Jaunted

London Day Trips / Harry Potter Travel / Harry Potter / Movie Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Get Out of Londontown / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: The Harry Potter Studio Tour

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Although you can’t get there from Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the newly opened Harry Potter Studio Tour in Leavesden is an entertaining and easy daytrip from London. Despite the London address, it’s actually located in Hertfordshire, near St Albans.

The WB studio complex is home to many of the original HP sets, props, costumes and more, which makes it a worthy pilgrimage spot for a Potter nerd. If you don’t drive, the best way to get there is by taking a train from Euston Station to Watford—there are plenty, and it’s only about 20 minutes’ ride—and then taking the HP bus to the studio for an additional £2. (The bus is black and painted with Harry Potter characters, so it’s pretty hard to miss.)

Be sure that you book your tickets in advance (£28 per adult and available here) as no tickets are sold on site, and, if you try to go into the parking lot security guards will ask to see your printed-out confirmation notice. Additionally, you’ll need to arrive about 45-60 minutes before the time your tour is scheduled to start, just to make sure that you have enough time to wait in line and/or browse the gift shop.

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London Day Trips / Bath Travel / Spa Travel / Literary Travel / Britain Travel / London Travel / Historical Travel / Get Out of Londontown / → All Tags

Get Out of Londontown: A Day Trip to Bath

Heading to London this summer? Yeah, so is everyone else. This week, Jaunted's London embed, Lilit Marcus, will share some definite destinations for getting out of town and out of the crowds.

Last year, John Cleese famously announced that he liked Bath better than London. “London is no longer an English city, which is why I love Bath,” he said. “I love being down in Bath because it feels like the England that I grew up in.”

Not only does Bath feel like the town of John Cleese's fond memories, it feels like the one where Jane Austen used to live. Many of the buildings were designed during the Georgian period and have remained mostly unchanged since. If you ignore the lone Starbucks, it would even be easy to think the town hadn’t changed at all in hundreds of years. Although it’s only 90 minutes away from London via Paddington Station, it’s easy to feel like you’re in another time and place, which makes it a beautiful choice for a short trip outside the city.

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Foreign Grocery Friday / Food Travel / Asia Travel / Britain Travel / Europe Travel / Canada Travel / → All Tags

Foreign Grocery Friday: Exotic Potato Chips up the Wazoo

When we travel, one of our favorite things to do is to pop into a local grocery store and check out the food products and candies we'd never find anywhere else. So we're trying out this new feature, Foreign Grocery Friday, where each week we'll feature some of our (and your) favorite overseas treats. Got a recommendation? Let us know!

If there's one thing we've learned during international travels far and wide, it's that potato chips are the universal snack of choice. As is to be expected, most of the creative flavors have roots in English cuisine, as the empire today is less "for queen and country" and more "for baked or ripples."

Well SmarterTravel has done their homework on this very important topic of chip domination, discovering what they name the 15 Craziest Potato Chip Flavors Around the World. Though we could easily supplant these flavors just off the top of our head (we ate Unagi Kabayaki, Salmon Sushi and Mong Kok BBQ sausage-flavor chips just last week), let's take a look:

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London Travel / Events / Golden Jubilee / Royal Travel / Britain Travel / Videos / → All Tags

What's Going On During the Queen's Diamond Jubilee? A LOT.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: this is the year for London. Aside the Olympics, the UK will also host all the pomp and circumstance to accompany the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Sounds fancy, sure, but non-Britons may be like, umm what's that all about? In fact, the Diamond Jubilee marks a monarch's 60th year on the throne. In actuality, the Diamond Jubilee is also a time for Britain to act really British.

UK-obsessed website Anglotopia produced a little FAQ video regarding the Diamond Jubilee, which will be especially helpful to any travelers hitting London in early June and wondering why the city looks like it's celebrating the end of a war or something. There will be more Union Jack-covered outfits than you'd see at a Spice Girls concert and more spotted dick on the table.

Watch the video and ignore the sound quality to be more informed about the Diamond Jubilee than probably anyone else you know. Or, just know this: Britain is in for a summer full of flags, hats, cakes, boats, fire, carriages and RAF jets (no Concorde—boo). And the majority it for free!

RV Travel / Cars / Hertz / England Travel / Summer Travel / Road Trips / Britain Travel / → All Tags

Renting an RV from Hertz is Totally Happening...in the UK

If you’re not feeling too confident about your chances to tour England in a van, we’ve got another option for you to check out. Sure it might not be free and you won’t be the contest’s big winner, but you’ll still be able to practice living off the land—or at least living off the grid.

Hertz is now getting into the motorhome business, as they’ve partnered up with Just Go Motorhome Hire to bring RV rentals to the masses over in the United Kingdom. Sure there’s plenty of great spots to visit within the country’s cities and towns, but there’s also plenty of stunning English countryside to check out. Once you get over that driving-on-the-other-side-of-the-road thing, we’re sure maneuvering an oversized vehicle through narrow roads and lanes is just the the kind of relaxing vacation that you’ve always dreamed about.

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Travel Contests / England Travel / Summer Travel / Road Trips / Britain Travel / → All Tags

If You Want to Spend 70 Days Driving Around the UK, then the UK Wants You

Do you love England, or do you really love England? The country’s tourism board is looking for some hardcore Anglophiles right now, as they want you to tell the world about your trips and travels all around the country. It’s not exactly as awesome as some of the travel contests we’ve seen throughout the years, but if you’re still looking for something to do with your time you might as well submit an application.

