We’d like to introduce you to another travel startup, HouseTrip.com. We met the founders Ben and Arnaud at the Google Travel Conference in Zurich back in November, and we thought you’d like to hear about them…

HouseTrip is an online platform for booking holiday apartments for short stays in top European cities. Holiday apartments are a good option if you want an alternative to a hotel, particularly if you’re in a group of family or friends, or you’re planning on staying somewhere more than a night or two. Since you get a kitchen, lounge and dining area, as well as bedrooms, there are much more options during your stay.

The problem that HouseTrip’s founders identified is that booking an apartment can be surprisingly difficult. First, you have to find a suitable apartment, and it’s hard to know where to look. Most people will start their research on Google, where you’ll find a variety of small local websites and large classified advertising sites. But the policies (such booking, payment and cancellation policies) are very varied. You will normally have to pay a substantial amount of money up front, then pay the rest of the money in advance of the stay. Some owners will accept cash on arrival, but there is normally no guarantee of what will happen if you cancel or you are unhappy when you arrive.

HouseTrip aims to simplify the process. HouseTrip handpicks their holiday apartments from sites across the internet and offers a comprehensive booking and payment solution, unlike most of their competitors, which makes booking an apartment easier and safer. Guests simply enter their dates and number of guests, then they send availability enquiries to owners to check that the dates are still available. Once they have received positive replies, guests book through HouseTrip, paying at the time of booking. HouseTrip then holds this money until after the guest has arrived at the property, leaving a minimum of 24 hours before transferring the payment to the owner. This protects the guest against fraud. HouseTrip also offers standardised cancellation policies, so if guests need to cancel, they know what the policy is.

HouseTrip won “Best Travel Startup” at the Get Funded Show @ World Travel Market held in November 2009, an award which we won at the previous event, and they are going from strength to strength. They are adding more direct booking properties all the time, which eliminates the need to send availability enquiries – these apartments can be booked immediately. It’s a really good site (we like it!), and recommend you check it out.

- Posted by Alexandru

Introducing Alex, our latest addition to the team, and all-time expert on his home country Romania. For those of you who like to do a little planning ahead, we’ve asked Alex to bring some top tops on his home region, where the skiing is fresh, and most importantly cheap. Bring it on Alex. – Rachel.

Romania stands out for skiing, not through the extent of kilometres of slopes like Austria, Switzerland or France, but through good quality for low cost, extremely friendly locals, warm atmosphere and absolutely breath-taking scenery.

The Carpathian Mountains cover almost one third of the country unveiling a wonderful wilderness, dominated by ubiquitous pine forests.  The valleys bisect the dense forest layers allowing some excellent skiing landscapes. There are several quality resorts across different regions of the country.

●  Ranked the 6^th Best Beginners Ski Resort in the world by Guardian and in top 10 Beginners Skiing Holidays by Thomas Cook and WorldTravel, Poiana Brasov is by far one of the best Romanian ski resorts.

With 12 slopes and 11 ski lifts, Poiana Brasov is fit for both beginners and intermediate skiers. The resort also has one of the multi award winning ski schools in the world, Ana Ski School, suitable for both adults and children. Around 3000 British tourists visit Romania every year to learn skiing. For those that are more advanced, there are several difficult runs as well as several off piste circuits. Don’t forget to try the local mulled wine and tuica.

Outside the slopes, tourists can try swimming, horse riding , ice skating , paintballing , ATV riding and many other air sports such as paragliding and flying in a motor hang glider. The resort is known to be very lively with lots of bars and restaurants and an intense nightlife. For those interested in the delicious local cuisine and winery, I would strongly suggest you try Sura Dacilor or Coliba Haiducilor, two restaurants with an impressive tradition in the area.

Cool stuff: For those looking for more adventure, Poiana Brasov is the starting point to amazing expedition opportunities in the Bucegi and Fagarasi mountains.  Ski touring and free ride in the highest mountains in Romania is a life time experience taking around nine days. Shorter alternative tours as well as snow shoeing events are also available.

A must-see attraction in the area is the Bran Castle known as the Castle of Dracula. A place of myth and mystery, visiting the castle is a splendid experience. The medieval architecture and the deadly silence behind the walls carry your thought deeper into the legend.

●  Known as the pearl of the Carpathians, Sinaia is located at the heart of the Prahova Valley, the biggest ski region in Romania. Offering a 1000 m vertical drop, Sinaia is excellent for high altitude skiing offering more difficult slopes for advanced skiers but also excellent facilities and ski school for the beginners. Apart from skiing, tourists can practice snowboarding, bob sledging and ice skating. Again, the resort has a vivid nightlife with a broad range of bars, restaurants and clubs. Snow shoeing on the Bucegi Mountains trails is also possible.

Cool stuff: Hostels and the mountain chalets organize Romanian meals nights with live music and a very warm atmosphere. There isn’t any better way to learn about the Romanian culture and traditions than through food, drinks and music. After dinner, I strongly recommend you try and relax by walking on the candle-lit paths in some parts of the resort.

The Bucegi Mountains hide one of the most beautiful palaces in the world: The Peles Castle.  Standing witness of the Romanian monarchy, the palace hosts an invaluable art collection comprising paintings, sculptures, medieval weapons and antiques.  The Peles Castle also appeared in a recent Hollywood movie, The Brothers Bloom (2009), staring Rachel Weisz and Adrien Brody.

●  Located in the Bucegi Mountains, Azuga contains the longest ski run in Romania , the Sorica ( 3042 m ).  The resort, known for its magnificent beer brand with the same name, is a small and peaceful town.  Apart from the very good ski facilities , there are lots of restaurants and local markets with all kind of handmade crafts.

