Travel Tales: Follow the Blue Book to get tips for the best romantic break away

Every year on Valentine’s Day, I get reminded of the time I grabbed a bright bouquet of lovely flowers from a nearby garage as a very belated Valentine’s gift and managed to not notice that the flower’s vibrant colours and healthy glisten was due to the fact that they were actually plastic.

Brownie points zero.

February is traditionally the month of the romantic gift and rather than overpriced flowers (fake or real), I am recommending you book a trip away in Ireland or abroad.

SPECIAL VENUES

My Travel Tales with Fergal Podcast this week is all about romantic getaways in Ireland and I picked three very special venues from Ireland’s Blue Book that are all the epitome of romance with two castles with four poster beds and a Georgian town house.

They are Barberstown Castle in Kildare, Tubrid Castle in Kilkenny and 1 Pery Square in Limerick.

There is one caveat to my recommendation of giving a trip away to your partner for Valentines. After my research I discovered that there are a lot of romantics in Ireland who love to go away for Valentines.

The prices of flights to the top five romantic destinations during Valentines can be 10 times higher than their normal cost.

For the most romantic getaway, Europe always wins hands down in magazine polls with Venice, Paris, Rome, Bruges and Vienna winning the top five spots.

When I checked these locations the price differential during Valentines was massive.

For example, return Ryanair flights from Cork to Venice over Valentines was €500 versus an average of €48 normally in February. Cork to Rome return was €400 during Valentines versus €33 on other dates in February.

Dublin to Vienna was €355 return versus €99 normally and Dublin to Brussels was over €300 versus €150. Finally Shannon to Budapest was €200 return versus €60 normally.

I have written here many times about the benefits of booking on off peak days, so I am recommending a getaway gift for Valentines but for a later date, so it is something to look forward to.

ROMANTIC GIFT

Vienna always makes the top 5 list of romantic cities in Europe and a big part of that romantic association is with waltzing and their famous Viennese balls which are still a big deal and more popular than ever with the popularity of Strictly Dancing.

A real romantic gift would be waltzing lessons in one of the old dance schools that offer lessons to locals and tourists.

The Elmayer dance school offers 50 minute private lessons for around €70. Then you can put you and your partners new skills to use at the €5 open door dance practice that night.

If you want to try something a little different, try the new Ryanair route from Shannon to Naples starting in March.

Naples is often just used as a jump off to the magical Amalfi coast where the mountains plunge down into the sea with picture postcard towns like Sorrento and Positano perched on cliffs around every corner.

Pompeii is a must visit site for all history fans too.

Tourists often leave Naples airport and go straight to the coast, but I would recommend the city for a weekend break. It is a must to try the Neapolitan pizza where the city has elevated the humble pizza to an art form.

They have honed the craft of pizza making to a precise craft with specific requirements for ingredients, dough, size and how it is cooked in a wood burning oven.

It is said the Sorbilla restaurant in Naples makes the best pizza in Italy.

They only make the Neapolitan pizza, but it is said it is worth the queues.

IRISH COUNTRY HOUSE

For romance there is nothing quite like an Irish country house break. Unless you go to a castle that is, and you have that castle all to yourself.

The stunning and faithfully restored 15th century castle in Kilkenny called Tubbrid Castle only takes one booking at a time.

You can have the three bedroomed medieval tower house all to yourself to sleep like a king and queen in a huge four poster bed.

Tubrid Castle has been lovingly restored by the late John Campion and his son Dr John Campion and the castle has been receiving rave reviews since it opened for guests a few years ago.

The castle is the newest addition to the Blue Book collection and media like Forbes and the New York Times have been raving about it.

My second guest on the Travel Tales with Fergal Podcast this week is Ted Robinson from Barberstown Castle in Straffan, county Kildare.

This 13th century castle is famous as being the home of Eric Clapton from 1979 to 1987 when music royalty like Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan stayed.

Ted from Barberstown Castle told me a great romantic story about how the Rose of Tralee contestants stayed before Christmas and the partner of the Arizona Rose proposed on the top of the turrets of the castle with a bottle of champagne.

A first apparently, but not the last I would hazard a guess. If you would like to recreate this magic, then Barbertown have a Valentines Night Special deal on their website.

LOCATION FIRST

Whenever I am looking for a hotel for a city break, I always pick the location first, ideally central and then look for a family run hotel with some history attached to it.

That is exactly what No.1 Pery Square is in the heart of the Georgian Quarter in Limerick.

The proprietor Patricia Roberts tells me all about the history of this magnificent Georgian town house in Limerick on the podcast.

Patricia is doing a Valentines special next Tuesday with a stay, spa and six course tasting menu in their award winning restaurant.

Check out my Travel Tales with Fergal Podcast special on Romantic Getaways on all podcast platforms and check out great Valentines deals on Ireland’s Blue Book website here https://www.irelands-blue-book.ie.