Jetsettersblog

On 18 October, The Royal Shakespeare Company’s (RSC) world premiere production of Roald Dahl’s Matilda The Musical will preview at the Cambridge Theatre in London’s West End. Following a hugely successful run at the RSC in Stratford-Upon-Avon where it played to sold out audiences, Matilda the Musical is expected to be a huge success when it arrives in London. Short break specialist, Superbreak has packages on sale that combines overnight accommodation at a range of hotel with tickets to see the show.

Roald Dahl’s much-loved story about a girl with extraordinary powers bursts into life on stage in this brand new musical version by Dennis Kelly and award-winning musician and comedian Tim Minchin. Matilda Wormwood’s parents think she is a nuisance and she thinks, quite rightly, they are only interested in watching telly. Life is not much better at school, where the monstrous headmistress Miss Trunchbull terrifies both students and teachers alike. Then one day Matilda discovers she has a very special power and decides it’s time the grown-ups were taught a lesson. Be warned, the children are revolting…
The entire creative team will reassemble to create the London production and many adult cast members from the original production will reprise their roles at the Cambridge Theatre. In 1996 the fantastic story of Matilda was adapted into a film and now the stage adaptation is taking the theatre world by storm. The Musical was awarded the Peter Heppie Award for Best Musical at The Critics Circle Award.

Sample packages include:
Three star package – from £131pp staying one night b/b at the three star President Hotel and including a top priced ticket to the show. Valid and day of the week from 18 October to end of December. Based on two sharing.

Four Star package – from £160pp staying one night b/b at the four star Cavendish Hotel including a Top price ticket to the show. Valid Friday evenings from 18 October until the end of December. Based on two sharing.

For more information and bookings call Superbreak 0871 222 3055
or visit www.superbreak.com

Deep Link – http://www.superbreak.com/theatre/matilda_musical_family_musical-249.htm

Recognised as one of the best cities in the UK to spend Christmas, Edinburgh sparkles in the winter with six weeks of festive celebration. Bursting into life with fireworks, lights, funfairs and Europe’s largest outdoor ice rink, Edinburgh’s Christmas draws thousands every year. Central to the city’s celebrations are the majestic Edinburgh Wheel and atmospheric Christmas markets which are set beneath the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh Castle.

Highlights from Edinburgh’s Christmas 2010 included a dazzling new ice rink which brought a unique skating experience to Edinburgh, with live music and entertainment, food and drink stalls and innovative baby warming pods providing a fun-filled family day out. 2010 also saw the return of the famous ‘Light Night’ where a spectacular aerial trapeze performance from French street theatre company, ‘Transe Express’, along with a stunning fireworks display, kicked off the Christmas programme in style.

Preparations for this year’s festivities are well underway with Edinburgh’s Christmas set to make the city sparkle once again in 2011.

Whether it’s shopping, drinking, eating, fairs or festive fun, there’s something for everyone at Edinburgh’s Christmas.

For more information please visit www.edinburghschristmas.com

We’re also on Facebook (Edinburgh’s Christmas) and Twitter (@EdXmas)

Enjoy Grand Massif skiing and haute cuisine during a French festival of fine food and wine held in Samoëns this January 16-20, 2012

Skiing, fine food and wine are a natural French combination. This January 16-20th 2012, a select group of private winemakers from all over France will meet in Samoëns to talk about their wines over gourmet meals – and you’re invited! Five-star chalet Ferme du Ciel has put together a luxury accommodation package allowing guests to enjoy all the Winemakers’ Week events in combination with a deluxe ski holiday.

<!–[endif]–>Samoëns is a pretty French ski resort just an hour from Geneva airport that comes alive in a snowy celebration of fine food and wine during its annual Winemakers’ Week – “La Semaine Vigneronne”. Ferme du Ciel guests will have the opportunity to attend a selection of special events focused around matching fine wine and food.

<!–[endif]–>During the week, guest wine producers are specially invited from Alsace, Champagne, Côte du Rhône, Languedoc and Bourgogne. Each evening in the village’s snowy medieval heart, a different winemaker will present their wines in an intimate workshop, explaining the grape varieties, growing and winemaking methods they use. Participants will be able to taste the wines accompanied by complimentary foods such as chocolate, charcuterie, truffles and fois gras. Several local restaurants also host exclusive fine dining evenings with exquisite, multiple course menus tailored to match the wines.

<!–[endif]–>Set in a farming hamlet just outside of Samoëns’ centre, Ferme du Ciel (‘The Farm in the Sky’) is a beautifully renovated 350 year-old barn. The chalet offers a cosy, sophisticated atmosphere just perfect for an indulgent ski break. Great food is an important part of the chalet’s sophisticated package, and their in-house professional chef uses fresh local produce to prepare multiple-course evening meals in harmony with an extensive wine cellar, so guests can continue the fine food and wine experience at the chalet.

