If you’re looking for somewhere to go this summer and are not after sweltering beaches, may we advise that you consider the Dutch city Leiden?

Leiden is a well-kept secret, since it’s surrounded by the larger cities of the Netherlands like Utrecht, The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. This city has a rich history and is situated at a crossroads in Holland, so you’ll be able to get to all the other tourist hotspots in the country.

There’s plenty to see in Leiden. The city was founded in the 16th century and became a centre for the European wool trade. It saw a major decline but diversified its industries attracting artists, scientists and engineers who gave the city a major boost in culture and affluence in the late 19th century.

There’s a curious mix of old and new in Leiden. It is home to the oldest university in the Netherlands, with a fifth of its population forming the student body. This gives Leiden a vibrant nightlife which contrasts with the city’s aged setting.

The old industrial aspects of the city (e.g. the canal network) make a great way to tour through the city. When Leiden returned to wealth in the 19th century, many large and lavish buildings were constructed, making Leiden a picaresque city ideal for afternoon jaunts. It is a relatively small place easily traversed by foot or on bike.

The two main walking tours you can take are:

Muurgedichten – The Leiden is decorated with wall poems, and you can take a paid tour, have a bit of a poetry lesson, print out a map and see for yourself. Alternatively, you can just amble through Leiden with your eyes peeled.

Hofjeswandeling – A tour of the city courtyards, this will expose you to some of the finer architecture Leiden has to offer as well as some of the history and local lore.

This tour will take you through the Wan der Werff Park, named after the mayor who was accused of hiding food reserves when the town was under siege by the Spanish. To show the sincerity of his denials, he offered to cut off his arm and offered serve it to the public.

We would also recommend you visit the Burcht of Leiden, which is one of the best preserved Motte Castles in the Netherlands. It sits high upon an artificial hill and commands the best view of the city, with foundations dating back to the 9th century.

There are three National Museums in Leiden covering Natural History, Antiquities and Ethnology. The National Museum of Ethnology hosts one of the world’s largest collections of ‘the artefacts of man’ compiled and researched with the help of Leiden University.

Shopping and eating out is a varied experience in Leiden – it retains the ‘melting pot’ aspect of its early years with the local populace cooking up all forms of cuisine. Prices range from absolute luxury to those suitable for the city’s student population.

Shopping areas are but a 15 minute walk from the central station. You can make your way to De Slegte, a 3-floor bookstore found on the Breestraat. This shop has a large selection of second-hand books at great value.

Tourists out for a bit of exploration should stop off at Verswinkel for freshly made bread rolls made right in front of you – they’re among the very best in Europe. They’re represented at Leiden’s open markets held on Wednesdays and Saturdays. You’ll also be able to get there late on a Thursday, when most of the shops in the city remain open until 9pm.

Leiden is located near the centre of Holland so P&O Ferry’s can take you Rotterdam and you’re just a short trip from the wonders of Leiden.

Image credit: carolune

Apart from going interrailing, a roadtrip by car remains the most interesting way to explore a different country. You’re constantly taking in scenery and are at liberty to change course or stop off wherever you like.

Holland, with its peaceful, idyllic landscape and great infrastructure, lends itself to exploration by car, especially in the early summer. You could start your trip with P&O Ferries, travelling from Hull to Rotterdam and then work your way down the coast.

To the South of Rotterdam lies a province called Zeeland, a region full of coastline, peninsulas and islands, which makes for a great ride through towns and beaches. Zeeland means “sea land” in English, and it’s a popular – but, crucially, not overrun – spot for tourists who want to relax in quiet surroundings but also want to be close to the sea.

The more you’ll drive around Zeeland, the more you’ll realise how diverse this speck of land is – there are beaches catering to water sports enthusiasts, but also small and rustic beach towns (such as Middelburg and Veere, both located on the Walcheren island) and rentable cottages where you can stop off for the night and use it as your starting point for a little walk.

This being Holland, you can always rent a bike and go for a little tour wherever you are. If you’re travelling with children, you might be interested in the entertainment park in Efteling, a city that lies a bit further inland.

The coast of the Netherlands is a great area for driving around, stopping off for a night or two, enjoying the local scenery and beaches, and then moving on. To get you on your way, you can get a P&O Ferry from Hull to Rotterdam for just £376 (price for two adults, two children and a car).

Image credit: Ralf Schulze

Once every three years, the Kattenstoet Festival is held in Ypres, Belgium. May 3rd 2012 will see the 43rd rendition of Kattenstoet an all-out feline frenzy with costumes, parades fireworks and one or two obscure traditions that you’ll have to see to believe.

