ARCHIVE: HOLIDAY IDEAS JAN-JUN 2003

USA specialist operator, Bon Voyage (0800 316 0194), has put together a selection of hotels in Fort Lauderdale, devoted exclusively to the gay market.

The operator has created a separate website, GoAmerica.co.uk for the new programme, which features five upmarket properties in Fort Lauderale - a premier gay holiday destination in America with hundreds of gay-owned/operated hotels, resorts, bars and clubs.

Properties on offer include the 5-star Flamingo - Inn Amongst the Flowers, Florida's first boutique hotel serving this community, with facilities including swimming pool, therapeutic spa treatments (local charge) and 'clothing optional' areas. Other 'pink' hotels featured by the company include Pineapple Point, Villa Venice, the Elysium Resort and the Grand Resort.

"We are trying it first in Fort Lauderdale and hoping then to expand to other popular gay destinations in the US like San Francisco & New Orleans."

Sherpa Holidays (020 8577 2717) have a self-guided, nine-day cycling tour linking two of the most famous and romantic cities in Europe: Vienna and Prague.

The route follows gently rolling terrain through the vineyards of Palava, over the Czech Moravian Highlands and into Southern Bohemia taking in picturesque villages, castle towns and historic sites - with accommodation often in historic buildings.

The company offers an air-inclusive price of £790 per person - BA flights from Heathrow to Vienna, returning from Prague or, alternatively, the land-only cost is £592 per person, for any date from now until the end of October.

These twin-share prices include eight nights' accommodation with breakfasts in country hotels and pensions, cycle hire, transport of baggage between overnight stops plus detailed route notes and maps. Optional half-day city tours of Vienna and Prague are also available at a supplement.

Grand Canyon West Ranch the only working cattle and guest ranch located 45 minutes from the Las Vegas "Strip" is now taking overnight guests by helicopter from Las Vegas.

The 106,000-acre Grand Canyon West Ranch takes over two days to cross on horseback. It is nestled in a mountainous area between the west end of the Grand Canyon and the 6,000ft Music Mountains of Arizona, and incorporates the historic Diamond Bar Ranch. Guests can participate in horse back riding, cattle drives, mountain biking and additional leisure activities at nearby Lake Mead.

The ranch contains the only natural mineral springs on the West Rim of the Grand Canyon and features rustic two or four person cabins, authentic cowboy bathtubs and log fires. A herd of long horn Corriente cattle first brought to America by the Spanish in 1493 roam the ranch. Wild animals that frequent the ranch include deer, mountain lion, bob cats, rattle snakes and lizards.

Nigel Turner, President, Grand Canyon West Ranch said: "There is very little pristine wilderness left and we feel very honored to be in the unique position to both preserve this land and its indigenous wildlife and yet share its beauty with the traveller. We feel the south rim of the Grand Canyon has been overexploited by tourism and we are trying hard to not let this happen to the West Rim, which is so close to the growing metropolis of Las Vegas. By controlling so large an area we intend to maintain a balance between ecotourism and nature."

If you don't want to fly the drive from Las Vegas is 2½ hours passing Hoover Dam and through the Joshua Tree National Forest.

Russell Hafter Holidays (0870 740 4963) are offering a chance to tour upper Bavaria by horse drawn mail coach.

The journey starts near Starnberg, to the south east of Munich. Guests travel in a genuine former mail coach, drawn by two or four horses, through the countryside of the Pfaffenwinkel to the Royal Castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein, staying at comfortable traditional Bavarian inns along the route.

How about staying on a Polish farm this autumn in the "peaceful and unspoilt" Beskidy Mountains in southern Poland?

Commodore EcoTraveller (020 7247 9926) are highlighting the farms of Dabrowka (an organic farm) and Porabka on a twin-centre break in September or October for £495 per person (based on two sharing) including return scheduled flight from Gatwick, transfers, bicycle hire, seven nights’ half-board accommodation and a destination pack.

"Everyone should take a trip to South Africa's Mecca, The Hell, at least once in their lives, preferably on a BMW motorcycle," says German-born Juergen Muess, owner of the newly launched Karoo Biking, BMW motorcycle tours and rentals in South Africa.

