HOLIDAY THOUGHTS TO WARM A WINTER'S DAY

Faraway places with stange sounding names! There's nothing so likely to send shiver of anticipation down your spine as browsing through travel brochures and dreaming of how you will spend your annual summer holidays when Christmas and New Year celebrations are behind you for another twelve months.

But to be sure of the resort, the hotel and the transport of your choice too, you need to plan early so embark with the ECHO on a fact-finding tour of the services available to help you within easy reach of the Evington area.

If you're one of those individuals who can't bear to be packaged and tied up when you go on holiday, TARDIS TRAVEL of Francis Street, offers a host of popular destinations to which you can book your return air fare. Maybe you have a friend with an apartment in Palma, Majorca - a ticket from East Midlands Airport can cost as little as £85. Ibiza is only £87 and Tenerife from £130. All seats are bookable and Tardis guarantees there will be no surcharges. 'Our flight-only prices are difficult to beat' says Tardis Manager Rod Callaway.

Tardis service is ideal for the business executive for a short notice they will plan your trip anywhere in the world. Business in Singapore or South America, Canada or Australia? Tardis will deal efficiently with all your travel requirements, leaving you to concentrate on your business deal.

There's a lively new travel agency on Queen's Road but TOMORROW'S WORLD TRAVEL packs a wealth of travel experience behind the desks in their welcoming offices. They'll be pleased for you to call and talk over your holiday requirements with them. Maybe you've always longed to visit Italy - the land of sunshine and ancient treasures. TWT's team might suggest Florence as your destination for this is a city dedicated to beauty and beautiful things. In fact it is a living example of the Renaissance period. Once in Florence, buy a potted guide book showing suggested routes on foot and by local bus. There are also half day guided bus trips and longer ones to Sienna and Pisa with its famous leaning tower. When sight-seeing palls, try shopping for exquisite gold and silver articles for leatherware and straw goods or exciting trinkets in lively markets and shops. Sample excellent food and stock up on Chianti to help keep memories fresh when TWT have delivered you back home.

Photograph of the duomo in Florence

(Not the picture in the January 1982 Echo, but similar)

The south coast of England still holds a store of treasures for the homeloving holidaymaker. No language or currency problems and no long journeys by air or sea. If you consult NORTH'S TRAVEL on Evington Road your holiday plans will be arranged for you on practically a door-to-door basis. For 1982 they have carefully selected three centres - Ilfracome, Newquay and Eastbourne - and chosen comfortable, friendly hotels at each resort where you can relax and unwind from everyday pressures. North's have arranged for luxury coaches to collect you from their Evington Road agency and deliver you there again after your week's holiday. Call in for your free brochure and book now.

North's also run a Travellers' Club which, on payment of a small subscription, offers members the chance to book for theatre outings; a few seats are still available for the Wembley Ice Show on 20th February.

Crete is a fascinating island where holidays to suit a wide variety of interests can be found. The main holiday resorts of Khania, Rhythymnon, Aghios Nicolaos and Heraklion, the capital, are all on the North coast and accommodation ranges from luxury beach hotels to well-kept 'demi-pension' apartments let by local landladies.

Hiring a car is perhaps the best way of seeing the island which has a history dating back over 4000 years. The partially-restored Minoan Palace at Knossos is within easy reach of Heraklion or a full day trip can be made to the South of the island where many wide sandy beaches provide safe swimming and unlimited sunbathing. Many tour operators now offer Crete in their brochures and if you pop into their offices on Uppingham Road, or any one of their 7 branches in Leicester, ABBEYGATE TRAVEL will help find the holiday to suit you.

Some ECHO readers may already have travelled with PAGE & MOY on one of their tours through IPC Magazines or TV Times. The company is renowned for its excellent lakes and mountains programme and is fast becoming a leader in dream holidays to Hawaii. Their Air Ticket Centre on London Road is equipped with the latest technology to bring speedy answers to your travel enquiries and specialises in discounted fares to long haul destinations, eg Perth, Australia from £399 return! So now may be the time to think about visiting those long-distance relatives. Also on offer are beneficial fares to Canada and the USA.

A short break away from home can be a wonderful morale-booster, especially in those early Spring days when it sometimes seems that Summer will never come. Page & Moy can also offer, through their subsidiary, Cresta, a variety of weekend breaks to European cities - eg Paris from £99 and Amsterdam from £88. Call in and see Nick, Heather or Lorna and don't forget that Page & Moy are offering Boots vouchers with any bookings made.

Castle on the Lake, Switzerland

(A similar picture in black and white was in Jan 1982's Echo)

"Ladies & Gentlemen, we will shortly be landing at Toronto Airport". Once again, I am on my way to Calgary, Alberta where a joint research project with a group at the University involves a yearly get-together to review progress. Of course, I could fly direct to Calgary but one of the highlights of my visit is the trans-Canada train journey.

Toronto is a vast modern city on the shores of Lake Ontario, the station is an old, elegant building with a public address system which reminds me that Canada is bilingual. Long haul trains are operated by BIA and I prefer to travel in the 'Day-niter' an air-conditioned coach with comfy reclining seats in which to spend 2 to 3 nights. Some passengers travel 'coach' or second class whilst others chose one of the types of 'sleeper/cabin' available. The train also has lounges, a dining car and coffee bar.

The journey can be divided into a number of stages. The first from Toronto to Sudbury, passes through farmland and small towns and the second, from Sudbury to Winnepeg, crosses the Laurentian Shield with its likes, rock, trees and more trees. At Winnepeg, coaches and baggage cars are switch to form two new trains, both to Vancouver but one via Edmonton and one via Calgary. This operation takes 3/4 hours - time to snatch a look at Winnepeg.

The next stage of the journey crosses the Canadian prairies, through Regina, Swift Current and Medicine Hat. No school peography book can capture the feeling of the prairies, the characteristic sky, the distances and the overwhelming vastness of this fertile area. But as the train approaches Calgary, the soil becomes less rich. This is cattle country.

Finally in the distance I see the skyscrapers of Calgary - 'boom-town' of Canada. Its source of wealth is beef, sulphur, natural gas and, most important, oil. The station is modern like most of Calgary's buildings. I collect my baggage but you may decide to continue of one of the world's most famous train journeys - through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver.

Once your holiday plans have been made, take a look at that rather battered suitcase you stowed away hopefully last year. No, it won't survive another season! So pay a visit to POTTERTON'S, the travelware specialists on Coleman Road - almost opposite the service station. You can park your car just inside Potterton's gates without any problems and then select - at factory prices - the case of your choice. All famous names are stocked - Antler, Samsonite, Delsey, as well as Potterton's own make - and more reasonably priced than you'll find them elsewhere.