Social Media Interation
The property pages have been updated to include a choice of social media shortcuts that will help our visitors to bookmark and interact with their current social media networks. We hope that this will also help spread the word about the great offers and property selections we have on the site and build our brand to welcome more visitors to the site.
We are always pleased to receive feedback on features and information that you would like to see on the site that will offer a better user experience and make the booking process as easy as possible.
Comments Panel - the Face book comments panel has been added to the property pages which is where you can ask a questions or comment on a particular property that you will think will be of use to other sites guests.
European car hire advice
This is a guest post from Matthew Coughlan who works on the car hire team at travelsupermarket.com
Experts at travelsupermarket.com have revealed that car hire prices in popular European resorts have spiked wildly this summer. In line with supply and demand, many of the price spikes are counter-intuitive so read on for an insider view of the market.
The research was based on data taken from the travelsupermarket.com car hire website since February 2010, paying particular attention to the popular European destinations of England, France and Spain. Comparing over 20 of the biggest brands has given us a concise picture of the market, and the message is clear – book early. This summer prices have risen by more than 80%, with popular family cars being the worst affected.
Since research began the prices in France and Spain have increased significantly, and when we checked the prices again towards the middle of the summer this is what was found:
- A Large family car in Palma, Majorca is up 89 percent (an extra £207.15)
- A Large family car in Nice, France is up 74.3 percent (an extra £146.79)
The prices for a large family car in London, UK remained fairly consistent, and actually dropped in price slightly mid July, but then in 6 days the prices shot up by over 90%. This is a clear indicator of a sudden rise in demand, and a great example of how booking early could save you a small fortune.
However, those looking to cut costs further by downsizing can still be caught out:
- A mini economy in Nice, France is up 42 per cent (an extra £71.90)
Whilst conventional thinking suggests that you can cut costs by going for a smaller car, it is in fact worth being as flexible as possible when it comes to choosing your category of car. As an example, the lack of demand for people carriers means the prices have remained largely unaffected. For example, a people carrier in Palma, Majorca costs as little as £175, whilst the smaller Large family car category costs £384. That’s a saving of well over £200.
Top tips for getting a cheap car hire deal:
- Book as early as possible to secure the lowest rates
- Be flexible and consider all car groups as popular budget and family models are often more expensive than less popular larger models at peak times.
- Use a price comparison website to quickly get a range of prices covering all car groups
| Destination | Car type | Price 1 Feb | Price 26 Jul | Difference |
| London, LHR | People Carrier | £207.79 | £291.87 | £84.08 or 40.5% |
| London, LHR | Large family | £171.00 | £247.27 | £103.27 or 44.6% |
| Palma, PMI | People Carrier | £247.99 | £604.90 | £356.91 or 143.9% |
| Palma, PMI | Large Family | £233.75 | £440.90 | £207.15 or 88.6% |
| Nice, NCE | Large Family | £197.49 | £344.28 | £146.79 or 74.3% |
| Nice, NCE | Economy | £172.99 | £244.89 | £71.90 or 41.6% |
| Murcia, MJV | Large family | £281.18 | £282.60 | £1.42 or 0.5% |
| Murcia, MJV | People Carrier | £344.03 | £248.90 | -£93.15 or -27.7% |
Villas Costa Brava
The combination of a very good summer climate, nature and excellent beaches the Costa Brava has often been considered only as a package holiday, fish n chips and sangria destination, a stereotype based on only a few tourist areas of the coast. The real Costa Brava is a diverse region of extraordinary natural beauty and heritage with small hidden coves, cliffs and pine forests meeting the sea shore and long sandy beaches the Costa Brava is uniquely and authentically Spanish.
Spaniards enjoy gathering in bars before their typical lunchtime meal over three hour period in which most business comes to a halt and temporarily satisfy their hunger with tapas and a glass of beer or wine. Tapas represent a Spanish way of life, and there is no better way to partake in the life of the country than by experiencing this time honoured tradition.
Escape to the sun and enjoy a Costa Brava villa holiday. A holiday in Spain with its unspoiled coves, rugged coastline and picturesque bays, is a popular destination for families, couples to enjoy cheap holidays, discover cheap holidays using our villa finder on our homepage; find the perfect accommodation to suit your needs.
For a fantastic location, lots to see and do and with prices that won’t hurt the wallet, Costa Brava holiday resorts are a great choice for the whole family.
Find out more about villa Costa Brava and the services offered from Toro Holidays.
Holiday cottages in England
How has the recent disruption to air traffic due to the volcanic ash cloud closing UK airspace and the news that there will be more strikes by airline staff affected your decision to book your holiday this year?
Looking forward to a heat wave this summer in England and booking a holiday cottage could solve any concerns that you may have about summer air travel disruption. It is all too easy to miss some great attractions and sights on your own doorstep and with no need to learn the lingo, well there may be a few accents around the UK that could catch you out now and again.
Get out of the cities and you can experience a different England in one of the many national parks taking a slow stroll through a forest or along the beach, I bet you forgot that we had beaches over here, then take a long lunch in a country pub supping a few pints of beer. Why not book your holiday in England this year and see how much more holiday time you gain by missing out on all that time waiting in airports and long transfers to your hotel.
We have added over 1300 new cottages in England onto the site this week, these new properties are a great addition to the selection of accommodation we have on the site.
Last Minute Villas
Our selection of last minute villas available is continually updated with the latest deals that can be booked on the site that are available within the next two weeks and is hotting up the closer we get to the main summer break. This is an ideal place to keep an eye on the best deals if you want to bag yourself a bargain this summer whilst checking out the best offers on flights. There may be more disruption of flights in and out of the UK this summer as the volcano in Iceland continues to release an ash cloud into the skys.
