NEWS: LATEST HOLIDAY IDEAS

Each summer, the UK is home to a range of popular events such as The Edinburgh Tattoo and The RHS Chelsea Flower show - all of which tend to get booked up early, which is why short break specialist Superbreak (0871 222 3055) has this week put packages on sale to many key events combining tickets with overnight accommodation.

Packages available include:

• RHS CHELSEA FLOWER SHOW: MAY
  "Every year, for five days during May, the grounds of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea are transformed into a plant paradise with thousands of glorious blooms, a selection of spectacular show gardens and the finest examples of horticultural excellence in the world at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show (25 – 29 May 2010). Green fingered enthusiasts will be inspired by the show gardens, created by some of the world’s leading garden designers, while the smaller courtyard, chic and city gardens will provide ideas that can fit into any sized plot". One and two night packages are available during the event with prices starting from £133 per person including one night’s b/b at the 4-star Holiday Inn Kensington Forum and a full day ticket to the show. Based on two sharing.
  
  
• WIMBLEDON TENNIS EXPERIENCE: 25 JUNE - 4 JULY
  "Experience the unique atmosphere of Wimbledon and watch and support some of the exciting tennis matches taking place this year. Games will of course depend on the day booked but packages include number one court during the final days of The Championships (matches will include the final rounds of the doubles competitions) and number two court during the first week of The Championships". Prices start from £135 per person on various dates during The Championships, one night’s at the 3-star Jurys Inn Heathrow hotel with continental breakfast and a ticket for either number 1 or number 2 court at Wimbledon on your day of check-out. Return coach transfers are also included between your hotel and Wimbledon. Based on two sharing.
  
  
• BRITISH OPEN GOLF, ST ANDREWS: JULY
  "For many, the chance to enjoy the famous Open Golf Championships is the treat of a lifetime. For 2010, the 139th Open Championship moves to St Andrews in July 2010. This outstanding Links Course has hosted many exciting tournaments over the years". Prices start from £379 per person for a two-night package from 16 July staying at the 3-star Howard Park Kilmarnock with continental breakfast and two days entry to the Open. Coach transfers between the hotel and venue are included. Based on two sharing.
  
  
• BUCKINGHAM PALACE PRIVATE TOURS: AUGUST & SEPTEMBER
  "Enjoy an exclusive 'behind-the-ropes’ experience with an after-hours tour of Buckingham Palace and visit areas once the doors have closed to visitors for the day. Enjoy exclusive access in the hands of expert guides and learn a little more about the Royal Family and have the chance to enjoy the State Rooms once the doors have closed to visitors for the day. With their gilded ceilings and glittering chandeliers, these rooms are used by HM The Queen and members of the Royal Family to receive and entertain guests on state, ceremonial and official occasions". Packages on selected dates in August and September cost from £149 per person to include one night's b&b accommodation at the 4-star Cavendish London hotel, the guided tour, an official Buckingham Palace guide book for each person in the group plus a glass of champagne at the end.
  
  
• EDINBUGH FESTIVAL AND TATTOO: AUGUST
  "The Edinburgh Festival and Tattoo takes place this August against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh Castle. Each year, thousands of people flock to Edinburgh to participate in the biggest arts festival in the world and enjoy the traditional pageantry as 600 musicians and horses take part in the Edinburgh Military Tattoo". Packages are available during weekends in August and start from £325pp for a three-night break arriving on a Friday and staying at the 4-star Holiday Inn Edinburgh on a b&b basis with evening tickets to the tattoo on the Saturday, entry to the Edinburgh Castle and tour vouchers for The Royal Yacht Britannia. Based on two sharing.

Visitors to Anchorage can get a taste of Alaska’s reality television sensation with the new Ice Road Trucker Tour from Salmon Berry Tours.

Guests begin by exploring the Anchorage port, then stop by Carlile Transportation - as seen on the show — and tour a heavy haul/sleeper truck. The highlight of the tour is getting behind the wheel in the truck-driving simulator to see if they can handle a big rig on the legendary ice road. A guest star from the Sky TV show may even make an appearance during the tour. Travellers can also experience ice road conditions through a custom tour on the Dalton Highway from Fairbanks to Prudhoe Bay - the same route featured on the show.

Tours cost $99 per person (approx £62). Based in Anchorage, Salmon Berry Tours operates scheduled and custom tours across Southcentral and Interior Alaska for groups or the individual traveller. Other winter expeditions include late-night northern lights viewing, dog sledding, snowmobile tours and the world-famous Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race annual event.

Ace Study Tours have a new river cruise tour in their 2010 programme following the River Thames from Weybridge to Chatham and focusing in particular on Winston Churchill's extraordinary life, with visits to his birthplace at Blenheim Palace, the Churchill Museum, the Cabinet War Rooms, and starting with an excursion to Cliveden where he was a frequent visitor.

The 6-day 'London & the River Thames' cruise, with expert guide, is on the 20-cabin Spirit of Chartwell. There are 8 departures during 2010 of which 5 are on sale to the general public with prices starting from £1,190 pp.

Authentic Adventures (01453 834137) have expanded their programme of painting, photography and walking holidays to include singing holidays.

The small group singing tours cater for two types of singer - music reading singers, or enthusiastic non-music-readers - and visit rural parts of Morocco, Italy and India. The holidays combine learning songs, and singing technique, with exploratory walks and local encounters. Most days have two singing sessions - a morning sing and a shorter sing before dinner.

