DEAL OF THE WEEK:Enjoy a Vacansoleil family resort in one of 16 countries in Europe next year and you will get 2010 prices if you book by December 1st.
A week in the Adriatic is from €784, Costa Brava €1,036 and the Languedoc from €1,141 for two adults and up to four children. Deposit: €100. See frenchholidaycentre.ie or tel 021-4272527.
Away:
HEAD TO London for a show in November and December and choose from Les Miserables, Grease, Wicked, We Will Rock You or Oliver from €189pps. Keith Prowse Travel can combine a ticket to a show with two nights in the Hesperia Hotel. See keithprowse.com or tel 01-8783500.
CRUISE LINE Silversea is offering reduced single supplements for solo travellers on certain voyages next year, and some trips will also have male retired gentlemen who will partner ladies for dancing. A Caribbean cruise in January is from £1,940 (€2,220) or an Arabian Peninsula trip is from £3,178 (€3,640), silversea.com.
HOW MUCH shopping could you do in four hours in Cherbourg? If you could save more than €220 at the off-licence and supermarket, then Celtic Link Ferries may be the answer to your Christmas shopping. For €220 you can take a car, two passengers and stay in a cabin on a short trip to Cherbourg from Rosslare. See celticlinkferries.com, or day- tripper.net for shopping ideas.
GTI HAS a trip of a lifetime to Nepal in February for 17 days of natural beauty and cultural riches. Starting in Khatmandu there will be guided walks and talks, elephant safari, canoe trip and the Himalayas. From €2,599pps, it includes flights, accommodation, tours and most dinners. Tel: 01-8434734 or gti-ireland.com.
TAKE THE kids to Disneyland before Christmas for some fun. Four nights from December 16th at the New York Hotel including flights and park passes is from €699 for adults, €186 for children under seven and €331 for children aged seven to 11. Tel: 021-4633233 or eastcorktravel.ie.
Home:
G IS for gourmet at Galway’s g hotel on November 10th when it hosts a wine dinner with Spanish winery Bodegas Valdemar. Begin the evening with cava and canapes before joining sommelier Cristina Alvarez Flores from Rioja for a five-course tasting dinner by chef Stefan Matz. The evening and BB is €134pps. See theghotel.ie or 091-865200.
KELLY’S HOTEL in Rosslare is celebrating winning the Georgina Campbell Hotel of the Year award with a special deal for November. Stay overnight midweek and enjoy dinner and breakfast for €110pps or two nights full board for €250pps. The famous five-day full board is €520pps in November. Tel: 053-9132114 or kellys.ie.
MAKE IT a three-night visit at Fitzpatrick’s Castle Hotel in Killiney. Autumn offers means two nights BB with dinner one evening and the option of an extra night for free for €165pps. Tel: 01-2305556 or see fitzpatrickcastle.com.
MAKE YOUR own jewellery on a girls’ weekend in Oldcastle, Co Meath. Beyond The Blarney has a jewellery course on December 4th and you can combine it with a stay in the Fincourt Guesthouse, dinner, BB, some clubbing and a tour of Oldcastle for €110pps (beyondtheblarney.ie).