Silver Travel Advisor

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Win a 5* luxury stay in glorious Budapest and so much more

Dear Silver Travellers

July is here, and with it tennis, strawberries and of course, the start of the Olympics on July 27th (don't mention the rain)! The team at Silver Towers have been making forays into the media, with Debbie on the Robert Elms Show on BBC Radio London and Jennie on the Annie Othen Show on BBC Coventry and Warwickshire. It'll be TV next! The 50+ Show is nearly upon us, and we proudly present our first ever Silver Travel Advisor brochure, packed with wonderful travel offers and discounts just for you. Do come along and see us at stand A29 to pick up your copy. And we are very pleased to have been nominated for our second award this year, by the British Travel Awards for Best Travel Review Website.

What's in our July newsletter?

Win a 5* luxury 3 night break for 2 people to Budapest with Regent Holidays
The last chance for FREE tickets for the 50+ Show and details of our seminars
British Travel Awards - Vote for Us!
Save 5% on holidays in Canada
Help celebrate P&O Cruises 175 years of heritage and win a prize
Find out more about a wonderful new walking route in rural Portugal
Discover a group of luxurious B&Bs, the Wolsey Lodges
Silver Travellers driving to Turkey in a Smart car
Early Learning Centre vouchers - win £100
Where has my Silver travel bag been? - win £50

And much more...

Win a 5* luxury break in Budapest - one of our best prizes ever!

We are delighted to offer, in partnership with Regent Holidays, a 3 night stay at the superb Corinthia Grand Hotel Royal in central Budapest, for 2 people. Flights, transfers, superior accommodation, breakfast and a city tour are included. An energetic arts scene, fine restaurants and shops all show that Budapest is a great city of culture and style.

Last month's prize winners were Ian Waugh from Dumfries who won a 2 night break at the Black Swan Hotel in Yorkshire; Rosy Collis from Thornbury who won an overnight break at the Crowne Plaza in Marlow and Zoe Duke from Portsmouth who won a 2 night break at the Flackley Ash Hotel in Rye, East Sussex. This month it could be you!

Read more details and how to enter

The 50+ Show at Olympia July 12th to 14th - free tickets for Silver Travellers

Please come along and visit us at stand A29. We have sent out lots of free tickets to Silver Travellers, but have a few left. Send an email with your postal address to service@silvertraveladvisor.com and tell us how many you'd like.

We are proud to be presenting 3 seminars this year:

Thursday & Friday 10.40 - 11.10am Choosing your First Cruise with Silver Travel Advisor
Saturday 12.40 - 13.10pm Travels with Hilary Bradt and Silver Travel Advisor, and Hilary will then be on our stand signing copies of her new book, Connemara Mollie

The British Travel Awards - Vote for Us

We've been nominated for the Best Travel Review Website, our second award nomination this year, which is very exciting. This is the only award where you, the holidaymaker and traveller, are responsible for all the voting.

If you enjoy using Silver Travel Advisor, we would be very grateful if you could please vote for us!

5% discount on holidays to Canada

Our partner, Frontier Canada is offering a 5% discount to all Silver Travellers along with a free airport lounge pass at either Heathrow or Gatwick, so you can start your journey in style.

Frontier Canada specialise in tailor-made holidays in Canada, motorhomes, tours, cruises and many more wonderful ways to explore this incredible country. Wide open spaces, untamed nature, excellent skiing and rather sophisticated, modern cities, Canada appeals to everyone.

Wolsey Lodges � Shallowdale House

Paul Brown delights in the natural beauty of Shallowdale House, a Wolsey Lodge in North Yorkshire, with outstanding B&B facilities. He is jolly well fed and very relaxed!

Having enjoyed a few good hikes across the hills, Paul really enjoyed the traditional hospitality of a very special house. Wolsey Lodges are all highly luxurious, find one near you!

Celebrate 175 years with P&O Cruises - and win a special prize

Sailing the seas for 175 years in 2012, P&O Cruises celebrated in style on 3 July week with the Grand Event � a sail-by of all their ships in the presence of the Princess Royal and the Red Arrows.
Read more

We have a special prize to give away:

A bottle of limited edition 175 Grand Event wine, selected and blended by Olly Smith
A 'P&O Cruises - Celebrating 175 Years of Heritage' book worth £24.99
A 'P&O Cruises - Celebrating 175 Years of Heritage' DVD

To enter, please answer this question: How many ships are currently in P&O Cruises' fleet?

