It has been revealed that a relaxing break in the sun with a bit of sightseeing thrown in for good measure is the holiday of choice for most people in the world.

The joint Ipsos/Reuters survey found that the British, Germans and Swedish in particular were the main holidaymakers who want this type of low-key holiday when they go away.

Around 35 percent of those questioned in the research responded in this way, almost double the amount who wanted to enjoy a trip outdoors with boating, fishing, hiking, camping or sailing a priority, a family holiday or those wanting to explore culture.

A recent survey published by the Metro newspaper has shown that many people are deciding not to go on holiday this year as they consider their current finances.

Around a quarter of those questioned said they had decided not to go on holiday at all during 2011, with a fifth revealing that their holiday would take place in Britain.

The results are certainly bad news for holiday operators as Britons choose to stay closer to home, if they do decide to take a break at all. However, this may give a boost to caravan rental companies and those with businesses in some of Britain’s seaside resorts which have seen a drop in volumes in recent years.

I recently read about Manchester being rated quite highly in a global survey to find the best place to live.

The rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit put Manchester in 42nd place out of 140 of the world’s major cities.

As someone who has lived in the area all my life I am quite proud that it is well thought of as a city, but in some ways I wonder how it got to be placed above the likes of New York City, London and Rome.

It is certainly better than a lot of other cities, but as a place for tourists to come and visit, I’m not sure it has all that to offer.

If you can’t decide where you want to go on your summer holidays this year or maybe don’t have the funds to do anything too extravagant, why not consider a weekend break to a European city as a viable option?

Visits to big cities in the UK and Ireland like Edinburgh, London and Dublin may not be all that cheap generally speaking, but as you are only going away for a shorter period of time your budget only has to stretch across a few days.

What you can do is look for ways to make the holiday as financially sound as possible by staying at off-peak times and searching for online discounts. You can put the money you save on expensive flights towards enjoying yourself for the weekend exploring the city.

In my recent trip to the picturesque country that is New Zealand and its beautiful North Island I managed to take a tour to see the Hobbiton movie set. Needless to say, with the upcoming Hobbit film about to start filming there soon, we all had to sign confidentiality agreements not to post pictures online (fair enough).

The tour is certainly something that I would recommend to anyone visiting the area close to Matamata, especially if you are an avid LOTR fan. There are now 32 hobbit holes so you can check out all the newly built homes which will soon be inhabited by Bilbo and his fellow hobbits.

However, it is expected that the tour will only be available for a few more weeks until the film crew arrive so i’d get a hurry on if you want to see the set in all its glory.