Slide your way to winter
sledding, Northern Light spotting as well as close encounters with the great white creatures in Churchill. From £6,595, including flights, overnight t rail journeys and meals, visit sit greatrail.com. About 60 per cent of Europe’s brown bears live in Romania’s Carpathian mountains. To reduce conflicts with humans, bear-appropriate food is put out at faraway spots. People in hides can watch them feed. It happens a few hours’ travel from the capital Bucharest, around the medieval Transylvanian city of Brasov. GO FOR IT: Much Better Adventures’ three-day GET your skates on for some winter fun when the Natural History Museum Ice Rink opensp on October 26. T The rink, which attracted a around 130,000 skaters last y year, will feature a 30ft C Christmas tree at one end. And poshh chocs maker bear-watchingbe and castle-hopping itinerary visits theth hides and a sanctuary to more than 70 bears rescuedre from captivity. It costs £335 and includesin accommodation and transfers but not mealsme or flights. Expect to pay from £125 to Bucharest.Buc Check out muchbetteradventures.com. Grizzly bears are aggressive, think Leonardo DiCaprio in The Revenant, and are best approached with extreme caution.
At the Pyna-tee-ah lodge near Likely village in British Columbia, guests are taken out in a boat, or 4x4, or on foot by Gary Zorn – known as the bear whisperer. Gary offers bear viewing excursions from May to October. GO FOR IT: Four nights at the lodge, including all meals and bear watching, is from £1,470 per Hotel Chocolat will be serving its luxury hot chocolate and other drinks to warm those on the ice at the venue in South Kensington, West London. Tickets cost from £12.65 for adults and £8.80 for children, see nhm.ac.uk. person. This price does not include flights – from £450 to Vancouver – or getting to Likely. See frontier-canada.co.uk. See brown bears deep in the stunning wild forests of Kuhmo in eastern Finland. There is overnight bear hide accommodation with incredible panoramic views. The local wildlife also includes wolves, lynxes and wolverines, which you might even hear as you bed down for the night. There is also cycling, rowing and guided hiking in search of bear tracks. GO FOR IT: Artisan Travel’s Brown Bears of Finnish Lakeland costs from £570, including a night in the hide and two nights in a hotel, breakfast, dinner and transfers, but not flights – via Helsinki from £320. Check out artisantravel.co.uk. IS it safe to visit Barcelona at the moment? I am worried after seeing all the protests on TV. SCENES of police clashing with Catalonia independence referendum voters caused shock around the world last Sunday.
But as a tourist you should not let this affect your travel plans – as long as you remain vigilant.
The Foreign Office is not advising against travelling to the region, but has asked visitors to be aware of the changing situation.
It said: “Demonstrations may occur with little warning and even demos intended to be peaceful can turn confrontational. You should exercise caution if in the vicinity.”
It added public transport and other services could be affected.