Luxor is divided into the East bank (home to the major hotels, banks, and the Karnak and Luxor temples) and the West bank – site of the Valley of kings and Valley of the Queens. Over the last few years a number of small hotels have opened on the West Bank – could these alternatives to the luxurious yet expensive East bank options, be the way to woo back tourists in these tough times? I decided to find out.

My first consideration was how to get to Luxor. After careful thought, I decided to fly out of Manchester with Monarch. The overall cost came to just under £210 and included in-flight meals. The one drawback? The flight times (9am outbound, 10.45pm inbound) meant an early morning start and an equally early morning return!

On arrival at Luxor, a lift had already been arranged. The journey from the airport to the village of El Bairat El Gezira on the West bank, took approximately 50 minutes. As this was the first time I had stayed on the West Bank, I had only booked a hotel for one night: this would enable me to look at other available hotels to decide where I wanted to stay. The hotel I chose was the Nile Valley and I actually ended up staying there the whole week owing to the fact that the Nile Valley boasted a swimming pool, was close to the village and a tad cheaper than so called competitors.

My room was pleasingly decorated in white with grey floor tiles and well appointed boasting both a small balcony and ensuite equipped with a bath, shower and good-sized white basin. The bed was comfortable and the room cool,with new remote controlled air conditioning.

Meanwhile the rooftop restaurant afforded wonderful views of the Luxor Temple. The plated breakfast, included in the price, was simple but adequate: expect bread, cheese, tomatoes and cucumber, honey, yoghurt and small pots of jam along with a choice of fresh lemon juice or kharkade (boiled dried hibiscus flowers). If you missed a meal tho, eating out in Egypt is easy. My favourite restaurant was El Fayrouz although the Amon, with its delightful garden restaurant, came a close second.

Part-way through the week, nostalgia took me to the East bank. The national ferry runs when it’s full, so can be slow, but at one Egyptian pound (approximately 10p) is a bargain. A more fun option, at around four Egyptian pounds, is to choose one of the gaily painted little tourist motor boats. Privately owned, most owners now operate a straightforward ferry service between each bank. Taxis are also easy to secure, although do agree a price before you start and only pay at the end of the journey. ‘Baksheesh’ (a Turkish word meaning ‘gift’), is expected.

Luxor is rich in archaeology and so a good guide book is a ‘must’. Sites on the West Bank include the Valley of the Kings, the wonderful painted Nobles’ Tombs, the Workman’s Village of Deir el-Medina and the ‘mortuary’ temples’ of Deir el-Bahri. Cafes offering welcome shade from the midday sun can be found throughout the West bank.

Sitting on the balcony on my last evening I realised this, for me, was a perfect mix. Although I love the luxury of five star hotels, to be a part of village life – even if only briefly – was just magical. Would I do it again? Definitely.

March 2012: a selection of exhibitions and new cultural events

Ending soon

Until March 31: La Fabrique Sonore, Pommery Experiment#9
A presentation inside the spectacular ancient chalk pits – now used as champagne cellars- of the works of 30 international artists working on various sound nuances, from noise to music.
Reims, Marne-51, Domaine Pommery

http://escapade-champenoise.fr

Until April 1: Capturing the model: 300 Rodin Drawings
An exhibition of a few series of drawings of women’s bodies, quite unknown works of the worldwide known sculptor, Auguste Rodin.
Paris, Musée Rodin

http://www.musee-rodin.fr/en

Until April 2: Danser sa Vie

An exhibition of around 450 art works, paintings, drawings, choreographies, from the1900s until today. It is dedicated to discover how the visual arts and dance share the same passion for bodies in movement. The title of this exhibition is a tribute to Isadora Duncan, the famous dancer, who said that her art was only “to dance her life”.
Paris, Centre Pompidou

http://www.centrepompidou.fr

Running now

Until April 16: New Frontier, Thomas Cole
An exhibition devoted to Thomas Cole, an American painter, 1801-1848, renowned for his large landscape works, with the presentation of five masterpieces including Landscape with figures: A scene from the “Last of the Mohicans”. This is the first step of a multi-annual partnership between The Louvre and three main American museums, called New Frontier – American Art Enters the Louvre.
Paris, Musée du Louvre
http://www.louvre.fr/en

Until April 29: Ai Weiwei – Interlacing

The first major exhibition of the Chinese conceptual artist, showing photographs and videos that offer a critical overview of the everyday social realities in a urban setting mainly in China. These works caused him to be sent to prison in April, 2011. He is now on bail in Beijing.
Paris, Musée du Jeu de Paume
http://www.jeudepaume.org

