ARCHIVE: HOLIDAY IDEAS JUL-DEC 2003

The Australian state of Victoria has recently unveiled the longest and highest tree top canopy walk in the world.

The 600-metre long walk Otway Fly Tree Top Walk at Lavers Hill enables visitors to enjoy a bird's eye view of the Otway Range's magnificent rainforest.

The 'Fly' is two and a half hours drive from Melbourne and is designed to have minimal impact on the forest environment. It climbs at a gentle grade through magnificent cool temperate rainforest featuring Myrtle Beech, Blackwood and Mountain Ash. Wildlife includes the Crimson Rosella, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, the Spotted Quoll and the Pygmy Possum.

Views from the 47 metre high lookout, which is reached via a spiral stairway through the understorey through the tree canopy, are spectacular.

Another highlight is a platform suspended over picturesque Young's Creek where visitors may be lucky enough to catch a glimpse of brook trout or platypus.

The walkway is a year-round facility. At 500 metres above sea level summer visitors can escape the heat of the coast and in winter they can experience the enigmatic mists which enhance the beauty of the forest.

The Seychelles Tourist Office (020 7202 6363) has created a dedicated section on its 'AsPureAsItGets' website for the thousands of sub-aqua enthusiasts who are drawn each year to the 1,300,000 km² of sparkling warm waters surrounding its islands.

www.aspureasitgets.com/diving is split into four sections: ‘dive Seychelles’, which explains where the top places are to dive, ‘dive operators’, which provides a list of both boat and land-based operators, ‘about Seychelles’, giving generic background information on Seychelles as a destination and ‘useful information’ which supplies useful contact details such as Seychelles Tourist Office and brochure downloads.

The dive sites of the Seychelles are famous for their range of Indian ocean flora & fauna including Angel fish, Soldier fish, Octopi or Reef sharks in the inner islands and African Pygmy Angelfish and Hammer-head sharks in the outer islands.

In January 2003 the Whale Shark was declared a protected species in Seychelles and there is a section on the website dedicated to this gentle giant, explaining everything from the best times of year to see them (August to January), how you can plan to swim and snorkel with these creatures and how to participate in photo safaris and tagging exercises.

Caribbean specialists, The Prestbury Travel Group, have launched a luxury hotel brochure the Caribbean Portfolio which also features a selection of villas from their Caribbean Villa programme.

Islands featured are: Anguilla, Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bequia, Grand Cayman, Grenada, Grenadines, Jamaica, Mustique, St. Barths, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Martin, Tobago, Turks & Caicos, Virgin Islands.

Flights and accommodation are quoted separately.

The Las Vegas Monorail, due to open in the first quarter of 2004, is the newest 'attraction' on the Las Vegas skyline. Gliding above traffic at speeds reaching 50 miles per hour, visitors to the city will soon be able to cover the four mile route along the east side of the Las Vegas Strip in approximately 14 minutes and for as little as $3.00.

The monorail is a driverless, air-conditioned urban public transportation system that will directly connect to 8 major resorts, over 24,700 hotel rooms, and 9 convention facilities, including the world’s largest convention centre. The route begins at the MGM Grand and passes venue's including Bally’s/Paris, the Flamingo, Imperial Palace, Harrah’s, the Las Vegas Convention Center, the Las Vegas Hilton and the Sahara Hotel. It will operate 365 days a year, 20 hours per day - 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m.

For 30 years, Las Vegas has envisioned a transportation solution for the city’s ‘Resort Corridor’. In 1995 the MGM Grand and Bally’s built a one mile, 2 station monorail system that carried approximately 5 million passengers annually between the two properties. Witnessing the success of this project, the resort community expressed an interest in expanding the monorail and funding for the project has been supported by the 6 additional hotels and the Las Vegas Convention Center connected in this second phase. There are plans to further extend the monorail to downtown (Fremont Street), to McCarran Airport, and to build extensions on the west side of The Strip.

In December, 2003 a brand new water attraction and amusement park is opening at the Latvian sea resort of Jurmala, 25 km from Riga. Livu Aquapark is designed in the Caribbean style with natural palm trees, exotic fruits and artificial cliffs, covers an area of 1.1 hectares and will be able to accommodate 1,500 visitors at a time.

Its attractions include 9 sliding tubes (two of which are extreme rides) a river, two swimming pools (one with artificial tide), a special children zone, Unique Superball (new concept in Europe) saunas, Jacuzzi, several bars, restaurants and shops.

As part of its Outdoor England campaign, VisitBritain, in association with Best Western (01904 695450), is encouraging people to take advantage of the health and financial benefits of getting out into the fresh air.

Pointing to the estimated £12.5 million spent on the Atkins book in Britain in 2003 and an 80% dropout rate at gyms across the country in the first eight weeks of sign-up, VisitBritain is promoting a new 'Outdoor membership' scheme as a financially and physically better alternative.

For the price of an average annual gym membership, estimated to be around £600, people can enjoy up to six Best Western activity weekend breaks in England every year by transfering that amount to an 'Outdoors Membership' travel card. The pre-paid card can be used for any Best Western stay in England and can be topped up as and when required.

