ARCHIVE: HOLIDAY IDEAS JAN-MAR 2005

When somebody, no doubt in the marketing dept, at SAS airlines dreamed up the idea of publishing a city guidebook based on recommendations by its crew, they underestimated its appeal. The SAS Crew Guide 2005, written in English and costing 95 Swedish Kronor (about £7), has already sold out.

However the good news is that many of the hundreds of tips on places to eat, sleep, party and shop in cities throughout Scandinavia and the rest of the world, can be found on the SAS Guides website, and the 2006 edition is scheduled to be published in November.

BoatSwop.com is a new website that hopes to do for boat-owners what the house-swap industry does for home-owners - namely put them in touch with each other for holiday swaps. The site already has owners from the USA, Europe and further afield signing up to advertise their boats and arrange exchange holidays with other owners, thus avoiding expensive bareboat charter fees.

Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes, TV garden designer Diarmuid Gavin and popular sportswoman Sharron Davies are among the celebrity speakers and specialists spearheading P&O Cruises new 'life enrichment' programme called "New Horizons".

New Horizons gives holidaymakers the chance to discover new interests through daytime activity classes on topics such as Cuisine, Gardening, Psychology & Mind, Reflexology, Wine Tasting, Feng Shui, Interior Design and Conversational Languages.

Developed especially for new ships Arcadia and Artemis, New Horizons will be launched when Arcadia sails on her maiden voyage on 14 April. With a varied combination of workshops, classes and talks, the programme offers the chance to learn from leading experts including the Chairman of the Feng Shui Society Raymond Catchpole; one of the very few ‘Masters of Wine’ in the world, John Downes and Joanna Hall, inventor of the ‘Carb Curfew’ diet. The Berlitz Language School will be providing classes in French, Spanish and Italian.

Topics have been selected to suit the profile of each ship and its passengers. Arcadia’s passengers will have a choice of subjects with a 'sunday supplement' feel, including Well Being, Colour Analysis and Cuisine. Artemis will offer a more traditional cruise experience with New Horizons topics including Music & Literature, British Heritage and Arts & Crafts.

Widex, the Danish hearing aid manufacturer, has teamed up with the charity Hearing Concern to organise the Widex Hearing Holidays (020 8680 2229), designed exclusively for hard-of-hearing people.

Nearly 9 million people in the UK suffer from a hearing loss and for many of them, taking a holiday is a daunting prospect. Everyday situations like understanding directions, negotiating hotel bookings or car hire can be difficult enough for people with perfect hearing. For the hearing impaired, these common problems appear insurmountable and many, especially older folk, will opt not to take a holiday at all.

Working with companies like Eurostar, Page and Moy, Saga Holidays, Travel Editions and Atlantic Holidays, Widex are offering destinations such as the South of France and Italy, as well as West Yorkshire and a tour of mid-Wales. All tour parties are led by a qualified lip-speaker, who oversees the smooth running of the trip and acts as an interpreter when required.

toptable.co.uk, the UK (and Dublin) restaurant and party booking website, has extended its service to cover Paris.

Their free restaurant booking service for visitors to Paris marks the beginning of a strategic 2 year roll-out which will see the service expanded to cover 8 key European cities.

Visitors to Paris can search for and book restaurants online in a variety of ways:

• by proximity to tourist attraction on an interactive map
• by date, time and number of diners
• by toptable.co.uk recommendations for occasion or ambience, e.g. 'Best for' business, romance, al fresco, etc

toptable has also partnered with Eurostar and Active Hotels so that travellers can book restaurant, travel and hotel accommodation online for up to 9 people from one site.

The Peninsula hotel in Hong Kong is offering its guests an unusual al fresco dining opportunity - hel-picnics on the beach.

A helicopter flies you from the hotel to Tai Long Wan beach on the northeastern side of Sai Kung in the New territories, with your gourmet picnic hamper - fine wines, cold cuts, homemade patisseries - and a waiter to serve you.

Tai Long Wan is renowned for its natural beauty, woodlands, stream and mangrove habitats. Furthermore, with no road access it is a tranquil spot to relax (other than the noise of arriving & departing helicopters of course!), and contemplate the £1,500 charge (for four persons) being added to you bill back at the hotel.

