Grab a piste of the action
to see parts of the Hudson Yards – a whole new neighbourhood that is one of the world’s largest urban developments. Its amazing metal Vessel, a sculpture by our own Thomas Heatherwick, is already in place (nycgo.com). African safaris are never cheap and cheerful but the end of Robert Mugabe’s regime will surely herald a surge in popularity for Zimbabwe’s excellent game parks, as will the newly expanded airport at Victoria Falls.
A new cost-effective way of doing a safari is to take a self-catering lodge in Victoria Falls, making daily trips to Hwange National Park. A threebedroom Lokuthula Lodge costs from £694 for three nights (africaalbidatourism.com).
In Kenya the new railway line between Nairobi and Mombasa passes through one of the country’s iconic national parks, Tsavo East, so visitors will be SLOPE off to the snow-walloped French Alps in February and get almost 50 per cent shaved off your holiday with Ski Solutions. They have a week chaletb board in the four-star Chalet Cherrier, C in Val d d’Isere, Isere, from £ £680pp – saving aving up to £675 able to make short overnight trips with ease. An experienced Kenya operator is Somak, whose popular seven-day circuit including Samburu and the Masai Mara costs from £1,150 (no flights) – visit somak.com. The wolves are back in Europe. And the bears, too. Conservation efforts have succeeded in bringing the grey wolf westwards, most notably into Germany, although they are e still very hard to see.
Unless, of course, you go to the Wolfcenter Dörverden in Lower Saxony, where wolves roam an enclosure while you stay safe up in a designer treehouse to watch. Two nights cost from €350 per night for two people, including breakfast t per person – when book ed by J anuary 19. The holiday to the chalet, decorated in traditional Savoyard stone and wood, flies out of Gatwick to Gr enoble on February 17. See skisolutions.com or give them a call on 020 7471 7749. (tree-inn.de). d For bears, b your best b bet b is to visit Romania, where a long weekend will see you hiking to an isolated hide in the Carpathian Mountains where you can watch enormous brown bears feeding right in front of you.
The three-day itinerary also includes a visit to an acclaimed bear sanctuary and takes in two famous Transylvanian castles. Prices (not including flights) are from £335 at muchbetteradventures.com. And finally, the coming spring will see the ina inauguration of Eurostar’s long-awaited direct di service to Amsterdam, offering a journey jo time that comes in at just under four fo hours. This is very good news for all those who wh really don’t like flying – full details are a at eurostar.com. I’ve got some time to take off work by April – could you recommend something with a bit of food and culture? I’ve got the perfect answer – Italy ticks all the boxes. And Citalia has a nine-night holiday to Venice, Florence and Rome for £915.
It includes three nights at fourstar Savoia & Jolanda on Riva degli Schiavoni in Venice, then three at four-star Grand Hotel Adriatico in Florence. Finish with three nights at boutique four-star Donna Camilla Savelli in Rome’s Trastevere district.
They’re all B&B, so you can get out and about to enjoy varied Italian food. Also includes internal rail transfers, plus return flights from Gatwick on February 15. Call 01293 831 970 or see citalia.com. KEEPING warm but not sweaty at this time of year r can be a tricky balance, especially lly with January’s Baltic temperatures. So o this is a perfect balance. Can be used as a T-shirt or a thermal as Polygiene’s “wear more, wash less technology” means you get more days without sticking it in the laundry.