A festival that has grown steadily over the years is Frightfest, which in 2017 has come of age (it turns eighteen). This time around sees a host of screenings of fantasy films and horror movies. From 24 to 28 August, Cineworld and The Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square will turn London into the world capital of the genre. The two cinemas are five minutes’ walk away from each other, located in the heart of the city. And, the great thing about it is that the location of both festival venues, plus the screening times of the films, means you can stroll around the centre of London and have ample time to enjoy the movies just after lunch time.

The programme for this year’s Frightfest is a veritable wet dream for horror movie fans, with a stack of European and worldwide premieres that make a trip to London worth your while. Here, then, are some of the highlights – the world premiere of “Cult Of Chucky”, a new instalment featuring the dreaded killer doll; the long-awaited American version of the manga “Death Note”, directed by Adam Wingard, the planetary premiere of “Leatherface”, based on the famous character from “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, and Spanish genre movies like “El bar”, by Alex de la Iglesia and “Verónica”, by Paco Plaza, in addition to gems of the independent horror genre like “Psychopaths”, “Freehold”, “Tragedy Girls”, “Game Of Death” and “Redwood”. But, apart from new releases, the festival also intends to pay tribute to some legendary figures of the genre. In this respect, be sure to highlight in red the screening of “King Cohen”,a documentary on Larry Cohen, one of the heroes of independent Yankee horror and fantasy films, as well as modern classics such as "Hatchet” and “Return Of The Living Dead III”. Take note – many of these movies will be presented by their protagonists (film stars, directors and producers), so you might as well take along a marker pen if you want to score some autographs.

As for tickets, Frightfest offers three options – single tickets for each session, day passes and a festival pass for the whole festival. Tickets can be purchased online at both official venues. Getting to the cinemas is a cinch. The Underground stop is Leicester Square,which is in Zone 1 on the Travelcard (the cheapest one) and you can take two lines to get there – theNorthern andPiccadilly lines.

As intimated earlier, the Frightfest programme is concentrated mainly in the afternoons, which means you’ve got the mornings free. Here are some ideas about rounding off the festival experience:

– Drop in on the Forbidden Planet stores, specialised in comics, collector figures and all kinds of products related to the sci-fi, fantasy and horror genres.

– Visit the Tower of London, one of the places with the darkest, gloomiest history in the city. It was there that Henry VIII committed all kinds of murders and torture, and it is also the scene of a number of famous ghost stories. Clearly a must-visit spot for devotees of Gothic horror.

– See the Grant Museum of Zoology, by way of a Victorian time capsule, where you will feel as though you’re a character in the “Penny Dreadful” series. The Grant Museum transports the visitor to the second half of the 19th century, featuring a collection of animals in jars filled with formol, both known and rare species, some of them extinct. It also has a collection of skeletons which will make your hair stand up.

Don’t miss out on the chance to enjoy this exceptional festival of horror and fantasy films – book your Vueling now!

Text by Xavi Sánchez Pons

Strategically located by the Baltic Sea, between Lithuania and Poland, in Kaliningrad there is a mixture of the Soviet influences and the German roots, when Kaliningrad was the capital city of East Prussia and it was one of the major cities in Europe, better known as Köningsberg.

In 1945, during World War II, the red army occupied Köningsberg, which name changed to Kaliningrad in the memory the president of the Supreme Soviet until 1946, Mikhail Kalinin.

The city was rebuilt after the destruction during the war, creating and odd mixture of elements. Kaliningrad is a Russian setting far from its capital and 600 kilometres far from Pskow, the closest Russian city.

Baltic region is known as the biggest amber site and the most important mines are in Kaliningrad. This valuable material has reputation worldwide for its beauty and the healing properties, also magic, which are given to it.

There is a legend that says they are tears from Yurati, Goddess of the Sea, who wasn’t allowed to be in love with a mortal and was chained to the seabed, next to the castle, crying that sorrow. This romantic story tells that amber teardrops reach the sea bay but, actually, it is made from the solidified resin of tropical trees that used to be in the area.