All tours use Eurostar rail travel from London or Ashford and are generally based around small family owned hotels and guest houses. So, you can stay in a gite in the Auvergne (no car needed), take a multi-centre tour of Andalucia or follow the route of the Orient Express. There are also plenty of mountain scenery tours in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Scandinavia, city break rail tours to eastern Europe and a chance to take the longest rail journey in the world from London to Beijing via Moscow and the Trans Siberian Express.

A design company in Brighton have launched a new board game based on backpacking.

Can you make it as a backpacker? sends players on a worldwide backpacking trip, on which they need to survive the perils of tourist scams, petty officials, dodgy transport, and ropey accommodation on limited budgets.

The game costs £24.99 and is being sold on their website and through travel agencies.

The Euromast tower, which dominates the (flat - this is Holland!) landscape of Rotterdam, has recently re-opened to the public after extensive renovations and is, for the first time in 45-years, offering guests a chance to stay overnight in a 'room with a view'.

Rotterdam's most famous landmark, built in 1960, has a classy new restaurant offering the best view in town from 100 metres above the ground. Immediately above the restaurant there are now two luxury suites aptly named Heaven and Stars, designed in sixties retro style - white and cream colours with minimalist basic forms - to match the tower's design heritage. Each suite has a spacious double bed, bathroom with jacuzzi, a lounge corner, minibar, complimentary champagne and all mod cons such as a desk with wireless Internet, airco, TV and DVD. For ultimate romance the suites also have a private balcony, from where guests can sip champagne whilst taking in the most breathtaking view of the Rotterdam skyline.

The suites are available for €375 per room per night including breakfast. For reservations contact the Euromast on tel: 0031 10 24 11 788 or e-mail: suites@euromast.nl.

Paris Muse, a company providing personalised guided tours of Paris, is operating a half-day 'Cracking the Code' tour for aficionados of Dan's Brown hugely popular book, The Da Vinci Code.

English-speaking academics, many of whom are Harvard lecturers, explore the provocative ideas in Brown's book among the artworks of the Musée du Louvre and the church of St Sulpice. (A chance for you to get there months before location filming begins on Hollywood's version of the yarn, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou!)

Each private tour is limited to a maximum of 4 visitors access to the museum is included in the €110 fee for individuals, or €95 per person in groups of two or more.

The Lakeland Camping Barns network (017687 72645) has introduced a new series of circular barn-to-barn walking and cycling breaks enabling guests to stay at different barns each night from £5.50 per person per night without using a car or public transport. The breaks are based on specially produced Ordnance Survey style maps that can be used to link barns in various combinations.

All the routes start and finish at the same barn enabling walkers and cyclists who arrive by car to leave their vehicles at the first location for their journey back home. Luggage transfer is available if booked in advance. Visitors can also opt to stay an extra night or two at any of the barns to do some local exploring or try other activities.

The walks, which are based around central Lakeland within the National Park, range from around 6miles/10km up to 11miles/18km per day. Graded according to difficulty they take in high ridges, cairns, tarns and river valleys but all offer spectacular Lakeland views. The terrain also varies from rough stony tracks to surfaced lanes with steep climbs and descents as well as level plateaus and marshy areas. Poor weather low-level alternatives are available for some routes.

The three night cycling route is located in the Northern Lakes with daily rides, all graded moderate, ranging from around 12miles/19km to 30.5miles/49km.

A further series of shorter, circular walks is also being devised around each of the five more remote barns, which are too far distant from others in the network to link together on a day’s walk.

Described by some as 'stone tents', camping barns are particularly popular with outdoor enthusiasts such as groups of fell walkers or mountain bikers who can stay in ancient farm buildings at an affordable price (from £5.50pppn) - and no fear of being blown away if bad weather sets in!

They may be former stables, corn stores or a cattle sheds that have been converted to provide simple, roomy self-catering accommodation. Owned and run by farmers, each is different but they all have sleeping, cooking/eating and washing areas and are in stunning locations. For those not wishing to self-cater, cooked Cumbrian breakfasts might be on offer from the owner farmer, as are packed lunches and very occasionally an evening meal.

The price of £5.50 per person per night covers the accommodation; electricity, heat and any meals are usually additional. For sole use the £5.50 charge should be multiplied by the maximum number the barn can accommodate, i.e. sole use of a barn sleeping eight would be £44 per night. Individual barns may be reserved for stays of up to one week and they all have car parking areas. An adult must accompany all young people under the age of eighteen and families with children under five and those with pets are required to book the barn for sole use.

