City breaks or seaside breaks, countryside, mountains or historic breaks? There is still plenty of availability for Easter Short Breaks in Europe!

If you wish to keep the price of your European short break holiday down, how about booking your car on the Eurotunnel, where you will board the car onto a train at Folkestone, resurfacing in Calais just 35 minutes later? Alternatively a car ferry departing from Dover arrives in Calais 90 minutes later, which is usually cheaper.  You don’t need to travel far from the French port; a gite break in Reims, a hotel shopping break near Calais or a sandy beach holiday in Le Touquet are all within a few hours’ drive of Calais.

For a cheap short break in Europe, you could dynamically package your own holiday with lowcostholidays. Book your flights and accommodation separately and add your transfers.  Lowcost has an excellent choice of low cost hotel and self catering accommodation in Benidorm on the Costa Blanca in Spain, close to the popular Levante Beach, from £34.75 per person for 7 nights (from Easter Monday). Cheap flight seats from Stansted to Alicante start from £179.25 per person including taxes.

Romantic at any time of year, Venice is a superb location for an Easter city short break.  Wander through St Mark’s Square and Campo San Polo, over Rialto Bridge and The Bridge of Sighs, gaze at the magnificent Grand Canal palaces and stunning churches, and wind through the extensive waterways by gondola or Venice water taxi; a city of 117 islands, 177 canals and nearly 500 bridges!

In northern Switzerland is the historic city of Basel, on the border with France and Germany. Take a cruise down the Rhine, visit the Marktplatz and City Hall, then onto the Cathedral (closed on Good Friday) before exploring Basel’s stunning Old Town.  For views over the Old Town, head up to the Basler Pfalz then follow the stairs down to the Basel Cathedral Ferry landing stage to cross the Rhine. At Easter the temperature in Basel should be similar to the UK, so go prepared for the cool, the warm, the wet, and even snow!

There are tonnes of cheap flights in March, flying to numerous European destinations from key UK airport locations.

Cheap flights to Spain in March are easy to come by.  Through Thomas Cook, fly from Gatwick to Malaga return for under £150 per person leaving around the 17 March for 7 nights with seats departing Gatwick on 10 March currently selling for £136 per person.

For a cheap city break flight, Jet2 have availability right now from Leeds Bradford to Amsterdam on Monday 22 March for £4.99 and if you returned on either Thursday 25 or Tuesday 30 March, that flight costs 99p!  Sadly taxes are £54, bags £19.98 and online check in £6.00 (all prices per person) so the full cost is £85.96 per person.

Fly from Manchester with Thomson Holidays on Thursday 18 March to Lanzarote (ACE) in the Spanish Canary Islands and the low cost flight price is £167.98 per person returning on 25 March – including taxes and baggage (20kg of hold bags, 5kg in flight)! Meals cost £15.00 per person and reserved seats £15 (£7 per child). Flights from Manchester to Malaga start from £138.98 per person departing on 26 March for one week. Cheap!

Ryanair has a seat sale of cheap flights to Europe. Book by the night of Monday 8 March for flights from £9.99 each way. The travel period is 23 March and 31 May with a selection of blackout dates over both UK May Bank Holidays. Check their website for full details.  From Stansted you could fly to Figari, Girona (Barcelona), Pula or Pisa from £9.99, with flights to Rimini, Carcassonne, Rome, Alghero, Brindisi, Palermo, Alicante, Faro, Ibiza, Malaga and Palma for budget prices of under £20.00 each way.  Taxes, baggage, check in etc are extra. Ryanair also have cheap seats from a number of UK airports including Birmingham, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Gatwick and Luton, as well as Manchester and Newquay.

Head to the Costa del Sol, and First Choice has very low cost seats from Gatwick to Malaga for £101.71 plus taxes of £26.25 (total return price £127.96) travelling from 23 March to 4 April. Fly to Faro in the Algarve, south Portugal on Saturday 27 March for 2 weeks and the cheap flight is a mere £77.13 plus £31.83 tax (total £108.96 per person).  Extras include in flight meals, reserved seats and seats with extra space.

Mother’s Day 2010 (Mothering Sunday) is on Sunday 14 March, a time when “children” of all ages pay tribute to their mothers, female relatives or friends who has made an impact on their life.

Traditionally, as this occasion dates back to 1600, boys would present their mother with flowers whilst girls baked Simnel Cakes. Today gifts vary, so why not consider sending “Mum” on a Mother’s Day Break?

A few years ago The Guardian stated “The husband, partner, son or daughter who arranges this short break in Paris won’t be short of brownie points on Mother’s Day”.  Having looked at cheap short holidays in Paris travelling on the Eurostar from London St Pancras to Paris Gare du Nord over Mother’s Day weekend this year, currently Short Breaks are offering a collection of cheap deals, including £189.00 per person at an elegant 3 star superior hotel in the heart of Paris.

For Mother’s Day breaks and holidays closer to home in the UK, you could consider a spa treatment weekend, or the whole family getting together for a rare holiday away!  With both options in mind, Center Parcs could be your answer with accommodation set in beautiful surroundings at one of four locations.  Right now, a Comfort 2 Bedroom Villa sleeping four at Longleat Forest, staying from Friday 12 March for three nights costs £439.00, with an Executive One Bedroom Penthouse Apartment sleeping 2, costing £447.00.