Outdoor 'members' can combine the rest and relaxation of a weekend break away with the adrenalin and calorific benefits of activities such as land yachting, abseiling, cliff jumping and wakeboarding.

Fitness expert, Pete Williams says: "Getting away for the weekend, and out into the fresh air, has many positive benefits. Using you own body as opposed to gym equipment means you will exercise in more natural movement patterns."

A Mintel survey found that only one in five gym members go to the gym just once a month or less, which equates to burning just 100 calories a week. Pete William's top five outdoors activities for burning calories include:

1. Mountain biking 480 calories
2. Horse riding 400 calories
3. Extreme walking 360 calories
4. Kayaking / Canoeing 300 calories
5. Windsurfing / Surfing 300 calories

British Airways Holidays (0870 24 33 406) have re-launched their website which now offers online booking for for all the holiday components to go with your (BA) flights.

The emphasis has been placed on a clean and simple website where visitors can wander with a virtual shopping basket buying accommodation, car hire, sightseeing tours, and transfers online.

There is also a section with details of air-inclusive package holidays, which still have to be booked by phone.

Quest Travel (0870 442 3513) has launched its first ever Caribbean brochure featuring a range, from self-catering to all-inclusive, of luxury hotels & resorts in Barbados, Antigua, St Kitts, St Lucia, Jamaica, Grenada, Tobago and the Bahamas.

Dave Simmons, managing director pointed out they are not entirely newcomers to the Caribbean: "We have featured a small amount of Caribbean product in our Americas brochure in the past but this year we felt it was worthwhile producing a stand-alone Caribbean brochure. The Caribbean is very much a staple destination for British holiday-makers and we wanted to offer a good selection of accommodation on the most popular islands."

A seven night holiday in 2004 costs from £569 per person based on room only accommodation at the 3-star Butterfly Beach Hotel in Barbados. The price is for departures from Gatwick or Heathrow between 16th January - 19th December 2004 with Virgin Atlantic.

The latest edition of A Brit's Guide: Choosing a Cruise has been published.

For many years Douglas Ward's Berlitz Guide to Cruising has been the definitive source of cruise ship information, but its dominant position began to be eroded five years ago with the appearance of Simon Veness' invaluable guide to the world of cruising from the British perspective.

The Brit's Guide now covers some 200 vessels sailing with over 40 cruise lines in a fast-moving holiday sector that grows almost monthly with the addition of new ships. (Next month, it'll be Cunard's Queen Mary 2 that receives a bottle of champagne on the bow.)

The guide not only rates cruise companies and their ships, but advises would-be cruisers on what to expect and what to do on a cruise. It is packed with practical travel tips from which cabins to avoid booking to how to avoid being ripped off when ashore.

The 2004 edition of A Brit's Guide: Choosing a Cruise is published by Foulsham (ISBN: 0 572 02946 2, £14.99)

FlyBlu is a new transatlantic holiday airline scheduled to start flying from Birmingham to Florida six times weekly in January 2004.

The airline plans to offer passengers a high level of comfort at bargain prices with 38" seat pitch in economy and 45" in business class. Flights will be operated by a Boeing 767-300 (extended range) aircraft to Orlando, Tampa and Miami.

The 3-star Wynnstay Hotel (01654 702941) in Machynlleth, Wales, is offering a three-day Christmas mountain biking package for those keen to get their heads full of in-toxicating mountain air rather than sit intoxicated in front of the telly on Christmas Day.

Machynlleth in Wales is becoming well-known as a mountain biking centre, and this break offers the opportunity to try the three Mach Cycle Trails and the Dolgellau-Barmouth route.

The 3-night package costs £317 deal includes Christmas Eve dinner, a Christmas Day Welsh breakfast and dinner, Boxing Day brunch and dinner, plenty of evening entertainment, Christmas carols, roast chestnuts and marshmallows.

The Dubai-based airline, Emirates is unveiling a range of in-flight luxury facilities on board its new Airbus A340-500 ultra long-range aircraft, which will be capable of flying for over 17 hours.

The first of the airline's new fleet of eight Airbus A340-500s will enter service on 1st December flying non-stop service to Sydney, Australia – with a flying time of less than 14 hours.

Onboard facilities will include 12 fully-enclosed First Class suites in a 1-2-1 layout, with flat beds and doors which can be open or closed at will for privacy; quieter cabins; revolutionary lighting to help reset body clocks and minimise jetlag; the world’s most advanced inflight entertainment, with 500-plus channels; and 'Room Service', an Emirates first. Customers phone the galley to order meals, served at their seat when they like.

Business Class seats are laid out 2-2-2, putting everyone beside either an aisle or window, and adjust at the touch of a button. Emirates Economy has also been redesigned to make cabins quieter and more restful, with wider, more comfortable 2-4-2 seats and nine-inch personal video screens -- larger than in almost every other Economy class. There will be extra crew to cosset travellers and more toilets for customers’ special convenience.

Alton Towers (08705 001100) adventure park closes for the season this weekend, but there are still two really good reasons to check into one of the two Alton Towers Hotels over the winter..

Firstly, you can forget it's winter as you splash about in the tropical waters of the Cariba Creek waterpark.

