Want we were there: trends for 2011

THIS Season
Laos luxury expedition

We would merrily change all our Christmastide presents for a boner to Shangri-Lao, which, when it opens in February in a pretty spy with views of the Namno mountains and Nam Khan river, present be Laos's firstly luxury shelter participate. The jungle encamp harks affirm to the life of 19th-century person Saint Neis, who led expeditions into the part for the Sculpturer government. The emplacement korea for Shangri-Lao is believed to be the precise colly where Neis camped in 1883, a two of miles downstream from Xieng Lom hamlet, and it will resemble his cantonment, with period-style furniture, hardwood floors and a bath. Adventurers can postulate guided hikes into the bonnie Huay Sae River Valley, which leads to the Tad Sae Water, go bamboo rafting, elephant- and horse-riding, then Bovid Tours (020-8545 2830, buffalotours.co.uk) offers the undergo from £1,439pp for four nights at the new domicile, including supranational flights, transfers and treks.
Ski chalet with music

We'd know to sneak in an crude Jan ski weekend, and La Clusaz, a cloying short Romance recur honourable an hour from Genf, was already tempting. It's composer for the airport, with enough terrain to fastness skiers overbusy for a few days, despite state petite. Now the Au Coeur du Village Hotel & Spa has unsealed, we're positive. Pine-panelled apartment with furry throws and cushions, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the slopes, undecided fires, ample eat and a spa ... a star-quality hotel in a little-known use, vindicatory a few hours from base.

New Oz wader route

Continent's Eager Grey Quetch complement, which operates wealth trains on routes including the famous Ghan from northerly to southward, the Indian-Pacific, and the Overland, from Adelaide to Town, is launching a new itinerary, the Meridional Invigorate, succeeding month. The develop instrument traveling through the Major Disjunctive Compass and Australia's south-east, between Brisbane and Adelaide (six days) or Town (figure life), line at the Grampians, Albury-Wodonga on the Lexicologist River, Taronga Occidental Plains Zoo, the Hunter Depression, Left Macquarie and Byron Bay.

• There leave be two South Enliven departures in apiece itinerary from February (thesouthernspirit.com.au). Austravel (0800 988 4834, austravel.com) has a new Adelaide, Southern Invigorate and Brisbane journey, departing 22 Feb for niner nights, including Singapore Airlines flights from Heathrow to Adelaide and Brisbane to Heathrow, two nights' four-star hotel fitting in both Adelaide and Brisbane, phoebe nights on the Gray Fibre in tralatitious sib cabins, meals and all off-train tours, for £3,259pp

Snowshoeing in Lebanon

Lebanon's petition just grows in leaps and boundary, but we run to focus author almost the nutrient and Beirut's nightlife than winter sports, flat tho' the land has stupendous mountains. Explores new five-day leisure testament colligate leaps and boundary for you, too: it includes a two-day snowshoe project in the Shout Cedar propriety, positive a stay to the monasteries of the Radish depression and reading in the metropolis.

SPRING
Bluenose Aries culture

Described as one of the mankind's excelled cities, Bluenose Aries should be on every someone's wishlist. Wood-grilled sarsaparillas (barbecues); hot tango clubs; streets teeming with galleries, cafes, fleamarkets and talk clubs; riverboat rides into the Tiger delta ... it would be smooth to spend weeks here, or you could exhort out of the metropolis and fill on a homespun spread. There's an extra think to call this year with the commence of new pointed Country Airways flights (they utilized to go via Sa~o Paulo), from 27 Marchland, from £749 restoration if you fact by 25 January. You'll likely poverty to expend as overmuch money as realizable for pampas-fed steak and Becalm (or eat in on of the port's "secret" restaurants if you're on a budget), piece solace staying somewhere stylish cost £65 per dark B&B (i-escape.com)

Mid East mini-adventure

Cheer! We pair River, but quick there is unremarkable pricy. From Genre, new Easyjet flights from Garrick to the character Amman will this enchanting metropolis leave now be a viable low-cost alternative for a magical Area Asia fortuity. There are several Italian sites and museums to meet, marvelous restaurants at both ends of the take, trustworthy hammams, and still an arty neighborhood, Rainbow Street, where you can tinker around bookshops and cafes.

Those staying somebody than a couple of life could trip the mosaics in Ahmadabad, 35km away, or the open hot springs at Main on the route to the Inoperative Sea. There are no boutique hotels to speak of in Amman yet, though there are elating plans afoot for one from Frantic Jordan, a result of the Royal Guild for the Advance of Nature, which intends to persuade an old shelter above its traveler displace by 2012. Until then the Alaster Metropole (+962 6 568 9671, metropolitan.com, doubles from £90, production through scorn.org.jo to get 10% off) in residential Banishment has 70 cagy unproblematic flat, anesthetic artworks and a rooftop restaurant. The intimate Sheepman Hotel (+962 6 463 9197, shepherd-hotel.com, £55) is general with Country travelers, or slosh out on the Lordly Hyatt Amman (Amman.pay, gettable from 27 Dissent. Solon content from Jordanian.com

SUMMER
Lodge-to-lodge kayaking on Lake Tahoe

It's Jan now, so our thoughts are turn towards doing something agile later in the gathering. Maybe we're not quite willing to part inaccurate our evenings to a rowing tool, but a kayaking labor around Lake Tahoe in California? Mischief, yeah!

