GREAT break
Well cool little flask For more great holiday ideas, see page 41
red mountain-climbing train to Davos, the softness of hay meadows gives way to chasms and ravines. It is a raw landscape that chamois, eagles and mountain hares call home. And it is a place for hiking and seeking out elusive edelweiss flowers. And a spot of yodelling. Go: A seven-day self-catering break in Davos, with flights, costs from £452. See inghams.co.uk.
Big Five Kruger, South Africa
FOR: Self-drive with lions Most African safaris sell themselves on a mixture of exclusivity and access to the Big Five – lion, f c elephant, rhino, buffalo and leopard. But that also means Big Prices.
The most inexpensive way of seeing the five, and in a proper African wilderness, is to head for the Kruger in South Africa.
It is an immense national park that has plenty of space for top-end safari operators to run their exclusive lodges.
But it also has self-drive access and bookable accommodation that will bring your holiday budget down to a cost that is not so wild. GO: Arrange your accommodation via parks agency sanparks.org – have a peek at the Olifants and Satara Rest Camps.
And you can sort the car and flight separately via Virgin Holidays, which has a seven-day break with flights plus car from £805. See virginholidays.co.uk. FOR: The Jungle Book brought to life Sitting in the clouds, with moisture condensing around the tree canopy, a cloud forest is a thing of wonder. All those flowers and fruit trees serve as a tasty buffet for a fantastic variety of animals and birds, including jaguars and pumas. Cloud forests cover just one per cent of the world’s surface and are not easily visited. But the popularity of Costa Rica has opened up Monteverde, a quite compact reserve known for its big cats and self-guided hiking trails. GO: Stop off in Monteverde on a 15-day coast-to-coast adventure across Costa Rica, from £1,380 for accommodation, transport and some meals but not flights. See geodyssey.co.uk. Rocwing insulin cooler diabetes travel flask £49.99 Amazon