Thinking of taking your dog on holiday?

Here are some novel suggestions for places to stay...

But check out this important information from Stena Line if you are taking your pet to the UK or France by ferry.

 Pets can travel with Stena Line either in your car (free of charge), or in kennels on board the ship

- Kennels come in three sizes, but availability is limited and they must be booked in advance (Belfast to Cairnryan route)

- If your pet is travelling in your vehicle, it must be well ventilated and they must remain inside at all times.

- Guide dogs may accompany their owners onto the ship and into their cabins.
- Dogs must be microchipped and fully vaccinated against rabies if travelling to the UK or Europe.

- Pets must have a valid pet passport to allow entry into the United Kingdom. 

- For terms and conditions, please visit www.stenaline.ie  and to book an on board kennel or make arrangements for your guide dog, ring 01 907 555

How to get an EU Pet Passport in Ireland

INFORMATION FOR PET OWNERS

Every Irish pet that is brought out of Ireland to another EU Member State or re-enters Ireland must have an EU Pet Passport. In Ireland this is issued by private Vets directly to pet owners.

If you wish to have your pet’s photograph on its passport (this is optional), you should bring a photograph with you to your vet. The photograph should be no bigger than 6 cm wide and 4 cm long, should feature the pet only and show its colour and markings clearly.

On receipt of the Pet Passport from your vet check all entries are legible and correct, as any errors could lead to your pet being detained.

INFORMATION FOR VETERINARY PRACTITIONERS

Blank passports are available for purchase from the Department. If you have not yet registered with the Department and received your information pack/order form contact the Pet Passport Section at livetrade@agriculture.gov.ie or 01-6072127.

With the recent adjustment to sterling it's a good time to pop across the Irish Sea and here are some options that your pet will love.

cottages.com

www.cottages.com

0345 498 6900

Mount Pleasant Farm – Wayside Cottage – Kellfield, nr. York

Property reference: 18012

Set on a working arable farm in a peaceful countryside location, this property enjoys open views across the fields and access to a children’s play area. This is the ideal holiday location for peace and quiet, yet only a short distance from the village of Cawood, where guests can visit the Castle – the former home of Cardinal Wolsey, Archbishop of York. What’s more, York is just ten miles away and has a wealth of attractions that guests can enjoy – from the iconic Minster to the many museums, there is something for every member of the family.

PRICE: WAS: £522 NOW: £451 (£16.12pppn)* for seven nights’ self-catered accommodation arriving 5^thAugust 2016. Sleeps four in two bedrooms with three pets welcome.

Woodhouse Cottage – Dobshill, nr. Chester – save 10%!

Property reference: RWW2

Close to Chester, this cosy detached cottage is perfect for relaxing in after a hard days’ shopping or exploring the bustling city. Complete with a wood burning stove, barbeque and spacious patio area, guests can a summers evening in the garden with delicious cooked food from the barbeque. When guests have seen all there is to see in Chester including Chester Zoo and Cheshire Oaks, they can venture slightly further afield to North East Wales and Llangollen which are both within easy reach.

PRICE: WAS: £953 NOW: £861 (£24.62pppn)* for seven nights’ self-catered accommodation arriving 30^th July 2016. Sleeps five in two bedrooms with two pets welcome.

The Arch, London

The Arch London is a luxurious five-star Georgian townhouse hideaway in the heart of central London. The hotel is dog friendly with an ethos to treat pooches to the same indulgent experience as their owners, with luxurious dog beds, bowls, and a delicious doggy menu cooked to order by the chef.  Dog walking services are also available, allowing owners to relax whilst their furry friends are exploring the 350 acres of nearby Hyde Park, special offers of £250pn until September and pets stay for £15pn.

If you're planning on staying closer to home and want to bring your pooch to a cosy country house, here are some welcoming places from the blue book.

Tankardstown House, Co. Meath

It is far from ruff at Tankardstown for our canine chums. Dogs are welcome to stay at Tankardstown and even Millie, Choo and Mika Tankardstown’s own resident pooches are excited to have new friends come by. Though, the main house is only for 2 legged creatures, dogs are more than welcome to stay overnight in one of the Courtyard Cottage Suites. Enjoy an amble or a bracing walk around the estate, the cottage suites open directly out to a courtyard and into the garden so you won’t be disturbing anyone. There is no charge for our chums!

Description: Get away from it all and relax in a truly special place. Bring your well behaved four legged family members along with you for some well deserved rest and relaxation in the tranquil grounds of our estate. Check in with your dog at reception and be taken to our beautifully appointed courtyard cottage suites where a complimentary doggie treat welcomes your four legged friend. There's 80 acres of woodland and parkland for you both to explore.  Take a seat for dinner by candlelight in the critically acclaimed award winning restaurant, Brabazon and enjoy a 3 Course a la carte Menu, laced with strong seasonal influences. Let restful sleep take you over with only trickling fountains and birdsong to disturb. Awaken with a quick dip in the hot tub before a hearty breakfast sets you up for the day.   

