Whether you fancy a Caribbean all-inclusive, a trip to snowy Lapland or a fun New Year's Eve package closer to home, Joan Scaleshas seasonal breaks to suit all tastes
SO WHERE will be your winter wonderland be this holiday season? Hotels in Ireland and beyond are offering Christmas breaks, New Year breaks and breaks for that turn- of-the-year period between December 27th and January 1st, known as "Twixmas". Whether it's big-city five-star treatment you're after, or family activities in the country, there's plenty to choose from.
Dublin
The Shelbourne(27 St Stephen's Green, 01-6634500, www.theshelbourne.ie) is the quintessential traditional town house, with log fires, afternoon tea and egg-nog in the Lord Mayor's Lounge, overlooking the green. The hotel's two-night Christmas package includes lunch on Christmas Day from €399 per person sharing. Its two-night New Year's Eve package includes a five-course dinner in the Saddle Room from €550 per person sharing.
On the other side of the green, the Fitzwilliam Hotel(St Stephen's Green, 01- 4787000, www.fitzwilliam hotel.com) will be celebrating Christmas with two nights' luxury accommodation in contemporary style, with traditional Christmas lunch, from €310 per person sharing. If you are staying in the city for New Year's Eve, you can have champagne and strawberries in your room, with a late breakfast, for from €150pps.
The Merrion(Upper Merrion Street, 01-6030600, www. merrionhotel.com) is impossibly atmospheric at Christmas, with traditionally decorated Georgian drawing rooms, log fires crackling and Santa giving gifts to the children around the tree on Christmas Eve. From €545 per person sharing. After the big day, racing packages at the hotel will include tickets to the enclosure at Leopardstown for some fresh air and excitement from €160pps per night.
Out in Killiney, in south Co Dublin, at Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel(01-2305400, www.fitz patrickcastle.com) you can overnight on race days from December 26th to 30th for €89pps, including tickets and transfers to Leopardstown. Its two-night New Year's Eve package includes a black-tie ball. From €260pps.
On the northside, the Regency Hotel(Whitehall, 01-8373544, www.regency hotels.com) has a packed three-day Christmas package that includes dinner on each day, entertainment, carol singing, a visit from Santa Claus and a coach trip to Co Wicklow or a day at the races. The price is €499 per person; no single supplement.
Around Ireland
The Christmas celebration package at the Ritz-Carlton Powerscourt (Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, 01-2748888, www.ritzcarlton.com) begins with the pastry chefs building a gingerbread house in the lobby. You can watch them over mince pies and hot chocolate. The package includes dinner in Gordon Ramsay's restaurant on Christmas Eve and festive lunch on Christmas Day. From €425 per night per couple.
Perched high over the Lakes of Killarney, in Co Kerry, Aghadoe Heights Hotel and Spa(064-31766, www.aghadoeheights.com) has a three-day programme that begins with afternoon tea on Christmas Eve and runs through to breakfast on December 27th. Its treasure hunt will get you out and about on St Stephen's Day. From €990 per person sharing.
Santa will be arriving at Sheen Falls Lodge(064-41600, www.sheenfallslodge.com), in Kenmare, Co Kerry, in a 1936 Buick. A three-night stay in a suite costs from €1,395 per person sharing, including black-tie dinner on St Stephen's Day. Other options include courtyard town houses, from €796 for three days, or a Bayside villa, which sleeps eight, available for the week for €5,000.
You can begin your Christmas break early at the Dunraven Arms(061-605900, www.dunravenhotel.com) in Adare, Co Limerick, with a complimentary stay on December 23rd. Over the festivities you can listen to a seanachaí, take a walking tour of Adare, follow the local hunt or go to Limerick Races. From €800 per person sharing.
In Limerick city, Castletroy Park Hotel(Dublin Road, 061-335566, www.castletroy- park.ie) has four nights for the price of three from December 23rd. Packages start at €650 per person sharing; a limited number have no single supplement.
The two-night package at Carton House Hotel, in Maynooth, Co Kildare (01-5052000, www.cartonhouse.com), with champagne each day and a chance to explore the 450-hectare estate, costs €545 per person sharing.
At the five-star Heritage Golf and Spa Resortin Co Laois (057-8645500, www.theheritage.com) the New Year's Eve festivities will include a champagne reception, dinner and entertainment, and dancing until the early hours. Breakfast will be served late. From €225 per person sharing.
