Winter wonderlands on the Web

By PETER SINCLAIR

"I wonder if you'd mind filing early next week?" said my deputy-editorial colleague over the phone. "I'm off on holiday."

"No problem," I said. "How long for? Going anywhere?"

"Oh, just a month in Provence," he said, off-handedly, in the way you do.

With great restraint, I told him I hoped all that rich foie gras, those terrines and truffles, wouldn't disagree with him ...

Who needs winter, anyway? Unless you're a fan of that cold, white, wet stuff which occasionally makes a fleeting appearance on some of our higher peaks.

Keyboard travellers like me can at least seek the sun online. According to the Travel Industry Association of America, last year 35 million people researched their travel plans on the Internet before buying tickets.

Drawbridge to Europe offers plenty of villas in Provence - there's a very grand one at Le Rouet with eight bedrooms, "majestic fireplaces" and a barrel-vaulted dining-room. But I'm not sure that deputy-editorial salaries run to $US2164 ($4328) a week - great for a group vacation, though. Better might be Sisley, a ravishing 18th-century priory in Graveson, the heart of Provence, now converted into nine studio apartments from $US453 ($906) a week.

There are stunning vacation cottages across the border in Tuscany, too, many of them quaint to the point of collapse. But why stop there? - why not rent a Tuscan castello? Montegufioni was built in the 12th century, but it's had a lick or two of paint since then - in fact, it's been turned into 22 mini-castles from only $US448 ($896) a week. Tuscan cooking classes by arrangement with the castle chefs.

At Rent-a-holiday.com, I found the stunning 16th-century Quinta S o Tiago in Sintra, Portugal ($1301 a week) complete with an endorsement from Burt Lancaster: "I am sitting here in another time, another century, discovering ... peace and calm ... "

In Spain, TimeOut recommends the historic Hotel Oriente, opened in 1842, incorporating parts of an old Franciscan monastery, which has also played host to the illustrious from Hans Christian Andersen to Errol Flynn. Decent weekend rates and low-season offers.

Our own local online travel providers are worth a visit, too. Travelonline offers romantic accommodation in the historic paradores, a chain of medieval palaces, convents and castles which immerse you in the history and culture of Spain - antiques, tapestries, paintings, plus traditional cuisine ($1989 return per person, flying to Madrid via Tokyo with Japan airlines).

And new kid on the block Travelco suggests a Greek cruise special which includes a stay in Athens and a three-day cruise of the Greek islands from $999.

Islands are magical, somehow. I found a lovely little villa in Lumiu perched precariously on a Corsican crag with panoramic views of Calvi Bay and the Massif of Monte Grosso - when you tire of them, you can catch up with the soaps on the colour satellite TV - for as little as SF455 ($556) per week.

Or what about the island of Elba? Just because Napoleon hated it doesn't mean you would - there's a dear little casa, looking reassuringly like something you might rent on Waiheke, just minutes from the beach in Porto Azzurro for a daily rental of around $120.

And that's only the northern coastline of the Mediterranean. Next week, we'll check out the southern shores ...

Links:

NZ Snowcams

Travel Industry Association of America

Drawbridge to Europe

Worldwide Holiday

Rent-a-Holiday

Timeout

Travelonline

Paradores

Travelco

Corsica

Holiday-Home

E-mail: petersinclair@email.com