And secondly, sections of the park and its rides will be open to hotels guests on weekends throughout the closed season... so you can still get to ride major rides like Oblivion!

The park will rotate which rides they open to hotel guests, but they will always open an area. For example, X-Sector will be opened at least one weekend, which included Oblivion, Submission and the Black Hole. So there will always be a minimum of one big ride open and always more than 2 other rides. Rides will open for a time period of 4 hours eg. 10am-2pm.

Cariba Creek is the centrepiece of the new Caribbean themed hotel, Splash Landings, and it’s open exclusively for the use of Alton Towers Hotel and Splash Landings guests. Themed around a fictitious Caribbean village which is slowly sinking, it boasts hundreds of interactive elements and centres around a gigantic, water feature - a tipping bucket that intermittently tips 1000 gallons of water over unsuspecting swimmers!

Using 15 miles of pipework, Cariba Creek’s designers have explored every possible variation on the theme of getting wet! The centre incorporates three rides, including the UK’s longest masterblaster ride, which propels guests at a speedy 5 metres per second (equating to 10mph) through the one million gallons of water in the zone; water jets, pumps, squirters, geysers, sprays, fountains, bubblers, buckets, tubs, an indoor/outdoor lazy river - heated for splashing fun whatever the weather, and a hot tub set in the rim of a Volcano. There is also a fun lagoon area with slides for parents and tiny tots all under an amazing high tech domed roof, which lets in natural UV light.

Prices vary depending on timing but for a 2 night weekend stay including dinner, breakfast and Cariba Creek and park entrance in November, prices start at £375 per room (rooms accommodate 4 people sharing).

T breaks (0845 644 2737) is a new Brighton-based tour operator, launched this month and offering the only year-round breaks to France from Newhaven with Transmanche Ferries.

The Company is a trading name of Lovinbreaks.com Ltd, and currently offers ferry breaks to Dieppe featuring 2 & 3-star hotels, but will be expanding to include Rouen and other areas of Normandy and France.

Proof, if ever it were needed, that the Disney Corporation has grown to the size and importance of a sovereign state comes with news that British Airways Holidays is giving $200 Disney Dollars to children booked on BA flights to Tampa, Florida this winter.

Actually, Disney Dollars are not new. They've been in circulation since 1987. They come in various denominations and look like their US dollar equivalents .... only with Disney characters. Mickey Mouse adorns the $1 bill, Goofy on the $5 bill and Minnie on the $10 bill. The Disney currency can be used on par with U.S. dollars at most Walt Disney World locations.

BA Holidays (0870 24 33 406) are highlighting their 'Orlando Homes' self-catering villa holidays in Florida, on which there are some special deals. The private villas, ranging in size from 3 to 6-bedroom, come with private swimming pools and are located in 'private communities' within 15 miles of Orlando's key attractions such as Walt Disney World, Universal Studios and SeaWorld.

The offer of Disney cash for children aged 2 - 11 yrs to spend at Walt Disney World, applies when they are booked on a Tampa flight booked with at least 7 nights accommodation.

Ever done a city tour that left your feet numb and your legs aching to get back to the hotel room? Well, if you want to do a walking tour of the key sights of central Paris... only without the walking, this may be the one for you.

Mike's Bike Tours is an American-owned company that for eight years has been operating bicycle tours of Paris & environs for American visitors. The tours are run by night and by day, and there are also trips to the Chateau de Versailles and Claude Monet's gardens in Normandy.

Now they have branched out into new technology. They recently bought a number of Segways - the self-balancing, two-wheeled, personal mobile platforms that were launched in a blaze of publicity by their inventor, Dean Kamen, in Dec 2001 - and have set up Paris Segway Tours, running 4-hour four guided tours for groups of around six people by day & by night in the centre of Paris.

The tours start with a learning session on the Segways which travel at speeds up to 12mph and are controlled by leaning your weight forward & back and using the handgrip to turn.

This is their first full summer season and it has now been extended up to 30th November. They'll start again in March 2004.

ITC Classics (01244 355527), the Chester-based luxury tour operator, has chartered a 6-star luxury cruise ship to sail to Monaco for the May 2004 Formula One Grand Prix. The Silver Shadow, part of the Silversea fleet, will be moored off the coast of Monaco, in the company of other mega-yachts, and will run tenders continuously, allowing guests to come and go as they wish.

The 4-night package will enable guests to immerse themselves in the action and excitement not least because Sir Stirling Moss and Murray Walker will be on board the ship throughout to entertain and share experiences of the sport with guests.

The itinerary looks like this:

• Thursday, 20th May 2004 - Upon arrival in Nice guests will be transferred to Villefranche to board the ship and unwind with a glass of champagne on board and enjoy a hosted barbeque on the Pool Deck.
  
  
• Friday 21sth May 2004 – The Silver Shadow will set sail the following day for Monaco, cruising along the coast line of the French Riviera, passing Nice and Cannes before returning to Monaco late afternoon where the ship will anchor offshore for the next two nights. Dinner is followed by a Celebrity Panel Show.
  
  
• Saturday 22nd May 2004 - As the atmosphere starts to build up, guests can travel ashore to see the cars being set up during the day in time for their official qualifying lap. Alternatively venture into the town and indulge in the boutiques, gourmet restaurants, and chic cafes. Back on board the ship in the evening, there is a choice of restaurant and a Celebrity Show.
  