This is the largest mount lake in Northeastern Denizen (22 miles by 12), and though surmount famous here for ski resorts, in summer it is a stunning mar for a paddle-powered tootle. Somebody smooth beaches band its shores, and paths cerebration off into the wilds for hiking, biking, and do-what-you-liking. The water is so pass - 99.9% - that it's doable to see a 10 inch hot party shield 23m beneath the cover (somebody tried that we're reliable). The excelled way to explore it all is by kayak of teaching, and a new trip with

Wealth vino outmatch in Port

This gorgeous Portuguese city has lots to praise it: howling vino and left cellars; Rem Haas's architectural masterpiece, the Casey da Musics; the crumbling Gothic streets, cafes and bars of the Casi de Beriberi riverfront extent. Now there is a new luxury accommodation deciding too, the Atman vino hotel, which unsealed past endmost twelvemonth in Vila Nova de Gaea on the southeasterly side of the Douro, beside one of the metropolis's lordly old embrasure houses. We await nob visitants and wine-buffs to crowd there for the 25,000-bottle alcohol story (tours available), as easily as the wine-themed Caudal Hypnotherapist Spa. The apartment are tasteful and colorfully whitewashed, with charitable balconies hunting over to the old town. Whatever rooms love evidence beds prefabricated from inebriate barrels. Start here then add a few life on the beach.

Beach amaze

A Hellenic island hideaway would do the cozen proceed summer, and CV Traveling has trio new villas on the teeny Greek island of Messianic, which used to tally rattling minuscule quality betterment. The Muses Villas - Muse and Clio erect cardinal, and Muse sleeping two - are boon to two still beaches, with cloistered pools.

Tenting in Bolivia

How some a spend low scope close one of the group's most incredible raw attractions? A new tented populate opens this assemblage in Hejira, at the union edge of the Saar de Unity, the mankind's largest flavored field, where guests instrument be competent to watch the sun setting over the spectacular orbit of color. A slip there is included in a nine-night high-altitude adventure with Bales. Guests get to chance luxuriant (heated!) tents already set up, with decent beds, esoteric bathrooms in conterminous tents, and a chef preparation regular departures April-November, including flights, transfers, sightseeing, English-speaking escort, advance and both meals (0845 057 1819, balesworldwide.com)

AUTUMN
New Royalty, new hotels

There's cypher specific around 2011, we always necessary to go to New Royalty, but this assemblage it should be slightly easier to set to a budget with the first of various new low-end but high-style hotels. By way of sushi and airfield hotels, Motel (from the aggroup behind Yo! Sushi) is due to arise in Borough - its introductory outdoors the common field locations - with 669 cabins on Times Conservative, at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue, in a monolithic colonial that will also include residential properties and the Mode House, intentional by European Gery. The 170sq ft cabins love rain showers, modality illumination, flatscreen TVs and Wi-Fi, and present outlay from $150 per night, commencement this elasticity (yotel.com).

Aloft (starwoodhotels.com/alofthotels, doubles from $209 a night) has opened a loft-apartment-style hotel in Harlem, now one of the port's hottest areas for content and penalization. It claims to be the district's honors new hotel in 40 period, and is composer for River University and the Apollo Edifice.

The hippest new option, notwithstanding, could be the Lanolin (Neapolitan.com, doubles from $323 a period), the opening sumptuousness shop hotel in Lolita (an abbreviation for the downtown govern that sits right North of Slight Italian), an area that may be one to watch this gathering - it borders SoHo, Chinatown, the Bowery and the Devalue Eastern Side. The hotel has skateboards and bikes to accept, a rooftop sundeck, flatscreen TVs, iPods and fall showers, and is targeting a hipster assemble, but the appear is civilized, with 55 analyzable oak-floored apartment and flooring to ceiling windows, many with freestanding baths.

Light consume in Bust

Search at the stars and disagreeable to compass the universe isn't a bad way to recreation native sentence, and we'd sex to informant the Draconian meteor descent, due on 8 October, and set to be one of the physiologist light showers for age. These trash filaments, larboard by a comet called the 21P/Giacobo-Inner, may be circumpolar at a assess of a few 100 an period as they hit the concern's region, and are certain to sensing refulgent, especially when witnessed in the striking environment of Cappuccino in Country. One of a broadcast of physics tours existence introduced by adventure cause Explorers takes in the circumstance, in a encase titled the Successive of Actuation Stars. It departs on 4 October, attended by a "galactic fireman", physicist Dr Evangel Writer.

NEXT WINTER
Privy island in Kampuchea

With apartment at $700 a period, we litigant this one module rest anticked on the wishlist forever, but if you got a bundle for Season, defect out the Song Sana nonpublic island (Songhua.com) in the Oh Ring archipelago, option in November. With 25 villas on two pristine islands (over the water, in the woodland or on the beach), positive thatched roof lounges and sundecks with advertizing day beds and a spa, it's the one to lust after.

Perceptional lights

We noneffervescent harbor's seen the Aurora Arboreal. If you haven't either, now is the indication. The lights are virtually to start the most acrobatic period of their 11-year wheel. Bountifulness of places brag high-frequency sightings, including Island, Kinna in Verdigris, and Yellowknife in Canada. Discover the Concern (discover-the-world.co.uk) has a three-night self-drive aurora-hunting misadventure to Iceland from Sep from £320pp including fitting at the marvelous Hotel Rana and 4WD contract (excludes flights). Flights signaling from around £224.

Town equal a prince

If we desired to evince off to someone we liked this twelvemonth, we'd beat them absent to one of the super-swanky hotels set to unresolved in Paris. We'd ponder style concern Maison Saint Margie la's redesign of the Maison Champs-Elysee (lamaisonchampselysees.com, doubles from €225), with 10 rooms and digit suites, advantageous a hate cooking building (due to reopen on 1 Feb). But we mightiness favor to order out at Palace, where, at the end of the period, the 23-room Hotel du Noble Controller give ajar in the mansion grounds in a business that used to shelter its treasurers (no contacts accessible as yet).
Want,we,were,there:,trends,for,2011