Autumn is coming and it is time to start thinking about October bank holiday breaks and mid-term holidays. There is availability in Sicily from £479 per person sharing self-catering accommodation and some offers of half-board in Taormina from £499 per person sharing. Details of this Sunway offer from travel agents.
Citiescapes too has some nice deals for the bank holiday weekend. Barcelona is available from £387 for three nights and includes a city guide. Paris is on offer for three nights in a two-star hotel from £229. Try travel agents or call 01 677 5533.
Stena Line has a cabaret weekend special staying at the Grand Hotel, Llandudno. The price is £154 by coach, or £157 by car based on two adults sharing. The three-night weekend includes dinner, bed and breakfast, entertainment each night and a tour through Snowdonia. Book through Stena on 01 2047733 or through your travel agent.
The sterling difference makes it more expensive to go to London for a weekend, but there are many free, or cheap, things to do. The National Gallery on Trafalgar Square is free, as is the National Portrait Gallery, which is only a short walk to Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. There is a free bus service, the Art Bus, that runs half-hourly from the Tate Britain Gallery via the National Gallery to the new Tate Modern. Tickets for West End shows are available half-price on the day from the ticket booth in Leicester Square. The Britain Travel Centre 18/19 College Green, Dublin 2, 01 670 8000 has brochures.
Macreddin village in the heart of Co Wicklow lay deserted and in ruins for many years. It has now been developed into the Brook Lodge Hotel, the Strawberry Tree restaurant, an equestrian centre, William Acton's public house and the Store Rooms shop. It is 40 miles from Dublin, 10 minutes' drive from Rathdrum. The fourstar hotel caters for lazy days, with breakfast served until 11.30 a.m., and the pub has its own microbrewery. The Strawberry Tree uses wild, free-range and organic produce. The Store Rooms stocks preserves, cheeses and wines. Weekends at the Brook Lodge cost from £150 per person sharing for two nights B&B and one dinner - 0402 36444.
A new walking guide has been produced for the Lough Derg Way by Shannon Development and the Lough Derg Marketing Group. The route begins at the tourist office in Limerick and ends at Dromineer on the eastern shores of the lake. The 64-kilometre route takes walkers from city to countryside and lakeland. Counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary are seen at their best along these hidden trails. Copies are available from the Tourism Information Office, Arthur's Quay, Limerick, 061 317522.
Joan Scales can be contacted at jscales@irish-times.ie