Your mum could not help but be wowed with a Mother’s Day Theatre Break in London.  If you can’t book her tickets to see her favourite show or that “I’ve been meaning to see that for ages…” show for the 14th, then buy her tickets for a weekend in the spring or summer.  Whilst Red Letter Days offers a voucher to stay in a five star London hotel with top price theatre seats for two costing £500 ,and a Friday night three star London Theatre Break with top price seats for two at a price of £250, you could make the arrangements yourself.  Lastminute has a cheap hotel  offer for £103.20 including taxes staying at the four star Bermondsey Square near Tower Bridge on the night on Saturday 13th March.

Travel in March and you should discover a travel lull before the Easter storm!

With Easter Day being on Sunday 4th April this year, the first few weeks of March should be quiet for holiday makers which means lower priced holidays, cheap flights, budget car hire and low cost accommodation available. UK schools break up between 13th and 20th for two to three weeks. Holiday prices will be higher but there are still many online holiday bargains to be had!

March is not too late to ski or enjoy a whole host of winter sports in the snow. Bardonecchia in Italy has been experiencing good snow conditions this season and offers a superb choice of cross country skiing trails, two ski areas offering 100 km of runs particularly good for beginner and intermediate skiers, and excellent snowboarding facilities, especially as Bardonecchia hosted the 2006 snowboarding competitions for the Turin Winter Olympics.

In France the deepest snow can be currently found in: Argentiere, Chamonix, Flaine, La Clusaz and Alpe d’Huez. For Austria ski resorts with good snow at the moment look at St Anton, Solden and Lech, whilst Swiss ski resorts recently experiencing a good “dump” include Engelberg, Saas Fee, St Moritz and Gstaad.

For a March city break holiday, Paris, Amsterdam, Madrid, Malaga and Lisbon are all superb holiday destinations. You may still need a coat and gloves whilst exploring these beautiful, cosmopolitan European cities but with the streets clear of most tourists (except closer to Easter) you shouldn’t have to queue at the galleries or city’s attractions. Alternatively include March 17th in your New York City break and the St Patrick’s Day celebrations will take your breath away!

The Canary Islands are a favoured sunshine location in Europe in March. The average temperature in Tenerife in March is around 25 degrees Centigrade/77 degrees Fahrenheit but do keep to the south of islands (Gran Canaria, Lanzarote etc) for warmer, dryer weather as the north tends to be wetter and windier.

School holidays and children equal Florida! Enjoy the Irish theme at Walt Disney World Resort and at the UK pavilion at Epcot around the 17th March or Epcot’s stunning Flower and Garden Festival; every Saturday throughout March enjoy Mardi Gras at Universal Orlando. Combine the Florida theme parks with the spectacular beaches of St Petersburg and Clearwater, or a Miami Beach come city break with scuba diving in the Florida Keys!

Valentine’s Day 14 February 2010 will be on Sunday, meaning that you have a whole weekend to celebrate in style!

What will you be doing for Valentine’s Day?

How about a Valentine’s Day Break in the UK? For one night or the whole weekend, you could be strolling through the ancient Scottish city of Edinburgh, living in the lap of luxury in a deluxe London hotel, snuggling up in front of a log fire in a cosy cottage in the Cotswolds, relaxing in a historic English inn or booking into a quaint hotel with a four poster bedroom in Warwickshire.

Steeped in history, why not have a Valentine’s break with a difference and stay in a fairytale castle, and if you’re not already married – why not pop the question in this perfect setting?  With stunning views over Loch Lomond, Cameron House offers an award winning 5 star experience never to be forgotten or alternatively the boutique hotel, Castle Venlaw in Pebbles, has a lovely superior double room, individually appointed for two nights over Valentines for £338.00 including dinner, bed and breakfast.

Longleat House, Safari and attractions will be open from 13 to 21 February to incorporate Valentines breaks and school half term.  For a romantic weekend away, why not look at the Bath Arms in Longleat, Warminster with its interior designed bedrooms, some themed (as in the Karma Sutra room!), and a wide selection of treatments including Thai Massage and Hopi Candles.

For gentle walks through the Pennines or Dales, the Jacobean manor, Holdsworth House Hotel is just two miles from Halifax.  The lovely Barn House is located in the village of Walkington near the M62 not far from Hull and York. For Valentines weekend you could choose to say in The French Provence double room, The Songbirds Kingsize room or The Raj Experience 4 poster room, each for £120 per room per night.

May be an interesting stay if you are familiar with Five’s Hotel Inspector progamme shown in July 2008, the West Usk Lighthouse, St Brides Wentlooge, Newport which has rooms with a waterbed or four poster bed. The lighthouse hotel can arrange trips to the village restaurant in a Rolls Royce and can arrange champagne and flowers for special occasions.  There is also an authentic Mongolian Yurt with double bed and two singles with a wood burning stove in the middle if you like to camp with a difference!