You’ll obviously need to be a fan of England, and be willing to get down and dirty as you travel about the country seeking adventure. Unfortunately your days and evenings won’t be filled with luxury lodgings or pricey excursions, as you’ll be spending most of your time in a van. Yep, that’s right, the contest is looking for a “Fan in a Van.”

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Travel Advertising / London Travel / Britain Travel / British Airways / 2012 London Olympics / → All Tags

The Baggage Claim Carousel, Imagined as an Olympic Race

The city of London is the only destination on Earth get be declared a Top 10 destination by both Lonely Planet and Frommer's this year. The British capital is of course going to host the Olympics this summer, which apparently is kind of a capital-t Thing, which means that the city is going to get a little crowded.

It also means that we're going to see travel advertising tie-in after travel advertising tie-in, with every brand and company in existence trying to cash in on the buzz. That theme is going to get very annoying very quickly, but right now it's all just kicking off. There are even some people who think this early example, from British Airways, is cute. Maybe even too cute.

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Travel Advertising / Tourism Boards / Fashion Week / New York Travel / New York / Britain / Britain Travel / Victoria Beckham / Anna Wintour / → All Tags

Britain's Newest Tourism Campaign Plants Anna Wintour and Victoria Beckham on the NYC Subway

Some people—contemporary economists, most historians, journalists on every inhabited continent, academic and professional political scientists, not a few government officials, etc—have taken to suggesting that Britain is facing inexorable decline. Having once ruled the high seas and controlled an empire upon which the sun never set, the Brits have seemingly shifted their focus from having a navy to obsessing over "Jersey Shore" knockoffs.

Quite the opposite, says the tourism board officials at VisitBritain. Not only is 2012 going to be the best year ever, but the United Kingdom itself is simply great! To show you just how great the United Kingdom is, and also to "deliver long-term economic benefits from the unprecedented level of interest generated by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games," they've launched a tourism campaign called GREAT.

To perfectly complement that kind of subtle branding, they've just locked up Victoria Beckham to cut commercials for them.

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Movie Set Travel / Zoo Travel / Britain Travel / Zoos / Movie Travel / Animals / → All Tags

Visit the Real Zoo That 'We Bought a Zoo' Was Based On

Cameron Crowe’s We Bought A Zoo, starring Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and Thomas Haden Church, hits theaters today and is based on the true story of a father who moves his two children to a dilapidated zoo which they restore to its former glory.

The movie is set in the U.S. and was filmed just outside of Los Angeles, but the real-life zoo the story is based on is actually located in Devon, U.K. The Dartmoor Zoo is now the thriving home of dozens of animals including monkeys, reindeer, cheetahs and goats. The zoo also hosts special events, like photography tours, family days, and weddings.

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Holiday Travel / Britain Travel / Christmas Travel / Shopping Travel / London Travel / Markets / → All Tags

Three London Christmas Markets That Nod to the German Tradition

Christmas markets are an advent of countries like Germany and Austria, but the honored holiday tradition has been adopted by cultures the world over.

In London, there's yuletide market merriment to be found stretching from the Thames to Columbia Road. Sprinkled throughout the city, these shopping fairs feature vendors hawking everything from fresh mulled wine to crafts to handmade jewels, offering ample opportunity to shop for presents and partake of seasonal cheer.

There are only a few days left to peruse the "chalet" stalls for last-minute gifts as you take in the sight of strung lights and sip on hot cocoa. We've highlighted three of the city's best Christmas markets:

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Frequent Flyer Miles / British Airways / Frequent Flyer Programs / Oneworld / Avios / Britain Travel / Europe Travel / Loyalty Programs / → All Tags

From British Airways Miles to Avios Points: Breaking It Down

This month means more than just the beginning of holiday travel season; it also marks the beginning of a new era at British Aiways with the re-branding of their frequent flyer program to "Avios." Say cheers to the former loyalty program managed by AirMiles on November 16th.

Basically, BA Miles used to be managed through AirMiles who has done the re-branding. BA is just using the program as a "currency" to redeem flights and hotels. This shift is to align with the frequent flyer programs of its joint venture partner, Iberia, and mirror other Oneworld partner airline programs. Executive Club is sticking around and its members will be accruing Avios points instead of BA Miles. Don't worry, if you have heaps of points in Executive Club, you won't loose them.

The move to Avios is not just a name change, but the program claims to make earning points and higher status levels, as well as redeeming points for flights and upgrades, far easier. Let's see if they're right.

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Ryanair / LCCs / Airline Industry / Travel News / Ireland Travel / Britain Travel / London Stansted / Michael O'Leary / → All Tags

After Mind-Blowing Safety Lapse, Ryanair Promises Massive Expansion with Help of 'Cheap' Planes

There are two airline industry news stories about Irish LCC Ryanair floating around this week, and we'll leave you to decide the precise degree to which they're related. We're specifying "airline industry" stories, in contrast to just Ryanair stories "in general," to emphasize that these are different from the fake "no frills" PR branding nonsense that Ryanair endlessly pushes into the travel journalism newsstream (e.g. this near self-parody of a CNN story headlined "Ryanair's 5 'cheapest' money-saving schemes"). These are actual news stories, as much as is possible with these guys.

First up, Ryanair's the-customer-is-always-wrong CEO Michael O'Leary just announced a massive expansion of the airline. Ryanair will reportedly purchase over 200 new airplanes from US, Chinese and Russian plane manufacturers, a total that would easily make the airline one of the world's largest. O'Leary is promising that the planes will come at "cheap prices."

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