Your must read travel round up 👣
Hello lovely people, and welcome to this week’s newsletter.
Now there’s a few new faces around here - hiya 👋 The Holiday Expert newsletter is where I drop into your inboxes with the latest hacks, deals and updates on all things travel. And there’s plenty of behind the scenes insights too, if you’re nosey like that…
As well as a competition and an exciting new way to find cheap package holidays, I’m talking about Paris this week!
Now I know Paris can be like marmite BUT I’m personally a big fan and I think enjoying this busy city is all to do with how you approach it. So, on each trip, I like to have a day where I choose a new area to explore and then just go for a wander! So far I've done this in Montmartre, Le Marais, St. Canal Martin area and (this latest time) Belleville, which I chose as I read it was affordable and well-rated for good food spots and a relaxed local vibe. I think it definitely takes the pressure off by not having to tick off a load of tourist hotspots, and lets you see a bit more of the real Paris.
Right, let’s crack on with this week’s newsletter which includes:
🛍️ My fave Primark goodies giveaway!
🚄 The Eurostar booking hack that can save you over 50%
👛 Can I pack for a city break in an ULTRA MINI Uniqlo bag?
🏨 The best Paris hotels for every budget
🥐 Things to do in Paris for every budget
🍽️ Viral Vacay - Michelin-star dining for less
Snap happy
We’ve spoken about Eurostar Snap before on here, but I finally had the chance to test it out for myself!! And why not take one travel hack and merge it with another? Yep, following how many people saw me try and pack for a 3 day trip in a Uniqlo bag last year, I decided to take an ULTRA MINI Uniqlo bag with me for my 2 day trip to Paris.
What is Eurostar Snap and is it worth the faff?
I finally tested our Eurostar Snap, the last minute way to get cheap Eurostar tickets.
Can I take an ultra mini Uniqlo bag as my luggage for a city break?
Yes I packed for my Paris trip with a MINI version of the viral Uniqlo sling bag - how did I get on?
Viral Vacay📲
Where we track down travel videos that have gone viral, find out how much it actually costs and if needs be, suggest a cheaper alternative 🕵️♀️
What is it? Le Cinq is a restaurant at the swanky Paris Four Seasons hotel that has 3 Michelin stars.
How viral? Their spritz-in-a-bubble appetitser has gone viral on Instagram with over 1.8M views.
How much? Le Cinq has a tasting menu for a pretty epic price tag - €620. Mains start at €160, which is still pretty punchy for one dish! But don’t worry - you can dine on amazing Michelin-starred food in Paris for much less…
Seen a viral video you want me to do this for? Reply with it to this email! 📧
Bonjour Paris
I’m fresh back from my trip and I’ve got a whole load of tips that can help take some of the effort out of planning your city break. To save you time trawling booking sites, I’ve picked a selection of the best hotels whatever your budget and also pulled together what I think are the best things to do in Paris for every budget.
The best hotels in Paris
Whether you’re a bargain hunter or a big spender, you’ll find your perfect digs in my list of handpicked Paris hotels for every budget.
Things to do in Paris for every budget
Paris is a great city to just wander around, plus there are plenty of activities that won’t break the bank - unless you want them to!
Have you checked out our destination guides?
It’s not just Paris that we’ve created a city guide for! I’ve been spilling the beans on my favourite places in the cities I’ve visited recently, including:
If you want to find these in the future, you just need to go to the Holiday Expert website and click on ‘Destinations’ - and they’ll all come up!
If you find a special place or activity using my guides, I’d love to hear about it - you can reply to me through this newsletter!!
Win my favourite Primark travel goodies!
Now you may or may not know that we’re running a competition that closes TODAY. It gives one of you lucky readers a chance to get your hands on my fave Primark travel goodies and a £25 voucher.
To enter you just need to comment on this Instagram post AND be signed up to the newsletter - so if you’re reading this, it’s very likely you’re already halfway there!!
Make sure you check out the terms and conditions on that post, but here’s hoping I’ll be dropping one of you a DM any time soon…
Good luck!
My deal of the week
In lieu of a specific deal of the week, this time I’m sharing a way that you can easily find a deal yourself!!
And that’s because we have a cool new feature on the website which pulls together a load of package holiday deals for you, all powered by icelolly and TravelSupermarket.
We’re testing it out in a few places, but here’s where you can find:
You may have to scroll down the page to find it, and when you do, don’t forget you can use the filters to choose what airports work best for you.
Happy bargain hunting!
Look mum I’m on the telly!
You might have seen me pop up on BBC News last week - I was giving my two cents on the reported incentives for airport gate staff to spot oversize cabin luggage.
My latest column for Metro also went up at the weekend, all about being cheeky and asking for free hotel upgrades.
I was also on 5 Live yesterday with Naga Munchetty doing an hour of Travel Questions with two other travel experts! You can listen 1 hour into her Thursday 30 July programme on BBC Sounds, or by clicking here.
Finally, I was in Sweden filming something very fun earlier this week… But you’ll hear more about that next time!
What the team’s been loving this week!
When we’ve not been working really hard - ahem - here’s some of the things that we’ve been enjoying over on socials.
Anna: I’ve been lolling at this lad who got a bit wedged in on his flight.
Chelsea: Soz for the SELF PLUG but our Passports Please! podcast video about US transit has POPPED OFF on TikTok…
James: Nothing beats an airport singalong… it’s my dream to be involved in one one day.
Joe: I think this is the most perfect proposal I’ve ever seen.
Katie: Summer is here and the mosquitos are after me, I’ll be throwing these shapes for the forseeable.
And that’s a wrap!
That’s all for this week – thanks if you made it this far and why not let me know you did so by answering the poll below ⬇️
If you have a mate or family member who loves to travel and could do with a helping hand from the Holiday Expert, just hit the button below and share the link!
Which bag would you take on a weekend away
Speak to you soon!
Chelsea x
Just me and my new bestie, the ultra mini Uniqlo sling bag
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