Garden cruise

CHARLIE Wilkins, the well known gardening columnist, will be leading an unusual Mediterranean cruise in September. The trip will include a flight from Cork to Barcelona, with two nights on terra firma, and seven further days and nights on the high seas, with the liner calling into such ports as Nice, Pisa/Florence, Rome, Naples and Sicily.

At each port, the group will visit a well known place of interest to gardening enthusiasts — such as the Boboli Gardens in Florence and the Botanical Gardens in Palermo, Sicily.

Evenings will be spent on the four-star Royal Caribbean ship Voyager of the Seas, with each cabin having either an ocean view or balcony.

Lee Travel offers early bookers a junior suite for the cost of a balcony cabin.

Contact Lee Travel, 24 Princes St, Cork. Tel [phone].

* STENA Line is offering day trips to Britain (foot passengers) from only €30 per adult.

Additionally, the company can organise day-trip coach tours to Oakwood theme park from €52 for adult and €46 for kids.

Those wishing to take a car can do so from €184 for two passengers, and from €35 for each additional passenger.

The company also offers a family day out to Folly Farm, with prices starting from €158.

See www.stenaline.ie/days, tel [phone] or visit a local travel agent.

* INCREDIBLE India will be running an escorted 13-day tour to India entitled Classic India and Kerala from October 24.

The tour departs from Dublin and Cork and will take in Delhi, Agra, Jaipur, Cochin, Thekkady, Kovalam and Mumbai. Trip highlights include the Jama Masjid mosque, the Agra Fort, the Taj Mahal, the Palace of Winds, the Jantar Mantar Observatory, a boat ride on Lake Periyar, an overnight backwater cruise on the picturesque Vembanad and the beautiful beaches of Kovalam. The price of €2,995 includes scheduled return flights to Delhi, all internal flights, all transfers, sightseeing and excursions and 12 nights’ accommodation in four- or five-star hotels on a half-board basis.

Tel Incredible India on 0818 300 204.

* Irish Ferries is to host its first 2008 escorted wine mini-cruises to France on its new cruise ferry Oscar Wilde on the Rosslare-Roscoff route, departing Friday, May 30, and returning the following Sunday.

Escorting the trip will be wine expert and broadcaster Martin Moran, who will conduct wine tasting and preview some of the wines that will be able to be bought ashore.

The fare is €124 return per adult including cabin berth with en-suite shower and toilet. For €59 return extra, a car may be brought when two adults are travelling together.

Bookings can be made online at www.irishferries.com or tel [phone] (NI 00353 818 300 400).