Lakeland Camping Barns are owned by the farmers and managed in co-operation with the National Park and the Youth Hostels Association (England and Wales) (YHA), although membership isn’t required to stay in them.

Thomas Cook Publishing are launching a new series of driving guides on 14 February, called ‘Drive Around’.

The guides cover 17 different regions and countries, including six areas of France; England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland plus selected regions in Italy, Spain and North America. Each guide provides 25 suggested touring routes, a comprehensive driver’s guide to road rules and signs, detailed maps, walking tours and recommended sightseeing, activities, accommodation and dining.

The guides will be available from bookshops, Thomas Cook stores or online, with a cover price of £14.99 each. The complete range of guides is as follows:

• England & Wales
• Scotland
• Ireland
• Burgundy and the Rhone valley
• Brittany & Normandy
• Dordogne & Western France
• Languedoc & South-West France
• Loire Valley
• Provence & the Cote d’Azur
• Andalucia & the Costa del Sol
• Bavaria & the Austrian Tyrol
• Calfornia
• Catalonia & the Spanish Pyrenees
• Florida
• Italian Lakes & Mountains
• Tuscany & Umbria
• Vancouver & British Columbia

Sunvil Holidays, who operate the RSC short breaks programme to Stratford-upon-Avon, have launched a new culture breaks brand - Royal Albert Hall Short Breaks (020 8758 4733).

RAH Short Breaks offer one or two-night breaks in London featuring a ballet or opera performance at the Royal Albert Hall. The launch season, available in February, March and June 2005, is based on performances of either Carmen or Romeo and Juliet, plus accommodation at a choice of centrally located 3 or 4-star hotels.

One-night breaks cost from £109 pp (two sharing) and include accommodation with breakfast at a 3-star hotel, stalls seating at the Royal Albert Hall for the performance of your choice, complimentary production programme and cancellation insurance. Two nights start at £140 pp.

Contact using the phone first, the website won't be operational until March 2005.

Rani Resorts are opening two new beach resorts on the magnificent Quirimbas Archipelago in Cabo Delgado Province, Northern Mozambique - a chain of 27 islands off the beaten tourist track.

Some of the islands in the south include a vast expanse of enchanted forest and coral reefs in the Quirimbas National Park which is accessible to guests. The park was established in 2002 as an answer to the local community’s need to nurture and sustain their precious natural environment. These islands feature phenomenal vertical drop-offs, some up to 400 meters. These walls are abundant with coral covered caves and tropical fish ranging from gobies to mammoth Napoleon Wrasse and game fish including Kingfish and Spanish Mackerel. Feeding and nesting grounds for the park’s population of sea turtles, dugong, dolphins, sharks and whales are found here.

The Matemo Island Resort has just been opened. Matemo island is 8 kilometres in length and 3 kilometres wide with private beaches and countless coves to be discovered. The resort consists of 24 air conditioned Chalets, situated just 10 metres from the beach. All chalets are en-suite with indoor and outdoor showers, a custom-made bath, a large front veranda with loungers and hammock, as well as all the amenities one expects from a luxury resort of international standards.

Medjumbe Island Resort is due to open in April 2005 (it's obviously taking them a little longer than they thought - the website still says it's planned for Dec 04) and is expected to be popular with scuba diving and angling enthusiasts. The island is only one kilometre in length and 500 metres in width, featuring a number of small bays and coves, complete with white beaches surrounded by the turquoise waters of the Indian Ocean. Accommodation is in 12 luxury air-conditioned chalets, situated in secluded spots on higher ground between 10 - 20 metres from the beach. All chalets have a bath, shower and external shower. The resort will have a restaurant with inside and outside decks with verandah, a lounge / bar, a swimming pool and an activities centre.

To get to both resorts, guests fly into nearby Pemba with LAM and then take a light aircraft transfer to the islands - duration 20-30 minutes.

The small group adventure travel specialist, Footloose has expanded into family holidays, and they have a new 8-day Footloose 'Florida Discovery' family adventure, departing Orlando 27th March, 29th May, 31st July & 23rd October 2005.... that doesn't visit Disneyworld (unless you want to).

Instead the small group heads for the gorgeous beaches of Sarasota where kayaking, canoeing and swimming will keep the active occupied, whilst the aquarium, zoo and jungle gardens offer less strenuous options. Get close to nature, even alligators, and ‘rough it’ a bit in thatched huts at a ‘Swamp Safari Camp’. Explore the swamp by airboat and swamp buggy and enjoy a reptile show. Next, sample island life on Key West where a sunset cruise is included and the clear waters are perfect for snorkelling.

