The Mail on Sunday

Your ticket to a HAPPIER NEW YEAR

From cool hotels to paddleboar­ding – treat a loved one this Christmas as the world gets set to reopen its doors

- By Neil Simpson

NEAR the top of any list of things most missed during 2020 has to be the sheer joy of travel, before the anxiety of wearing a f ace mask, slathering on hand sanitiser and following arrows in a socially- distanced queue.

Many of us have had to cancel sun-filled breaks in exotic climes, a multi-generation­al family trip or even just exploring somewhere new on a mini-break here in the UK.

Now, ingenious ways to entice us back into enjoying travel again come wrapped as brilliant gifts to give at Christmas that can be taken when the world reopens.

Start with a blast of warm North African sunshine in Morocco. For anyone who has postponed a big celebratio­n, a voucher for welcome cocktails and a delicious sharing menu served amid the scented flowers and rich colours of a riad is one of many experienti­al offerings from the Royal Mansour Marrakech Hotel. From £ 130 (royalmanso­ur.com).

For a cooler take on romance and fine dining, head high into the Swiss mountains and the lavish Gstaad Palace, which has hosted guests such as Marlene Dietrich and Margaret Thatcher.

If a ski trip is planned, treat a loved one to a champagne and black truffle fondue in its undergroun­d La Fromagerie restaurant from just £17 (palace.ch/en).

If that sounds too niche, then gift cards from trusted travel firms will spread the joy. Top options include Trailfinde­rs, where you can give anything from £10 to a generous £1,000 so recipients can book their own dream holiday.

GIFT cards can be redeemed against flights, extras such as car rental or even big-ticket trips, including family holidays to Disneyland, gap-year adventures to the Far East or round-the-world tours (trail finders.com). To contribute to someone’s holiday there’s a fun ‘flight gift card’ of at least £25 for a lastminute.com booking. You can add a video message and specify the day you want the voucher to be emailed to your recipient. They then have up to 12 months to redeem it against a flight.

Why not buy a special person a surprise trip and add to the excitement with a ‘Scratch-Off Boarding Pass’? As the name suggests, it’s designed to look like a traditiona­l flight boarding pass. On the front is a simple message: ‘Pack your bags, you’re going away!’

Add the lucky person’s name, the departure date and time for the trip plus a short message (or have this printed on the card). Then hand over a coin for the ‘ scratch here to reveal the destinatio­n’ box. From £8.99 at notonthehi­ghstreet.com.

Photograph­ers and bird- watchers are big travellers, but with many not going abroad this year, a popular spot has been Bempton Cliffs on the Yorkshire coast. Between March and August it’s home to one of the country’s top wildlife spectacles, when half a million birds from gannets and guillemots to puffins and barn owls gather.

Give the gift of a one-to-one photograph­y lesson with a local photograph­er so the birds can be snapped in all their glory whatever the season. From £ 200 from yorkshirec­oastnature.co.uk.

Or sporty types can get ready for the summer and learn the basics of paddleboar­ding, one of the world’s fastest-growing watersport­s, in the holiday resort of Cleethorpe­s on the Lincolnshi­re coast. Gift cards from Ebb & Flo on the North Promenade can pay for kayak hire, wetsuits and lessons (ebbandflol­iving.co.uk).

Zoos and animal sanctuarie­s are holiday favourites, but visitor numbers and funds have inevitably fallen in 2020. Gift membership­s are a feelgood way to support them when their doors reopen.

In Essex, there’s the Simon Cowellsupp­orted Hopefield Animal Sanctuary that cares for pigs, parrots and even reindeer. Chewie the alpaca, Chip the cow and many more animals are there to be sponsored for £30 as a gift at hopefield.org.uk.

Head to the 60-acre Monkey Forest set amid the larger Trentham Estate near Stoke-on-Trent to see some 140 monkeys swing between trees. Gift vouchers or membership­s from £7.50 at trentham.co. uk/monkey-forest.

Perhaps a family member has not yet visited key tourist attraction­s such as

Stonehenge, the Roman Baths of Bath or Windsor Castle. Now gift vouchers from Evan Evans Tours will give them the chance, alongside an expert guide, with all the organisati­on and transport taken care of. Choose an all-day tour, such as Warwick Castle, Shakespear­e’s Stratfordu­pon-Avon and the Cotswold villages from £99. Or give a speciality tour for a historylov­er, foodie, film buff or music fan (evanevanst­ours.com).

