Travel: Departures

Las Vegas direct

IN APRIL, Euro Express (0444 235678) is operating direct charter flights from Gatwick to Las Vegas. Four-night hotel packages cost from pounds 299.

Florence weekends

MADE to Measure Holidays (0243 533333) is offering weekend 'romantic escapes' to Florence from pounds 255. The packages, which can be of two or three nights, include return air travel from Gatwick to Florence with the regional Italian airline Meridiana. The price includes bed- and-breakfast in a four-star hotel and a bottle of champagne. Return fares from Gatwick to Verona are available with Meridiana (071-839 2222) for pounds 160 until the end of March. The ticket must be booked within seven days of departure, with a minimum stay of one Saturday night.

Easter in Spain

SKYBARGAINS (081-313 7919) is offering seat-only deals on flights to Spain over Easter. A four-night return to Vitoria is pounds 45, a 10-nighter to Bilbao pounds 59, and other destinations include Madrid ( pounds 89), Barcelona ( pounds 89), Valencia ( pounds 99) and Seville ( pounds 99).

Winning ways

The Rough Guide to Thailand (Penguin, pounds 8.99) was named Best Guide Book in this year's Thomas Cook Travel Book Awards. The authors, Paul Gray and Lucy Ridout, win a prize of pounds 2,500. The pounds 7,500 prize for Best Travel Book went to Nik Cohn for The Heart of the World (Chatto & Windus, pounds 14.99; paperback pounds 5.99), about a journey along New York's Broadway.

Hot tips

HIPPOS and buffaloes are more dangerous than lions. If a hippo charges you, don't think it's bluffing - get up the nearest tree or dodge around a tree trunk. These are among the tips in a new edition of The Tropical Traveller (Penguin, pounds 7.99) by John Hatt. The book, which calls itself 'the essential guide to travel in hot countries', has information and advice on everything from the dangers of drugged sweets to antibiotics.

Travel bookshelf

THIS WEEK'S top-selling travel books, guides and maps:

1. The Times Map of the World (Bartholomew, pounds 4.99)

2. India: a travel survival kit (Lonely Planet, pounds 13.95)

3. Sri Lanka Insight Guide (APA Publications, pounds 11.95)

4. Time Out Guide to New York (Penguin, pounds 9.99)

5. Map of Central and Southern Africa (Michelin, pounds 4.45)

6. Australia: a travel survival kit (Lonely Planet, pounds 13.95)

7. Rough Guide to Prague (Penguin, pounds 6.99)

8. Landscapes of Madeira (Sunflower Books, pounds 7.95)

9. Motoring Atlas of France (Michelin, pounds 11.99)

10. The London Speed Trap Map (Clever Map Co, pounds 3.99)

Information supplied by Stanfords, 12-14 Long Acre, London WC2E 9LP (071-836 1321)

Last-minute flights

Caribbean Gold (081-741 8491): 8 and 15 February, Heathrow to Barbados, 14 nights, pounds 295.

Inspirations Holidays (0293 822244): 11 February Gatwick to Lanzarote, seven/14 nights, pounds 145; 12 February Newcastle to Tenerife, seven nights, pounds 189.

Tempo Travel (081-361 1131): Until the end of March, Heathrow to Johannesburg or Windhoek, minimum stay 10 days, maximum stay one month, pounds 435.

Late packages

GTF Tours (071-792 1260): 11 February Gatwick to Munich, three nights bed-and-breakfast in Hotel Amba, pounds 189.

Tjaereborg (0293 554444): 11 February Luton to Lanzarote, seven nights self-catering, pounds 239; 20 February Luton to Costa Blanca, 14 nights self-catering, pounds 169.

Sovereign (0293 599900): 12 February Gatwick to Nice, three nights bed and breakfast, pounds 167; 16 February Gatwick to Paris, three nights B & B, pounds 154.