What's the best way to...

Have a laugh, and help a family have a holiday?

Travel to the Hackney Empire in east London next Sunday evening, 10 March. Rory Bremner is hosting an "off the end of the pier" benefit night for the Family Holidays Association, a national charity that provides holidays for those in desperate need of a break. Tickets cost pounds 7.50 to pounds 35, and can be booked through the Box Office on 0181-985 2424.

Sail to the Austro-Hungarian music festival?

Board the Bulgarian-owned MS Rousse, which will be transporting concertgoers from Passau in Germany to venues in Austria, Hungary and Slovakia during the festival in August. Martin Randall Travel (0181-742 3355) sells single cabins for pounds 2,050, twin-shares for pounds 1,750 per person, including flights to Germany and concert tickets.

Get from Land's End to John O'Groats without a car?

Call the Train, Bus and Coach Hotline on 0891 910910. Run by the Isle of Wight's bus company, Southern Vectis, it aims to provide a one-stop information and booking service for trains, coaches and rural buses. The Cornwall-to-Caithness journey involves five changes; getting the schedule information for this trip using the premium-rate service costs around pounds 2.

Learn to fly a hovercraft?

Sign up for a one-week stay in North Wales or Ayr with Activities Holidays (01243 585422), bookable through the High Street travel agency Going Places. The cost, including bed, breakfast and tuition, is around pounds 400.

Ski Portillo?

Book a trip to the oldest ski centre in South America, based at the mountain of that name. "Portillo has a friendly atmosphere and is particularly good for English-only speakers," says Passage to South America (0171-602 9889).

Visit Southampton, Athens and Naples on one trip?

Book the final Haifa-to-Hampshire leg of the QE2's 1997 world cruise. For pounds 2,093 you get a flight to Israel, a 10-night cruise and visits to Cadiz and Lisbon, too. Cunard: 01703 716605.