Winemakers’ Week at Ferme du Ciel (January 15-22, 2012)

Five-star accommodation + breakfasts

5 evenings of chef-catered meals at the chalet

1 gourmet dining experience in a local restaurant as part of the Winemakers’ week programme

Après ski option to attend wine workshops in the village each evening

7 night package £950pp

Visit www.fermeduciel.com and contact info@fermeduciel.com  or +33 450 58 44 57 for reservations.

Situated less than 20 miles off the coast of South America and just outside the hurricane belt, Aruba is blessed with a gentle breeze, bathed in year-round sunshine and temperatures averaging a glorious 28°C.

Visitors from the UK have grown by more than 60 per cent in the last two years, attracted by the island’s pristine white powder sandy beaches and the idyllic turquoise sea, which were voted among the top three in the world earlier this year by TripAdvisor users.

Access from the UK is easier than ever before (Thomson Airways flies directly from May to October and KLM launches new flights in November), while accommodation on the island is all four or five star standard.

From luxury independent properties to some of the world’s most trusted hotel brands, the options are varied with holidays to suit all budgets. Here are some sample packages:

- Less than £1,000 per person: Thomson Airways (0871 231 3234; www.thomson.co.uk) offers a seven-night package, including direct flights from London Gatwick, hotel transfers, junior suite accommodation, breakfast, staying at the recently refurbished The Mill Resort & Suites from £877pp, based on two people sharing. Departure on 18 October 2011.

- Between £1,000 and £1,500 per person: Hayes & Jarvis (0844 855 4488; www.hayesandjarvis.co.uk) offers a seven-night package, including flights from London Heathrow with KLM, hotel transfers, breakfast, staying at the four-star Amsterdam Manor Beach Resort from £1,322pp, based on two people sharing. Departure on 6 November 2011.

- More than £1,500 per person: Kenwood Travel (020 7749 9220; www.kenwoodtravel.com) offers a seven-night package, including flights from London Heathrow, hotel transfers, ocean view room, breakfast, staying at the Hyatt Regency Aruba Resort and Casino from £1,946pp, based on two people sharing. Departure on 1 November 2011.

The sun-drenched island boasts miles of idyllic beaches, secluded coves, colourful underwater world, distinctive Dutch colonial architecture to a dry, arid interior and indulgent spa treatments.

Aruba enjoys one of the highest repeat visitor figures in the Caribbean (60 per cent according to the latest available statistics from the Aruba Tourism Authority).

For more information on visiting Aruba please go to www.aruba.com

Every year in early September, Nuremberg becomes the heartland of bicycles when top international cycling teams visit the city for the annual cycle race “Around the Old Town” (“Rund um die Altstadt”). Visit this exciting event with airberlin from only £41 one way.

The largest one day cycling event in Bavaria offers a great atmosphere in front of the Nuremberg Castle with over 100,000 spectators cheering for the male and female teams that are competing for world cup points. The event also offers a varied program for young and old including dancing and spinning courses and a classic car parade.

What’s more, if you want to show off your pedal power, Nuremberg’s green areas have some of the most beautiful cycle paths in Germany’s South. Rent a bike from one of the many bike rental outlets in the city and off you go!

Pack your cycling gear now and visit “Around the Old Town” on September 4. Book your flight with airberlin from London Gatwick to Nuremberg online with airberlin at www.airberlin.com or by calling the 24 hours service centre 0871 500 0737 (10 p/min) or via travel agents. Tickets are available from just £41 one way* including taxes, charges and topbonus miles.

*Prices include taxes, fuel surcharge, allocated seating, a 20kg baggage allowance, a complimentary choice of snacks, soft drinks, an airberlin chocolate heart, newspapers & magazines and miles from the frequent flyer program topbonus. A children’s discount is available on some fares.

airberlin is Germany’s second largest airline. The company has a workforce of 8,900 employees. In 2010 alone, airberlin received over 10 awards for service and quality. The fleet comprises 170 aircraft with an average age of five years, making it one of the most modern fleets in Europe. The airline’s state-of-the-art jets are highly fuel efficient, which contributes toward a long-term reduction in pollution emissions from aircraft. As one of the major European airlines, airberlin flies to 163 destinations in 39 countries. In 2010, the airline carried 33.6 million passengers. airberlin has signed up for membership to the global airline alliance oneworld® and is expected to become a full member at the start of 2012. airberlin operates codeshare flights with the oneworld-members American Airlines, British Airways, Finnair, S7 and Iberia.