  
• Sunday, 23rd May 2004 – Race Day - Monaco is a sea of red and black as Ferraris take over the merchandising stalls that flank the corridor walkway from Fontvielle to both the ‘K’ Grandstand and Ermanno Palace. The ceremony of drivers precedes the actual race, which bursts into action for two thrilling hours. The excitement continues well after the race and guests can either stay around to enjoy it or make their way back to Silver Shadow which sets sail at 10pm for a Night Time Cruise, taking in the lights of the Riviera on the way back to Villefranche, before returning home.

Prices start from £3,160 per person, based on two people sharing and include 4 nights accommodation full board, all entertainment on board including themed race evenings with celebrities, return flights from London and transfers and a Grandstand ticket.

Alternatively, for an extra £975pp, take advantage of the Ermanno Palace Hospitality Package, which includes entry to the exclusive ITC Classics suite in the Ermanno Palace, full hospitality on both Saturday and Sunday as well as the best views of the entire race, overlooking the start and finish line.

Upmarket tour operator, Elegant Resorts (01244 897009)are offering an ultra-luxurious New Year break in the Gulf.

The 7-night break is based at the spectacular Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai and includes flights with Royal Jet, a premium private charter aircraft service based in Abu Dhabi.

Thirty passengers will depart from a private terminal at London Heathrow on 27 December 2003 and board a luxuriously appointed private Boeing Business Jet (BBJ) featuring oversized designer leather chairs and the most attentive in-flight service imaginable.

At the end of the seven-hour non-stop journey to Dubai International Airport, guests will be fast-tracked through the Dubai VIP terminal and transported by Rolls Royce to the Burj Al Arab.

The 202 all-suite hotel has private reception desks on each floor, a round-the-clock butler service, a selection of excellent restaurants and the Assawan Spa and health club. The week will culminate with a lavish New Year's Gala Dinner to ensure 2004 is welcomed in unforgettable style.

The trip costs from £7,955 per person.

For those who like to avoid giving off 'I'm a tourist' signals by ostentatiously consulting city maps in public, there's now a discreet alternative. A company called Tasaram has started producing silk scarves with maps of capital cities printed on them.

The new Map Scarves range was inspired by a visit to London's Imperial War Museum where designer, Bodo Hornberger, came across a silk 'escape map'. These escape maps, which gave detailed information of enemy territory, were issued to British airmen during World War II as part of an escape and evasion kit. The idea was quickly adopted by American Intelligence for USAF servicemen, and it is estimated that more than half of the 35,000 Allied troops who escaped from behind enemy lines used silk maps.

Tasaram's Map Scarves, feature city maps for Paris, London, Rome, Washington DC, and New York. Maps of San Francisco, Los Angeles & Venice are in the pipline. Intended as a'fashion' item, they are a little more expensive than the average 'A-Z' city map at £45 each.

Brussels is the latest city to have a tethered balloon as a tourist attraction.

The Belgacom Balloon was installed in April (OK, we didn't hear about it till now, but better late than never!) and will be carrying groups of 30 people to 150 metres above Brussels until at least December 2006.

From its central location between the Grand Place, the Hôtel de Ville, the Basilica of Koekelberg, the Atomium and the European district, the helium-filled balloon gives tourists a birds-eye panoramic view over Brussels for up to 30 - 40 kilometres on a clear day. It is in operation seven days a week except when there are high winds or heavy rain.

And it has a live webcam onboard.

Explorers Travel, a tour operator best-known as a scuba holiday specialist ('Explorers Dive'), has an astronomy division called 'Explorers Eclipse' that operates trips to observe astronomical phenomena when they occur from the best locations worldwide.

Solar eclipses are really their thing, especially total eclipses, but they just don't happen everyday - or even every year for that matter! So, in lean years like 2004, they plan for less well-known but even rarer events like the transit of Venus across the face of the sun which is due on 8 June 2004. The last time Venus came between us and the sun was 122 years ago.

The transit will be viewable across most of Europe but to minimise the risk of cloud cover, and because their sister company (Explorer Dive) has plenty of ground arrangements in place at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheik, they are taking guests to Sharm for the viewing.

They are offering a range of packages from 4 - 7 nights for the transit viewing only or combining the viewing with a stay in Cairo and/or luxor to view the pyramids.

If the Royals are useful for anything it's directing the media's attention to things and places they would never ordinarily go..... unless there was a disaster.

Queensland Tourism is making full use of the interest in Prince Harry, who is working on a ranch on the Western Downs, to highlight some of the area's overlooked attractions. It turns out all are within a two-hour drive of Harry's ranch, should he feel like making the paparazzis' day!

• In less than two hours' drive north, he could explore the magnificent wilderness of Carnarvon Gorge National Park, a wonderland of stunning sandstone gorges, freshwater creeks and waterfalls, palm-laden valleys and ancient Aboriginal art. If he’s lucky, he might spot a platypus.
  
