Just beachy … a sea view from a room at the Arennas Mancora hotel, Peru
Escapism
New tour operator Miraviva is tipping Máncora, a small fishing village in northern Peru, as a hotspot. Surfers and backpackers dominate the centre, but Las Pocitas, 10 minutes’ drive away, has sophisticated hotels such as honeymoon-friendly Arennas Mancora.
• From £1,125pp (based on two sharing) for four nights including flights from London, internal flights, transfers and breakfast with miravivatravel.com
What’s new?
A bubble tent at Cabanes de la Romaningue
Accommodation
Sleep among the trees at Cabanes de la Romaningue – a new collection of caravans, pods and cabins in the Gironde vineyards near Bordeaux, France. Futuristic bubble tents with a terrace start from €130 a night. There are also three treehouses, one accessed via zipwire, also from €130.
• cabanes.laromaningue.fr
Flight connection
The little-known international airport at Cambridge is now offering one-stop connections to a number of US destinations, including LA and New York, via Paris or Amsterdam. And thanks to an agreement between Cambridge carrier Darwin Airline and Air France, passengers can check their bags in at Cambridge and have them sent straight to a final destination airport in America, with just a short layover in Paris.
• cambridgeairport.com
Reinefjorden, Norway. Photograph: Ethan Welty/Getty Images
Website
The fjords, ski resorts and northern lights of Norway have long made the country popular with tour groups. But a new website aims to help make its attractions easier to access for independent travellers too. Flydrivenorway.co.uk lists restaurants, hotels, car hire companies and weather forecasts for the whole country, and offers discounts on partner accommodation, car hire and flights booked through the site.
Snow watch
Hot on the heels of acro-yoga and yog-aqua comes ski-yoga, a dubious-sounding mix of meditation and stretching carried out atop a mountain – while still on your skis. Four-day packages at the swish Grand Hotel Kronenhof in the Swiss resort of Pontresina cost from £885, including daily indoor and outdoor yoga sessions, lift pass and massages in the hotel’s spa, but not flights.
Cheap date
Starboard is a new collection of luxury boats from self-catering specialist Hoseasons. The 20 vessels – at four bases in Norfolk and Oxfordshire – come with a champagne welcome pack, binoculars, iPod docks, nice linen, and even space for your bikes, all from £549 a week for four people, £365 for a short break. Booking from December.
• 0844 847 1100, hoseasons.co.uk
Travel trash
Don’t forget to pack your Sled Buddies if you’re taking the kids somewhere snowy this winter. The cute penguin- and polar bear-shaped sledges are light (500g), fit into a suitcase (they’re 90cm long) and, crucially, feature “Arctic Groove Technology”. Whatever that might be.
• For ages eight and over, £24.99, atbshop.co.uk
Win a holiday
The Guardian Cottages and Villas website, which lists more than 1,400 self-catering properties in the UK and Europe, is offering three readers a cottage stay worth up to £350. Winners can take their prize at any property on the site. Enter now at theguardian.com/cottage-competition.
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