Until April 29: Berenice Abbott
A retrospective of the works of the succesful photographer Berenice Abbott (1898-1991), presenting 140 vintage prints including portraits of famous artists in Paris in the 1920s, images of Changing New York ( her project in the 1930’s) and a selection of experimental abstract photos produced for the M.I.T. in the 1950s.
Paris, Musée du Jeu de Paume
http://www.jeudepaume.org

Until May 12: Napoleon’s Wars: Louis Francois Lejeune, general and painter
A precious eyewitness account of the main battles of Napoleon through the works of an extremely accurate painter who happened to be a general who fought all over Europe and who later on wrote for posterity his memoirs.
Versailles, Les Yvelines-78, Château de Versailles
http://en.chateauversailles.fr

Until  May 13: The Rain
Expectation, desire, fear, hate, protection, need… are part of the emotions and feelings released from symbolic or ordinary objects coming from Asia, Africa, Americas and Oceania.
Paris, Musée du Quai Branly
http://www.quaibranly.fr/en

Until May 13: Patagonia, Images of World’s End
A parallel between fiction and reality through various documents, pictures, maps of Patagonia from 16th century to nowadays.
Paris, Musée du Quai Branly
http://www.quaibranly.fr/en

Until June 10: Henri-Edmond Cross and the neo-impressionism
This presentation of the masterpieces of Henri-Edmond Cross, one of the founders of the neo-impressionism movement with Seurat and Signac, is a tribute to the painter’s work on natural light in Provence, and to its influence on Matisse and the Fauvists.
Le Cateau-Cambrésis, Le Nord-59, Musée Matisse
museematisse.cg59.fr

Until June 10: The Mayan jade masks
Seven tombs of Mayan dignitaries and almost all incredible jade masks already found and many others pieces like amazing carved stones and various potteries, are exposed for the first time out of Mexico, highlighting the main last Mexican archaeological discoveries.
Paris, Pinacotheque de Paris
http://www.pinacotheque.com/en

Until June 18: Matisse
The Centre Pompidou presents around 60 works of Matisse displayed in pairs or in short series. The aim is to investigate a very special aspect of the artist’s work who tried all his life long to produce simultaneously the same motif by different techniques.
Paris, Centre Pompidou
http://www.centrepompidou.fr

Until June 25: Arles, Record of the Rhône, 20 years of underwater excavations

A major archeological event, the bust of Caesar found underwater in 2007 in Arles is shown together with the only other identified statue identified as Julius Caesar from the Museo di Antichi in Turin. Numerous rare Roman artefacts are on display including statues, bronzes, jewels, amphorae, lamps… A jump of two thousand years in the past to the Roman time in Provence.
Paris, Musée du Louvre
http://www.louvre.fr/en

Until July 1: Degas and the Nude
An Exhibition devoted to Edgar Degas’ Nudes. Degas the dancers and the famous painter of horses,  worked throughout his life on nudes using all techniques from sculpture, painting, drawing and finally the most important feature of his work, his pastels, a technique in which he is forever, the great master.
Paris, Musée d’Orsay
http://www.musee-orsay.fr

Until July 8: La berline de Napoleon, the mystery of Waterloo loot
The result of an incredible treasure hunt to bring together all the personal belongings of Emperor Napoleon, that were looted on the night of the defeat at Waterloo and which were  scattered through Europe where they disappeared until recently. That includes all the personal medals of the Emperor, hidden in the cellars of the Moscow Historic Museum until 2000.
Paris, Musée de la Légion d’honneur
www.musee-legiondhonneur.fr

Until July 30: Histoire de l’Atelier Brancusi
A reconstitution of the Paris workshop where Brancusi, a famous modern sculptor lived and worked.
Paris, Centre Pompidou
http://www.centrepompidou.fr

Until July 30: Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, Bivouac
An illustration of the current state of the work of the two designers, who last September appeared at the London Design Festival held at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London. Metz, Moselle-57, Centre Pompidou-Metz.
http://www.centrepompidou-metz.fr/en

Until July 15: Artemisia
In the early 17th century Artemisia Gentileschi was one of the very rare women-painters, and was the only one who received celebrity and glory whilst she lived. Thus she was able to live from her own art. This exhibition is a tribute to the perfection of her works and also to the strong willpower she had in a world where women were treated as second class .
Paris, Musée Maillol
http://en.museemaillol.com

Until 10 November 2013: Roulez Carosses!
A loan from the Palace of Versailles, to the museum of St Vaast Abbey in Arras, shows for the first time the best pieces of French royal and imperial horse-drawn carriages along with numerous artefacts belonging to their use, plus a few paintings of important events during which they were used.
Arras, Pas-de-Calais – 59, Musée-Abbaye St Vaast
http://www.versaillesarras.com