  
• Only an hour’s drive south, he could spend a delightful day in Mitchell and
  1. soak in the Great Artesian Spa which is fed by piping hot water from the Great Artesian Basin
  2. take a boat cruise on the Maranoa River
  3. enjoy a horse drawn wagon tour along the main street
  4. learn about the notorious Kenniff brothers, bushrangers who roamed the district a century ago.
  
  
  
• Less than an hour east of Mitchell is the Western Downs’ hub town of Roma. Here, Harry could
  1. tour the Big Rig, a large exhibition outlining how Australia’s first oil and gas discoveries occurred in Roma
  2. visit the Winnathoola Edwardian Mansion where he could enjoy tea with the owners who dress in period costume
  3. join publican Graeme Godde on a Bottle Tree Bush tour through Roma’s historical sites and icons
  4. marvel at the hundreds of Bottle Trees that line Roma’s streets, planted for the town’s World War I fallen
  5. sample a drop at Queensland’s oldest winery, Romavilla
  6. enhance his outback experience by attending Australia’s largest cattle sales, held each Tuesday and Thursday at the Roma sales’ yards.
  
  
  
• Injune is less than an hour east from Harry’s cattle property, so he could easily enjoy a beer with the locals at the quaint Injune Hotel or pop into the nearby visitor information centre where he could have a look at the locally made arts and crafts or use the internet café.

Of course, never mind Prince Harry! If he doesn't go, you could!

The third Quantock Fringes Walking Festival in Somerset, Saturday 18 and Sunday 19 October, will give walkers a chance to explore the Quantock Hills, that lie west of Bridgwater forming a gateway to Exmoor.

Organised by Sedgemoor Tourism, the programme includes around a dozen guided walks suitable for a range of ages and levels of ability including some for wheelchair users. They range from a leisurely 45 minute Sunday afternoon stroll through Fyne Court, the headquarters of the Somerset Wildlife Trust, to a fairly strenuous three-hour hike on Saturday morning up to Will’s Neck, the highest point on the Quantocks at 386m. Special interest events include a bat walk on the Saturday evening and a walk in the footsteps of the Poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

Details can also be found on www.somersetbythesea.co.uk, and the Bridgwater Tourist Information Centre (01278 427652, bridgwater.tic@sedgemoor.gov.uk) can supply info & take bookings for the walks (£3 per person, under 5s free).

The new edition of "the skier's bible" Where to Ski and Snowboard 2004 has just been published (ISBN: 0 9536371 5 8, £15.99).

If you are enthusiastic about skiing, and particularly if you like to go somewhere new each each season, then this is the book for you. It lists 1,000 winter sports resorts in Europe and North America, 400 of them in great detail. The reviews of each resort and its facilities are robust. This is the 8th year that authors Chris Gill (founding Editor of the Good Ski Guide) and Dave Watts (editor-in-chief of Daily Mail Ski & Snowboard magazine) have published the book and they are as ruthlessly independent as ever.

The historic city of Alcalá de Henares, 35 km east of Madrid, has long been recognised as the home of Spain's second oldest university and birthplace of Spain's greatest literary artist, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, but in spring 1981 three students unearthed the remains of town's original 17^th century theatre in the basement of an old cinema. Now the first phase of its restoration is complete and the historic theatre - the Spanish equivalent of our Globe Theatre which pre-dates it by only 3 years - is open for performances and for tourists to visit.

What makes El Antiguo Teatro Cervantes so extraodinary is that since its birth in 1601 it has remained continuously in use as a place of entertainment. This continuous history makes it Europe's oldest surviving theatre (other than those built by the ancient Greeks and Romans) and one of the most important sites in the history of European drama.

It started as a 'corral de comedias', simply a small rectangular three-sided open-air plaza used for staging plays. A stage wall and balcony was built to enclose the fourth side of the plaza and shortly afterwards, balconies for aristocratic theatre-goers were built onto the front of the still-inhabited houses. In the XVII century they showed plays by luminaries such as Lope de Vega, local boy Cervantes, and Calderon de la Barca.

In 1769 the yard (or corral) was covered with today's roof. In 1831 an oval structure of boxes, tiered seats and a proscenium arched stage was inserted within the space, leaving the floor, plaster, and remains of the previous buildings under the wall. During the 20th century, the now faded theatre was used as a cinema, finally closing in 1971.

Phase One of the £3.4 million restoration project, completed last year, has returned the theatre to a working performance space that can be used as a modern studio theatre, 19th-century romantic theatre or a perfect early 17th-century theatre. With regular performances here the town is rapidly becoming the Stratford of Spanish Classic Theatre. In summer there is a highly successful drama festival, centred on the theatre, showing old and new works plus visiting productions of contemporary writers such as Shakespeare, in a variety of languages.

The Theatre is also open to the public daily for tours (except Mondays, max 40 people) which explain its history, with an introductory video. The Museum collection is complete, although not yet on show to the public. It consists of pottery, coins, jewellery and wood found during the archaeological excavations. It is anticipated that there will be around 100,000 visitors per year. In 2004, there will be an exhibition about the theatre at the Globe in London.

Sadly the theatre does not yet have an official website with details of performances and how to visit. The best sources of information are the Spanish Tourist Office in London and the local tourist office in Alcalá de Henares.

