My Handbag
Shopping tips and other useful stuff from Essentially England

A handbag is one of the most useful accessories ever invented. Most women use theirs to store oodles of unrelated but thoroughly useful bits and bobs so that they're ready to hand when needed.

And that's just how I wanted this page to be.

From flight checkers to cookery conversion tables to my favourite chocolate supplier, this page houses links and information that I refer to frequently.

Just Take your pick:

Travel
Accommodation		Shopping

And if you need something that's not here: Custom Search

Travel

No matter if you're planning a holiday, a business trip or just a weekend away ... there are always times when you need to find a flight, a train or a coach.

Cheapoair.com is highly recommended for finding national and international flights. In addition, this site also allows me to search for hotels and rental cars, so I can often sort out the whole trip from one site.

From:   To:   Date:   Date:

And for cheap train and coach tickets:

The Trainline is usually cheaper than buying at the station and the website has numerous special offers for fun days out.

National Express is excellent for airport transfers and when you're travelling across country on a budget.

Megabus has come up over the last few years to offer an alternative to National Express. Between the two, some serious bargains can be found!

Eurolines groups together 32 independent coach companies, who between them operate Europe's largest regular coach network. This network connects over 500 destinations, covering the whole of the continent. Eurolines offer the most competitive fares with sea crossings, travel taxes and road tolls all included in the price - what you see is what you pay.

Hotels, Guest Houses and Cottages

Business trips are often arranged in a hurry, so it's important to have a decent hotel chain up one's sleeve.And when planning a holiday finding the right place to stay is even more important - even if it's only for one night.

Radisson SAS hotels are usually in the city centre. They're neat, tidy and very well equipped for business travellers and good value when you have to stay away from home.

English Country Cottages boasts the finest selection of cottages in England and Wales, with a range of over 3,000 of the most sumptuous holiday properties. From cosy coastal cottages, to relaxing rural retreats, all have been carefully selected and personally inspected by their team of experts, to ensure they all meet ECC's high standards.

Shopping

I'm not a card-carrying shopaholic - rather the opposite. I hate crowds and crowded shopping centres are my idea of hell. But some things like books, music, cooking pots and food I do like to shop for. So when some bright spark invented online shopping I was saved.

Lakeland This has to be one of my favourite online stores! What do I like about them? They very clearly love what they're doing. They go to great lengths to preserve (or rediscover) traditional techniques, kitchen equipment and recipes ... and all while being committed to their customers and the environment. Like I said ... one of my favourite retailers.

• If you've ever forgotten a birthday or had to say sorry or thank you in a hurry, you'll know that flowers are a good way to do so. As some of my family live in Germany, I'm often hunting around for Fleurop


• This is for those of us who like something a little different, be it jewellery, bed linen, kitchen gear or baby clothes. Not on the Highstreet is a champion of small, independent producers and retailers and their site offers several lunch hours' worth of interesting browsing.

And if you or or family and friends love England's most famous brand of chocolate, then Cadbury Gifts Directshould be on your list of bookmarks.