If you are interested in cooking then you may be familiar with the La Varenne French Cooking School founded by Anne Willan. This year Willan is bring La Varenne close to us at Turnberry Hotel in Ayrshire - as close as a 30-minute flight with Ryanair to Prestwick. And it is that Turnberry, famous for its golf courses. The course will run for five days and guest chefs will include Stewart Cameron and Martin Hollis of Turnberry, Andrew Fairlie, David Nicholls, Brian Turner, Peter Timmins and Rikki Senn, cooking school director. It runs from November 7th to 12th and includes classes, demonstrations, meals at the hotel and dinner one night in Blairquhan Castle. The price is from £815 sterling. Accompanying guests are welcome, and Turnberry offers not only some brilliant golfing but also a fabulous Spa. Tel: 0044 1655 331000.
October bank holiday is fast approaching and if you are a fan of the likes of Joe Dolan, Big Tom, Who's Eddie, Eamon McCann, Kieran McGilligan, Johnny McEvoy and Susan McCann, you should head for Bundoran, where Show Tours brings you the third Irish Bundoran Music Festival. Three nights B & B and three nights entertainment from £139, with a choice of accommodation, and free coach from designated points. You can book with Show Tours at 20 Eden Quay, Dublin 1, 01 873 1111.
If you fancy going a bit further than Bundoran for the holiday weekend, then why not go to Paris for £259, Barcelona for £379 or Malaga for £389? Prices are per person sharing and include direct flights, three nights' accommodation and breakfast. Alan Lynch Travel, 01 677 5533 has the details.
Another weekend away in November could take you to Amsterdam for £109. Scandinavian Seaways will whisk you there by coach from Dun Laoghaire. Accommodation will be on board the King of Scandinavia and includes breakfast. Details from Stena Line on 01 204 7733 or local travel agents.
Access to information on rail travel in the UK and Europe is easier to get then you might think. Britrail can answer your queries and make bookings for rail travel, including Eurostar, TGV and SNCF. It can help route-planning around Britain and offers a range of cost-cutting tickets. Phone: 01 662 0317, or contact its website, www.britrail.com.
A new entrant to the Irish tour operating is the Scottish company Direct Holidays. Based at 17 Talbot Street, Dublin 1, it sells direct to the holidaymaker, offering an eight per cent discount if the holiday is paid for in full at the time of booking. Direct Holidays offers children's clubs in most resorts and discounts for child places. It also operates a telephone sales service up to 8 p.m. on weekdays and up to 5 p.m. at the weekends for brochure requests 1850 400 678. Destinations offered include Majorca, Menorca, Costa Dorada, Costa del Sol, Canary Islands, Portugal and Malta. Flight-only seats are also available from Dublin.