This Sunday (21 Sept), the entire Brussels region will be a car free zone between 0900 and 1800. Public transport and taxis will operate as normal and public transport will be free.

For those driving to Brussels, parking will be free in zone "C" of the Heizel Exhibition Centre and shuttle buses and underground trains will run from there into the city centre.

If you are in Brussels next week on business and you haven't had a chance to take in the cultural side of the city during working hours, then starting this Thursday (25 Sept) some 40 of Brussels’ museums will be extending their opening hours on Thursday evenings to give visitors a chance to see many collections right up until 10 pm. There will be a minimum of 3 museums open every Thursday until 18 December.

Entrance will be free on Thursday September 25th to the three museums in Brussels’ Jubelpark, Autoworld, the Musée royal de l’Armée et d’Histoire militaire (Army Museum) and Musee du Cinquantenaire, (Royal Museum of Art and History). On subsequent Thursdays, visitors will pay no more than €2 for entrance (€1 for under 26s), although some museums are waiving the entry charge completely.

Details from Visit Flanders.

Bradt Travelguides are once again 'pushing the envelope' by publishing a guidebook on North Korea at a time when tensions are high between Washington and Pyongyang as they negotiate over nuclear weaponry. (Bradt have a track record for producing topical guidebooks such as last year's guides to Iraq and Kabul.)

The guide (ISBN: 184162 074 2, £13.95), written by Robert Willoughby, not only covers the basics of getting there and what to do in Pyongyang and other tourist-accessible parts of the country, but is packed with practical information on how to behave and how to deal with the plentiful red tape and the absurdities of officialdom.

The rewards for doing so can be enormous. This is a country with such a different outlook, and so off the beaten track that, as publisher Hilary Bradt says: "if you mention Coca-Cola or David Beckham you receive blank stares!"

The political conference season has started here in the UK, perhaps its time to get Union-ised.... that is, head for the unspoilt Grenadine island of Union.

Caribbean specialists, Toad Hall Caribbean (01548 852407) offer packages staying at Hotel Bigsand which was opened last year. Accommodation only (excluding flights) start at £266 pp before the end of November.

Hotel Bigsand is set on a 'big' (you guessed it!) white sandy beach a mile from the colourful capital of Clifton.

Lapland specialists, Canterbury Travel (01923 822388) are offering a week-long snowmobile safari travelling through Finland and Norway right up to the Russian border.

After a brief driving lesson followed by an easy day to get used to the 'skidoo', this adventure travels an average of 100kms per day at speeds of up to 80km per hour to the edge of the Arctic Sea. The beautiful very varied terrain includes, snow-covered pine forests, vast frozen lakes (where the going is fast and furious), open fells, and iced-over fjords.

On one day, there is the opportunity to try cod fishing in the freezing Arctic Sea or - for the truly intrepid - swimming, using fully-insulated survival suits.

There are weekly tour departures for groups of five to eight (one person per snowmobile and minimum age 15 years) with a dedicated English-speaking guide between 27 December and 10 April from £1650 per person, based on two sharing.

Included are return flights from Gatwick, transfers, seven nights' full-board accommodation (two nights en suite rooms the remainder basic cabins with shared facilities), the snowmobile tour including petrol and the hire of all equipment and clothing.

Paris is to embark on its second 'Nuit Blanche' (Up all night) on 4th October. After the major success of last year's event (100,000 people were expected. 500,000 turned up), the mayor, Bertrand Delanoe has decided that this year's event will be even bigger and better!

Nuit Blanche is billed as "the celebration of Paris as a vibrant capital for culture addicts". From 7.30 pm till 8 am the next morning, museums, bars, restaurants and other cultural places will be open to the public for exhibitions, concerts, art performances or for the simple pleasure of being open and participating in this up all night event.

This year, the event will follow a different structure in order to cater for the larger numbers. Six itineraries have been organised by six well-known people from the arts and entertainment industry. Amongst the organisers, are Director of the Museum of Modern Art of Paris, Suzanne Pagé, the Director of the city's Heritage, Camille Morineau and Ami Barak, the artistic Director of the Nuit Blanche. These six itineraries will be spread across the different arrondissements of the capital, making the event more accessible to bigger crowds. So if you fancy an urban midnight swim or to turn into a cultural night owl, Paris is definitely the place to go to.

Eurostar (08705 186 186) fares from London or Ashford to Paris start at £59 return for a weekend day return or a trip with a Saturday night away.

You should be able to find more information on the Nuit Blanche at www.nuitblanche.paris.fr which takes you to the Mayor's Office website... when it gets posted!

Vermont, the state nestled in the northwest corner of New England, will soon be ablaze with colour thanks to the state’s spectacular fall tones or hues, and to make sure that everyone see the best colours the State has set up a telephone advisory service - the Leaf Peepers Hotline.

The colours, which generally last from early September until late October, are widely acknowledged to be some of the best in the US. This is thanks to the high concentration of maple trees, whose leaves turn orange, scarlet or deep red in autumn creating a magnificent display of colour and texture. During this period, the best of the colours move from higher to lower altitudes and from north to south throughout Vermont as the climate changes.