Private tours can make travel even more special. Give a day with a fully qualified Blue Badge guide and your loved ones will be in the very best hands.

Pick f rom more t han 100 bespoke walking tours, museum and gallery visits and even private- car excursions right across the UK. A top choice? The ‘God’s Own Country’ t our of t he Yorkshire Dales that takes in Ripon Cathedral, Bolton

Castle and Aysgarth Falls and includes everyone from Mary Queen of Scots to Wallace and Gromit. Give a half-day tour from £ 185 or a full- day from £ 295 at britainsbe­stguides.org/voucher.

Hotels have whizzed up all sorts of gift packages to lure guests through their doors. Give a one- night ‘ winter muddy paws’ stay to a dog-owning couple from £ 90, or pick a voucher for a romantic stay in Suffolk.

There are plenty of offers for a host of stylish pubs with rooms across East Anglia at chestnutgr­oup.co.uk.

Know someone who loves to go glamping? With a Cool Camping voucher, from about £25 you can buy them a pitch at some of the country’s most perfectly positioned sites.

Wild-campers might like a stay at Walkmill under the dark skies of Northumber­land, while other sites offer the chance to

stayt in a treehouse, t h yurt t or converted t dh horsebox. Or gift a stay in a classic Airstream caravan at Ettie’s Field in Hinckley, Leicesters­hire (coolcampin­g.com).

Consolatio­n for any ‘should have been married this year’ couples are breaks at some of the country’s most romantic hotels. The modern Georgian style ( and huge bathrooms) at No 131 in Cheltenham and the quirky yet cosy Kings Head Hotel in Cirenceste­r are fun choices from Mr & Mrs Smith, where ‘get a room’ gift cards start at £50 (mrandmrssm­ith.com).

Foodies may have missed the taste of travel but you can give them a cooking class that goes right around the world. The Honesty Cookery School in Sydmonton, Hampshire, is part of a food family that includes a top-notch bakery, a string of stylish coffee shops and the Crown & Garter, an award-winning gastro pub in the Berkshire village of Inkpen. Classes teach how to make perfect Italian pasta, South Indian dosa, a range of Venetian cicchetti snacks, the foods of a Korean kitchen and more. Classes from £70 (honestygro­up.co.uk).

The flavours of Spain mix with a sideorder of fun in a sherry-tasting Zoom class run by one of the few Brits certified as a ‘sherry educator’.

Six miniatures are delivered in advance so you’re ready for a 90-minute guided tasting session delivered direct from host Annie’s Andalucian farmhouse. From £125 at anniebspai­n.com.

In Scotland, the ‘Golfer’s Lunch’ at Gleneagles hotel is a treat for those who want to eavesdrop on players’ tall tales in the bustling Dormy clubhouse that overlooks the course. Gift vouchers start from £29, or you can give someone the opportunit­y to dress up for drinks in the hotel’s opulent, 1920s-style American Bar, where martinis take your taste buds around Scotland with a clever mix of local gins and flavours.

Alcohol-free options also abound, or give someone a whisky masterclas­s from £60 (gleneagles.com).

Alternativ­ely, enhance a Tuscan holiday with a private wine-tasting day trip accompanie­d by your own sommelier (transport included). During visits to two historical wineries south of Florence, you’ll stroll through vineyards, sample wines and learn about pairing food and drink. The day includes a visit to a charming small medieval town in the Chianti Classico region.

Available to give as a gift year-round, it’s £180 per person for a minimum of two (golfandwin­eexperienc­es.com).

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 ??  ?? OARSOME: Paddleboar­ding in Cleethorpe­s
ROMANCE: O C G Gstaad d Palace, l left, lf nestling li in the Swiss mountains. Above: The pool at the Royal Mansour Marrakech Hotel
OARSOME: Paddleboar­ding in Cleethorpe­s ROMANCE: O C G Gstaad d Palace, l left, lf nestling li in the Swiss mountains. Above: The pool at the Royal Mansour Marrakech Hotel

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