The Easter school holidays, at the end of March/beginning of April, is the perfect time for day trips in the UK.  You don’t need to spend a fortune, you can return home if the weather is too bad and you can usually make plans at the last minute!

If you love movies, how about visiting the National Trust properties used for filming? Ham House in Surrey is where The Young Victoria was filmed, whilst a White Rabbit Easter trail will be held 2nd to 9th April at Antony, six miles from Plymouth where Walt Disney’s quirky Alice in Wonderland, directed by Tim Burton was filmed. During the Easter school holidays visit Cliveden in Berkshire where Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law played Holmes and Watson, or Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire; the location of two Harry Potter films.

In London take a flight on the London Eye. With spectacular views over London’s many landmarks, book a 10am Standard Flight and the cost is a mere £10 per adult compared to £17.88 at any other time of day, as the London Eye celebrates 10 years. During the Easter school holidays, take the kids to Kew Gardens on Easter Sunday morning for an Easter Egg Hunt or to the Bank of England Museum for a treasure trail through the Museum.  Enjoy roller skating? Join the Bunny Stroll on Easter Sunday, which covers a relaxed 8 miles of London’s West End.

Easter holiday thrill seekers may prefer the delights of Thorpe Park (opens 18 March at 10am) or Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey; in the heart of England, Thorpe Park opens on 20 March as does the award winning Drayton Manor Theme Park.  In the north of England, Blackpool Pleasure Beach on the west coast of Lancashire is great for the whole family, whilst younger children may prefer the exciting yet sedate Legoland Windsor (Berkshire), with plenty for the young ‘uns at both Chessington and Drayton.

On the 27 March, the Cardiff International White Water in Cardiff Bay, south Wales is opening which will offer courses and activities for all levels of water sports persons wishing to white water raft, hotdog, hydrospeed, canoe or kayak.  Also in Cardiff over Easter, Techniquest has an eggsciting show all about the egg, with fun and science explaining how to cushion a fragile spacecraft – amongst other exhibits!

The Forest of Bowland, Lancaster, Morecambe Bay, Heysham, Blackpool, Preston, Lytham St Annes; just a taste of where you can go on your holiday to Lancashire, a lovely north west coastal county in England.

An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty the Forest of Bowland is part of the Pennines covering over 3100 square miles of Lancashire. Ideal for mountain biking, dog walking, fishing and walks, the area is dotted with quaint villages such as 16th century Downham. Clitheroe in the Ribble Valley is a good choice for visitors to the Forest and dates back to Saxon times. The visitor’s information centre is located on Church Walk.

Preston is an excellent shopping location and offers a great choice of museums, super restaurants and all night clubbing. Make sure you tour Preston with a Blue Badge Guide! Blackpool; the winter Illuminations, the summer days on the long sandy beach, the Pleasure Beach, tram rides.

Lytham and St Annes on Sea are two separate coastal towns. St Annes is closer to Blackpool and boasts a fantastic sandy beach and dunes, many excellent hotels, a cinema and plenty of activities to keep the family happy during the summer with many open during the winter too. Lytham, famous for the Royal Lytham Golf Course, is on the estuary, and no sandy beaches here; however, the upmarket town centre is quaint and lined with many independent stores and charming boutiques.

Blackburn is a historic former mill town, surrounded by rolling countryside whilst Burnely is a market town encircled by woodland, waterways and farms which are linked by the Burnley Way stretching for around 40 miles; perfect for cycling. The seaside town Morecambe on Morecambe Bay is renowned for its theatre shows and plays, and is also in Lancashire.

So if you’re looking for a boisterous party town like Blackpool, quaint locations like Downham or fabulous beaches as in St Annes, then a Lancashire holiday is for you!

Most schools and colleges in the UK will be closed for the week commencing 27 October for the “Half Term”.

This is the perfect time to explore the UK’s many Theme Parks which are popular with very young children and teens alike.

Alton Towers in the Midlands (M6, junction 15 or 16, or M1, junction 23a or 24a) suits all ages and will remain open until Sunday 1st November when it closes for most of the winter the following day. If tickets are booked online in advance, you may take advantage of a saving of over £7 for an adult ticket or nearly £30 (on a six person family ticket). If you’re prepared to be scared, how about Halloween fun at Alton Towers, with their “Scarefest” from 17th October (check website for full details and separate prices)?

Thorpe Park Theme Park in Surrey (exit M25 at junction 11 or 13) starts its “Fright Nights” on 12th October but entry is strictly controlled by advance bookings only (usual tickets may be purchased at the gate). Thorpe is preferred by older teens (13-14 years plus) as it has a fantastic range of white knuckle rides such as the Saw, whilst Chessington World of Adventures (exit M25 at junction 9) is excellent for younger children and families with its rides, Wild Wood Animal Antics Presentations and Zoo.