From: €145 per person sharing

For more information, please see www.irelandsbluebook.com, or contact Tankardstown House directly on 041 982 4621

Gregans Castle Hotel, Co. Clare

Dog friendly rooms available. Surrounded by botanical archaeological and cultural treasures and with breath taking views across Galway Bay and the unique Burren terrain, Gregans Castle Hotel is the ultimate hideaway. Gregans Castle offers genuine Irish hospitality, innovative cooking and elegant bedrooms free from the intrusion of televisions. A mature garden and the surrounding bucolic setting, together with a strong environmental ethos, ensure a sensitive co-existence with nature. Being animal lovers Gregans appreciate the need to treat one's pooch to the occasional night away and so a welcome is extended to particularly loved four legged friends. There are a number of ground floor bedrooms which can easily accommodate you and your dog and have access to the garden.

Gregans Castle do not charge for pets to stay.

They have an offer called - LAST MINUTE BED & BREAKFAST ADVANCE PURCHASE RATE 

Description: Very SPECIAL RATE per Room per night and inclusive of Full Irish Breakfast, Evening Turndown Service, Complimentary WiFi and all taxes and service. Recently awarded Georgina Campbell's "Hotel of the Year" and "Irish Breakfast Award".

From: €195.00 per room per night

For more information, please see www.irelandsbluebook.com, or contact Gregans Castle directly on 065 707 7005

Rathmullan House, Co. Donegal

Dog friendly room available. With a 3km sandy beach at the bottom of our garden, it would be a shame for your dog to miss out on a trip to Rathmullan House. The doggie room (adjoining the human bedroom) ensures that your beloved pet also gets to enjoy the best of country house luxury. Rathmullan even provide company with their own Jack Russell – Brushie. All that is asked is that Brushies position as MD is not questioned!

Rathmullan House charge €10 extra per night for a dog.

They have a 2 night bed and breakfast offer called -  STAY LONGER FOR LESS (2 NIGHTS BED AND BREAKFAST)

From: €160 per person (this is not including the extra €10)

For more information, please see www.irelandsbluebook.com, or contact Rathmullan House directly on 074 915 8188

Getting married next year? Check out The InterContinental in Dublin

‘SAY I DO’ AT THE INTERCONTINENTAL DUBLIN WEDDING OPEN DAY

SUNDAY 26 JUNE, 2016 FROM 1.00PM – 5.00PM

InterContinental Dublin, Ireland's finest Five Star Hotel (formerly Four Seasons Hotel), renowned for its timeless elegance and contemporary style, located in Ballsbridge, an unrivalled location for a city resort wedding, is delighted to announce its first Wedding Open Day on Sunday 26 June, 2016; from 1.00pm - 5.00pm,  since completing refurbishments of its luxurious Ballrooms.

The InterContinental Dublin Wedding Open Day is the event to attend for the most fashionable wedding couples looking to plan a celebration that is truly unforgettable with expert assistance from InterContinental Dublin’s own expert team of Wedding Specialists.

Prospective couples will get a glimpse into the top-tier services the Hotel has to offer and will be among the first to see its newly refurbished Ballrooms and event spaces. InterContinental Dublin is the only Five Star Hotel in the city to offer a choice of two Ballrooms - all luxuriously decorated with gold and muted elegant tones flowing onto beautifully landscaped Terrace and Inner Courtyard Garden.

Enjoy champagne and delicious canapés on arrival where couples will be invited to a private consultation of its stylish spaces featuring sets from formal, to informal, showcasing the huge flexibility that its wedding spaces can offer for a bespoke wedding whether you are looking for formal or informal celebrations.

Couples are invited to register for a personal invitation to confirm a private consultation on the day with one of its expert wedding specialists.

To request an invitation, please email weddings@icdublin.com 

Epic new tourist attraction in Dublin

Epic Visitor Museum at CHQ Building Custom House Quay

Open 7 days per week 9am-6pm

There's an Epic new attraction in the CHQ described as Dublin's newest immersive visitor museum. I brought along two pre-teens, to see how Ireland's Diaspora changed the world, and was surprised and impressed at how the interactive displays kept them busy.

Getting passports at emigration

On entering the fully accessible building, we were handed our passports, which instantly gave the girls something to do. The adults seemed just as amused with the task of stamping their passports as they completed each section of the exhibition.

Stamping passports as we passed through the museum

The ambience and initial imagery is unmistakably celtic, and I did wonder if this was going to be fun for the kids, Our island's tragic history makes gloomy reading and the story of emigration even more downbeat and ever cyclical. However, the constant stamping got the kids through the initial horrors of famine, destitution and poverty without determent, and the girls had their phones out from the initial display. Using their cameras and social media is as much a part of an experience for this generation as the exhibits, and because the displays became more fun and interactive as we passed through each section the girls stayed longer to find out more.

The layout of the exhibition is cavernous which neatly blocks the themes of music, arts, sport and literature into tidy separate sections that are easy to navigate.

I was especially impressed by the books in the literature rooms which recounted tales from various classic novels when pulled from the shelf. The guides were especially helpful in this part of the museum and eager to show off the novelties.

