»HEAVY PARAPETTING Make her feel like a queen, or indeed him like a king, in one of the most luxurious and beautiful stately piles in the country, Ashford Castle. If romance doesn't blossom here, on the shores of Lough Corrib, there is no hope for your relationship.

Ashford Castle has two different packages for Valentines, a weekend one for ¤450 per person sharing and a midweek one for ¤395 per double room per night. Both include accommodation, full Irish breakfast, table d'hote dinner for two, a dozen red roses and a bottle of chilled bubbly.

Tel: 094 954 6003, email ashford@ashford. ie or visit www. ashford. ie

The de luxe travel essential

»SLICK WICK The next time you go away, pack a travel candle. It serves the dual purpose of making you feel like a true jet set sophisticate, as well as making impersonal hotel rooms feel more like home. Diptyque does one of the best sets. Its Les Trois Bougies box of three travel candles is comprised of Baies (blackcurrant leaves and Bulgarian roses), Feuilles de Lavande (lavender) and Figuier (wild fig). A fabulous gift or even just a special treat for oneself. Available in Brown Thomas, price ¤70.

The his 'n' hers trip

» HAVE A BALL IN ROME Topflight is offering the ultimate sport/retail therapy trip to Rome, departing 16 March, with tickets to see Ireland Vs Italy in the Seven Nations, and the chance to massacre the credit card in the designer shops around the Spanish Steps. The price includes flights, transfers to/from airport to hotel, choice of either the three-star San Giusto Hotel or the four-star Parco Tirreno Suite Hotel, bed & breakfast in your twin/double en suite rooms and match tickets. Two nights start from ¤795. Tel 01 2401765.

The new destinations

»DANE PACK Start thinking beyond the usual tourist haunts because Ryanair is throwing up some new travel possibilities with five interesting new routes to Denmark, Poland and Spain. As of last week, it's flying to Billund, home of the Lego headquarters; Rzeszow, the university city in southeast Poland; Almeria in Andalucía; Seville; and Vitoria, which is 41km south of Bilbao in the Basque country. The Billund route is actually the first Irish-Danish low-fare route and to celebrate the new destinations, Ryanair has a sale on half a million seats from Dublin to Europe, all in, for ¤9.99. See www. ryanair. com

The website

» SUIT YOURSELF Irish website www. selfcatering. ie recently relaunched and now offers 600 holiday homes and villas in Ireland, Canada, the US, Cyprus, France, Greece, Portugal and Spain. Choose from between little cottages hidden away in the Kerry countryside or a 10-room mansion on a 50acre wine estate in northern Portugal. Nice.