Deals of the Week: Eurostar; Eurolines; hotel bargains

A TRAIN

Warning: don't book now for Eurostar. Leave it a week. If you plan to travel from London Waterloo or Ashford to Brussels, Lille or Paris, buy on or after 11 March. On that day, the rail company (08705 186 186, www.eurostar.com) is to cut its lowest standard return fare by £20 to £59, and the rule demanding a two-week advance purchase for the lowest fare is to be abolished; you can buy up to half an hour before departure, though the company still insists that you stay away at least one Saturday night.

A BUS

If you go from London, not Lancashire, the lowest fare you'll find to Dublin and back is an impressive £16.50 return on Eurolines, the coach company. The same price applies between Victoria Coach Station and Amsterdam, Antwerp, Brussels and Paris. You must book online at least 48 hours ahead at www.eurolines.co.uk, using the promotional code "Getaway". The first traveller pays £19, plus a booking fee of £2. The second pays only £10 plus the £2 fee – a total of £33 return, or £16.50 each. The deal is for travel to the end of March (but not between 12 and 16 March).

A BED

Global uncertainty is not helping business hotels to attract custom, so there are bargains for leisure travellers. Many are sold through websites such as www.expedia.co.uk and www.laterooms.co.uk. Test bookings for the weekend of 14-15 March found a double room at the five-star Swissotel in Berlin for £62 per night and one at Paris's four-star Villa Luxembourg for £88 per night through www.expedia.co.uk; www.laterooms.com has a night for two at Jury's in Cork for as little as €105 (£70).