For the next two days the tour experiences the sights and sounds of Miami, before heading along the coastline to the Kennedy Space Centre where you can tour launch areas, meet an Astronaut, see gigantic rockets and even have a go in a space flight simulator. The tour ends back in Orlando with an optional extension if Mickey and friends still beckon!

The 'Florida Discovery' tour costs £725 to £799 pp (depending on departure date) and there is a 10% discount for children under 16. The price includes transport aboard their customised V8 maxivan, safari camp and hotel accommodation, airboat ride, swamp buggy tour, reptile show, Key West cruise and the services of an experienced tour leader.

English couple Robert & Tracy McVeigh have opened their boutique Hotel de Vigniamont (+33 4 67 35 14 88) at just the right moment.

The 17th century 'Hotel Particulier' - once the private town residence of the Count de Vigniamont - is located in the historic and picturesque town of Pezenas which is where the A75, currently the focus of everyone's attention since the December opening of the spectacular Millau Viaduct, ends.

Good timing indeed, as this summer the route for a great many English family motoring holidays in the south of France is being planned around a crossing high over the Tarn Valley on this stunning piece of civil engineering.

The Hotel de Vigniamont has two double rooms, three suites, and a sun drenched roof terrace for buffet breakfasts. Guests are invited to join the owners for ‘raid the pantry’ aperitif hour which gives them chance to sample local specialities and home made goodies, paired with local wines.

Sunvil Holidays' new Specialist Greece 2005 brochure, features tours to Albania in addition to its core programme of holidays on the Greek mainland and 18 islands.

The six-day Discover Southern Albania tour visits the four historic towns of Saranda, Gjirokastra, Berat and Vlore as well as the archaeological sites of Apollonia and Butrint and the famous Onufri icon museum. It also takes in stunning scenery, beaches, churches and monasteries. The first and last days of this tour are in Corfu.

The two-day Taste of Albania tour visits Butrint, Saranda and Gjirokastra and can be 'bolted on' to any Corfu-based holiday.

Accommodation is in mainly 3-star hotels. These are flexible tours; whether travelling as a small group or just a couple, you will have the services of a driver and an english speaking guide.

The holiday airline, Thomas Cook, is introducing online seat allocation for customers booking over the Internet.

The airline's Your Seat, Your Choice facility was launched last summer as a telephone-only booking service, and is now being extended seat to the website. Once customers have booked a flight, they are given the option to select their own specific choice from a numbered seating plan of the aircraft on which they will fly.

Celebration packages, including champagne, chocolate and reservations in VIP departure lounges are also available on line.

The service can also be accessed by calling Thomas Cook on 0870 243 0416 once a holiday or flight-only reservation has been made.

A team of Yoga teachers, Ayurvedic masseurs and organic nutrionists/chefs (one of them worked previously for Madonna) have launched Hip-Yoga offering stylish holistic holidays based at a converted olive mill, now a luxury villa, in rural Andalucia, Spain.

The new business was set up in September 2004 by Debbie Wosskow, a yoga enthusiast and former employee of luxury tour operator, Scott Dunn. Their first retreat (season) will run for six week from 7 May to 18 June 2005. The aim is to offer yoga in an environment where pampering and indulgence are just as important as health and detox.

Hip Yoga is not bonded. Half of the holiday price is paid upfront and the rest one month before departure. The money will sit on account until the period has ended in order to ensure clients' bookings are safe.

Debbie Wosskow says: "The reason for the short length of the (first) season is that we are currently exploring other venues in Europe and the Far East, so that we can use multiple luxurious locations on a year round basis".

There's a programme of pre-planned murder at two hotels in Oxford this year. Both hotels are part of the Four Pillars Hotel group.

The 4-star Tortworth Court Four Pillars Hotel (0800 374692), a grade II Victorian Mansion set amongst 30 acres of parkland with an arboretum of over 300 rare and listed trees, will be running its unique Murder Mystery weekends on three dates during the year.