●  Cavnic is another ski resort in the northern part of Romania. Situated at the heart of the Maramures region, a place where the traditions have been well preserved, the resort is a delight to the eyes. Surrounded by a beautiful centenary forest Cavnic is most suitable for families and its slopes are very good for beginners. Do not forget to visit the famous wooded churches in the area and taste some of the local delights. They are fantastic!

●  There are also other beautiful resorts as well:  Predeal and Busteni on Prahova Valley, Paltinis near Sibiu, Borsa in Maramures and Vatra Dornei in Bucovina.

Just to give an estimative, the average price for a 7 day period in a 3* hotel including all the ski expenses would reach a maximum of 400 pounds/person. The best period is from early December to late February. I strongly recommend you check the weather forecasts before booking to ensure there is a good level of powder. When planning your journey, use Zoombu to find the best way to travel to your hotel. Come to Romania and feel at home (but it’s cheaper)!

- Posted by Alex

After the dust has almost settled, we take a look at the impact of the Ash Crisis on the travel industry, travellers and the environment.

Stranded jets during the air space closure. Image by Travel Aficionado

• Total cost to airlines: According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA) airlines lost more than US$1.7bn in revenue during the six day air space closure. This doesn’t count additional costs incurred of compensation to passengers (many of which are still being settled), nor does it include the relative benefit of reduced operational costs due to flights not being run (reduced fuel consumption for example)

• Total passengers affected: According to the EU transport commissioner, over 10 million passengers were affected when approximately 95,000 flights were cancelled during the initial six days of cancellations alone.

• Total carbon dioxide emissions avoided from cancelled  flights alone was an astonishing (and approximated) 1.6 million tonnes during the six day continuous air space closure alone.  [That's based on assuming approximately 60% of EU flights were cancelled and using data from the 2009 EC GHG inventory report (www.eea.europa.eu/publications/european-community-greenhouse-gas-inventory-2009)]. To put this in perspective, according to the BBC, the average Briton is responsible for 3.6 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year.  In practice, during the crisis many passengers took alternative flight routes home, often adding to their carbon footprint, but those who took a train home instead would have cut their footprint to by at least 75%.  People who hired a car and drove all the way home would have roughly halved their carbon emissions, based on two people sharing. Any carbon dioxide emissions saved by alternative transport should be offset against emissions from the volcano itself, estimates of which vary wildly, with the upper end being quoted as 300 thousand tonnes CO2 per day.

Aside of massive disruptions to plans, one of the biggest frustrations for travellers during the period was not knowing where to get information on alternative routes. Judging by the interest that our own site received during this period, the demand for a search engine that answers the simple question “how do I get from A to B” is stronger than ever.  Flight engines are only able to compare routes between international air terminals, and travellers find it difficult to determine the accessibility of alternative airports, or options for taking the train or ferry instead.

With Zoombu you simply tell us your origin and destination and the dates you want to travel and we do the hard work of searching the options for you, recommending door-to-door routes involving different modes of transport.  Try it out and tell us what you think!

Lots of you wanted to run one way searches during the ash incidents, whereas Zoombu currently searches for the outbound and return journeys – the single search feature is in the pipeline.  The beta version currently serves UK outbound travellers, but we’ll be expanding to serve other markets very soon (just in case Eyjafjoell or one of it’s cousins comes back for more…).

- Posted by Rachel

The main stage at Exit by Belkus.

Summer is right around the corner and the festival scene is beginning to hot up.  If you’re looking for something different to do this summer then we’ve picked out a few of the best festivals in Europe to whet your appetite:

1. 1st – 4th July, Belguim, Rock Wercher. This is one of Europe’s largest rock festivals, and stands up to Glastonbury in terms of artist quality and turnout, but with a truly European Twist. Tickets cost from 76 Euros per day. The festival park is located alongside the Haachtsesteenweg in Werchter, which is just 30km from Brussels and 15km from Leuven.  A festival bus will take you from Leuven to the festival (operated by De Lijn).
2. 8th – 11th July, Serbia, Exit Festival. Ths is possibly the hippest festival on offer with a line up of modern pop and rock, staged in the grounds of impressive Petrovaradin Fortress. Exit celebrates its 10th birthday this year so expect extra special stage action. Located in Novi Sad, which is within reaching distance of Belgrade (87km), Budapest (295km), and Zagreb (372km) airports, there are festival airport transfers on offer from a variety of operators.
3. 24th July, Germany, Love Parade.  Originally started in Berlin just months before the fall of the wall, and now held in a different location each year, this time Duisburg is the lucky host to the fun, frolicking and techno-wizardry of the parade of love. Free to attend, this is a must for electronic music lovers. Wacky outfits are optional but generall encouraged! Dusseldort International airport is just 20km away.
4. 9th – 11th July, Netherlands, North Sea Jazz Festival. Probably the biggest Jazz festival in Europe showcasing an array of talent with artists such as Joss Stone, Jamiroquai and Quincy Jones on show. Tickets are available per day (84 EUR) or for the full three days (194 EUR). The festival is located in Ahoy near Rotterdam and is accessible by public transport from Rotterdam Airport or the city centre.
5. 13 August -5 Sept., Edinburgh International Festival (and 6 – 30 August, Edinburgh Festival Fringe). Hundreds of shows across a vast range of genres from opera, modern dance  to stand-up comedy. Tickets are available on an event by event basis, so you can pick and choose depending on what takes your fancy. Edinburgh is easily accessible by train from cities in the UK or from Edinburgh airport (takes around 30 minutes). Check out our information on travelling to Edinburgh page for more detailed travel advice.

We can help you to get from your home right to the festival with our journey search engine, Zoombu, so after you’ve made your pick, give it a whirl to book your transportation.

- Posted by Rachel