Friday, 15 May 2009

Its not just for youth - syha.org.uk

Advantages: This website is straightforward and east to navigate

Disadvantages: None - it is a genuinely good website

As soon as you hit this site it is clear that they want to get down to business. Not a bad thing. The Youth Hostels Associations in Britain (SYHA and YHA) have been moving away from their initial aims over the years and they need you. 

You are confronted with a flash player intro to one side of the screen and a mini booking form on the other. Other items on the page are general news and events blocks 

The main menu items are: 

Home 
Hostels 
Holiday Ideas 
Groups & Schools 
Rentahostel 
Membership 
News 
About Us 

******* Hostels ******* 

This is essentially a list of the avaialble hostels throughout Scotland, with links to each one giving more detail about a particular hostel, its surroudnings and other info. 

******* Holiday Ideas ******* 

Wow! this page looks simple as it is essentially a load of links to other areas of the sit, but brilliant info to be had including: 

City 
Rustic 
Families 
Groups 
Walkers 
Active & Adventure 
Mountain Biking 
Wildlife & Marine 
Islands 
Mini Breaks 
Cairngorm Winter Skills 
Torridon Winter Skills 
Adult Introduction to Bushcraft 
Essential Scotland Tour 
Cairngorm Canoe Weekend 
Cairngorm Wet n' Wild 
Cairngorm Mountain Biking 
Family Bushcraft 
Group Adventure Breaks (on request) 
Torridon Mountain Taster Weekend 
Torridon Munros 
West Highland Way 
Skye Munros 
Nordic Walking Weekend 
Kintail and Affric Ridges 
Silver National Navigation Award 
Bronze National Navigation Award 

******* Groups & Schools ******* 
This section of the website leads to further information on the SYHA's involvement with groups and schools, such as the Give Us a Break project which provides funds for disadvantaged young people tot take part in a various activities. There is also info on how SYHA can cater for groups and schools and a link to a page about the food side of things 

******* Rentahostel ******* 

Yes, you and your buddies can rent a whole hostel to yourselves (on the less busy times of the year), this tells you how to go about it. You can even rent a castle! 

******* Membership ******* 

This page and its links, tells you what membership offers, its benefits, the discounts you will receive and even how you can support a charity. 

******* News ******* 

Obviously this page is ever changing, As well as news, there are a list of events. 

******* About Us ******* 

This is quite a lengthy page, and although it may not be too important to is who are just looking for somewhere to stay, potential die hard hostellers will be interested ti find out about the history of the SYHA. There is also a job vacancies page. When I first encountered this website a while ago, it was teeming with jobs - there are only three available at the moment. 

This is a cracking website, which I used to book a holiday last year. It is straightforward. 

Obviously the appeal of Scotland is its romance and history - its beautiful landscape and interesting weather are also a given. This website puts all that across whilst being at a total tangent to the shortbread tin and kilted piper vision of Scotland. This website puts across a modern, progressive Scotland as a place to enjoy your leisure time.

Summary: Hassle free way to find about a variety of destinations and book a complete itinery.



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