If your bones don't like Irish winters, why not decamp somewhere warmer for a few months? It's only one of the surprisingly good deals available if you have retired, writes Gerry Mullins
In our early years we have plenty of time but little money. A little later we often have money but have to give up precious time to the tedious task of making it. It isn't until retirement that most people finally have enough of both to take some great holidays. The children have left home and the house is paid for, so, with imagination, planning and lots of energy, empty nesters can make up for lost time during their golden years. Here's how to go about it.
TRAVEL OFF PEAK A great advantage retired people have over their children is the freedom to travel at quiet times. When everyone else is back at work or college, they can make the most of a travel industry that drops its prices in a desperate effort to prolong the season. At home, Fáilte Ireland produces a brochure each year specifically for the over-55s, filled with low- season deals. Older seniors have the added attraction of free travel to their destinations. For a copy of Fáilte Ireland's Golden Holidays brochure, call 1890-525525 or visit www.ireland.ie.
TAKE A SPA BREAK The great spa countries of central Europe offer "wellness hotels" where doctors are on hand while residents take the waters. Spa breaks are particularly useful for arthritis sufferers; they also let Irish people heat up their bones during the dark days of winter. The beautiful spa town of Baden-Baden is just two hours from the German city of Stuttgart, to where you can fly from Dublin with Lufthansa and HLX (formerly known as Hapag-Lloyd Express). Like most spas in Germany, Baden-Baden's are immaculate, and they offer up to a dozen pools of varying temperatures. The usual cost is just €4 an hour. Topflight now sells wellness breaks at spa hotels in Budapest, starting at about €350 a person sharing. Visitors can stay at one of Hungary's poshest hotels, built on the natural hot springs that bubble up where the Danube divides the cities of Buda and Pest. For information about spa trips to Germany, try the German National Tourist Office's website, at www.germany-tourism.ie. Lufthansa is at www.lufthansa.ie; HLX is at www.hlx.com. To contact Topflight, call 01- 2401700 or visit www.topflight.ie.
FLY SOUTH Two years ago, when Slattery's Travel began flying between Dublin and the South African city of Cape Town, it seemed the main market would be thirtysomethings heading for a week or two of golf and safari. The flights have been particularly popular with empty nesters, however. They take the first flights out, in November, and don't return until the end of the season, in April. A colony of Irish use second or rented homes there to spend the winter on the region's many golf courses. Some say they find it better value to live in South Africa for the winter than to heat their homes in Ireland. Flights start at €599 return, including taxes. Slattery's Travel is at 066-7186220 or www.slatterys.com.
SWAP HOUSES Perhaps no travel service is better suited to retired people than the house swap. It is the ultimate in budget travel, even though it often involves luxury accommodation. Ireland's largest house-swapping agency is HomeLink International. In return for a €90 membership fee it provides links via its website to 15,000 homes worldwide. (For a €125 membership fee the same information is provided in a 700-page catalogue.)
A quick look at its website shows that among the properties on its books are a bungalow in Santa Barbara, California, with Jacuzzi and sauna; a three-bedroom town house in Anchorage, Alaska; a timber house beside a lake near Zurich; and a home on a golf club near Cape Town with views of Table Mountain and Robben Island. Marie Murphy, who started HomeLink Ireland in 1984 (and who has swapped 14 times), says that home exchanges suit retired people best - "people who can take off at the drop of a hat and take advantage of low air fares". She expects that swaps with homeowners in Leinster will be especially in demand next year, when golf enthusiasts from all over the world try to get to Ireland for the Ryder Cup, at the K Club in Co Kildare.
HomeLink International is at 01-8462598 or www.homelink.ie. An alternative is Intervac (www.intervac-online.com). For a home- exchange service aimed at over-50s, try www. seniorshomeexchange.com.