The Caribbean kids-free
that are the equal of anyny in Europe. Playa de la Concha is better for gentle swimming, and Playa de Gros is popular with surfers. Surrounding both are popular pintxo bars. Pintxos are unbelievablyly delicious Basque tapas. . The lively Parte Vieja, old town,own, lies across the neck of Monte Urgull, the bay’s eastern headland. There’s great shopping in the Área Romántica, on a handsome grid of late-19th century buildings behind Playa de la Concha, and grand millionaires’ villas line the shore. San Seb is a foodie delight, so you won’t go hungry. GO: Easyjet.com has seven nights staying in the Barcelo Costa Vasca, room-only, with flights from London Stansted, from £730. IF you avoid August getaways because of the school holidays, you may like a week all-inclusive at an adultsonly resort in Barbados with £ £1,000 off next month. Blue Bay Travel has a d deal for thee Club Barbados R Resort and Spa in LASLA PALMAS: The biggest city in the Canary Islands straddles s Most of the an elegant isthmus SpanishtMin the north architectureof Gran is Canaria.in the Tr Triana district, to the south.
The huge port runs along the eastern side, while th the west side has the surprisingly attractive urban be beach of Las Canteras, frequented by many na nationalities. There are Chinese and Indian shops al along the prom, plus Mexican andnd African restaurants. Department t stores such as El Corte Inglés are e a short walk away. GO: Thomson Holidays has a three-night break in Las Palmas, staying in the Luz Playa self-catering suites, from £315, with flights from Gatwick.See thomson.co.uk. Holetown for £1,229 per person based on two travelling on September 20, flying out of London. The package is subject to availability. For bookings call 08444 997 645 or go to caribbeanwarehouse.co.uk. VIENNA: Beaches don’t have to be by the sea, of course. The Viennese have long since done their swimming and sunbathing on the banks of the Danube river, which flows through the outskirts of the city. They head out on underground lines U1 or U6 for Danube Island, a place of gardens, lawns, restaurants with terraces on the water, swimming pools and promenad promenades, and several kilometres of sand by the riv river shore. It is one of the largest recre recreational areas in Europe, with up to 190 190,000 people flocking here on peak da days. There’s even a nudist area, if you fo forget to pack your trunks... GO:GO Inghams is offering three nights’ B& B&B in Vienna’s Hotel Post plus return flig flights from London Stansted from £538. See i inghams.co.uk. I HAVE just returned from Majorca and there were big queues at the airport. Why? A NEW regulation came into effect in April that requires every passport to be checked when arriving and leaving the Schengen Area. This is the frontier-free zone of most EU countries plus Norway, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland – but excluding the UK and Ireland. Now every passenger’s passport is electronically compared against the Schengen Information System, a pan-European database, and against Interpol’s list of stolen and lost travel documents. As a result the processing time for a planeload of passengers has gone from a couple of minutes to what could be an hour or more.