Fishermen town

Amber is a fragile material but that can be easily modified by the masterfully of local artists and jewellers who used this valuable good. There are many objects made from this precious organic stone at an affordable price in the old buildings at the port, which are nowadays used as workshops.

This fishermen town is made of many buildings that look like a German old historic quarter, pretty different to the rest of Kaliningrad, with red roofs and colourful facades. You can reach the highest point of the drawbridge or start here a boat trip along the Pregolya river. Furthermore, from this area there is a magnificent view of the city and a great walk to the Cathedral, one of the main attractions in the city, by several restaurants and cafés.

Amber museum

In Kaliningrad an Amber museum was built at the Dohna tower, with a unique collection of more than 6.000 pieces, with insects and plants encapsulated inside, hand-made products or a huge pip of 4.280 kg, occupying 28 rooms.

The building is already a beautiful castle made of red bricks, raised by the Teutonic Knights, who had here one of the main headquarters.

Another building of the Teutonic Knights was the Köningsberg castle, which was one of the main symbols for the city. The castle was destroyed during Köningsberg bombings and now there is the Central Square and the Soviets House.

From the previous castle, there are still underground tunnels that made the ground unstable. This was called “the Prussians revenge” and it has cost lots of money and time to fix it.

In Kaliningrad region there are about forty more beautiful medieval castles, an interesting architectural route following the path of the Teutonic Knights.

Other interesting places

Kant’s tomb

The most distinguished character from the city is Immanuel Kant, philosopher, who was born and buried in Kaliningrad. The tomb is outside the cathedral, with a plaque quoting, in Russian and German, the "Conclusion" from Critique of Practical Reason: “there are two things that fill my mind with an ever new and enhanced wonder and amazement, even they at continuously reflect on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”

The fortresses

The city is surrounded by a large number of fortresses from the 19th century. The Germans used them as a defence. Even they are abandoned, there is a route to visit the ruins.

Zelenogradsk - Cranz

24 kilometres north from Kaliningrad there is an spa area, a holidays resort where locals and tourists arrived attracted by the beaches, thermal waters and cultural heritage, with over seven centuries of history.

Fishing village by Anton Zelenov | Baltic Amber by Michal Kosior

A place well worth discovering! Check out our flights here.

What started out as a religious festival in honour of the Virgin Mary has become one of Lyon’s – and, by extension, France’s – standout cultural events. Worship of Mary the mother of Jesus in the capital of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region goes back a long way, its origins steeped in the Middle Ages. During the plague which ravaged France in 1643, for instance, the city was placed under her protection.

To uncover the roots of the Fête des Lumières (Festival of Lights), you have to go back in time to 8 December 1852, the date on which a statue of the Virgin was unveiled. Executed by the sculptor, Joseph-Hugues Fabisch, it was placed in the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Fourvière. The event was widely celebrated in the city and, in keeping with the traditional way of marking important commemorations in those times, the facades of well-to-do homes were lit up with candlelight. What might have been just an isolated event in Lyon’s history was later reenacted each year on 8 December, when the nativity of the Virgin is celebrated, gradually becoming the festival of lights which we know today. Over time, the religious nature of the festivity has been replaced by one more akin to cultural entertainment, while the candles have been replaced by grand spectacles of light designed by renowned artists, and the celebration itself has been extended from one to four days.

The festival has grown so popular over the years that it now attracts up to 4 million visitors who flock to Lyon, eager to witness for themselves the huge, charming and magical display of light. This can be daunting for newcomers arriving in the city to discover and enjoy the Fête des Lumières. We advise you to book your accommodation in advance and to be patient when attending the various light shows, as you are bound to encounter large crowds. What we can guarantee, however, is that you will be amazed by the earnestness with which the Lyonnais celebrate this festivity, and by the sheer number and quality of the visual displays, most of which are held in the old town and around Lyon’s major landmarks.

