They’ll be celebrating William Shakespeare’s 450th birthday all year in his Warwickshire hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon, but especially keenly during March and April.
Outdoor Travel is offering a particularly rustic way to join the festivities — aboard a self-skippered traditional narrowboat on the Stratford Canal and River Avon.
Rates start from £549 for seven nights on a two-berth vessel out of Alvechurch Marina, which is easily reached from Birmingham Airport or International Railway Station.
Visit www.outdoortravel.com.au.
CIE Tours describes its new eight-day Celtic Sampler fully escorted coach tour as an ideal introduction for first-time travellers to Ireland and Britain.
Highlights include Dublin, Titanic Belfast and the Giant’s Causeway on Ireland’s east coast, Edinburgh, the gentle scenery of the Borders country, the Lake District, Liverpool, and a drive across north Wales taking in the medieval town of Conwy with its huge castle.
Prices start at $1765 per person twin-share ex Dublin.
Visit www.cietours.com.
Melbourne radio personality Mike Brady — probably best known as the creator of Up There Cazaly — will help lead an 18-day self-drive European tour in July using brand-new leased globalCARS’ Citroens.
Travel will be from Munich to Berlin— via Prague, Warsaw, Vilnius, Tallinn, Helsinki, St Petersburg, Stockholm and Copenhagen, with many options of extending at the end of the formal arrangements.
The price of from $9250 per person twin-share includes vehicle lease with unlimited kilometres, four-or-five-star accommodation with most meals, ferry fees across the Baltic Sea, return rail tickets between Helsinki and St Petersburg and a fully-programmed GPS in each vehicle.
The trip into Russia does not involve driving. Cars remain in Helsinki while travellers travel by rail for three days to explore St Petersburg and return to Finland by rail to Turku before catching an overnight ferry to Stockholm.
Phone 1300 789 992 or visit www.globalcars.com.au.
Wander amidst snake charmers and street performers in Marrakech as you journey deep into Morocco’s cultural heartland with the 18-day Oh-So-Moorish package from Gypsian Tours.
Make like Lawrence of Arabia as you ride the sands of the mighty Sahara atop camels and sample the myriad delights of the Moroccan kitchen.
Book before March and receive a free half-day cooking class in Morocco.
Prices are from $6537 per person twin-share for the trip which Casablanca on May 6.
Phone 07 3372 4833 or visit www.gypsianboutiquetours.com.au.
Broome and The Kimberley Holidays has condensed the region’s main attractions into a seven-night package that includes must-sees such as El Questro Wilderness Park, a Lake Argyle and Bungle Bungles air safari, a guided tour of Willie Creek Pearl Farm and sunset dinner at Cable Beach.The Distinctly Kimberley Icons package is priced from $3199 per person twin share ex Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane ($2699 ex Perth), including three nights accommodation in each of Emma Gorge Resort and Cable Beach Club Resort.
Phone 1300 357 057 or visit www.broomekimberley.com.au.
MSC Cruise’s 28-night Glacier & Mediterranean Magic itinerary is based on a four-week voyage from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean port of Genoa on board MSC Poesia.
Ports of call include Bergen, Stockholm, St Petersburg, Hellesylt, Flaam, Tallinn, Warnemunde (for Berlin), Copenhagen, Zeebrugge, La Coruna, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Barcelona and Marseille.
Prices are from $7041 per person twin-share ex Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, including accommodation for one night in Hamburg.
Phone 1300 028502 or visit www.msccruises.com.au.
If you’re heading to Europe next month, consider taking in the St Patrick’s Festival in Dublin from March 14-17, when the Irish capital comes alive with parades, music and plenty of ‘craic’.
Tempo Holidays is offering a three-night package that includes breakfast daily, airport transfers, a hop-on/hop-off sightseeing bus pass allowing you to discover more than 20 attractions at your own pace, and entry to the Guinness Storehouse.
Prices start at $673 per person twin-share. Phone 1300 558 987 or visit www.tempoholidays.com.
Backyard Travel has introduced a very different two-day package to Xi’an, one of China’s oldest cities and home of the fabled Terracotta Army.
The tour costs from $US640 per person twin-share and includes accommodation in a traditional Wang cave dwelling and an evening meal there with the occupying family.
Transport is by sidecar attached to a vintage motorcycle and 1960s jeep. Other highlights include visiting a nearby vineyard, a local blacksmith and an artist district modelled on Beijing’s famous 789 precinct. 644$US per person based on a group of two
Visit www.backyardtravel.com.
Book now for earlybird Queenstown ski-season accommodation deals at Oaks Shores and Oaks Club Resort.
Pay from $139 per night for a hotel-style room or from $264 per night for a two-bedroom apartment, minimum two-night stay.
Features waterfront location, lake access, barbecue facilities, sauna, fully equipped gym, complimentary shuttle bus service to Queenstown’s city centre, and world-class ski fields within close proximity,
Book and travel before June 27. Visit www.oakshotelsresorts.com
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Escape high-season tariffs with a Rumba Relaxo deal at Rumba Beach Resort, on the Sunshine Coast at Caloundra.
Pay from $597 per couple for three nights in spa suite.
Includes credit of $50 at the resort’s Drift restaurant, morning smooth-water cruise for two, full-day bicycle hire, and a complimentary in-house movie.
Until April 17, including school and public holidays. Phone 07 5492 0555 or visit www.rumbaresort.com.au.
Attention all lawn bowlers. Drift your bias towards Nadi in May for the sixth Sunny West Bowling Carnival and get some special deals at Fiji’s Sonaisali Island Resort.
Pay from $1949 per person twin-share ex Sydney ($1849 ex Brisbane, $2049 ex Melbourne), including seven nights at Sonaisali.
Features breakfast daily; entry into the six-day tournament featuring Lovo, cocktail and prize-giving evenings. Visit www.fijibowls.com or www.sonaisali.com. Carnival runs May 24-29.
Save up to $1955 per couple with Travelmarvel’s companion-fly-free deal on nine-to-21-day holidays to India, Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Pay, for instance, from $5495 per person twin-share for the 15-day Colours of India itinerary, including international airfares, flights and rail travel within India, and an eight-day Lower Ganges River cruise.
Highlights include exploring the narrow lanes of Old Delhi via rickshaw, enjoying a Bollywood Show, and visiting the iconic Taj Mahal and the pink city of Jaipur.
Book by June 30.
Phone 1300 196 420 or visit www.travelmarvel.com.au.