Operating from a base in Cape Town, Karoo Biking offers the increasing number of international visitors as well as locals four standard motorcycle tours, using the latest BMW motorcycles. The tours, which are designed for both German and English visitors, include two tours that feature an overnight stay in one of South Africa's best-kept secrets - the Gamkaskloof valley, known as 'The Hell' by residents of the Great Karoo.

• 14 day Karoo and Garden Route Tour' through the heart of the Karoo to Port Elizabeth and back again along the Garden Route. Highlight: a night in Gamkaskloof (also known as The Hell) one of South Africa's most isolated and untouched valleys for an unforgettable South African experience.
  
  
• 7 day Route 62 Tour' to the heart of the Small Karoo and back again along Garden Route. Tour highlight: includes a night in the Hell as well as a night at 'Karoo by the Sea' (Mossel Bay) the place where Europeans first met locals on Southern African soil way back in 1488.
  
  
• 7 day West Coast Tour' to the Namibian border through places like Wuppertal, Springbok and the Richtersveld National Park, and then back again. Tour highlight: a trip along the Fish River Canyon, the world's second largest canyon.
  
  
• One day Cape of Good Hope Tour' through suburbs like Muizenburg (home to Cecil Rhodes once) and Simon's Town (home to the Naval Base and Boulders Beach), and back again via Noordhoek for spectacular views.

Tours include: collection from airport and taxi to hotel, accommodation, breakfast, most dinners, motorcycles, introduction to SA's streets, maps, guidance, accompanying luggage transfer vehicle, tolls and entry fees and much more.

ScotRail (08457 55 00 33) and Eurostar have launched an all-inclusive summer rail fare package from Scotland to Paris, Lille & Brussels, combining overnight travel on the Caledonian Sleeper with a morning Eurostar departure from Waterloo station.

Fares from Glasgow and Edinburgh to Lille range from £135 to £150 return, and to Paris or Brussels from £140 to £155 return. Prices from Aberdeen, Inverness, Fort William and Dundee to Lille range from £155 to £170 return, and to Paris or Brussels from £160 to £175 return. The price includes two nights B&B onboard the sleeper and underground transfer across London from Euston to Waterloo.

This special offer is available through out the summer. Tickets must be booked seven days in advance and include a Saturday night away or any two nights midweek.

On June 6th, the East Indiaman Götheborg, an exact replica of the original East Indiaman sailing ship, that sank just outside Göteborg's harbour in 1745, will be launched in the presence of the Swedish King and Queen and Prince Carl Philip.

The Swedish East India Company began work on the East Indiaman in 1993. She has been built to resemble the original as much as possible, using the same building methods and handicrafts employed on the 18th century vessel. She is scheduled to set sail on her maiden voyage to China in the autumn of 2004.

After the East Indiaman has reached the water she will be towed to a dock where celebrations for the Swedish National Day will take place. She will then be open to the public all summer.

A Russian tour operator, Acris (+7 3832 29 53 31), has a number of cultural and wildlife tours in Siberia (where they are based) including a tour of the GULAGS making use of the trans-Siberian railway.

Not much evidence of Stalin's infamous camps exists today, but the highlights of this 7-day tour include a visit to Camp Perm-36 which was turned into a permanent museum (you can spend a night in a GULAG prison cell if you like - unlike its previous occupants, you at least have a choice!) and there's a tour of the NKVD-KGB headquarters in Tomsk (also a museum now) and their secret torture chambers in the basement.

Cuba Eco Sailing (020 7584 6092) is offering two ecological adventure tours around Cuba with experienced guides. Cuba has been slow to take advantage of its natural heritage and is only just beginning to offer tourists the possibility to explore its teeming flora and fauna which includes many species endemic to the island.

The first tour, the Cuba Eco tour departs on July 5 and costs £850 per person and includes visits to the important national parks in central and eastern Cuba, the Sierra del Rosario mountain range biosphere west of Havana as well as Havana itself. One site that is visited is the home of the mythical rare, possibly extinct, Ivory-billed woodpecker.

The second tour available is the unique Cuba Eco Sailing trip which departs on July 19 and spends the first week on board a skippered yacht sailing around the Jardines de la Reina archipelago off Cuba's south coast exploring the fascinating marine life and deserted pristine beaches. The second week is overland in the Escambray mountains which are sited near the beautiful colonial town of Trinidad which is a Unesco World heritage monument. Havana city is also included.