What’s More…

Apart from visiting Lyon for its Festival of Lights, which this year runs from 8 to 11 December, we recommend you take the opportunity to discover some of the city’s other charms, too. Be sure to visit its historic centre or Vieux Lyon, designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1998, where you can breathe the medieval atmosphere, visit Roman ruins – most notably the Roman Theatre of Fourvière – and do a spot of shopping at the Carré d’Or. Cuisine is another of the city’s fortes, and has earned it international accolades. Indeed the city features such standout chefs as Paul Bocuse and Eugénie Brazier. So, make a point of dropping in on at least one of the countless bouchons, as restaurants are known in Lyonnais parlance, and treat yourself to their excellent local cuisine.

Come and experience first-hand this stunning festival of lights – book your Vueling here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by Fulvio Spada

Old, new, designer, romantic, cold, practical, beautiful, iron, ornamented… these are some ways of describing the thirty-seven bridges that span the river Seine on its passage through Paris. Any visit to the French capital that excludes this beautiful river and these priceless engineering works would be tantamount to missing part of its soul. This is no overstatement. For starters, the banks of the Seine and the monuments sited there were included in UNESCO’s 1991 World Heritage listing. A stroll along those shores is a walk through centuries of history – and art – which we constantly encounter along the way: Notre Dame, the Sainte-Chapelle, the Orsay Museum, the Tuileries Garden, Place de la Concordia, the Grand Palais, the Petit Palais, the Eiffel Tower, to name but a few.

Another highlight you are likely to come across on your walk are the magnificent bridges. Apart from conveying you from one side of the river to the other, they afford the best views of the city. Following is our selection of four of the most popular bridges, which are bound to end up in your photos during your tour of Paris, help you cross the Seine in search of some landmark or provide the backdrop to you stealing a kiss from your beloved.

Pont Neuf

Despite its name (meaning New Bridge), it happens to have the honour of being the oldest and longest bridge in the city. In 1578, work commenced on what was to become the first stone bridge built across the river Seine, as until then the bridges had all been wooden – hence the name. Located at one end of the Ile de la Cité, it has two spans – one connecting the left bank to the Ile de la Cité and the other linking up with the right bank. It is the classical bridge one takes when going on the essential visits to Notre Dame Cathedral and the Sainte-Chapelle.

Pont des Arts

The Pont des Arts, also known as the Passerelle des Arts, located in the 6th Arrondissement, was built between 1801 and 1804 and was the first iron bridge in Paris. What visitors will see today, however, is a replica of the original construction, built from 1981 to 1984, as the original was severely damaged during the two World Wars. The views it affords of the Ile de la Cité make it one of the most frequently visited spots by sightseers and also artists, who tend to come here in search of the best picture-postcard view of the city. In recent years it has also become a place of pilgrimage for young couples seeking to seal their love by placing a padlock on the railing.

Pont d’Alma

Located alongside Alma Square, which features a replica of the Flame in Bartholdi’s Statue of Liberty, it was commissioned by Napoleon III in 1854 to commemorate the Battle of Alma during the Crimean War. In previous times, the Zouave statue – one of the four statues adorning it – was used to measure water levels in times of flooding. Nowadays it has become a place of pilgrimage to pay tribute to Princess Diana, as the tunnel situated behind this bridge is where she died in a car accident in August 1997.

Pont Alexandre III

This elegant bridge, classified as a French “historic monument”, was built for the Exposition Universelle in 1900 and dedicated to Tsar Alexander III of Russia. Construction on the bridge got under way in 1896 in the Beaux Arts style of the Third Republic. Sited between the 7th and 8th Arrondissement, it links the Invalides to the Grand Palais des Beaux-Arts and the Petit Palais. A stroll across the bridge provides a magnificent panoramic view of the area, with the Eiffel Tower in the background.

Book your Vueling to Paris and roam the banks of the Seine in search of some of its magnificent bridges and beautiful views.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

Images by stanze, Bruno Pereira, Yann Caradec, Barry