The legend behind this festival originates from centuries back when Ypres was at the centre of Europe’s wool trade (the town’s cloth hall was used to store the year’s harvest). Since this stockpile attracted rodents, the townsfolk of Ypres would gather cats to prevent the damage to their livelihood. However, once the year’s wool was sold, there was an excess of cats. Supposedly the task of ridding Ypres of moggies fell to the town jester who would throw them from the belfry.

The killing of these cats was also seen as a symbolic exorcism of evil spirits since they’re so frequently associated with witches. The annual culling of kitties ceased in 1817, and since then the people of Ypres have drastically changed their treatment of cats.

It’s a strange twist that now Kattenstoet has become a celebration of felines. On this day the people of Ypres revere them, dressing up like cats, witches and jesters. Decorated floats parade through the town with fireworks come sunset. Plush cat dolls are still thrown from the belfry by a jester to keep with tradition, and there’s also a pretend witch burning and fake cat and dog fight.

Since this event is only hosted once every three years accommodation fills up fast so make your bookings early. You can purchase tickets from their website. They cost €14 per head, and festivities start at 11am and last through to 7pm.

Kattenstoet is a light-hearted and time for a bit of general silliness, excellent fun for the family and cat lovers alike.

Ypres is about the same distance from the Belgian port town Zeebrugge as it is from Calais. P&O Ferries can get you to either in time for Kattenstoet.

Image credit: R/V/DV/RS

Do you travel across the channel regularly? Do you enjoy the comfort and efficiency of P&O Ferries’ service?

Then a season ticket for either the Dover – Calais or the Hull – Rotterdam/Zeebrugge route might be just the, er, ticket.

Only three return tickets over a specified period of time will qualify you for a season ticket fare of only £35 per trip. If you think you’ll be travelling back and forth between Dover and Calais more than 12 times, you could end up paying as little as £29 per trip.

To check the terms and conditions of this great offer, call the P&O Ferries season ticket service on 08716 646 747.

The biggest fortress in Europe opens its gates for a colossal festival of medieval culture on the weekend of May 19th and 20th. The festival has gained a reputation for being the major tourist attraction in the Champagne-Ardenne region and promises, now in its 17th year, to feel even more like an authentic time journey to the middle ages.

The fortified castle in Sedan, a town in the North of France, will host a big medieval fair with over 100 exhibitors, who will sell medieval products and clothing and 20 craftsmen will show how to bind books, make glass and press coins in workshops inside the ancient walls.

Hungry visitors can experience medieval feasts and traditional banquets in one of the taverns around the grounds of the festival and burn some calories with a walk through a medieval battle camp. If you ever wondered how those medieval princesses got married, you can even attend a medieval wedding listen to some medieval love ballads.

Make sure that you don’t miss out on the festive procession on Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. It will feature medieval music, dance performances, knights in full armour and traditionally dressed monks. Other highlights include cavalry tournaments, crossbow demonstrations, sword duels and if you (or your kids) are brave enough – torch lit night tours of the castle. If you should hurt yourself while trying any medieval combat techniques you can even get a medical herb treatment from the middle ages (depending on the severity of your injuries, you might still want to visit a modern doctor afterwards).

To complete the medieval atmosphere you can witness falconry with the backdrop of the towering fortress or enjoy some medieval entertainment in form of a street theatre performance. Don’t forget to take home a photo of yourself dressed as a medieval maid or monk (or as a more elegant character, if you prefer) as a souvenir.

The festival will run Saturday 10.30am to 10pm and Sunday 10am to 7pm, and the admission won’t break the bank at €5 per person if you buy in advance. For under 12-year-olds, the admission is free. For more information check out the festival’s website.

You can take a P&O Ferry to Calais and drive to Sedan in 4 hours. But if you have a little bit more time, you could stop over in Lille to check out the famous Citadel and have a look at the impressive gothic Cathedral in Amiens (total driving time 5 hours 45 minutes)

Holland’s biggest open air festival and the longest-running rock/pop festival in the world shouldn’t be missing on any serious festival fan’s itinerary.

The 42nd edition is headlined by The Cure, Bruce Springsteen and Kasabian, with more than 38 other artists performing on three stages in three days. Other reasons to take a trip to the small Dutch town Landgraaf include Paul Kalkbrenner, Mumford & Sons, The Wombats, Miike Snow, James Morrison, Linkin Park and Dutch singer Anouk.

The festival doesn’t owe its name to the original organisers’ love for the colour – in fact, it is a combination of the Dutch word for Pentecost (‘Pinksteren’) and the music genre it was mainly dedicated to. Today, it’s still primarily a place for rock and pop, but the 60,000 visitors per day also have the option to listen to metal, hip hop and electro.