Train Hire is the low-cost option for charter trains and large group travel across the entire British rail network, with long-distance journeys from £35 per person for return travel.

Private train hire allows direct travel to the chosen destination in a reserved train, without changes, even if the chosen route would have required changes if normal scheduled trains were being used.

For large group travel on scheduled trains, Train Hire either reserves or attaches private rail carriages or arranges for the group to sit together in public carriages.

Train Hire will advise on whether to hire a private train or to use a public scheduled train service, depending which is the most cost-effective for the particular group and route.

The process of hiring a train or arranging group travel is simple with Train Hire because everything is managed for the group organiser. A single contact handles the booking from start to finish, advising on costs and options, arranging the train travel.

Simon Pielow of Train Chartering, the company behind Train Hire, says, “Train Hire has been designed for the growing awareness of group travel organisers that Britain’s railways are a great way to take large groups long distances.”

Train Chartering has provided charter trains and private carriages since 1998 to corporate and individual clients as well as group travel organisers. Combining this experience with a wide range of train types, Train Chartering is in a unique position to deliver real benefit with Train Hire.

Carefully selected boutique style hotels, cooking demonstrations and meeting other chefs from the regions make up the ingredients of these sumptuous new trips from World Expeditions:

NEW India Culinary Tour 18 days
Staying at beautiful heritage hotels, the journey will encompass master classes with well-known Indian chefs while also dining in specialty restaurants across the country from south to north. The diversity of cuisine is equalled by the contrasting landscapes and cultures as it encompasses the relaxed pace of Kerala in the south, the bustling streetscapes of the capital New Delhi and much in between. The tour includes an overnight train journey, superb wildlife sightings at Periyar National Park and a cool drink overlooking the sands of the Rajasthan Desert. The unique home stays and the vast history, palaces and forts of Hyderabad, Mumbai, Udaipur and Jaipur provide another captivating tangent to the trip.
Price: £3,790 per person
Departs: 8 October 2011, 5 March 2012

NEW Food Lovers’ Peru 16 days
With magnificent mountains, glorious coastline and Amazonian jungle, Peru is one of the world’s ‘hottest’ food destinations. Under the guidance of a highly experienced local team and in the company of self-confessed food obsessive, culinary journalist and lifetime food traveller Joanna Savill, you will get the chance to explore every aspect of this truly exciting gastronomic melting pot. Markets, street food, superb modern eateries and traditional taverns, cooking classes and even cocktail demonstrations are all part of the journey. The Incan treasures of Machu Picchu are also included, as well as plenty of time for shopping for local intricate textiles, fine silver and luxurious alpaca-wool knits.
Price: £3,490 per person
Departs: 10 November 2011

NEW Morocco Cuisine and Culture 15 days
Experience this very special gourmet tour of Morocco, escorted by well-known Moroccan food expert Meera Freeman. Staying in stunning riads in Marrakech, you will visit historical monuments and gardens, as well as the medina surrounded by food and produce stalls. There will also be a traditional Moroccan cooking lesson, learning from a traditional chef. You will then travel to Skoura to follow the route of 1,000 kasbahs, wander around the food market at Rissani and take a camel ride to the dunes of Merzouga, to view the sunset and spend the night in a luxury tented camp with local food and music. The trip ends in Casablanca after exploring the city of Fes and Morocco’s capital, Rabat.
Price: £4,590 per person
Departs: 15 April 2012

NEW Wine, Poets And Pilgrims Of Northern Italy 15 days
Discover the enogastronomic wonders of northwest Italy: Barolo wine, cured meats and hand-crafted cheeses… This trip is all about beautiful hotels, stunning walks, fascinating history and culture – plus exceptional food and wines! Experience a cooking class with a Piedmontese chef and meet with winemakers and local producers. Visit beautiful Parma, the undisputed gourmet capital of Emilia Romagna. Walk part of the Via Francigena pilgrim route and discover an untouched area of Tuscany before descending to the Gulf of Poets on the Ligurian coast to explore the quaint villages of Cinque Terre.
Price: £4,290 per person
Departs: 20 April 2012

NEW Tastes of Bali 10 days
For a small island Bali has an immensely rich cultural history. This gourmet adventure consists of cooking classes, traditional massages, market visits and sightseeing, while evenings are enjoyed sampling the best of Balinese cuisine. You will spend time at the beautiful Jimbaran Bay, one of Bali’s best beaches, the small fishing village of Candidasa, and then Ubud, the cultural heart of Bali, and the popular area of Seminyak. With a predominately Hindu population, the island is renown for its spiritual festivals, diverse art forms such as painting, handicrafts and performing arts, along of course with its culinary delights.
Price: £4,250 per person
Departs: 8 May 2012

For more information on World Expeditions’ gourmet adventures please visit www.worldexpeditions.co.uk  or call 0800 0744 135. World Expeditions’ all-inclusive policy ensures there are no local payments. Prices do not include international flights, however these can be arranged on request.