In Tralee, Co Kerry, the fun begins on St Stephen's Night at Benners Hotel(066-7121877, www.bennershoteltralee.com) when DJ Fran Cosgrove gets things rocking. A two-night stay will cost €99 per person sharing. The Soul Seekerz will be ringing in 2009. The dinner, bed and breakfast package costs €115 per person sharing.
The Newpark Hotelin Kilkenny (056-7760500, www.flynnhotels.com) is a popular destination. Its two-night New Year's Eve package (€245 per person sharing) includes a black-tie ball, banquet, fireworks and jazz brunch on New Year's Day.
If you would like to make your own Christmas, Twixmas or New Year, there is a huge variety of self-catering properties to rent. The biggest houses are on www.irishluxury. com, but you can also find agood selection of normal-sized places on www.tridentholidayhomes.ie, www.selfcatering.ie and www.discoverireland.ie. Historically restored properties are on www.irishlandmark.com.
England
Christmas celebrations at the family-run Goring Hotel(00-44-20-73969000, www.goringhotel.co.uk), near Buckingham Palace, in London, begin on Christmas Eve with a champagne reception, followed by dinner and then midnight Mass at St Peter's on Eaton Square. Prices from £850 (€1,010) per person sharing.
Slaley Hall, in Northumberland (00-44-845-3752808, www.devere-hotels.com), an atmospheric Edwardian mansion on 400 hectares of moorland and forest, has two golf courses plus leisure and beauty facilities. A family suite for Christmas costs from £1,057 (€1,260), including meals, for two nights. The package also includes transfer to Mass at Hexham Abbey on Christmas Eve. It is less than an hour's drive from Newcastle Airport.
For singles, Friendship Travel (048-94462211, www.friendshiptravel.com) has a festive house party at Donnington Valley Hotel Spa Golf Resort, in the Berkshire countryside, for £379 per person (about €450).
Solos Holidays (00-44-844- 8150005, www.solosholidays. co.uk) will take you racing, to the pantomime and dancing over Christmas with its solo travellers' event in Chesford Grangein Warwickshire, from £429 (€510) per person.
Farther afield
Where better to spend Christmas than in Lapland? Canterbury Travel (01-6770670, www.canterbury- tales.com) has trips departing Dublin on December 23rd. The four-night break will not only include meeting the man himself but also include meeting his reindeers and dashing around on sleighs and snowmobiles. Prices from €1,760 per person sharing.
Celebrate like royalty at the Four Seasons Hotel in Florence, a converted 15th-century palace. (00-800-64886488, www.fourseasons.com/ florence). Begin your holiday with midnight Mass in the Duomo after a Tuscan dinner at the hotel. The two-night package costs from €990 plus taxes for two sharing.
One place you can almost be guaranteed a white Christmas is Austria, and it is picture perfect for a Christmas getaway. Topflight (01-2401700, www.topflight.ie) has a range of holidays available from December 20th, with half-board from €599 per person sharing for a week.
Madeirawill be a little bit warmer than here over the holiday. Direct Holidays (01-8860400, www.direct holidays.ie) has a week at Hotel Girassol in Funchal, with bed and breakfast, from €439 per person sharing.
Family deals to the Canarieswith Falcon Holidays (1850-453545, www.falcon holidays.ie) from Dublin, Cork and Shannon include eight nights from December 18th in the San Marcial apartments, in Lanzarote, from €1,996 for two adults and two children. Travelling on December 20th, a week in the Altair apartments, in Gran Canaria, will cost from €2,036 for two adults and two children.
Ski in France or Italyover the New Year with Clubmed (01-2886828, www.clubmed sunway.ie). The resorts offer classes for all levels of ability. Departing December 28th, with prices from €2,111 for adults and €1,917 for children.
You can forget your winter blues on the exotic Caribbean island of Hispaniola. Budget Travel (www.budgettravel.ie) has some availability for holidays in the tropical Dominican Republicpart of the island, departing on December 22nd. A week all-inclusive will cost from €1,152 per person sharing.
Or why not spend New Year's Eve on the other side of the Caribbean, in Mexico? Eight nights at the Caribe Realall-inclusive resort will cost from €4,293 for two people sharing. A New Year's Eve gala is included (0818-222426, www.caribbeancollection.ie).
Finally, find high summer in the southern hemisphere in Cape Town. Spend a week at the four-star Cape Cadogan Hoteland enjoy South Africa's beauty. Departures from London with Virgin Atlantic from £1,699 (about €2,020) per person sharing (Travelbag, 00-44-20-31397427, www.travelbag.co.uk).