From wine tastings at Kelly's to Galapagos cruises, JOAN SCALEShas all the week's best offers
Kelly’s wine week: €500pps
Kelly’s Resort Hotel in Rosslare, Co Wexford, has organised a wine-lover’s week. From Monday it is hosting tastings by two leading French winemakers. On Monday and Tuesday Benjamin Leroux of the leading Burgundy producer Comte Armand will preside over a vertical tasting of his acclaimed premier cru Pommard, Clos des Epeneaux, one of the region’s great reds. On Wednesday and Thursday Charles Sichel of Maison Sichel of Bordeaux will lead a tasting of its wines, which include Château d’Angludet, Château Palmer and Alter Ego de Palmer. The cost is €500pps half-board, plus a 10 per cent service charge, with the fifth night free. Or you can just go for one night for €110pps. 053-9132114, www.kellys.ie.
Dromoland break: €275pps
Live like a celebrity for three days at Ashford Castle in Cong,
Co Mayo, or Dromoland Castle, in Co Limerick. Two nights at either five-star hotel, including full breakfast, costs €275pps, with the third night free. 094-6546003, www.ashford.ie; 061-368144, www.dromoland.ie.
Doonbeg golfing: from €222
The weather is picking up, so it’s time for golf. The lovely Lodge at Doonbeg, in Co Clare, has a winter-escape package that has two rounds of golf, use of the driving range, two nights’ BB and dinner one night for €222pps. 065-9055600, www.doonbeggolfclub.com.
Daffodil week rooms: €70
Daffodil week at Delta Sensory Garden, at Strawhall Estate just outside Carlow – a “gold star” town for people with disabilities – will run from March 9th to 15th. The garden contains one of the country’s most extensive collections of daffodils, with more than 10,000 flowers and numerous varieties (www.delta centre.org). The Dolmen Hotel, on the banks of the Barrow, has rooms for €70 per night. 059- 9142002, www.dolmenhotel.ie.
Web deals: from €59
Deals of the Week is a new website featuring offers from Irish hotels. This week the site has rooms at Dunboyne Castle Hotel, in Co Meath, for €80 per night; a night at the Carlton Redcastle Hotel, on the Inishowen Peninsula in Co Donegal, for €59 per night; and weekends at the Maryborough Hotel, in Cork, for €139pps, with dinner one night. www.dealsoftheweek.ie.
Galapagos cruise: €5,550pps
This year is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species. To commemorate, the MV Eclipse expedition cruise ship will make a fundraising journey to the Galapagos Islands, in the Pacific, for the Galapagos Conversation Trust. The cruise, hosted by Darwin’s great-great-grandson Randal Keynes, will set sail from Quito, in Ecuador, on October 24th. The cost is $5,957pps (€4,750) plus a $1,000 (€800) donation, to include activities, dinners and receptions. 00-44-1780- 784368, www.sanctuary- cruising.com/galapagos/ galapagos.html.
Fall of the wall night: €835
Berlin is marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall all year. Hotel Adlon Kempinski, whose fate was closely linked to Berlin’s recent history, is offering a one-night package whose highlight will be a private guided tour of the most significant sights of the city. Your accommodation will be a junior suite, and a five-course dinner with wines will be served in the Lorenz Adlon Restaurant. From €835 for two. 00-49-30-2261111, www.kempinski.com.
Ferry to France: €99 each way
Irish Ferries has cut the price of a trip to France on its Oscar Wilde cruise ferry by 50 per cent. Two people and a car can travel to France, with cabin accommodation, for €99 each way. Book by March 3rd for travel up to May 14th. Must be booked at least seven days in advance. 0818-300400, www.irishferries.com.
Austrian skiing: from €580
More ski bargains from Inghams. A week half-board at Hotel Elite, in Saas Fee, in Austria, costs from €740 (reduced from €835) from Cork on February 28th. Or a week from March 7th at the four-star Hotel Neuhaus, in Mayrhofen, from Dublin for €580 half-board (reduced from €940). 1850-929021, www.inghams.ie.
Escape to Mexico: €1,281pps
Travel to Mexico next month for a stay at the all-inclusive Dreams Puerto Aventuras Hotel from €1,281pps and try your hand at some watersports or just relaxing in the spa area. 068-56800, www.tropicalsky.ie.
Five-star week in Lanzarote: €579
Find the sun in Playa Blanca, Lanzarote, in March, staying at the five-star Gran Melia Volcan hotel, on a half-board basis, from €999pps, or try lively Puerto del Carmen and stay in the Fariones Apartments from €579. 01-2401700, www.topflight.ie.
Seven days’ half-board on Lake Como: €515pps
Would you believe that you could get a seven-day half-board holiday in Italy for only €515pps? Leaving Dublin on March 16th, the price includes flights from Dublin to Milan with Aer Lingus, with accommodation at Grand Hotel Cabenabbia, on Lake Como, with breakfast and dinner each day. The usual rate is €160 per room per night. There will also be a full day excursion and guided tour of Milan and a full day trip to the Swiss town of St Moritz. And, to top it off, a half-day boat trip on the lake. www.thetraveldepartment.ie, 01-6371600.
Please bear in mind that all deals are subject to availability