Campsite holiday specialist, Keycamp (0844 406 0319), is planning to get your kids up and out of the way this year by adding more tree houses to its parcs, and by introducing a new 'Loft' mobile home.

The new mobile home has a raised area, which becomes the perfect break out zone for children, with plenty of space to play, chill out or even sleep.

The double-height living area provides spacious open plan living and offers a fully fitted kitchen, three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Home comforts, such as an iPod docking station with CD player, dishwasher, microwave and hairdryer are also included, while to make the most of the outdoor space, French windows open onto a large decked area.

Using the play deck as a sleeping area for the kids means 'The Loft' mobile homes can sleep up to eight, providing the ideal excuse to invite the grandparents along too (handily Keycamp have a 'Grandparents go Free' offer, as long as they stay in the same accommodation).

Seven nights from 26 August for a family of up to eight staying in 'The Loft' at La Croix du Vieux Pont at Berny Riviere, near Paris (and 90mins from Disneyland), will cost £899, accommodation only. Ferry crossings, rail travel or fly-drive packages are available at a supplement.

To keep up with the demand, Keycamp is also adding more of its Tree Houses for 2010.

Located in the tree canopy, around 4 - 5 metres from the ground, these Tree Houses have one or two bedrooms and a large decked area in which to dine. They are designed to offer adventure accommodation for families or a romantic escape for couples. A Frontier Tent, fully equipped with all self-catering equipment, is also provided.

Keycamp is also now able to deliver pre-bookable breakfasts to the Tree Houses at its Le Val de Bonnal parc in the Jura and La Forêt in the Southern Vendée, where families can hoist up their goodies to the dining area with the aid of a special pulley system.

A seven night stay from 15 May in a Tree House at La Val de Bonnal in Rougemont for a family of two adults and up to four children will cost £297, including return Dover-Calais ferry crossings. Breakfast is available at a supplement of £8 per person.

Specialist operator, Cornish Cycle Tours, has added three new self-guided cycling tours to its programme for 2010.

The seven day, 106-mile South Coast Tour (£525pp) visits many of Cornwall’s famous landmarks, while two versions (7-days £525pp / 5-days £375pp) of the 91-mile Coast to Coast Tour link the tranquil south coast and spectacular surfing beaches of the North Cornish coast in a circular route.

The three new tours bring the total available to ten, ranging from two to seven days cycling in duration. All tours include daily luggage transfers and B&B accommodation in quality inns and guesthouses.

Lan Rowe of Cornish Cycle Tours says: "Both of the new seven day tours cover less than 20 miles a day on average, so there’s plenty of time to stop wherever you like."

Included in all tours are detailed maps showing the route for each day’s cycling, together with information about the notable sights and attractions along the route. There are also recommendations for lunch each day, whether it’s an unspoilt country pub or the best pasty shop in the area.

Guests receive a comprehensive briefing before they set off, and Cornish Cycle Tours can also arrange cycle hire, and transfers to and from airports and railway stations in Cornwall.

To the initiated, 'stone crab claws' are the best-tasting crab in the world, and there’s no better place to eat them than fresh from the ocean in the Florida Keys, where Key Largo is holding a Stone Crab Festival 30/31 January 2010.

Attendees at the Stone Crab Festival can feast on fresh stone crab claws along with locally caught fish and the shellfish conch, another Keys speciality. Music and entertainment also will be on tap, with scheduled events including competitions, cooking demonstrations and even a "Conch Cook-Off". In addition, Saturday evening’s festivities are to culminate in a fireworks display.

Stone crabs live and breed in the waters around the Florida Keys and have a very unique feature: the ability to regenerate their claws, essentially making them a renewable resource.

Local commercial fisherman harvest claws from crabs using baited traps. By law, only one claw can be taken at a time and it must be bigger than 2.75 inches. The live crab, still with one intact claw, is then returned to the ocean to grow a new limb.

Many crustacean gourmets believe that the meat from Florida’s stone crab claws is sweeter, tastier and more tender than that from any other crustacean. Claws are most commonly served warm with clarified butter or chilled with mustard sauce.

The stone crab season runs from 15 October to 15 May each year.

This year I will learn to horse-ride... in Umbria, with Real Holidays (020 7359 3938).

La Casella is a 200-acre, luxury country estate miles from the main road in vintage Umbria – all moss-green hills and hilltop villages. It’s also a hilly horse-riding centre, with courses for beginners using a 320m² trial field, 40 gentle horses and various outer paddocks. Once you're accomplished, there are sunset rides culminating with candlelit dinners in the forest. Dinner is otherwise served in a long-tabled restaurant where guests sit and mingle.

A week's full-board costs from £999 pp (two sharing), including flights (Heathrow) and car hire. Horse-riding is £25 per hour.

Explore (0844 499 0901) have come up with an unusual holiday opportunity - a long weekend snow-shoeing on Sicily's spectacular volcano, Mount Etna.

"The Bay of Naxos will sparkle in the distance, pine forests will be all around and the smoking summit of Etna will tower above. Mastering snowshoeing should only take a few minutes and no previous experience is necessary. On this trip, there’s also optional cross-country skiing across ancient lava flows, and a walk through the Gorge of Alcantara."

Departing 19 February, the tour/fitness break costs from £827 pp including flights (Gatwick), all transport, three nights’ B&B in small hotels, two other meals, all activities and guiding.