The State of Vermont runs the Leaf Peepers Hotline providing updates for enthusiasts and visitors on where the best colours are. It can be called within the US on 1-802-828-3239 (or from abroad: 001-802-828-3239), and is also updated regularly online at www.vermontvacation.com

A luxury B'B on the Isle of Man, that offers guests a Victorian experience, has just won two top AA awards.

Aaron House (01624 835702) on Port St Mary promenade received a five Red Diamond rating and an Egg Cup award in the latest AA Bed and Breakfast Guide. The Red Diamonds recognise the best 10 per cent of the luxury sector, and the Egg Cup Award is given when the breakfast exceeds standards for that category. Aaron House is the only establishment on the island to have these two awards.

Every detail in the house recalls the Victorian era, from the leather packing cases in the hallway to the polished brass telescope that looks out to sea in the morning room. The kitchen is Victorian, complete with antique cooking utensils.

But Aaron House also offers modern comforts, with top-quality mattresses and real fires. The house is a peaceful haven with a non-smoking and non-alcohol rule, and although there is a television in the upstairs parlour, the bedrooms are TV-free. Each is decorated in a different colour scheme with patchwork eiderdowns, iron bedsteads and painted wooden floors. The house is decorated with colours and wallpaper true to the Victorian era, including the bathrooms.

Aaron House is run by Hayley Kiernan and her parents, who wear Victorian dress when guests are staying. The family moved to the island from Lancashire in 1988. Aaron House was part of another hotel, until the couple divided it from that property and made it into one house again, as it used to be one hundred years ago.

Rates are from £30 per person per night. They can also arrange flights, sea travel and car hire.

A new tour operator has launched, specialising in just one Caribbean Island.

Just Tobago (01373 814234), a sister company to the equally-focused Just Grenada, offers holidays in a range of accommodation on the tiny island, from apartments, through small character hotels, large resorts with loads of facilities, to luxurious private villas overlooking the ocean. Among them are Ohana Villa, designed entirely under the supervision of a Feng Shui master and Arnos Vale Hotel, built on a former sugar plantation now a 450-acre nature park.

Sanjeeda, a newly built 93ft traditional sailing dhow in the Indian Ocean, is available for charter for private cruising, weddings, diving, or exploring the waters of Sri Lanka, the Maldives, the East Coast of Africa, Madagascar or the Seychelles.

Privately owned and built by Anderson Bakewell, Sanjeeda was constructed in teak on a beach in Gujarat, Western India with the help of a master shipwright. She has modern navigational equipment, masses of deck space with traditional lateen rigging, and an experienced local crew.

From this September, Sanjeeda is available for long and short-term charters in the Indian Ocean, catering for exclusive groups of up to 12 guests in six cabins. "Once on board, guests can experience the adventures of the trans-ocean passages and ancient trading routes of bygone days. However varied their interests and passions, Sanjeeda provides the ideal environment for guests to simply relax and indulge in fine Indian food on the shaded deck, listen to local music under the stars, enjoy the abundant marine life and explore some of the more remote coastal areas." Prices start from £6,000 for 7 nights exclusive boat charter on full board basis for up to 12 guests.

During March and April 2004, the 'Oman specialists' Oman Travel Ltd (01235 200 444), have chartered Sanjeeda and are offering 7-day cruises in the remote coastal waters of Oman. While at sea, birds, whales, dolphins, archaeology, turtles, dhow building and geology will be a few of the daily distractions from the typical sailing cruise. Dr. Fergus Kennedy, a professional marine environmentalist, will be on board throughout this time offering first hand experience and expertise on whale and dolphin research and the marine life in the Indian Ocean. The 7-day cruises can be combined with a second week on land touring Oman.

Jumeirah Beach in Dubai is to be home to yet another extraordinary hotel.

The Hydropolis will be the world's first luxury underwater hotel when it opens in 2007 just off the beach and not far from the wave-shaped Jumeriah Beach Hotel and the colossal sail-shaped Burj al-Arab.

The hotel which resembles the underwater alien shapes in the sci-fi movie 'The Abyss' (its German designer calls the architectural style "Biogenetic") will sit half underwater and half exposed in its own 20-metre tough, connected to a reception building on the land by an electric train running in a tube.

In addition to the 220 suites each costing around £3,500 per night, the complex will house several restaurants, a ballroom, a cinema, conference facilities, a cosmetic surgery clinic, and a spa specialising in hydrotherapy treatments. The above water exterior sections which provide artificial beach platforms, swimming pools and bars will be hidden from prying eyes by a curtain of waterfalls, that will also generate a fine mist which will help reduce the temperature around the hotel.

The £300m Hydropolis is aimed squarely at the luxury middle east market. Among its many extraordinary features the developers pay particular attention to its security benefits. The hotel will be a "desirable location for people requiring protection. (Its) multilevel security system includes:

1. Protection from aerial threats by aircraft or missiles
2. Protection from threats from the water surface or from under water
3. Protection from unauthorised access

Canterbury Travel (01923 822388) are featuring a one-week 'Easy to Learn' course for budding downhill skiers, snow-boarders or cross country skiers.

All tuition and accommodation is in the ski resort of Luosto, just above the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland, which has uncrowded slopes, English-speaking instructors, small classes, wide runs and where queuing for lifts is a rarity! Luosto is ideal for beginners and early intermediates. (Not so good for advanced skiers. There's only one black run nearby, accessible by ski bus).