Infant and Junior school children (aged 3 to 12) will simply love Legoland in Berkshire near London! Not only will they be fascinated by the lego model Miniland, but with over 50 rides at Legoland including Laiser Raiders, Balloon School, train and boat rides, they’ll be asking to come back the next day too!

Other theme parks to consider include the largest family owned Drayton Manor Park near Birmingham and Coventry, with its “Thomas (the Tank Engine) Land”, Europe’s only stand up rollercoaster and superb water ride. If you’re in Essex, then Adventure Island with its pay as you go rides, is closest, with Crealy Cornwall and Crealy Devon in the west of the country. There are Gulliver’s theme parks in Bath, Milton Keynes and Warrington, with Loudoun Castle near Kilmarnock and M&D’s Strathclyde Country Park near East Kilbride, in Scotland.

Who could forget Blackpool’s Pleasure Beach, which if you head to during October will offer the added bonus of the annual Blackpool Illuminations.

From a child’s prospective I always thought that the lights of London’s Oxford Street and Regent Street at Christmas were the most spectacular sight!

That was until I went to Blackpool during the illuminations…

Heading from the South Shore to the North Shore and beyond, cars amble along in slow procession at about 20 miles an hour for nearly six miles along the promenade which lines the sandy coast, as children and adults alike, gaze out of their windows at the breathtaking display of flashing lights, twinkling stars, fibre optics, lasers and the most mesmerising “moving” 3-d images and displays.

The great “Switch On Show” is always as memorable as the illuminations, and the 2008 event included performers Boyzone and the presenters from Top Gear (minus James May). Which artist or artists will switch on the Blackpool Illuminations in 2009 noone knows for sure yet, but the event will take place on the night of Friday 4th September about 9pm (check local press for details). On Sunday 6th September the World Fireworks Championship will be held on the North Pier from about 8pm but should be viewable from anywhere along the Blackpool coast. What a weekend!

The Illuminations started in 1897 as eight arc lamps on the Blackpool Promenade giving off the same amount of light as 48,000 candles. The event drew in nearly 100,000 visitors from all around the United Kingdom. Except for breaks during World War I and II, the lights continued to be switched on every autumn and are now always lit for 66 nights from the end of August or beginning of September, as Blackpool’s summer holiday makers vacate the shores.

For those without a car, jump on a tram! First introduced to Blackpool in 1885 there are both open top single storey and closed double decker trams running from Blackpool to Fleetwood and covering sections of the suburbs. Alternatively, the romantic alternative is the open horse drawn carriages!

Dr Who is coming to the Blackpool Illuminations this year with a special new section between Central Pier and New Bonny Street. Be prepared to meet the seven foot Daleks…

There is so much accommodation in Blackpool that finding a hotel or bed and breakfast shouldn’t be difficult, but if travelling to see the Illuminations during “switch on” weekend, do book in advance.

The schools, colleges and universities are closed and the kids are getting under your feet! What can you do with a house full of people? Need August holiday ideas?

If you don’t want to go abroad, why not hire a car in the UK and explore the coast and countryside or visit friends and relatives you don’t normally get to see?

easyCar will arrange car hire from hundreds of destinations throughout the UK including all airports and many stations, so why not visit Grandma and Grandpa for a few days or drive to one of the UK’s leading holiday destinations like the Alton Towers Theme Park in the Midlands or Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire?  There are stunning long sandy beaches at Camber Sands in East Sussex and Bigbury-on-Sea in the South Hams, Devon, or with the historic university town as its backdrop, West Sands beach in St Andrews, Scotland.  Rent a car and head to Brighton in East Sussex for a stroll down The Lanes, a laze on the beach and a delicious meal in one of the many fantastic restaurants – followed of course, by a night on the town at any number of nightclubs!  Or how about a UK city break? London, Edinburgh, Belfast, Manchester or Birmingham – the choices are limitless!

If you have booked a holiday in the sun, don’t forget to book your car hire before you arrive!  There have been many articles written of late about what could possibly be more demand of hire cars than supply in the popular resorts.

No idea where you would like to go on holiday in August? Then how about booking a cheap flight, adding bargain car rental with easyCar and then simply exploring your chosen holiday destination – UK, Europe or Worldwide?  France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Greece, Cyprus, Croatia, Bulgaria or USA, Caribbean, Dubai, South Africa – all excellent ideas for the ideal August holiday!