Each week, we round up a selection of offers from some of the best hotels, airlines, cruises and travel agents
Holidays abroad:
Take your pick with Tour America
From Route 66, to New Orleans, fly-cruise holidays, and much more with Tour America!
Enjoy the Route 66 experience! Route 66 is the ultimate American road trip. Make your way through this iconic route while Tour America organises everything including your car rental so you can focus on the journey at all the best stops along the way. This 14-night Route 66 experience is from €2,469 per person. Departs 11th March 2023 for two adults sharing and includes direct flights from Dublin to Chicago with Aer Lingus including bags and return from Los Angeles. Car hire pick up on departure from Chicago and return to Los Angeles.
Ref: 692653
Click here for more on the itinerary
Looking to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style? Then take a look at this awesome offer for New York! Spend four nights in the Big Apple and enjoy all the festivities that come with this amazing holiday. From parades to parties, there’s something for everyone.
Paddy’s in The Big Apple from €752 per person. Departs March 14th 2023 and includes direct return Aer Lingus flights with baggage included, four nights staying in the Iberostar hotel on Park Avenue. 2 + 2 sharing
Ref: 694499
Click here for more information
Visit touramerica.ie or call (01) 817 3535 to book your holiday
MSC Cruises pick of the week
MSC Cruises is announcing a new must-see destination each week. Customers booking specific cruises calling at the ‘Pick of the Week’ destination will benefit from exclusive incentives including £100 onboard credit.
This week, MSC Cruises is celebrating Cherbourg, one of France’s greatest channel ports, steeped in naval history – even the Titanic once stopped there! From Monday 24th October until Sunday 30th October, customers booking on the selected cruises in a balcony cabin and above (including MSC Yacht Club) will receive a credit of £100 to be spent on board during their trip.
After a busy day of exploring there are plenty of opportunities to relax and recharge on board MSC Virtuosa and fabulous options to use the £100 credit for special, memorable experiences.
With 21 bars and nine dining venues, there is something for everyone, including two tantalising dining concepts. Indochine offers savoury Vietnamese classics with a French twist, and Hola! Tacos & Cantina is the fleet’s first street food dining concept, featuring all the favourite Mexican dishes.
After dinner, guests can take in one of the two shows onboard – with a mix of acrobatics, dance and live music, in the Carousel Lounge. On board MSC Virtuosa, guests have the unique opportunity to admire two spectacular productions: AJEDREZ, inspired by the game of chess, and ARKYMEA, the story of a scientist in search of a hidden world. These shows can be enjoyed with a complimentary signature cocktail.
For a bit of luxury, MSC Aurea Spa offers a variety of treatments for both couples and individuals to further guests’ relaxation. Choose from a selection of treatments, including massages and facials. The Thermal Area has saunas, steam rooms, ice & snow rooms and whirlpools for the ultimate wellbeing experience.
Cruises included in this offer feature a seven-day cruise from 29th October leaving from Southampton and stopping at Hamburg, Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, and Le Havre before returning to the UK via Southampton. Prices start from £519 for a balcony cabin. A full list of eligible itineraries can be found on the website.
All of the new itineraries are available to view and purchase here. To find out more about MSC Virtuosa herself click here
Staycations:
Book an unmissable Spa-cation
Redcastle Oceanfront Golf and Spa Hotel has a new seasonal spa getaway sale starting this autumn. Enjoy an all-encompassing spa break at this stunning and newly revamped 4-Star hotel with unrivalled views overlooking Lough Foyle on Donegal’s North coast.
Settle in with a three-course dinner at the hotel’s award-winning The Edge restaurant, so called because it overlooks the lapping waters of the lough. Book from an extensive list of spa treatments from facials to massages, at the tranquil CARA Spa at Redcastle which uses products from the esteemed VOYA range.
Enjoy a relaxing spa break in beautiful Donegal starting from €199 per person sharing (this deal begins on 1st October until March 2023). Included in this spa-cation break is one 30-minute spa treatment of your choice, as well as €20 spa credit to put towards another treatment of your choice.
Redcastle Oceanfront Golf and Spa Hotel has long been a favourite of locals, tourists and families due to its picturesque location, proximity to Derry city, and local attractions such as Wild Ireland, mountains and sea and also boasts a golf course and leisure centre with a pool and thermal suite on site. The hotel recently unveiled a €500k refurb on its bedrooms which have mod cons and all new fittings and furnishings.
Redcastle’s new Spa Getaway is the ideal great value reset for stressed-out spa devotees who enjoy a day of pampering and want to switch off.
To book, visit redcastlehoteldonegal.com/promotions/spa-getaway-sale/51-31046/
Bunratty Castle & Folk Park’s pagan Halloween festival
Time travelling twists, creepy crypts and pagan roots are afoot at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park this year for a special Halloween festival to mark the traditional Irish Samhain.
This Halloween midterm, Bunratty Castle & Folk Park will mark the festival of Samhain in its own unique way. Focusing on the old Irish traditions and a few modern twists associated with this time of year, visitors are invited to come and experience Samhain from October 29th to November 2nd.
Explaining the festivities, Bunratty Castle and Folk Park Events Manager Marie Brennan said, “Halloween is always an exciting time for us here at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park, with lots of activities for all the family to enjoy, from the Creepy Crypt, and ‘Head Will Roll and Thriller’ mini disco to the Halloween Spook Train ride, and our Fearsome Fairy Village where unpleasant creatures abide.
“In the weeks leading up to Halloween, primary schools from the local area have been busy creating lifestyle scarecrows which we will have on display in the park over midterm for our Scarecrow Competition. We will be asking visitors to rate their favourite scarecrow based on design, originality and of course, ‘scary-ness’. The school with the winning scarecrow will receive a special prize.
“We are also asking our visitors to get creative and dress in costume, to join the village characters who will be dressed in traditional Halloween attire.”
Throughout the duration of the event, visitors are warned to be on the lookout for weird and wacky creepy characters who could just appear out of nowhere, among them Frankenstein, The Minister of Death, an escaped convict and terrifying witches on the prowl.
Visitors to the park will hear from the Bean an Tí’s, who will explain the types of food that typically would have been eaten in Samhain of old, including homemade Apple Pies, Brambrack, a slice of which must be left outside before you go to bed so that any passing Faeries or Spirits may feast as well as bestow good luck upon your household.
Some of the fairies of Bunratty Folk Park have got into the Halloween spirit and have transformed their magical fairy village into a frightening forest for all to enjoy. Beware of creepy creatures lurking and hanging behind trees, gruesome gravestones and petrifying pumpkins at every turn, it is sure to keep the littlest of monsters entertained.
The Samhain activities at Bunratty Castle and Folk Park run from Saturday, October 29th to Wednesday, November 2nd. Timeslots must be booked in advance and tickets are priced from €16.95 for adults, €11.50 for children/students/seniors, children under 3 go free and there are special rates for family tickets.
Tickets are now on sale on bunrattycastle.ie/halloween
Shauna McCrudden
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