Both prices are based on two people sharing a double/twin room and include 13 nights' accommodation in comfortable hotels with air-conditioning and private bathrooms. Single supplement of £115 applies to the Cuba Eco Tour and £73 for the Cuba Eco Sailing trip.

Prices exclude international flight. Flights from UK to Cuba start from £400.

The specialist natural history operator, Naturetrek (01962 733051), who operate wildlife tours all over the globe including some of its more remote regions, also have a programme of smaller tours closer to home.

This spring/summer they have two such weekend breaks coming up...

• The New Forest - a long weekend natural history exploration of the New Forest departing 30th May from the hotel base in the heart of the forest. The vast 144 square mile area of rolling heathland, mixed forest and damp boggy hollows that form the New Forest in south-west Hampshire are recognised as one of the most important wildlife habitats in England. Roe, Fallow, Red and Sika Deer all graze the woodland edges and in terms of birds, the New Forest holds an unparalleled range of scarce breeders including Dartford Warblers, Honey Buzzards and Woodlark. Dragonflies, moths and butterflies are particularly well represented whilst all 6 British reptiles occur here, including the rare Smooth Snake and Sand Lizard.
  
  
• Flora of the Hampshire Downs - a botanical weekend exploring the chalk habitats of Hampshire departing 20th June from a base at The Grange Hotel in Alton. The tour will take in a variety of chalk habitats from short-cropped sward to fine beech woodlands and the emphasis will be on plants (many species of orchid have been recorded including Bee, Frog, Musk and Fly Orchids), butterflies and other wildlife (inc Turtle Doves and Buzzards) of this area.

Both tours cost £229 pp including half board accommodation, all transport and expert guiding.

Sunvil Africa (020 8232 9777) is offering guest a unique opportunity to camp beside one of Africa's largest stork colonies over the period of the full moon.

The 4,000-strong colony is surrounded by water until May, and usually inaccessible to visitors. This trip has been timed for mid-June when the colony swelled by around 1,000 large fledgling chicks is at it's most impressive. Resplendent in their pink breeding plumage, the yellow-billed storks are augmented by smaller numbers of marabou and open-billed storks. This forms an amazing if somewhat deafening spectacle, concentrated in just a few enormous trees at the heart of the remote Nsefu Sector, in Zambia's South Luangwa National Park

The high density of birds inevitably attracts a variety of predators. During the day, martial eagles fly through densely packed birds, hoping to pick off vulnerable individuals, whilst crocodiles lie in wait for any chicks unfortunate enough to fall out of the trees. At night, leopards take over, prowling through the trees in search of food. Meanwhile, always lurking in the background, squabbling over scraps of fish, are one of Africa's 'scrap merchants' - marabou storks.

This one-off, week-long safari leaves London Heathrow on 7th June. Time is split between Nkwali and Nsefu - two small, but comfortable, safari camps. But for the last night, coinciding with the full moon, Robin Pope Safaris has obtained permission for the first time to set up a temporary camp near the colony.

The price for this unique 7-night safari is £2,518 pp (based on two sharing), this includes scheduled BA flights from Heathrow (regional add-ons available), all accommodation, meals, safari activities, drinks, laundry, park entry fees and all transfers in Africa.

Steppes Latin America (01285 885333) is offering a 10-day trip (10th – 19th May 2003) to Quito (Ecuador) and the Galapagos Islands, sailing on board the 83ft yacht Flamingo.

A lunar eclipse takes place off Ecuador on 15th May 2003 when passengers on the cruise will be able to witness the moon being totally eclipsed for an hour. Then for the rest of the week travellers will swim, snorkel, sunbathe and sail through the amazing Galapagos archipelago, seeing unique wildlife from the yacht, such as tropical fish, iguanas, equatorial penguins, flightless cormorants, blue-footed boobies, bottle-nosed dolphin, sea lions and of course, the giant tortoises endemic to the Galapagos.

