Never say never again

THERE are people out there, for a variety of reasons, who are restricted in their choice of holiday even in an age when more and more people, young and old, are becoming wildly adventurous.

Some have fear of flying, others won’t dare put a foot aboard a ship and still more don’t like driving outside of their natural habitat.

In frustration, one such reader spelled out his particular problems this week. He won’t fly, wants to go to the sun of northern Spain or south of France but doesn’t want to drive when he gets there.

His options are limited. The ferry companies operating out of Ireland to France don’t really have packages on offer for the foot passenger. But, albeit with a fair bit of personal planning, such travellers could get around the limitations.

One could get the ferry to France and continue a journey to the sun by train or, indeed, go Landbridge to England and take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander with the onward journey to one’s destination by train.

Otherwise, British-based Cosmos Tours (Irish agents are Cara Holidays, phone [phone]) have a variety of escorted tours (ferry and bus) out of England, and another company engaged in sea-coach-rail holidays are Wallace Arnold (0044-113-2634234). Other tailored holidays can be arranged through any good Irish travel agency.

IRISH holiday guide Holiday 2003, which features holiday choices of Irish show business personalities, is currently in the shops and features a range of articles on destinations at home and abroad. A special feature centres on the hottest reasonably priced destinations for 2003 and features Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, the Cote D'Azur region of France, the Greek Islands, Italy/Sicily, Portugal, Malta, Morocco and, of course, Spain, the Canaries and the Balearic islands.

CSA Czech Airlines have given Cork airport another boost for 2003 with the introduction of a new service from Cork to Prague four days each week from April 14. The airline is targeting both the leisure and business markets by clever timings (early morning from Cork, late afternoon from Prague) which link in with a huge range of onward connections from Prague’s Ruzyne Airport.

The flights will be operated by Boeing 737-500 series aircraft and CSA promise clients top class in-flight service.

The company also point out that because the Czech Republic is not yet a member of the EU, passengers are entitled to purchase duty-free products.

Fares have been noted as starting from 165 and packages, involving three nights accommodation, airport transfers and a city tour will run at around 350.

Regular business passengers can avail of a number of bonus schemes such as air miles and special fares for travelling companions. The service is planned to operate year-round.