Permanent

Jean Cocteau-Collection Severin Wunderman
The largest in the world and a must-to-see collection of the works of Jean Cocteau, given to the town of Menton, by the private collector Severin Wunderman.
Menton, Alpes Maritimes-06, Musée Jean Cocteau
http://www.tourisme-menton.fr

Up coming

April 29: The first gourmet’s walking tour in Chablis vineyards
A few kilometres walking tour through Chablis vineyards will allow everyone to discover some nice landscapes of Burgundy and to appreciate local tasty food and a few different Chablis vine. During the tour five stops are scheduled to offer each time a different course with a glass of Chablis.
Chablis, Yonne-89, info at Chablis Tourism Office:
ot-chablis@chablis.net

From March 23 – July 23: The Twilight of the Pharaons, Masterpieces of the last Egyptian Dynasties

The best masterpieces from Pharaonic Egypt during 10 centuries until the last dynasty, the Ptolemaic’s one, display inside the fabulous setting of the town house sheltering the Jacquemart-André Museum.
Paris, Musée Jacquemart-André
www.musee-jacquemart-andre.getaticket.com

From April 5 – July 15: Cima de Conegliano: a master of the Venetian Renaissance
As a master Venetian painter, he was famous already in his time, late 15th and early 16th century, for his perfection in depicting human faces and expressions, as well as in wide-open landscapes with a great accuracy in details and a perfect light. He became a great master in a new technique, oil painting.
Paris, Musée du Luxembourg
www.museeduluxembourg.fr/en/expositions

Turkish Delight Florentines

Ingredients (makes about 15)
50g unsalted butter
125ml cream ( 45 % fat )
125g caster sugar
440g flaked almonds
60g plain flour
300g best-quality dark chocolate
8 pieces rosewater Turkish delight, finely chopped

Method
Preheat the oven to 160°C ( GAS 3 ). Grease baking trays and line with baking paper. In a small, heavy-based saucepan, bring the butter, cream and sugar to the boil. Remove from the heat. Allow to cool slightly then stir in the almonds and flour. Drop teaspoonfuls onto the baking trays, leaving plenty of room between each one for spreading. Flatten slightly with a wet fingertip. Bake for 8–10 minutes, until the biscuits are a light golden brown.

If you like, at this stage you can cut the biscuits into neat circles with a pastry cutter, before returning them to the oven to finish cooking. Bake biscuits for a further 8 minutes until they are a deep golden brown.

Remove from the oven and, while they are still warm, scatter with the pieces of Turkish delight. Alternatively, scatter the Turkish delight onto the melted chocolate before it sets.) Once the biscuits are cool and fi rm, transfer them to a wire rack. Melt the chocolate and brush a thick coat onto the flat sides of the biscuits. Use a fork to create the traditional wavy pattern.

Bon appetite!

Malouf: New Middle Eastern by Greg and Lucy Malouf is published by Hardie Grant, £30, Hardback

Grilled saffron chicken with lemon, chilli and mint

This is a slightly spiced up version of a Persian favourite. To the standard saffron lemon combination, we’ve added a rather un Persian touch of chilli and a mixture of dried and fresh mint.

It’s a brilliant way to liven up what can sometimes be a bland white meat. Serve with a rice or couscous dish and creamy yoghurt dressing to take the edge off the chilli heat.

Ingredients (serves 6)

800g boneless free – range chicken thighs, trimmed of excess fat
Sprigs of watercress and wafer- thin slices of French radish to serve (optional)
Rice or couscous, flatbread and lemon wedges to  serve

LEMON, CHILLI AND MINT MARINADE
1 cup loosely packed mint leaves
2 long red chillies, finely chopped
1 dried red chilli, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
50 ml olive oil
2 tablespoons Saffron Liquid (page 218)
Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
Generous pinch of dried mint

YOGHURT DRESSING
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic crushed with 1/2   teaspoon seasalt
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
200 ml thick natural yoghurt
Squeeze lime juice

Cut the chicken thighs into large chunks and put in a large bowl. Combine the marinade ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and whiz to a paste. If you prefer, you could, of course, do this by hand using a mortar and pestle. Pour the marinade over the chicken pieces and toss to coat thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for at least one hour.

To prepare the yoghurt dressing, heat the oil in a small frying pan and fry the garlic paste gently until soft but not browned. Stir in the turmeric and fry for 5 minutes then remove from the heat and cool briefly. Stir into the yoghurt with a squeeze of lime juice. Set aside until ready to serve.

When ready to cook, preheat your barbecue or griller to high. Grill the chicken for 2–3 minutes on each side, or until lightly charred and good and sticky. Alternatively, you can cook it in a stove-top chargrill pan.

Arrange the chicken pieces on a serving platter, garnish with watercress sprigs and radish wafers, if using, and serve with lots of yoghurt dressing.