The plots are written specifically for Tortworth Court and each of the weekends are completely different. Not only is the corpse included in the break but also a complete scenario played out by professional actors and two nights half board accommodation. Friday night begins with dinner with your fellow guests which may include a death and possible interrogation. At Saturday's breakfast the suspects join guests and there is the likelihood of more interrogation. The afternoon is free for guests to enjoy the hotels facilities at their leisure followed by a Gala dinner complete with suspects and policeman and a debate afterwards on the strange goings on. Guests will enjoy a leisurely breakfast on Sunday before departing.

• 21st-22nd January 2005 - Things that go bump in the night - £149.00 per person This 1940's wartime story gets underway during a meeting of the Tortworth Home Guard. Who was the stranger in the village pub?
  
  
• 8th-9th April 2005 - Royal Links - £159.00 per person This 1930's plot revolves around plans to build the areas first golf course in the grounds of Tortworth Court with 'Royal' connections.
  
  
• 4th-5th November 2005 - Remember Remember - £159.00 per person A meeting of the National Pyrotechnic Club Committee goes with a bang!

Meanwhile, Four Pillars Hotels' central Oxford 4-star property, Oxford Spires (0800 374692), is offering all budding sleuths and TV fans a weekend retreat into the world of Morse and the chance to solve their own murder mystery.

The weekend break begins on Friday evening with dinner at Oxford Spires with Colin Dexter OBE, author of the Morse stories. Saturday will take guests to many places used in the filming of Morse and includes visits to a couple of the local hostelries that Morse enjoyed so much. The evening sees a murder mystery dinner in the presence of Sherlock Homes and Dr Watson which is written exclusively for this weekend break.

There are three 'Morse' weekends: March 11th -12th, April 8th - 9th, & May 20th - 21st 2005. The rates are £199.00 per person.

Oxford Spires is set amongst 40 acres of parkland with access to the River Thames but within 10 minutes walk of Central Oxford.

The new, 2005 edition of the Bed & Breakfast France guidebook, published by Thomas Cook Publishing, includes maps of France indicating regions where B&Bs will offer you local specialities or organic foods from their own back gardens, and B&B hosts that will sell customers wine and local produce.

While hosts that are proud to serve up local dishes and organic foods for dinner are prevalent throughout France, the 'what to bring back?' map shows that the most hosts with produce for sale are located in south-eastern France - Provence, the Alps, Cote d'Azur and Languedoc-Roussillon. Many hosts in and around Bordeaux sell either local wine or wine from their own vineyards, while other B&BS around France sell champagne, cider, liqueurs, aperitifs and digestifs.

Bed & Breakfast France 2005 (£12.99, ISBN:1-841574-26-0) lists 550 B&Bs from chic apartments in Paris to rustic farmhouses, fishing cottages to dramatic chateaux. It is published on 10 January 2005 and is available online from Thomas Cook Publishing, or from Thomas Cook travel shops and "all good bookshops".

A record thirty-two private houses and gardens throughout Suffolk, most of which are closed or rarely open to the public, will be welcoming visitors on set days throughout 2005 under the county's 'Invitation to View' scheme.

Each visitor is treated as a special guest joining a small group on a private tour, often being shown around by the owner or a guide with personal knowledge of the place. The scheme presents a rare opportunity to view a number of fascinating properties, learn about their history and the people that lived there and admire the superb furniture, paintings and other works of art displayed within them. Visitors will also be able to stroll leisurely through many of their gardens and parkland.

New properties include the Duke of Grafton’s Euston Hall, near Thetford with its collection of Stuart portraits and William Kent landscape and the 16th century Grade I Kentwell Hall in Long Melford. Both are already open to the public but, under Invitation of View, tours will be given by either the owners or architectural experts and take in parts of the houses which other tourists cannot reach. Also joining the scheme for 2005 are several small but perfectly formed houses such as Read Hall, just south of Eye, a beautifully preserved medieval hall house now home to a young family.

Remotely located on a moated site, Bedfield Hall are offering a special tour explaining how, in Tudor times, the owners protected themselves against witchcraft while Chippenham Park, near Newmarket will open for its snowdrop display.

Since the houses and gardens are under private ownership, guided visits will take place on a limited number of occasions and must be pre-booked. Dates have been co-coordinated so that visitors spending a short break in the county will have the chance to visit several houses and gardens during their stay.

For a free Invitation to View brochure or to reserve a place on a tour call Stowmarket Tourist Information on 01449 676800 or visit www.suffolkhistorichouses.org.uk. Prices range from £15 to £9 per person including refreshments.