Current Travel News
Winter Sunshine
NONE of us enjoy the damp whalers of England, not the fog which, at this time
of the year, leaves us shivering upon cold platforms awaiting trains which seem to be as tardy in their appearance as the sun itself. When the Christmas festivities are over, when the last cracker has been pulled, and the Christmas decorations have been gathered from floors, walls, and ceilings and carried away to the dustbin, we are faced by a long series of cold days and damp before we can hope for the English spring. This is. the time when a positive craving comes for sunshine: when warm air and warm water are luxuries.
Thorn are now so many ways of obtaining those luxuries at a moderate cost that. most men and women are bewildered by the counter-claims of half a hundred tempting places in which these dreary days may comfortably be spent.
For instance, on January 22nd a luxury liner will be leaving Southampton for the West Indies and Honolulu — perhaps the most fascinating cruising ground in the world. Tho cruise includes visits to Madeira—where the temperature varies but • 10° between summer and winter—Florida, Havana, the Panama Canal, Honolulu, California, Mexico, Guatemala, Salvador, Curacao, the Spanish Main and the Canary Islands, returning to Southampton on April 6th in time to greet the English spring after steaming 21,505 miles. The passenger list is limited to 400, and the cruise costs from 153 guineas—amazingly good value when one remembers the excellent cuisine and service. Particulars of this cruise are given in a delightfully illustrated booklet obtainable from the offices of the Blue Star Line, 3 Lower Regent Street, London, S.W. 1, or from any travel agency. Those who like . a shorter holiday, with more freedom of movement, may be interested in the fol- lowing snggostion.
Few people seem to realise that excellent holidays are offered by ordinary mail steamers. These ships are exceedingly comfortable, the food and service is excel- lent, and everything possible is done for the enjoyment of passengers. Orient liners, for instance, leave London (Tilbury) each Saturday morning, Gibraltar being reached the following Wednesday. Calls are made at Palma, Toulon—for French Riviera and Corsica—Naples (from which. there are direct services to Genoa and the Italian Riviera, Malta, Tripoli, and Sicily), and'Port Said— the gateway to Egypt—whence passengers
can reach Palestine and Cyprus quite easily. At each of these peas, Palma excepted, passengers have a morning or a whole day ashore. From the end of -January to May the 20,000 ton steamers call at Villefranche on the homeward voyages, and the tickets are interchangeable with P. & O. and other lines. The return fare to Gibraltar, first class, is £18, which includes passage to Tangier if requested at the time of booking. Twelve-day -sea voyages to Toulon and back, first class, cost £22, tourist class £12 and £15, while the third-class fare is only £10 las.
The Royal Mail Lino has some very tempting cruises to offer, each of which occupies 20 clays and costs 34 guineas.
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