The Flamingo carries 20 passengers in 10 cabins on three fully air conditioned decks. The Iguana deck cabins on the lower deck have portholes and upper/lower berths. The Booby and Dolphin deck cabins have picture windows. All cabins have private washrooms with hot/cold water shower. Other facilities include dining room, bar, lounge area with television, VCR and stereo equipment, a small library of books and videos, and sun deck lounge.

The package price starts from £2,395 per person including flights, transfers, 7 nights full board and island excursions while on the boat, 2 nights B&B in Quito.

Steam Dreams (01483 209 888), the operator of The Cathedrals Express, has started its 2003 schedule of day trips from London Waterloo on an authentic steam engine.

The 2003 service runs through until 8 November with over 50 dates featuring the existing nine destinations - Bath, Bristol, Canterbury, Chichester, Ely, Norwich, Portsmouth, Salisbury and Winchester - plus some new cathedral cities: Exeter, Cranmore & Wells, Sherborne & Yeovil, Warwick & Stratford-Upon-Avon.

Prices are:

• Premier Dining: from £129 per person including a glass of champagne, fruit juice, tea and coffee, brunch on the outward journey and a three-course meal on the return.
  
  
• First class travel: from £68.00 per person including a glass of champagne, fruit juice and tea and coffee. With a hamper, prices start at £106.00 per person.
  
  
• Standard class travel: from £39.50 per person. With a hamper, prices start at £73.50 per person.

Tour operator, Geoff Hann has determined to do something tangible to help post-war Iraq and its people by planning a series of 15-day Post-War Iraq tours to commence as early as June 2003.

Hann’s tour company, Hinterland Travels, (01883 743584, hinterland@tinyworld.co.uk) ran archaeological tours through Iraq right till the point when UN weapons inspectors departed and war became inevitable. Having built a rapport with the Iraqi people on the ground he says he understands how important contact and indeed revenue is both to individuals and collectively as a means to building a new Iraq, "Let us do something now – giving money and charity is one thing – but the Iraqi people are a proud and once generally prosperous nation. It is surely much better to bring commerce, customers, anything, so that people can work, feed their families and feel self-reliant again, able to hold their heads up without crippling sanctions, regimes or war".

Hann concedes that his timing is problematic both in terms of season (hot and uncomfortable) and due to political sensitivities. However, he is evangelical in his belief that this project is in the long-term best interests of the Iraqi people and as such will be costed as keenly as possible, probably in the region of £1,300 pp. Likely itineraries will spend 4-nights in Baghdad meeting various organisations and viewing sites in and around the city including Argaguf, Tell Harmal, Ctesiphon Arch and Khadamiye Mosque. Beyond Baghdad he expects to head south as far as Ukhaider Castle, the shrine cities of Kerbala, Njaf, Kufa, El Khifal and Hilla (for Babylon). Northerly inclusions feature Sammara, Hatra, Ashur, Nimrud and possibly Mosul.

Hann expects that his first travellers will probably consist of museum personnel and archaeologists making fresh contacts, business people, historians, aid workers, friends of Iraq and those renewing family contacts.

Geoff Hann is a veteran overland traveller, he has been visiting the Middle East and Asia since the 1960s. He is a contributor to the only recent guide book on Iraq published by Bradt Travel Guides.

Explore the High Arctic of Canada and Greenland with nature tour specialists, Wildlife Worldwide (020 8667 9158) on a 14-day holiday featuring a unique voyage aboard the polar-class icebreaker, Kapitan Khlebnikov, calling at some of the world's northernmost communities and visiting 4,000 year old archaeological sites.

The trip departs London by air to Canada on 6th August 2003. From the small settlement of Resolute on Cornwallis Island in the Canadian Arctic, travellers are transferred by road to the 15,000-ton ice-breaker Kapitan Khlebnikov for an evening sailing.

Highlights of the voyage include, an initial landfall by Zodiac (inflatable) at Dundas Sound – site of an abandoned 1920s Mounted Police outpost, the incredible and remote landscapes of Melville Bay whose lonely Eskimo population once thought they were the only people in the world and Qaanaaq - administrative capital of northern Greenland where many of the 300 latter-day inhabitants can trace their ancestry to early explorers. Further landings are made at Starvation Camp on Pim Island where, co-founder of National Geographic Magazine, Adolphus Greely’s 1881 expedition struggled ashore only for 19 of 25 men to perish in an unforgiving environment and Skraeling Island where an extensive archaeological site has yielded a wealth of artefacts from 4,000-year-old Norse civilisations proving their extent was further than previously imagined.

