IS IT JUST me, or has the credit crunch seriously upped the ante around gift-giving this Christmas, asks Arminta Wallace

I mean, bling is off the menu because it's soooooChristmas past. Goats aren't an option for your nearest and dearest because everyone in your immediate circle is exchanging entire flocks of development-aid animals on what's rapidly becoming an annual gift-go-round. If you settle for gift vouchers, meanwhile, it looks like you just couldn't be bothered.

Hope, however, comes in the shape of the short-break package. This consists of something nice for you and your nearest and dearest to do in the new year, and if you do it thoughtfully, it ticks almost every PC box you can think of. Deferred gratification? Tick. Demonstrating patriotic spirit by staying in Ireland? Tick. Doing something positive and spiritually nourishing rather than just sitting around eating and drinking all day? Tick. Supporting local businesses while keeping your carbon footprint dainty? Tick again.

Oh, and since you get to go too, you can start looking forward to making your escape while festive mayhem detonates all around you.

As with all gifts, of course, the crucial part is to match the package to the person. So here are a couple of suggestions.

Option one, for those who enjoy the great outdoors, is a couple of days' hiking near Westport, Co Mayo. Organised by Croagh Patrick Walking Tours, this package has three days of fully guided walks, plus four nights' accommodation in Clew Bay Hotel, packed lunches for each walk and transport to and from the starting points.

"We're hoping to make this into an annual event," says Gerry Greensmyth of Croagh Patrick Walking Tours, one of three guides who'll be leading the various hikes. The plan is to spend the first day walking on Achill Island, either from the deserted village at Slievemore to Lough Accorymore, or climbing Croaghaun Mountain, depending on whether you choose the easy or the hard option. On day two, the focus will shift to the wildly dramatic landscapes around Lough Inagh and Leenane. That night there will be a New Year's Eve "blister ball" in the hotel - which is included in the price - and on the first day of 2009, people can either climb Croagh Patrick or choose an eight-mile non-mountainous alternative. The Christmas Walking Festival runs from December 29th to January 2nd and costs €425 per person sharing. To book, e-mail gerry@walkingguideireland.com, go to www.walkingguideireland.com or call 087-2333295.

Of course, the idea of climbing Croagh Patrick may make your nearest and dearest shudder. Option two, therefore, is to stay indoors, fortify yourself with a glass of red wine and listen to gorgeous chamber music played by some of Ireland's best musicians.

"We came up with the idea for this January festival for ourselves, really," says Anna Lardi Fogarty of Music for Galway. "It's a great way to pass those short, dark days. Music is a remedy against the darkness and the cold."

The Russian Romantics festival at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, features two afternoon and two evening concerts over the three days of January 23rd-25th. Each programme consists of a mix of vocal and chamber music: songs by Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninov; Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition; a piano quintet by Taneyev; and other pieces designed to get the circulation going. The musicians include the ConTempo quartet, baritone Conor Biggs, pianist Pádhraic Ó Cuinneagáin, and Simon Aspell and Christopher Marwood from the RTÉ Vanbrugh Quartet.

A full weekend package, which includes tickets for all concerts together with two nights' BB and one dinner in the Park House Hotel - a short walk from the theatre - costs €235 per person sharing, with the option of a Saturday-only package at €150. Further information can be had from info@musicforgalway.ie or 091-705962. You can book directly with the Park House Hotel on 091-564924.

So that's both outdoors and indoors covered. And here's another tip for you. If your nearest and dearest hasn't got anything for you, now's the time to start dropping serious package-shaped hints.