Pink Pop first took place in 1970 as a one-day festival but had to be expanded to a three-day festival due to its massive popularity. In 2007 there was even a spin-off, called Pink Pop Classic, introduced to cater to diehard Pink Pop fans of the older generation. At Pink Pop Classic they can revive their memories together with bands who have previously performed at Pink Pop.

If the festival is not enough to keep you entertained, you can go on a Ferris wheel or a seated crane lift that operates opposite the main stage. The camping site for weekend-pass holders offers the usual amenities of shower blocks and food halls, and if you want to relax in between concerts you can catch a movie at the open air cinema.

A three-day ticket including camping is £144 and day-tickets are £70.

The Pink Pop festival takes place May 26th – 28th in Landgraaf, which is a 2-hour drive from Rotterdam, one of the destinations of P&O Ferries.

The Brussels Jazz Marathon gets underway at the end of May, and is considered by enthusiasts to be one of the most popular jazz festivals in Europe. Jazz sprouts everywhere in Brussels with over 125 concerts, most of them completely free, taking place on Brussels main squares and in 50 other venues across the city.

Brussels already enjoys a vibrant jazz scene, with local acts performing live in bars and foreign stars passing through for larger concerts, but the Jazz Marathon transforms the city into the jazz capital of the world for three days.

With 700 artists in less than 72 hours the festival definitely lives up to its title. It almost makes attending all the big bands, soloists and vocalists into an endurance exercise. Special buses crisscross the city and connect all main performance spaces to help visitors with their jazz marathon chase around the city. There is even a group of 20 musicians and 6 comedians onboard the buses to make sure that passengers don’t get bored during their ride.

‘Jazz’ is taken in its widest sense at this festival, catering to all tastes, from funk and latino to blues. Big Belgian names play on the Grand Place or on the other big squares in the city, while rising stars perform in small bars and studios. This makes the Brussels Jazz Marathon a great opportunity to catch up with some exceptional young talents from the land which gave us one of the most important of all jazz ingredients, the saxophone.

Belgian trumpeter Bert Joris and Jean-Paul Estievenart have been among past performers, and other special attractions include workshops for young people and jazzy makeup shows, ice-cream treats, and a mini marathon.

The Brussels Jazz Marathon is the perfect opportunity for Bruxellois and tourists alike to indulge in sweet jazz tunes alongside their Belgian chocolates, and last but not least, the medieval architecture provides an enthralling backdrop for the music.

The festival runs from May 25th to May 27th. Arrive early to the events, as it will be very crowded.

To get to Brussels for a Jazz-Get-Away, you can take a P&O ferry from Hull to Zeebrugge, from where it’s only about an hour’s drive to the Belgian capital.

More than a 1000 representatives from over 70 different countries will flock to the Parc des Exposition for the Foire de Paris, one of the world’s leading exhibitions for innovative accessories and household appliances, at the end of this month.

The fair is divided into three sections: home and environment, cultures of the world and leisure time. The Home and Environment section is unequalled in Europe, and draws many people who are interested in redecorating their home or to catching up on the latest technology.

The Cultures of the World section aims to present crafts and local products from all over the world. In addition to this, visitors are also offered mouth-watering samples of international cuisine. Among the highlights will be the Tropic Festival, with music and dance performances from Trinidad and Tobago and Brazil and the Happy Parade featuring a mix of cultures.

The range of products and exhibits include anything from kitchens, electrical gadgets, DIY products to home decor and fashion accessories. It promises to cater for all personalities and interests. One pavilion is dedicated to artwork, covering everything from graphics and paintings to designer tableware. There will also be lots of tasting and craft workshops to participate in.

The Fair, which has been running since 1904, was set up after the World Exhibition of 1900 to create an annual event dedicated to innovation in Paris. It functions as a showcase for over 500 independent inventors and entrepreneurs. They compete for the prestigious prizes in innovation, Concours Lépine and the Grand Prix de l’innovation.

Past winners include the ballpoint pen, the artificial heart, and a cooking pot that allows the preparation of a three course meal at the same time.
Half a million people are expected for the 2012 edition with the slogan “Y’a d’la joie!” roughly translated, “There is joy” and indeed few events can compete with Foire de Paris’ avalanche of innovative new ideas, designed to make our lives more easy and enjoyable.

The Foire de Paris will take place April 27th to May 8th. Tickets can be purchased online and P&O Ferries Dover-Calais service is a 90 minute journey, with up to 46 crossings every day.