All landings are subject to weather conditions and as ice conditions vary markedly from year-to-year and indeed day-to-day the Captain will judge ice conditions for navigation. A particular wildlife highlight will be spectacular seabird cliffs at Coburg Island. An estimated 30,000 pairs of Black-legged Kittiwakes crowd the rocky ledges along with 160,000 pairs of Brunnich’s Guillemots. Elsewhere chances to see Polar Bears, Musk Ox, Arctic Hare and Walrus are excellent!

The holiday costs £4,895 pp (based on twin cabin) including scheduled flights, transfers, overnight hotel with breakfast and shipboard accommodation with all meals and drinks, expertly guided wildlife viewing activities. The price has been reduced from £;6,395 pp.

Beat the celebs to the next fashionable place to be seen...

The prestigious 42-room Villa Marie opens in Ramatuelle on the St Tropez peninsula this June.

Owned by the same company that operates Les Fermes de Marie in Megeve and La Cour des Loges in Lyon, the Villa Marie overlooks vineyards and the legendary Pampelonne Bay and is set in an impressive umbrella-tree forest. With wrought-iron balustrades and rustic old tiles, think 'Tuscany meets the Med'. Rooms from between 200 - 780 Euros (£125 - £485).

If you feel the need for a more active family break over Easter than is traditional - IE less chocolate, more action - why not pack the kids in the car and head for a beautiful 18th-century chateau near Le Touquet in northern France.

Manor Adventure (01584-861333) are offering a fun-filled week of pursuits for both parents and children including canoeing, rifle-shooting, orienteering and assault courses. There is also a mini-club for under-eights. The cost of seven nights from April 14-21 is £474 per adult and from £269-340 for children (depending on age), and includes ferry crossings with car, all activities and full board in the chateau.

Art Safari offers safaris involving sketching and painting in some of the more remote and scenically attractive areas of Malawi and Zambia. A chance for artists of all abilities to record dramatic landscapes and exotic African wildlife in its natural habitat.

A real double-whammy culture shot, this one! Your chance to visit some of China's cultural icons, and view one of the West's cultural icons in performance while you are there.

The Rolling Stones are touring China and have concerts in Shanghai on 1st April and Beijing on 4th April. China specialist tour operator, CTS Horizons (020 7836 9911) have put together a choice of packages co-inciding with the tour...

• A 4-night Shanghai-only break from £592
• A 4-night Beijing-only break from £662
  or
• A 7-night two-centre holiday in both Shanghai (4 nights) and Beijing (3 nights) with internal flight transfers, from £859

Prices are per person on a room-only basis (twinshare) in 3-star hotels, and include international flights with either BA or Virgin, internal flights where applicable, and flight taxes. They don't include the concert tickets, which have now been released for sale and are bookable through local promoter - Beijing Time New Century Entertaiment Co. Ticket Hotline (English) tel: 86 10 6554 6917 / or 86 10 6554 6918 / or 86 10 6554 3467. Price ranges from 280 - 3000 yuan (£21 - £225).

Next time you're visiting the Chicago area, you might want to pop over to the Six Flags Great America adventure park at Gurnee where they are about to launch a new thrill ride: Superman - Ultimate Flight.

The unique seats of this state-of-the-art roller-coaster tilt riders face-first into a flying position before they leave the station , so that everyone is suspended horizontally from the track above. Passengers ("Superpeople"?) are secured by specially designed over-the-shoulder harnesses and lap bars. So, with arms stretched forward and feet trailing behind, passengers fly freely at speeds greater than 50 mph. For almost three minutes, riders sail through sharp dives, high banked curves and spirals uniquely designed to enhance this flying experience.

The "signature feature" (these days every new ride has one) of Superman - Ultimate Flight comes as riders sail through the first-ever, pretzel-shaped inverted loop, climbing to the top of the large looping figure and diving into a curve which brings them amazingly close to the ground, amplifying the sensational feeling of flying.