Those Diaspora who had achieved acclaim on the silver and small screens were recorded especially well and I was so engrossed that I lost the girls at that stage. They were more amused by the sports room and found a place to make better use of snapchat and instagram.

The images taking me through Italia 90 made me quite reminiscent of our innocence as a nation and I was even emotional watching the pope in the Pheonix Park in 1979. Although, I'd imagine the JFK speech will impact largely with the American Visitors to the museum.

The girls were getting into the swing of the museum by the time we reached the sport room

I was genuinely astonished to see the Irish Diaspora's contribution to science and astronomy and this particular display was the most innovative with fluorescent light effects.

The room of notorious Irish was possibly the most fun for the girls and they were educated about historical facts while they partook in the interactive quiz. I have to admit that I danced around from option A to B a couple of times myself. Every bit of space is used with the displays in all the rooms making the floors, walls and free standing surfaces equally interesting and informative.

It was nice to see one of my classmates from my old alma mater, the NCAD in Thomas Street, getting a display to himself beside the likes of Francis Bacon and Eileen Gray.

We did spend over an hour at the museum which made the entry fee of €16 for adults and €8 for kids good value.

With plenty of opportunities to see their names in lights the girls got involved with the personalised postcards and twitter feeds. If you do visit this summer be sure to use the hastag #epicireland to see your tweet in lights. Some heavyweight social media experts like @tedrubin have been to visit here already! It's good to see a top quality attraction like this in Dublin. With the range of healthy eating options upstairs at the CHQ I really hope that visitors are directed to this attraction this summer and it will put in an interesting afternoon for those living in Dublin or visiting from the rest of Ireland too.

Quirky places to go in Ireland #TravelTuesday on the Midday Show

Now that the lovely weather is here The Novel Traveller has picked out some unique places to visit in Ireland. I'll be chatting about these quirky locations on the Midday show on TV3 Tuesday 31st May.

My favourite is the beautifully renovated Ice House in Ballina county Mayo which has one of the smallest yet loveliest spas in the country. You can read my review on this blog or click the link here Ice House Ballina

If the force has awakened in you then why not treat you or a loved one to a Star Wars package at the Moorings in Kerry. Get a Tshirt and pull a pint where Mark Hamill did too. Take a trip to Skellig Michael and climb the 600 steps that will work up an appetite for dinner in the Moorings award wining restaurant. For more information click here The Moorings

Finally it is the year of food and drink in Northern Ireland this year and I've found a wonderful destination for those seeking the wild outdoors. Finn Lough is set in Fermanagh close to the Donegal Border and these Bubble pods really caught my eye. Wouldn't it be great to spend a night under the stars in your very own bubble. They book out quickly so plenty of advance notice is needed.
http://www.finnlough.com/en/accommodation/bubblehouse

Thelma and Louise head west to Farnham Estate in County Cavan

Michelle and Alex AKA Thelma and Louise!

This weekend my friend Alex and I did a Thelma and Louise - with 24 hours notice we jumped in my car at 2pm on Friday and headed west and north a bit on the N3 to Cavan. As we crossed the county border we were greeted by large green signs saying This Is Cavan, a new way to promote this rural county and novel by all accounts. As we passed the agricultural machinery, KFC, McDonalds and signs advertising a gig by a local country and western singer we were feeling eerily like Thelma and Louise as each mile clocked up. But the similarity to the movie ended when we reached our destination at the luxurious Farnham Estate and the Radisson Blu hotel. 

Farnham Estate, with its expansive woodlands, raises the spirits with 7 kms of the most beautifully natural walking trails. Walks range from the more relaxed, shorter routes through to the more challenging, depending on the individual requirements. Along the treks, you can enjoy an incredible range of trees including ancient redwood, cedar, copper beech and Scots pine, as well as wonderful views of Farnham Lake.

But Thelma and Louise were keen to see the Thermal spa. So we dumped our bags and put on our bathrobes and slippers and all the hassles of living in a city just disappeared. Outside our window cows grazed and the gentle rolling green hills made me wonder why I hadn't come this way sooner.

The spa is large with a fabulous infinity pool that runs outdoors to a view of those beautiful rolling hills....and cows! There's plenty to do in the Thermal suite and we almost didn't want to leave when we got the call for our facials. The therapists were very thorough and we were treated to nettle tea in the relaxation room afterwards.

The Botanica restaurant was perfect for dinner and breakfast next morning. The staff were all locals and warm and friendly. I ordered the scallops and Cod while Thelma was equally delighted with the crab for starters and lamb for her main course.

One-night really wasn't enough and we agreed, stealing the lines of another Hollywood movie...'I'll be back!'

To discover what it is that you will take away from Farnham Estate, overnight stays begin from €134.50 per person sharing midweek and from €165.00 per person at weekends including breakfast, dinner and Afternoon Tea.

For further details and to book treatments, consultations and packages please contact on 049 437 7700 or email  info.farnham@radissonblu.com.