Recently I had the good fortune to hit upon a package holiday sale hosted by Stein Travel. Not only did I manage to get a trip to the Costa Del Sol for a bargain price but I also managed to get the flight out of our very own Knock Airport.

View from the apartment balcony

Oh the luxury, 20-25 minutes roughly from Castlebar to Knock Airport, check-in, relax in one of the two bars or have some hot food in the Cafe or buy yerself a magazine, newspaper, book or sweets from the shop downstairs. Watch the plane land and empty of its returning, tanned and happy passengers and then hop on yourself and away you go - off to sunny Spain. Two and half hours later and you're in Malaga airport - it takes longer to get to bloody Dublin by either road or train!

The Med as viewed from the apartment balcony

I was never a big fan of package holidays but I saw this trip as my chance to get a bit of sun (especially as it looked like we were going to have another dreary Mayo summer). I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how much there was to do and how cheap my week in the sun was and I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone of any age group who fancies a break.

Take a cable car to top of the local mountains

The return home was great, no three hour haul down from Dublin after the week away! I'll be going again!

I know that the current list of destinations out of Knock is limited but surely they'll grow over time as every flight appears to be full to capacity.

What a view . . .

If you want to know more details then post requests to the main bulletin board and I'll respond when I get a chance. I'm not a travel agent I'm just an ordinary punter who took a chance and was delighted with the product.

Granada is within striking distance (take a tour)

Genuine Fakes in local markets ;-) !!!

The local markets are always good for a bargain

Sunny Seville is also worth a visit.

Yes, real oranges growing on the trees.

The Knock Airport Website : http://www.west-irl-holidays.ie/