Combine running workshops with a traditional city break with two new packages from Iceland Express Travel where active travellers can learn how to train more effectively using the Smart Motion Running technique.

The exclusive tours, which have been put together by the sister company of the low-fare airline Iceland Express, Iceland Express Travel, offer the very latest training and coaching techniques for beginners, recreational runners and elite runners. Across the workshops runners will discover how to run minimising the stress on joints and the spine, maximise energy consumption, avoid injury from running and achieve a natural running style.

The first workshop runs from 23 – 26 September and offers two or three night options including two running workshops from £622 per couple based on two adults sharing a hotel double room for two nights, daily breakfast, airport transfers and a relaxing trip to the Blue Lagoon on the departure day.

The second package starts on 29 December 2011 – 2 January 2012 and combines the famous Icelandic Old Year Run which is an annual running event occurring on the last day of the year and is the Icelandic way of wishing the old year ‘goodbye’.

Prices start from £748 per couple based on two adults sharing a hotel double room for three nights, daily breakfast, airport transfers and a trip to the geothermal spa, the Blue Lagoon on the departure day. Runners will enjoy a daily workshop before the Old Year Run on the 31 December and see in the New Year in the party city of Reykjavik.

Flights from London Gatwick to Reykjavik are available with Iceland Express from only £89 one-way including taxes.

There are a host of optional extras which can all be booked through Iceland Express Travel. For more information on the packages and booking options visit www.expresstravel.is/Packages  or call + 354 5 900 100.

For more information on flights with Iceland Express please visit www.icelandexpress.com  or call 0118 321 8384.

Base Backpackers has launched a dynamic new tech-savvy website built for i-phones, smart phones, i-Pads, tablets and other mobile media devices.

Base, a leader in backpacker hostel accommodation in Australia and New Zealand, launched today their new look booking website designed and built for today’s always-connected global youth traveller.

Campbell Shepherd, CEO of Base, said “We spent considerable time researching the latest technology trends, what our guests were experiencing online, how they were consuming this medium and how we could improve our online presence.

“We quickly realised that with the speed of technology and the everyday use of social media we needed a responsive design, an engaging connection, we needed to consider the use of apps and we needed to embrace the latest trends in high quality visual imagery and video whilst ensuring our No.1 priority of booking beds was fast, simple and easy.

“It’s quite surprising given the nature of the backpacker market that most sites have remained fairly traditional in their style, so we believe we will lead the market in terms of adapting the technology towards the needs of the changing market.

“Travellers are connecting more and more devices wirelessly to the Internet, whilst tablets and iPads have been a runaway success. The ‘pocketable’ iPhone, Android and smart phone devices are increasingly driving the way we interact and the way our guests are booking beds, so the new site will better meet the market demands.”

Mr Shepherd said the new Base website was a massive investment into the future of anywhere-anytime connectivity for travellers.

For the technically minded, the new site has a custom built CMS system, developed and engineered directly around the objectives and future opportunities for Base.

The custom-built blog platform has been developed to create far greater levels of customer interactivity and user engagement.

“To be the most innovative thinking hostel chain in the world, we chose to invest and build our very own technology, rather than using the same old open source code widely available today. We feel this gives us a compelling advantage,” said Mr Shepherd.

The new site has a unique user interface that delivers style with unparalleled website and booking engine functionality

An important key in the success of the new website, is its ability to dynamically adjust SEO down to a very granular level.

“It’s all about function,” Campbell Shepherd said, “Book a bed, buy a travel deal, purchase an event ticket – we’ve ramped up our products and services and we’ve combined key social media outlets like facebook, twitter and our blog.

“We wanted to blend the best from a technology and contemporary accommodation websites to suit our market of young, savvy, street-wise global travellers, whilst never under-estimating the power of simplicity.

“We wanted to be ready now and ready for the future.”

About Base Backpackers

Base is a leading backpacker hostel, bar and travel provider, with 14 Bases located in Australia and New Zealand. Launched in 2003, the Base brand has an enviable reputation amongst its peers for a high quality travel experience with fun, safety and security the mantra.

For more information, please visit our website at www.stayatbase.com

Wildlife lovers will enjoy the new tours from Unwind in Nature. With strong sustainable credentials, these tours offer a personal approach to wildlife watching with opportunities to see seals, otters, sea eagles and much more across the Outer Hebrides. The tours are run by James MacLetchie who worked closely with and provided inspiration for Monty Hall’s Great Hebridean Escape.

www.unwindinnature.com