Travel
Travellers’ Good Buys
Travellers’ Good Buys for Week beginning May 13
APT is offering free return airfares — a saving of up to $6400 per couple — on selected 2014 Royal Experience European river cruises booked by October 31 this year.
A 21-day Paris-to-Prague voyage, for example, is priced from $10,395 per person twin-share, including three-night city stays at both ends of the cruise. It also includes 50 meals, including chef’s table dining, local guides, all beverages, Freedom of Choice sightseeing inclusions in 11 destinations, entrance fees, tipping and airport transfers.
Phone 1300 278 278 or visit www.aptouring.com.au
Aurora Expeditions will expand its program of small-ship voyages to include Alaska next year, using the 60-passenger Wilderness Adventurer to hug the coast, venturing deep into secluded bays, past massive icebergs and calving glaciers, into the feeding ground of the largest concentration of humpback whales in the Northern Hemisphere, and past majestic forests that are home to an array of wildlife including black and brown bears, wolves, moose, mink, otters, eagles, and sea birds.
As always, the aim is to land on shore as much as possible.
Prices for the 17-day journey start at US$7500 per person twin-share, ex Seattle.
Phone 1800 637 688 or visit www.auroraexpeditons.com.au
At the world’s other icy end, Cruise1st has a new 14-night voyage aboard Celebrity Infinity from Buenos Aires to Antarctica and the Falkland Islands via Chile and Uruguay.
Departure date is February 1, with prices starting at $4599 per person twin-share ex Sydney.
The itinerary includes Ushuaia, Cape Horn, Schollart Channel, Paradise Bay, Elephant Island, Port Stanley, Puerto Madryn and Montevideo, plus one-night stays in Buenos Aires at the beginning and end of the cruise.
Phone 1300 596 345 or visit www.cruise1st.com.au
The far northern island of Hokkaido is the best Japanese destination for seeing birds, bears and other wildlife during Japan’s brief autumn.
Toursgallery’s 15-day 2013 Hokkaido Nature Tour will take a small group off the beaten track in autumn to experience some of the country’s most picturesque natural habitats, including the wild Shakotan Peninsula, which is rarely visited by overseas tourists.
The tour commences on October 14 and costs $7988 per person twin-share, including best-available accommodation, all breakfasts and banquet dinners, and charter of a small launch at Shiretoko Peninsula for best viewing of brown bears and their cubs foraging for food.
Phone 1300 307 317 or visit www.toursgallery.com
Peru’s rise as a major culinary destination has been confirmed by the inclusion of two Lima eateries —Astrid &Gastón and Virgilio Martinez’s Central — in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.
In September, Lima will again stage the 10-day Mistura Food Festival, one of the continent’s biggest, this time with the added attraction of hosting the competition for Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants 2013.
Visit www.peru.travel
Charges for using your mobile phone can be one of the unpleasant surprises when travelling overseas,
HolidayPhone, a new player on the Australian market, reckons it has some relief with a SIM card providing low-cost voice, text and roaming free mobile internet.
The card operates in nearly 30 countries, including Spain, UK, USA and Italy.
Visitwww.holidayphone.com.au
Political bluster aside, South Korea is a wonderful country to visit, with marvellous cultural and natural attractions.
For sports fans, an added attraction is the 2013World Rowing Championships, which will be held on the massive Chungju Dam from August 25 to September 1.
Chungju is known as South Korea’s ‘green city’ and is also home to the Chungju World Martial Arts Park.
There is spectacular mountain scenery in the national parks that surround the area.
Visit visitkorea.or.kr
Guests at The Sebel Pier One Sydney will be right in the heart of the action from May 24 to June 10 when Vivid 2013, the city’s festival of light, incorporates the Harbour Bridge and the Walsh Bay arts precinct for the first time.
The hotel has organised a raft of activities for the occasion, and has overnight accommodation packages from $299 including breakfast for two and parking.
Phone 02 8298 9999 or visit www.sebelpierone.com.au
Save on prime-location accommodation in Brisbane’s east end.
Pay from $145 per night for a Studio Queen room in Adina Apartment Hotel Brisbane.
Get sweeping views of the Brisbane river,the city skyline and the iconic Story Bridge.
Visit www.adinahotels.com.au
Save up to 62 per cent staying at Forster on the NSW Central Coast.
Pay from $130 per couple per night, minimum seven-night stay, in the 4.5-star Sails Luxury Apartments.
Located only metres from the main beach and the town centre; pool, heated spa, undercover parking and competition tennis court.
Until September 19.
Visit travel.com.au
Save up $2400 per couple with a $500 upgrade to a balcony cabin on Cruise Express’s 23-nightPassage to India cruise-tour package next April.
Pay from $8990 per person twin-share, including an inside cabin on the 12-night Azamara Journey cruise from Singapore to India, via Thailand, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
Includes an eight-night overland tour through India’s Rajasthan province, with stays at five-star properties such as the marbled Taj Lake Palace in Udaipur.
Book by May 31.
Phone 1300 764 509 or visit www.cruiseexpress.com.au
Save up to 80 per cent with Sea World Resort’s Ultimate Theme Park special.
Pay $79.50 per adult twin-share, plus $20 for each child, for a night’s accommodation and unlimited entry to Warner Bros Movie World, Sea World and Wet ’n’ Wild Water World.
Stay for two nights or more, they’ll receive a free Dolphin Discovery presentation at Sea World;25 per cent off food and beverage, Kids’ Club and free wifi.
Valid until July 14.
Visit
www.seaworld.com.au