Europe enters that rock-bottom season

We’re about to enter November, which means we have reached the beginning of the five-month off-season in transatlantic travel. This year, off-season vacation prices to Europe are so low that, short of an outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, they should get people moving. Here are the leading programs today.

Ireland: The most surprising air-and-land package is to Ireland. For $399, you get not only the round-trip flight from Los Angeles but also a rental car and accommodations. This trip, offered by Sceptre Ireland, (800) 221-0924, www.sceptreireland.com, includes flights on Aer Lingus into Shannon, seven days’ use of a rental car with unlimited mileage and vouchers for six nights’ accommodations in a network of 450 farmhouse B&Bs.; Irish breakfasts are included. Travelers spend their first night in Limerick’s Best Western Two Mile Inn. The $399 rate is valid from Nov. 15 to Dec. 17. The price increases to $499 from Dec. 27 to March 9.

London: The top lure for London is $549 per person for a six-night air-and-hotel package. November through March, Go-To day.com, (425) 487-9632, www.go-today.com, offers this unheard-of rate for round-trip air on United Airlines from LAX and six nights with breakfast at a London hotel. The price is for Tuesday and Wednesday departures only. (Other days are $599.) Lodging is in any of several hotels in the popular Bayswater and Earl’s Court districts. Additional nights: $30.

Meanwhile, the same London packages at OffPeakTraveler .com start at $569 on Virgin Atlantic from Los Angeles, Dec. 1 through March 31. Your Bayswater hotel is the York.

Paris: If Paris is your destination, you can get round-trip air fare and six nights in a Right Bank hotel for $649 from Go-To day.com. You’ll stay at the Batignolles Villiers. Prices are in effect from Nov. 1 to March 26, with blackout dates Dec. 15 to Jan. 3.

Spain: This fall and winter, for $589 per person you can enjoy five nights in Barcelona, along with round-trip air fare and breakfast. New tour operator E-Vacations, (877) 471-3876, www.e-vacations.com, recently created by the Rail Europe organization, will fly you on Delta from LAX to Barcelona for a stay at the Hotel Aragon, in the Eixample district near Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia church. That’s from Nov. 1 to Dec. 12 and Jan. 3 to Feb. 28.

If Madrid is more to your liking, Tourcrafters, (800) 621-2259, www.tourcrafters.com, has a five-night package from LAX for $739. The dates are Nov. 1 to Dec. 11 and Dec. 25 to March 31; flights are on the new Swiss airline. The price includes breakfast and a room at the Hotel Gran Versailles.