots more for you to enjoy just beyond the city's borders. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Quinta de Regaleira is worth a trip to Lisbon on its own. Built over a hundred years ago, it's a fantastical palace that features grottoes, parkland, lakes and a mixture of architectural styles. Located in Sintra less than 30 kms from Lisbon's city centre, it's an easy day trip to do with a Lisbon car hire. We've got several Portugal car hire locations within the city to choose from including Lisbon Airport car hire.
From Skelleftea
Northern Lights in Swedish Lapland
Photo by Samantha Beddoes
This winter should prove to be one of the best opportunities to see the magical Northern Lights. With the strength of aurora activity at a high, if you're in the Arctic region (or close), you should be in for a spectacular show. On the edge of Sweden's Lapland, Skelleftea is a good place to start. With more on offer by the way of wildlife spotting in the Swedish wilderness. Get around with a Skelleftea Airport car hire. Ryanair's new service to Skelleftea doesn't start until April but you can still fly there with SAS and Swiss Airlines.
They're adding more flights to popular routes too
Ryanair are also increasing the number of services to already established routes. This includes doubling flights to Barcelona and adding more services to both Rhodes and Rome as well.
Russia next on the list?
St Basil's Cathedral, Red Square
Photo by Xiquinho Silva. The turrets of St Basil's Cathedral remind me of ice cream... Yum!
Moscow and St Petersburg could be next as the budget airline was recently granted permission to fly to both cities from Dublin Airport. They also confirmed that it was in 'exploratory' talks with several other airports in Russia too.
This year, easyJet beat Virgin to join British Airways as a UK carrier flying to Russia - they've already started flying to Moscow from both London Gatwick Airport and Manchester Airport. Ryanair will, so far, only be able to fly from Dublin Airport. It's good news for the Irish capital too… I'm guessing that their tourism team are already planning on how to attract Russian visitors!
Good news all around, I reckon!