Prices for the skiing (IE excluding flights and accommodation) start from £149 for adults and £99 for under 12's including five-days equipment hire, ski school tuition and lift pass plus free ski suit hire for the whole of the stay (so no need to splash out on expensive kit before finding out if skiing is your thing). There is also an option for a private course where, for example, a whole family can learn together.

There's a choice of accommodation in Luosto for departures between 27 December and 10 April including hotel, catered chalet and luxury log cabin. As an example of prices, seven nights in a catered chalet on full-board basis - including wine with dinner - costs from £620 per person (based on two sharing) with return flight from Gatwick and transfers.

All those elegant boutique hotels on South Beach (and North Beach) Miami, many of them styled in their original art deco designs, are being highlighted on a new website www.miamiboutiquehotels.com and in a new booklet-style brochure.

Created by the Greater Miami and Beaches Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB), both the booklet and the website feature over 100 of the area's boutique hotels.

Sydney City Council last night approved a proposal for an exterior walking platform at the top of Sydney Tower that will allow visitors to walk on air - well, perspex actually! - 270 metres above the streets below.

The Sydney 'Skywalk' tourist attraction is expected to open during their summer season (03/04) when it will offer fully-supervised walking tours of 75 minutes duration, featuring two specially built perspex viewing platforms, where (very brave) abled bodied visitors and the disabled will be able to literally touch the clouds. Walkers will be tethered to the tower throughout the tour and closely supervised by trained guides. They will wear special wind suits, complete with communications equipment.

Skywalk expects to attract more than 250,000 thrill seekers each year.

Best Western Hotels (08700 60 70 90) has launched its new golf brochure - Play & Stay 2003.

Play & Stay golf breaks are based on some 100 courses and 70 Best Western hotels throughout the UK, some with their own courses on site.

Two examples are:

• the Stoke by Nayland Golf Club in Colchester which combines two golf courses with a modern hotel and a state-of-the-art leisure centre. Prices per person per night are from £48* on a bed and breakfast basis. Golf fees are from £25 per person per round.

or

• if it’s views you’re looking for, try Culcrieff Golf Club, the Best Western Crieff Hydro’s newly extended pay-and-play course. The holes hug steep upland slopes with views of the Grampians. Prices per person per night are from £50* on a bed and breakfast basis. Golf fees are from £15 per person per round.

Quest Travel (0870 442 3513) has published a 'Stopover Offers' brochure giving advice and ideas for where to stop and what to do, en-route towards Australia and New Zealand.

Quest suggests that its clients break the long flight with a stopover in a variety of destinations such as South America, Canada, Cape Town, the Far East or North America. Stopover options range from one stopover on either an outbound or return journey to multiple stopovers and round-the-world tours, taking breaks in up to eight destinations. The brochure gives ideas for stopovers in 16 destinations around the world from city breaks and cultural tours to a beach break in a picturesque resort.

Stopover packages feature a selection of hotels and tours. Many of the packages offer complimentary return airport transfers. The stopover tours generally include a guided city tour, ideal for visitors to familiarise themselves with a city or island. Other more exciting tours include a full day to the River Kwai from Bangkok, entry to the Empire State Building and Statue of Liberty in New York, a Corcorado and Tijuca Rainforest tour from Rio de Janeiro and a Niagara Falls tour from Toronto.

The Bali bombing in 2002 was the inspiration for Online Travel Plans, a service aimed at young, independent travellers, enabling them to constantly keep their friends and family up-to-date with their whereabouts, as well as providing a secure place to store all their vital travel details, documents and personal information.

The site (which is designed to be used with a slow internet connection from telephone dial up connections or countries with overloaded networks) allows users (friends & family) on your access list to follow your itinerary,and other areas that you choose such as your address book and travel log.

The basic cost of a year's membership with Online Travel Plans is £12 including 2 megabytes of storage space. Extra space can be bought at an additional cost.

Chef Anton Mosiman is hosting a 2-night luxury Taste of Scotland tour aboard the exclusive Royal Scotsman (0131 555 1021) luxury train. Departing Edinburgh on 12 August, passengers will be served world-class cuisine and wines prepared and chosen by him as they travel along the spectacular West Highland Line.

Other highlights include a cookery demonstration and lunch at Gleneagles Hotel, and drinks with the owners of romantic Ballindalloch Castle in Speyside. The tour costs £1,690 pp including accommodation in a deluxe state cabin, all meals and drinks and entertainment. Guests also receive a complimentary hamper of treats such as roast smoked salmon, hand-made chocolate truffles and Hebridean liqueur.

Feeling inspired by Wimbledon? Here's your chance to improve your tennis in idyllic surrounding in Italy or Spain. Ian Campbell's Tuscan Tennis Holidays (0141 576 7205) operate tennis holidays in Tuscany, Sardinia, and on Spain's Costa del Sol.

But it's not just high-powered tennis and coaching, there are plenty of other activities on offer including golf, cycling, ballooning, boat trips, walking and horse riding... for the body. And for the mind there's cooking, wine tours and opera festivals.