If you've ever wondered (or even if you haven't) what goes on in winter in Manchuria, Siberia and Mongolia when temperatures range from four (above) to 29 (below) you are about to find out.
Seriously, the world, from a travel point of view is shrinking, in the sense everybody you talk to these days seems to have “been there, done that”; unless you are talking about these three destinations which Far Horizons Travel has packaged into a neat, 19-day itinerary for next February.
The tour will include the spectacular Harbin Ice Lantern Festival in Manchuria (although the People's Republic of China prefers you to call it Dong Bei Province) with a fairytale landscape of life-size buildings and fantasy characters carved from ice and snow (pictured), and the former Cossack settlement of Irkutsk for a genuine Siberian troika ride.
You will celebrate with a Mongolian family in their traditional “ger” (home) and spectate during displays of horseback archery, which was popular when Ghengis Khan was in charge.
Not convinced? Add camel polo in the South Gobi Desert, visit Mongolia's largest monastery or take in a concert of Russian, French and Italian songs (accompanied on a rare vertical piano) in a former royal mansion in Siberia.
Still not sold on the idea? How about skating on the world's largest “rink” - a frozen Lake Baikal; an international skating marathon and ice festival in Mongolia and even (spectate only) wrestling on ice.
It's not exactly cheap but for this kind of travel oneupmanship, the 19-day package including air, meals, guides, accommodation, surface transport and entrance fees costs from $15,000 pp twin share.
Call 1800 083 141 for more information.
Now this is room service
Pick, pay and pick-up later
The great duty-free scramble at airports is about to become a thing of the past. We've probably all done it - leaving those special upper price-range items (you know the stuff; the shopping list which wasn't accompanied by money) and which you deliberately left to the last minute, despite your knowledge airport duty-free, away from Sydney, can be hellishly expensive.
Now The Shilla Seoul, arguably South Korea's premier five-star property, has introduced in-room duty free shopping. Could be other places have something similar; we just haven't struck it. And it is certainly a first for Korea.
Guests choose from a big range of luxury-branded duty free goods, from premium wines and spirits, cosmetics and fragrances, to jewellery, clothing and accessories. There's a catalogue in every room for your perusal at leisure as long as you file your order at least 24 hours before departure. Payments are made by credit card at check-out, with discounts available by completing a VIP application form with a business card attached. You present your receipt as you leave the country, collecting your goods at one of two duty-free outlets opened by The Shilla at Seoul's swish new Incheon Airport. It's that simple, leaving you time to enjoy the airport facilities or have a “primer” in one of the lounges.
The Shilla Seoul has been around a long time. It was our home-away-from-home when we previewed the Seoul Olympics and it has only improved with age (and the occasional top-dollar makeover). It is part of the electronics giant Samsung Group which also has the Shilla Jeju, with both members of the prestigeous The Leading Hotels of the World. They recently added another five-star property, The Shilla Suzhou, in China.
So if you're heading to the Land of the Morning Calm on business or holiday, ask your travel agent to put you in a Shilla or visit www.shilla.net Christmas in Antarctica
Just in case you were considering a Christmas-with-a-difference in Antarctica (and you'd be amazed how many people are) here's a reminder of a classic expedition booking deadline of July 31.
The cut-off date is for big savings of up to $1500 pp when you book with Cruiseco for one of their 15- to 18-night adventures adventures aboard the classic expedition ship Discovery (pictured) which sails from South America in December and January.
The savings bring a 15-night Christmas package to $4195 pp twin share.
Guests will have two-nights pre-cruise in Buenos Aires with an organised sightseeing tour before the flight to Ushuaia to join the ship for Drake Passage, six days in Antarctic's South Shetland Islands, Antarctica Sound, Paradise Island for Christmas Day celebrations, and Half Moon Island. There's also the magic of rounding Cape Horn (in comfort), cruising the Beagle Channel and Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas then two nights in Santiago.
Prices include all onboard dining, airport/hotel/ship transfers, and gratuities for cabin stewards and restaurant waiters.
For full details, including costs of air travel to join the cruise, call 1800 225 656. Tee for four anyone?
Several of Europe's best golf courses are on the menu in a tempting new range of Tempo Holidays packages for chasers of the little white pill.
Deals in Scotland (where the game was born), Spain and Portugal (where it migrated) combine hotels, breakfasts and rounds of golf.
The four-day Ultimate Golfing Holiday package based at the five-star Gleneagles Golf Resort in Scotland costs from $5625 pp twin share based on four guests and includes two 18-holers plus a connoisseur's tour of Tullibardine Whisky Distillery.
In Spain, the five-day Valencia Golf Getaway (from $1257 pp twin share) is based on the five-star Hotel Sidi Saler, with daily breakfasts, picnic lunches on three golf days and green fees at your choice of the El Saler, El Bosque, Escorpion or Foressos courses.
The five-day Taste of Golf in Portugal's Algarve (from $1590 pp twin share) has four nights at the five-star deluxe Hotel Vila Vita Parc, breakfasts and 18 holes at each of the Alto Golf, Silves and Palmares courses.
Fore! Call 1300 558 987.
Note: For Alto Golf and Palmares courses, golfers must have a handicap below 28 for men and 36 for women; for Silves, it's 27 and 35. It could be handy if you carry an official handicap certificate. Have Ma’am for a near neighbour
And the kids can feel at home too
There are few better addresses location-wise in London than the esteemed Athenaeum Hotel, handy for just about everything, including Buckingham Palace.
And now that they have a dedicated children's program which incorporates a wide range of fun and practical ideas for the travelling family, it is possible to set up home-away-from-home in one of the Athenaeum's 33 apartments.
The program caters for the lot, from babies to teens. They even have nannies.
To profile the new service, they are offering parents 50 per cent off breakfasts for children, ten years and under.
For families with babies the hotel supplies “basic”' like disposable diapers, bottle sterilizer, baby wipes and on-demand organic baby food.
For the older bracket the Athenaeum has ipod docking stations for in-house use along with Playstations and Xbox’s. They also provide priority entry to the Hard Rock Café a couple of blocks away.
The Athenaeum is directly opposite Green Park and within walking distance of the Palace. It is handy for the city's main cultural attractions, best shops, restaurants, theatres, parks and London Zoo.
For further information and Australian rates, talk to your travel agent or visit www.athenaeumhotel.com. Getting the message across
IT made good sense for the Italian government to open a tourism office in Sydney back in 2000.
The Italian Bureau of Statistics tells us 659,862 Australians visited Italy in 2007 with a total of 1,712,145 overnight stays, an increase of over eight per cent on 2006.
There have been over 470,000 hits to the website, www.italiantourism.com.au in the past nine months alone and Aussie tourist numbers heading over there are booming.
They are an enormous help when planning a visit. Call them on 9262 1666 or drop by their office at Level 4, 46 Market Street, Sydney. Outside, inside
A seagoing version of Upstairs, Downstairs
Reports emanating from the classy new Cunarder Queen Victoria (pictured) have all been positive, so it's probably timely to think about spoiling yourself with a 23-nighter in a premium balcony stateroom sailing from Los Angeles to Sydney next January for $8399 pp twin share - that's $450 pp UNDER the normal price of a standard insider cabin!
The ticket includes your airfare from Sydney to Los Angeles and a night, pre-cruise at the Beverley Hilton. Alas, you are still up for those confounded taxes and fuel surcharges!
Her Majesty will sail from Los Angeles on January 27, 2009 for Honolulu, Apia, Nuku’alofa, Auckland, Christchurch, Hobart and Sydney.
For full details visit www.ecruising.travel or call 1300 369 848. | 
