Travel Notes...
What’s new and how to get the best from your holiday
ROAD TO RECOVERY
COMMERCIAL tour operator Tauck (0800 810 8020, tauck.co.uk) has put Nepal back on its booking list for the first time since the earthquake hit in April. The 17-day trips, which will resume from October, include safari drives in search of tigers and leopards, and ‘flight-seeing’ over glacier-clad Himalayan peaks.
JUST SMILE
NEED help getting into the holiday spirit? Gatwick has introduced a happiness guide on its restaurant menus to tell diners which meals will boost their serotonin levels.
Nutritionist Jo Travers, who compiled the guide, says: ‘Happiness is a complex thing, but there are certain foods you can eat that will help the “happy” chemicals in your brain to keep flowing.’
Her tip as the best happiness-inducing meal at the airport is Garfunkel’s vitamin B-packed house salad.
ROUTE TO THE RAINFOREST
FROM next May, British Airways will offer nonstop flights between Gatwick and the Costa Rican capital of San Jose.
Travellers will be able to fly twice a week to this Central American destination, famed for its rugged rainforests and exotic wildlife, rising to three times a week during the winter — the prime time to visit. Return fares from £687, ba.com.
NEW IN NEW ZEALAND
DISTANT Journeys (0808 250 8299, distantjourneys.co.uk) has launched a 18-day tour of New Zealand’s North and South Islands which offers exceptional value for money. The itinerary is one of the most competitively priced available, costing £2,495 pp including flights, B&B accommodation, sightseeing excursions and transfers.
‘The tour is making travelling to New Zealand achievable for many people who may have considered a trip out of their reach,’ says managing director Simon Whittle:
IN STYLE
STAY on trend in Milan at the brand new Mandarin Oriental hotel, which opened this summer on the central Via Andegari.
Just steps from the gilded La Scala opera house, the hotel has 104 rooms in elegant 18th century buildings. Dine alfresco in the peaceful courtyard or sip an aperitivo at the Madarin bar.
To mark the opening, a special Experience Milan package includes a dining credit of £200 (0039 02 8731 8888, mandarinoriental.com).
FASTER TO THE SLOPES
SKIERS who love Val d’Isere will be pleased to know work is finally under way on the first stage of a £11 million twoyear project to redevelop the top of Solaise, one of the t wo i conic mountains reached from the main base area. Bulldozers have shifted a million tons of earth to create the setting for a new mid-mountain station at 2,500 m and the old Solaise Express four-person chairlift, along with the cable car, will be replaced from November 2016 by a ten-person gondola with 91 cabins, complete with heated seats and WiFwi.
You can park your skis in exterior baskets or bring them inside. The new gondola will increase capacity by 40 per cent and can carry up to 3,600 passengers per hour.