GOING PLACES10 new regular flights are taking Irish people to the heat of Dubai, the cool ofWroclaw and beyond. Gerry Mullins gives you an idea of what to expect
ENGLAND: DONCASTER
Doncaster, in northern England, blends urban and rural well. It has a modern town centre but is surrounded by historic villages and market towns. The town's own market features more than 600 stalls. Nearby is Conisbrough Castle, the backdrop for Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe. There's also Doncaster Racecourse, if you enjoy horse racing (see www.doncaster- racecourse.com). For more on any part of England, try www.visitbritain.com/ie or call 01-6708000. Flights from Dublin start at about €25 each way, including taxes (www.ryanair.com).
ENGLAND: NEWQUAY
Most Irish people have little experience of England outside of London - and the odd sporting stadium - and are unaware of the beautiful coast of Cornwall, for example, including the seven miles of sandy beaches and cliffs near the pretty town of Newquay. It is billed as a family holiday destination but is also a favoured spot for surfers. The area's biggest draw, less than an hour's drive away, is the Eden Project (above), the two enormous greenhouses that are home to plants from all over the world (www.edenproject.com). Ring Visit Britain on 01-6708000 or go to www.visitbritain.com/ie. Flights between Dublin and Newquay with Air Southwest cost from about €40 each way, including tax (www.airsouthwest.com).
FRANCE: BIARRITZ
Biarritz is one of the great spa towns and a key destination for lovers of thalassotherapy - relaxation treatments that use sea water, seaweed or sea salts. The town is also known for its beautiful beaches and some of the best surfing in Europe. It is two hours by car from Bordeaux, three from Toulouse and just one from Bilbao and the Pyrenees. For more about holidays in France, visit www.franceguide.com or phone 1560-235235 (calls cost 95 cents a minute). Flights between Dublin and Biarritz with Ryanair start at about €30 each way, including taxes (www.ryanair.com).
FRANCE: CARCASSONNE
Carcassonne is the most complete fortified town in Europe, with 52 towers and two rings of town walls (with three kilometres of battlements). It is an ideal base for a boating holiday along Canal du Midi, a hiking or skiing holiday in the Pyrenees, or a beach holiday (the Med is 60kms away). Try www.carcassonne- tourisme.com and, for more about boating trips, Le Bateaux du Soleil (00-33-4-67940879). Flights from Dublin start at about €25 each way, including taxes (www.ryanair.com).
ITALY: PISA
Unlike some airports that Ryanair uses, Pisa's is beside the city. This is handy if you really want to spent time there, but for many people Pisa is a one-day wonder. The Leaning Tower (below) is worth seeing, of course, but crowds and hawkers detract from its appeal. Pisa's real appeal is its proximity to the wonderful wine-growing area of Tuscany and the hills and valleys of Umbria. It is also less than an hour by train from Florence, the centre of the Renaissance (and another popular spot for hawkers). Flights from Dublin start at about €30 each way, including taxes (www.ryanair.com).
THE NETHERLANDS: EINDHOVEN
Eindhoven is important for businesspeople as home of Philips, the electronics company. Its attraction for tourists is not so obvious, although that is not to say that the city lacks charm. It has an open-air museum and Efteling, the Netherlands' biggest amusement park. It is also near Maastricht, a very attractive city known as its country's culinary capital. Flights from Dublin start at about €25 each way, including taxes (www.ryanair.com).
POLAND: CRACOW
Sky Europe, which is new to Ireland, has been an important carrier in central Europe for many years, with hubs in Warsaw and Budapest. Like Aer Lingus, which started flying this route earlier in the year, it hopes to sell tickets to Poles travelling between their homeland and their new homes in Ireland. It has introduced a bank-transfer system to allow you to book a flight without a credit card. To attract business travellers, it also allows free changes to bookings - and never
overbooks flights, it says. Cracow has a reputation as an impressively cultural city. A visit to nearby Auschwitz-Birkenau is a sombre experience. Flights from Dublin start at about €55 each way, including taxes (www.skyeurope.com).
POLAND: WROCLAW
This route opens on December 16th, just in time for Christmas. A lively university town, Wroclaw (pronounced Vroslav) has numerous theatres and museums, as well as an old market square. The nearby Sudeten Mountains are a treat for nature lovers and hikers. Flights from Dublin start at about €55 each way, including taxes (www.centralwings.com). Book by tomorrow for travel in the new year and some fares are about €15 each way, including taxes.
SLOVAKIA: BRATISLAVA
The Slovakian capital sits at the scenic point where the Carpathian Mountains slope down to the River Danube. It lies along the border with Austria, just 10km from the border with Hungary, and the Czech Republic is only half an hour away. The city has many of the attractions that Prague enjoyed just after the fall of communism. Its old buildings and heritage are well preserved, and it is cheap. Beer costs about 60c a pint, and €25 should cover most couples' meals and drinks for an evening. Sky Europe also provides a bus service from the airport to Vienna for €10 each way (it takes just under two hours). Flights from Dublin start at about €55 each way, including taxes (www.skyeurope.com).
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES: DUBAI
Less than a century ago Dubai (above) was little more than a pearl-diving village of coral-and-gypsum huts where a creek met the Gulf of Arabia. The discovery of oil in the 1960s brought billions of dollars into the economy and transformed the area into a city of glass skyscrapers with a population of close to a million people, 87 per cent of whom are foreign. Dubai's primary attractions are sand, sun and shopping. It has fabulous beaches, mountains, traditional markets and some of the world's best duty-free shopping. Aer Lingus has opened this route in part because Dubai is the business centre of the Middle East. Fares from Dublin start at about €200 each way, including taxes (www.aerlingus.ie). For more, visit
www.dubaitourism.co.ae. gmullins@irish-times.ie