The pillar-top monasteries of Meteora … once climbed by ropes and ladders but now accessible via steps cut into the cliffs.
Travellers’ Good Buys for the week beginning December 16.
On Foot Holidays’ new seven-night Corfu and the Vikos Gorge walking tour includes the world’s deepest gorge and the pillar-top monasteries of Meteora in northern Greece.
Graded medium to hard, with three to seven hours of trekking each day, the walk includes a hike to the breathtaking Dragon Lake and around Mt Astraka as well as stays at B&Bs and restored houses including the charming home of the Papageorgiou family in the old stone village of Kapesovo where guests can help gather mushrooms and herbs and learn age-old local crafts.
Prices start from £725 per person twin-share, including B&B accommodation, two dinners, three picnic lunches, transfers, daily luggage transfers and local support.
A two-day extension will take walkers to the world-famous monasteries of Meteora in central Greece where remote retreats for Greek Orthodox monks and nuns were built from the 14-century atop soaring, sandstone pillars, once climbed by ropes and ladders but now accessible via steps cut into the cliffs.
Visit http://www.onfootholidays.co.uk
Cruise Abroad’s 35-day The Grand Rivers of Continental Europe package combines four CroisiEurope river cruises in France, Spain and Portugal — along the Seine ex Paris, along the Gironde and Garonne ex Bordeaux, along the Duoro ex Porto, and from Seville to Andalusia, via Cadiz, Granada and Cordoba.
Prices start at $11,499 per person twin-share ex Australia, including accommodation in Paris, Bordeaux, Porto, Seville and Madrid, connecting internal rail and air travel, and meals, drinks and shore excursions on the river cruises.
Phone 1300 669 369 or email [email protected]
Cruiseco’s 2014/15 program includes more than 50 11-day Mekong River packages between Saigon and Siem Reap.
Prices start at $3999 per person twin-share, including return air fares, two nights in the Caravelle Hotel Saigon, two nights in the Raffles Hotel d’Angkor Siem Reap and seven nights aboard the Cruiseco Adventurer.
As well as visiting significant landmarks such as the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, Angkor Wat, guests also have the chance to immerse themselves in local culture through excursions such as taking oxcart rides through rice paddies, visiting the floating markets, or receiving a blessing from a Buddhist monk.
Phone (02) 9492 8520 or visit http://www.cruising.com.au
Nature lovers should definitely take an interest in this one. Tempo Holidays is offering a four-day Galapagos Islands cruise aboard the 100-passenger five-star MV Galapagos Legend.
Fares start from $2201 per person twin-share – a $150 discount when booked by December 31.
The ship has a kids’ corner, jacuzzi, and swimming pool with sundeck and observation deck.
Phone 1300 558 987 or visit http://www.tempoholidays.com
Warner Bros Movie World, on the Gold Coast, has a new stunt show for the summer school holidays — FMX Overdrive, which features some of Australia’s best stunt-car drivers and freestyle motocross drivers performing jaw-dropping tricks and daring maneuvers.
The twice-daily show will run until January 25 and is included in the general-admission price of $89.99.
Visit http://www.movieworld.com.au
Seabourn Odyssey has arrived in Australia to start of the ultra-luxury cruise line’s biggest summer Downunder.
The 450-guest ship is scheduled to sail into Sydney next Monday [December 23] after a voyage down the East Coast and will spend the summer cruising Australian and New Zealand waters.
It will offer four cruises with local ports including Geelong, Burnie and Melbourne, until it returns to the northern hemisphere via Queensland and Asia in early March.
Meanwhile, sister ship Seabourn Sojourn will call at 11 Australian ports during its second trip down under, including maiden visits to Eden, Burnie, Geelong, Kangaroo Island, Bunbury, Geraldton and Exmouth and overnight visits to Sydney, Adelaide and Fremantle.
A 16-day cruise on Seabourn Odyssey departing Sydney on February 27 and cruising via Queensland and Indonesian ports including Flores, Komodo Island and Lembar en route to Bali, is priced from $4999 per person twin-share.
Phone 13 24 02 or visit http://www.seabourn.com
Australian artist Sophie Mill will lead Well Connected Travel’s nine-day painting-and-writing tour of New York next September, using a private brownstone city terrace as a base.
Travellers will meet and learn from other writers, artists and creatives, including international writing specialist, Columbia University Professor and third-generation New Yorker, Debbie Beller Horwitz.
The idea is for each person to bring home their own artwork, own journal and own enriching experience.
Land-content prices start at $6195 per person twin-share.
Visit http://www.wellconnectedtravel.com.au
Australian-based International Rail is offering a range of cut-price Italian rail fares on the Trenitalia network, including a $14 one-way super-economy fare between Milan and Venice.
Trenitalia is also offering the option to ship luggage ahead to destinations for as little as $28, and has introduced new bistro carriages providing traditional Italian and regional dishes from renowned chef Carlo Cracco.
The word is that the earlier you buy the super-economy advance-purchase tickets the cheaper they are.
Phone 1300 387 245 or visit http://www.internationalrail.com.au
Stay three nights at Adina Apartment Hotel Barrack Plaza and save 15 per cent on your Perth accommodation.
Pay from $160.65 per night for a studio room on Adina’s Summer Saver Picnic Package.
Includes a complimentary picnic rug; central Perth location.
Valid to February 28.
Visit http://adinahotels.com.au
Save 15 per cent at Oaks Liberty Towers in the Adelaide beachside suburb of Glenelg.
Pay from $159 per night for a one-bedroom apartment (three-night minimum stay).
Spectacular views of Glenelg Beach, Holdfast Marina and the glistening lights of Adelaide’s cityscape at night; within walking distance to the famous Jetty Road Precinct.
Book by December 25 for stays until February 27.
Phone 1300 721 801 or visit http://www.oakshotelsresorts.com
Save $300 per couple on a 2014 Travelmarvel 12-day Queensland tour.
Pay, for instance, from $3195 per person twin-share for the East Coast Adventure which starts in Sydney and travels the length of the East Coast to Cairns, taking in Port Macquarie, Byron Bay, Brisbane, Fraser Island, Rockhampton, the Whitsundays, Mission Beach, the Atherton Tablelands and the Great Barrier Reef.
Highlights include a special dinner at Sydney Tower; the chance to visit Australia Zoo; a two-night stay at the Kingfisher Bay Resort on Fraser Island; a cruise through the Whitsunday Islands, including a two night stay at Daydream Island Resort & Spa; a ride over the rainforest aboard the Kuranda Skyrail Rainforest Cableway; the chance to snorkel from Reef Magic’s exclusive activity platform on the Great Barrier Reef; and a special dinner at Tjapukai By Night – an Aboriginal cultural dance show.
Book by February 28
Phone 1300 300 036 or visit http://www.travelmarvel.com.au
Save $325 per person on Travelscene’s and Insight Vacations’ 11-day Country Roads of Belgium, Luxembourg & the Netherlands.
Pay from $2925 per person twin-share, including breakfast daily and five dinners.
Visit the site where the battle of Waterloo took place, cruise by glass-top boat through the old waterways of Amsterdam, meet a miller at a working windmill, visit an old cheese farm and witness the ancient art to clog making.
Book by January 15 for departures May 31 to August 23.
Phone 13 13 98 or visit http://www.travelscene.net.au