Send your answer to service@silvertraveladvisor.com, subject P&O Cruises.

On foot in unsung Portugal - walking with storks

Roger Bray travelled as the guest of Sunvil Discovery, to Alentejo, a spectacular, quite wild region of rural, traditional Portugal to walk the new Rota Vicentina footpath. Roger enjoyed the abundance of flora, fauna and delicious local wine too. He explored castles and churches, whilst enjoying solitude amid spectacular surroundings, with dramatic cliff tops and sheer sided precipices.

Mayan Ruins in Guatemala

Arturo Tapia of Cox and Kings visited Tikal, a Mayan ruin of impressive splendour, deep in the dense jungle of Guatemala, where the plant life is as remarkable as the ancient remains.

He learnt about the civilisation that created such pyramids and buildings before spending a remarkably comfortable night, camping out at Uaxactun, despite the rustlings from the jungle and the humidity. Next morning, seldom has a cold shower from a bucket been enjoyed so much. A very brave man!

Surprises in Gdansk

With visions of a communist grey and dreary buildings, Mary Stuart-Miller is astonished by the beauty of Gdansk, re-built in the 1950/60s in a pleasing, eclectic European style, with a lovely riverside waterfront. Home to Poland's prettiest street and an ancient Town Hall, Gdansk still has echoes of the struggle against communism and the triumph, at some cost, of the ship workers. Lech Walesa's moustache will never be forgotten, and several monuments stand as reminders of how times have changed.

Find out more

Win £100 of Early Learning Centre Vouchers

Enter our competition and win! The Early Learning Centre has joined forces with us to give our winner £100 in vouchers, so useful for keeping grandchildren entertained.

Sports games such as Giant Inflatable Skittles or My First Tag are small enough to pack in your suitcase and will provide hours of fun on the beach, and their great range of puzzles and games keep little ones occupied during long journeys.

Just answer this question: What is recommended to help carry extra coats, blankets, toys etc when holidaying with grandchildren? Read top tips

Send your answer to service@silvertraveladvisor.com, putting ELC as the subject.

Where has your Silver Travel Bag been? Win £50 vouchers

We would love to see a photo of interesting places that your Silver Travel Bag has been!

We have 25 cotton bags to give away, so very useful on all your trips, let us know where you're going and we'll send one to you.

Email your postal address and travel destination to service@silvertraveladvisor.com. The best photo each month will win £50 of M&S vouchers.

Would you drive to Turkey in a Smart car?

It sounds just like the sort of adventure a Silver Traveller might have! And indeed there were two, Shirley and Derek, plus a birthday cake, drove from Sussex to Uzumlu to celebrate a 70th birthday. En route they travelled through six countries, driving several hundred miles each day.

Once in Turkey the fun began, with offers to buy the car, complete with the lady passenger! The journey safely completed, friends met up with, Derek and Shirley then jumped off mountains for fun. Just how intrepid are they?

On the Blog this month

Richard Okill, our Silver backpacker, adds another chapter to his amazing adventures in Asia, taking in Saigon and other Vietnamese cities. Read more

Roger Macdonald visits the Cezanne exhibition in Budapest, where Impressionist paintings from all over the world are on show Read more

Dave Harcombe has a magical moment in Venice, we'd like to hear about your magical travel experiences, wherever they are.
Do get in touch and tell us.

David Graham extols the virtues of Reideralp in Switzerland, a 'Uniquely Cool' resort, which has fabulous family facilities, winter and summer. Read more

On the Forum this month

Here are some of the latest discussions:

An apple a day and other healthy eating advice

What are you reading?

Our Forum is a friendly and informative place to chat, with lots of ideas and suggestions about travel, hobbies and leisure. Every new topic started counts as an entry to our prize draw.
How about signing up?

We hope that you have enjoyed our newsletter, we are a growing community and reading all the reviews, an active, busy one too. Remember to keep posting your reviews and to contact us with any travel questions. We're happy to help and it's a free service. Have a look at what we're up to on Twitter and Facebook too, there's lots happening!

And finally, remember to listen to our weekly Silver Travel Show on Age UK radio, The Wireless, every Friday at 6pm, presented by our own Jennie Carr.

With best wishes from the Silver Travel Team.