As the country's hoteliers and B&B keepers and country house owners dust down the curtains and polish the glasses and switch on the gas hobs, there is a hive of activity everywhere. No more so than in West Cork, where four of the local hotels - The West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen, The Baltimore Hotel in Baltimore, The Celtic Ross Hotel in Roscarbery and the Eldon Hotel in Skibbereen, have come together to organise a wine and food festival, running between April 17th-23rd, with the option of a weekend break from April 17th-19th.
There will be food and wine tastings, as well as a cheese-making presentation organised by Gubbeen cheese of Schull and also a tour of some of the West Cork food producers.
Details and bookings to: The West Cork Hotel: (028) 21277; The Eldon Hotel: (028) 22000; The Celtic Ross: (023) 48722; The Baltimore Hotel: (028) 20361.
And if you find yourself in West Cork, then you might like to try a new series of guided tours which have been organised to show people the glories of the area. The tours depart from Skibbereen each day at 10 a.m. and return at 2 p.m., and among the specialist tours are trips to explore Sherkin Island, a tour of historic sites led by historian Paddy O'Leary, and other tours taking in Durrus and Bantry, Roscarbery and Timoleague, Castletownshend and Glandore, Drimoleague and Dunmanway, and Ballydehob and Schull. For more details, contact Delwyn Klevenow of West Cork Special Guided Tours on (028) 20566.