Travel

Check In: Literary feasts and northern heights

Joan Scales and Jo Linehan with this week's travel news and deals

As Cuba anticipates a whole new wave of visitors (now that America has opened relations between the two countries), brilliant websites such as Viahero are helping first-timers

Jo Linehan
Joan Scales
Sat Apr 16 2016 - 03:44

DEALS

PARIS: Live like a local in spring – apartment discounts from Parisapartmentsplus.com, from €112-€257 per night for two to six people.

RUSSIA: Solo friendly, Moscow and St Petersburg. Guided nine-night tour with flights, accommodation and excursions from €1,789 in September. See traveldepartment.ie, tel: 01-6371650.

LAS VEGAS & MEXICO: Four nights Excalibur Hotel and six nights all-inclusive in Moon Palace Resort, from €2,019pps including flights, in November. See americanholidays.ie, tel: 01-6733838.

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LITERARY FEASTS

The Ballymaloe Literary Festival: The celebration of culinary and literary delights has become the toast of East Cork's cultural scene. Tickets sell like hot cakes, so get booking now for the May 20th-22nd bonanza. See litfest.ie for more.

The Jane Austen experience: Walking tours of the author's home town, a car tour of the Pride and Prejudice BBC show setting, regency costume dressing up – this is the ultimate holiday for Austen fanatics. See experiencebath.com for more.

The Paris literary tour: Walk in the footsteps of Hemingway, Joyce and Kerouac, explore the streets and neighbourhoods that inspired the finest literary minds, and maybe even begin your own great work over a drink at legendary literary haunt Café de Flore. See more and get booking at localers.com.

NEWS

Passport Control Travellers to the United States via the Visa Waiver Program now have to have an electronic passport to gain access. Those who don't will need to have a non-immigrant visa issued by a US embassy or consulate. So get on it – nobody wants their holiday grounded before they even get on the plane.

Hail Havana As Cuba anticipates a whole new wave of visitors (now that America has opened relations between the two countries), brilliant websites such as Viahero are helping first-timers navigate their trips to the island (above). The site helps you to craft your perfect itinerary, complete with a local guide ensuring you get a real taste of what the country has to offer. See more at viahero.com.

Northern Heights Ryanair's new routes from Belfast have officially kicked off, with Alicante, Berlin, Krakow, Lanzarote, Malaga, Milan and Tenerife take-offs in full flight. Get booking breaks now at ryanair.com.

GET APPY

Enter a starting point and a destination and the app will do the rest, combining Bus Éireann, Irish Rail, Dart and Luas routes, so that you don’t have to. See transportforireland.ie