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RickStevesAudioEurope A free app with hundreds ofaudio walking tours of Europe’stop sights, organised bydestination for easy browsing. AvailableoniTunesandGooglePlay.

RoomwithaKelly’seyeviewThe last phase of the multimil-lion-euro refurbishment at TheShelbourne hotel by renownedLondon design agency Oliver Laws iscomplete, rounding off with theannouncement of the newly refur-bished Presidential Suite, The Prin-cess Grace. To celebrate, the hotel hasannounced an exclusive overnightstay in the suite with champagne onarrival, butler service, breakfast,complimentary return Dublin Airporttransfers, valet parking, internetaccess and daily amenities, from¤7,500 per night for up to four guests.theshelbourne.ie

AspinintheWildThe first Wild Atlantic Way CycleSportif is underway from now untilSeptember 29th, featuring 17 stagesspanning over 2,000km of Irishcoastline. This is the first of its kind totake place in Ireland, visiting ninecounties from Cork to Donegal.wildatlanticwaycyclesportif.ie

Onlineshoppingpal For those who love their Americansweaters or Korean beauty products,An Post has created a new service toallow customers ship their favouriteitems straight to Ireland. AddressPalcreates a proxy address for thedelivery of online shopping from theUK, US and beyond, enabling purchas-es from websites that don’t typicallydeliver to Ireland. addresspal.ie

■ Paris: Celebrate 70 years of Dior at theMusée des Arts Décoratifs, then stay at thePeninsula for five-star Parisian hospitality.Rooms from ¤950; paris.peninsula.com■ Milan:To commemorate the 30thanniversary of opera singer Maria Callas’sdeath, the La Scala Theatre Museum hostsa series of events from now until January31st. Stay at Baglioni Hotel Carlton from¤300 per night B&B; baglionihotels.com■ Cork:The Quay Co-op plays host to aphotographic exhibition of Síomha Calla-nan until the end of September. Baseyourself at the Imperial Hotel for twonights B&B, plus an Aveda Spa gift for¤385 per person sharing; flynnhotels.com

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Venice is one of the most tourist-heavydestinations in the world, so finding anintimate stay in the city is just the trick. Trythe Cima Rosa Venezia, a boutique bed &breakfast on the canal, that looks and feelslike a wealthy merchant’s home. Choosefrom one of five rooms, three which offerviews of the Grand Canal, and use it as abase to taste some of the most belovedlocal cuisines at Zucca, Muro Pizza, andDa Fiore. The Natural History, PradaFoundation and Mocenigo museums areon its doorstep and the decadent,old-world decor makes this an escape fromthe bustle of the city. Stay in an Elegantsuite from ¤325, or a Grand Canal doubleroom from ¤255; cimarosavenezia.com

VENI VIDI VENICE

1.EagleCreekConvergeWith Ryanair declaring it is going toreintroduce more restrictive carry-onallowances, perhaps it’s time to rethinkthe whole luggage paradigm. One packingphilosophy which has its (admittedly lesschronologically-challenged) advocates isonly to pack what you can carry: no wheel-ing. Eagle Creek’s Converge weekend bagis the sort of hybrid to make this work. Partrucksack with padded back straps, partsoft shell case with lots of handles, it’s alsogot a shoulder strap. Plenty of compart-ments and pockets to organise everything.¤200,seeeaglecreek.eu

2.JBLBoomboxNot quite the scale of some of the monsterghetto-blasters (probably an entirelynon-PC expression these days) that the1980s saw, JBL’s new so-called Boomboxis still a decent heft. Weighing in at 5kg, it’sbuilt to last, promising 24 hours play timefrom a full charge and IPX7 rated water-proofing. It can take a ducking. That bigbattery lets it charge other devices too,while the tunes are streamed over Blue-tooth. And with a pair of woofers andtweeters, and passive bass radiators, it’llkick up a bit of a ruckus to boot.¤499,seejbl.com

3.SilcaTatticoBluetoothmini-pumpFounded in Milan and now based out ofIndiana, Silca has been ahead of thepeloton for a century when it comes topumps. Its Tattico shows off its technicalchops with a pressure sensor – sealed,shock resistant and waterproofed – builtinto this mini-pump which can be pairedwith an iGauge app on your smartphonefor super-accurate inflation. It measuresPSI, BAR or KG/CM2, with the hose andcheck valve secreted away in theinner-tube. $150,seesilca.cc

TomKelly@tomtomkelly

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JoLinehan

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BeijingandXi’an: Explore the wonders of China on an eight-daytrip at the end of March, and visiting the Terracotta warriors,prices from ¤1,599pps; slatterys.com, 066-4011150.MurderontheOrientExpress: Have dinner in one of the originalcarriages at Glenlo Abbey, Galway. Dinner, B&B and movie from¤289 per room; glenloabbeyhotel.ie, 091-519600.Vilamoura:Villas to rent in October in the Algarve, sleeping 4-8from ¤600-¤950 per week; holidayshomesdirect.ie. Joan Scales

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