Rounding out the flight is a surprising 360-degree in-line roll just before the train enters the station, turning average coaster enthusiasts into high-flying Super Heroes... or gibbering wrecks.

For any less-than-super-heroic members of the family, Gurnee is the shopping capital of Illinois with its mall of 200 savings superstores, manufacturer's outlets and retail outlets.

Six Flags is not so well-known in Europe as the likes of Universal & Disney, but their European Division has six parks (2 in Belgium, 2 in France, 1 in Germany & 1 in Holland). In the USA, Six Flags parks are located in or by 35 of the 50 largest metropolitan areas.

Hertz is renting a number of Ford TH!NK electic cars from its inner city branch at Marble Arch, London - a timely move, because electric cars are exempt from London's Congestion Charge (and from parking fees in certain London boroughs).

The TH!NK looks very similar to a Smart car. They are purpose built for city use, are emission free, and can reach a top speed of 56mph.

Narrowboat canal holidays specialists, Black Prince Holidays, are now offering holiday makers the chance to cruise the relatively new Scottish Lowland canal route between Edinburgh and Glasgow, which was re-opened in 2002 with the completion the dramatic Falkirk Wheel - the world's first and only rotating boatlift. The company has sent an initial fleet of three new boats to operate from the site of the Falkirk Wheel itself.

The boats, named Rhona, Fiona and Sonata, are modern narrowboats, capable of taking parties of four or six in comfort. Hire costs will begin at £700 a week.

The reunited and revitalised Scottish waterway enables cruising right into the heart of Edinburgh & Glasgow. The Falkirk Wheel, which joins up the old Forth & Clyde and Union Canals, is the crowning glory of the £84.5 million Millennium Link, Britain's biggest ever canal restoration project. Cutting a 68 mile swathe across Scotland's central belt, the two canals were originally linked by a flight of 11 locks, long since built over. The whole system fell out of use more than 60 years ago. Its two-year regeneration, by British Waterways Scotland, enables boats to once again sail coast to coast and from Edinburgh to Glasgow. Using only the energy which it would take to boil a couple of kettles, the Falkirk Wheel raises and lowers boats 115 ft between the two canals.

Black Prince Holidays currently operate nearly 100 boats on the canals of Britain from bases throughout the country and is key member of the Drifters consortium of narrowboat holiday operators who, in total, offer over 300 boats from 17 different bases on canals throughout the UK.

Beneath the City Chambers on the Royal Mile lies Edinburgh's deepest secret - a warren of hidden streets where real people lived, worked and died throughout the centuries. In April a new attraction, The Real Mary King's Close (0870 2430160), will allow visitors to walk through these underground closes and witness 17th century life in plague-ridden Edinburgh.

The Real Mary King's Close consists of a number of underground Closes which would have originally been very narrow walkways with houses on either side stretching up to 7 storeys high and dating back several centuries. In 1753 the Burgh authorities decided to develop a grand new building, the Royal Exchange (now the City Chambers). The houses at the top of the Closes were knocked down and part of the lower sections were kept and used as the foundations for the new building, leaving a number of dark and mysterious underground Closes and ancient dwellings steeped in mystery!

The Real Mary King's Close will open daily. Guided tours cost £7 for adults, £5 children. There are family, students & senior citizen discounts. The historic chambers are not suitable for some people with disabilities and children under 5.

For 35 years, the Alan Rogers Travel Guides have been providing reviews of campsites all over Europe. Now, the union of the Alan Rogers name with specialist tour operator, Mark Hammerton Travel, has created a new European campsite holiday brand - The Alan Rogers Travel Service (01892 55 98 98).

The 'warts 'n all' brochure features 79 fully-inspected campsites across Europe with high-quality, tent and mobile home accommodation.

The new-look brochure has a ratings guide that indicates at a glance, certain key criteria that may be important when making a holiday selection. These include welcome and ambience, location, quality of pitches and range of facilities, and give an honest and reliable grading. Also highlighted are 'things you'll love' and 'things you might not like' at each site.

The Alan Rogers Travel Service offers holidays all year round, including special deals for families travelling in the low season. In addition to the Alan Rogers mobile home and camping holidays brochure, there is also a separate brochure offering a pitch and ferry service, with 225 campsites in 10 countries for those holidaying with their own equipment.