This should not limit your holiday plans as there are many alternatives if more flights are disrupted this summer, there are plenty of ferries and trains going through the tunnel to get you through to main land Europe and depending on if we are to believe the weather forecasters this year the UK could be enjoying a glorious summer heat wave. You never know?
Keep an eye on the latest deals that appear on the site and see if you can grap yourself a bargain – Last Minute Villas
Villa Costa Brava
The Costa Brava area of Spain has evolved over the years from one of the early package holiday destinations with thousands of people visiting Lloret de Mar and Tossa de Mar on their first Spanish Holiday, now that more resorts have opened up around Spain letting the Costa Brava settle and rejuvenate itself back into a leading destination that the whole family.
The Costa Brava’s location provides great choice for cheap flights with most low cost airlines flying to Barcelona, Girona or even just over the border in France to Perpignan which could be an excellant choice if you were looking to hire a car and explore the area properly.
Barcelona is a unique European city break destination allowing it’s visitors to enjoy the normal sightseeing treats you would come to expect to see whilst only a short walk away from the beach where you can find many locals enjoying their work break in the sun.
The area enjoys large amounts of sun and if you think the Costa del Sol is too hot for you in the peak summer period, this area is a few degrees cooler during the year so can be a bit more comfortable allowing you to spend more time enjoying the sun.
Blanes is host to the International Costa Brava Fireworks Contest ‘Internacional De Focs D’Artifici De La Costa Brava’ with prizes awarded to the best displays. This is a very prestigious contest and is held over three nights in July attracting thousands of vistors to watch tons of fireworks bursting in the night sky.
We have over 700 villas and apartments in this area on the site for you to choose from so please visit the villa Costa Brava for more details
Book villas in Spain for La Tomatina
If you are looking for a little something different to do on your holidays this year, then La Tomatina festival in Spain might be for you. The normally sleepy town of Bunol inland from Valencia is transformed in to one huge tomato party for one day every year.
There are many theories on how this fiesta began that now involves trucks loaded full of tomatoes are driven into the town to let 30,000 people start chucking them around after having a good soaking in water. This tomato riot lasts for one hour but is part of a week long fiesta in the town with musical bands, fireworks and as normal with Spanish town fiestas lots of great food.
La tomatina is held on the last wednesday of August during the day and once the final blast signals the end of the tomato riot the town is quickly hosed down leaving little reminder of what had just happened until the next year. This is not for the faint hearted and you will not want to attend in your best summer outfit as you will get covered head to toe in fresh salsa but has got to be on most peoples list of things to see.
Here are a selection of villas in Spain that can be booked for this week that are within easy reach of Bunol and La Tomatina festival, there are plenty of trains running from Valencia to get visitors in to Bunol for the fiesta as this is a small town and there will be a lot of visitors there on the day it is advisable to use the train as there may be limited places to park. Do not worry there will be lots of other people on the train in their old tshirts and shorts;
Apartment in Penyiscola up the coast from Valencia costing £1,147 for 14 nights arriving 21/08/10
House in Oliva outside Valencia costing £559 for 7 nights and £914 for 14 nights arrivging 21/08/10
Apartment in Cullera costing £1,077 for 14 nights arriving 21/08/10
Apartment in Puerto Sagunto costing costing £1,104 for 14 nights arriving 21/08/10
Villas in Croatia
We have expanded our selection of villas and apartments we have displayed on the site in Croatia by adding over 3,400 new holiday rentals to the site. This includes adding over 500 new locations that our visitors can book a villa holiday in croatia. All of the new apartments in villas in Croatia have a live availability calendar and online bookings through secure pages. These properties are sourced from leading villa holiday suppliers offering protection and security to the holiday maker booking an independant accommodation through Toro Holidays.
We now have over 4,400 different accommodation properties from cheap apartments to luxury villas in Croatia giving our visitors a wide selection to choose their next holiday in Croatia. All last minute special offers will continue to be displayed on the last minute villas Croatia page for quick access to all the best deals we have.
Croatia is a growing holiday destination offering luxury villa accommodation along with some rustic countryside retreats that can offer unspoilt resorts and attractions and with a large choice of protected UNESCO heritage sites to visit in one country. Croatia has missed out on most of the large scale tourist developments that have changed the coast line some of the more popular holiday destinations of Europe.
New Villas in France
An increased selection of apartments, gites and villas in France has been added to the online portfolio of Toro Holidays. We have added over 900 new properties to the site now taking the choice of accommodation in France to over 7,800 available through Toro Holidays. This offers our vistors greater choice ranging from cheap weekend breaks to luxury villas all over France covering all budgets and requirements.
These new properties also increase the locations that we now have available property to over 2,400 different places in France that can be booked online through our secure villa booking pages.
We aim to offer a wide range of villas to rent in France to our site visitors and continue to grow our villa portfolio to give offer a wide choice all in one place at www.toroholidays.co.uk.
More Villa Holidays Added
Toro Holidays continues to give our visitors more choice with the addition of over 8900 new villas, apartments and cottages added the site. All holiday accommodations added have live availability and online booking features through secure pages.
These are great additions to the existing portfolio of villa holidays to rent and apartments on the site increasing the total properties to over 32,000 covering Austria, Belgium, Croatia, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and Spain.
We will continue to increase the wide range of accommodations available to book online through www.toroholidays.co.uk over the coming weeks and months, we will keep you updated with the new additions as they happen.
Something to look forwards to; we are working on an impressive range of cottages in England that will be added to the site in a few weeks time so keep a look out for these great new cottages coming soon.