Malouf: New Middle Eastern by Greg and Lucy Malouf is published by Hardie Grant, £30, Hardback.

For the low-down on how to make some tasty Turkish Delight florentines, don’t forget to log onto the CD-Traveller website tomorrow!

Jewelled cracked wheat pilaf with honey ginger tomato sauce

This is an absolutely fabulous, over the top kind of pilaf with more ‘jewels’ than a Lacroix bracelet. You can substitute dried cranberries for the pomegranate seeds or to be really exotic, use dried Iranian barberries. Serve as a vegetarian main course or to accompany barbecued poultry or lamb.

Ingredients
175g coarse burgul, soaked in cold water for 5 minutes
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
generous knob of butter
30g currants soaked in 30ml dry sherry for 30 minutes
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
zest of 1/2 orange
1 sheet brik pastry
clarified butter for brushing
50g pine nuts
50g unsalted pistachio kernels, blanched and peeled
1/4 cup pomegranate seeds

Honey ginger tomato sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red bullet chilli, seeded, scraped and finely chopped
400g can chopped tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 thumb fresh ginger, finely grated
1 tablespoon honey

Rinse the burgul well in cold water, then put it in a heavy pan with 1 1/2 times its volume of cold water. Season lightly with salt. Bring to the boil and then simmer, covered, on a low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the liquid has been absorbed. Towards the end of the cooking time, turn up the heat to evaporate any remaining liquid at the bottom of the pan. Take the pan off the heat when you hear the burgul start to crackle and catch, and stir in the butter.

Tip the burgul into a mixing bowl, season with salt and pepper and add the drained currants, allspice and orange zest. Fork it through well, then cover with a snug fitting lid and leave in a warm place for 10 minutes, or until the burgul has absorbed all the liquid and is tender.

To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan and sauté the garlic and chilli for a few minutes until they soften. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper, turmeric, ginger and honey and simmer for 10 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (Gas 4).

To make the brik pastry garnish, use a pastry cutter to cut 10cm circles from the pastry. Then cut smaller circles from the centre of each piece using a 4cm cutter. Transfer to a baking tray lined with baking paper. Brush with clarified butter, put another sheet of baking paper on top and weight down with another baking tray. Bake for 10 minutes, until crisp.

Toast the pine nuts on a dry frying pan until they colour, then add them to the bulgar pilaf with pistachios. Tip onto a serving plate, pour on the honey ginger tomato sauce, scatter on the pomegranate seeds and garnish with pastry circles.

Enjoy!

To discover the joy of Greg’s Grilled saffron chicken with lemon chilli and mint, don’t forget to log onto the CD-Traveller website tomorrow!

Malouf: New Middle Eastern by Greg and Lucy Malouf is published by Hardie Grant, £30, Hardback.

Hot

Croydon

We kid you not. Croydon – one of the areas worst hit during last year’s London riots – has become an unlikely tourism hotspot. Croydon Tours has launched a £8 per person day trip that takes travellers to famous spots from Peep Show (the Croydon based sitcom) and ends at, erm, a multi storey car park.

West is best
Research by Fly.com reveals that west is best when it comes to flight prices. For instance in Spain, flights to Barcelona have risen by 18 percent while those to Murcia have increased by 30 percent. Meanwhile flights to Sharm el Sheikh in Egypt are up 21 percent. Conversely, flights to destinations in the west – step forward Rio and Miami – are cheaper in 2012 than there were last year.

Holiday romances
A new survey by sunshine.co.uk has revealed that half of the 2,000 18-25 years polled had enjoyed a holiday romance. But a word of caution: hooking up with randoms rarely ends happily. Case in point? Two thirds of the travellers questioned, revealed they regretted their holiday flings.

InterContinental Hotels

The world’s biggest hotel operator, InterContinental Hotels, beat city forecasts for its 2011 profits and, unsurprisingly, chief executive Richard Solomans is excited about the year ahead. “In spite of the considerable uncertainty in the eurozone, IHG is well positioned to globally benefit from positive, long term industry trends, and, in particular, growing demand in emerging markets,” said Solomans.

Carry on cruising
In the wake of the Costa Concordia tragedy, a confederation of the world’s leading cruise lines has decreed that muster drills must be carried out on each and every ship before it sets sail. Current rules require lifeboat and evacuation drills be carried out within 24 hours of sailing.

Coach tours of the M25
Brighton and Hove Bus and Coach Company has added extra dates to its £15 coach tour of the 117 mile M25 due to “huge demand.” Here at CD-Traveller towers, we can’t imagine anything worse than spending fours sitting on the M25 but clearly the opportunity to see sights such as Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Five, Epping Forest, Lakeside Shopping Centre in Essex and the  Dartford River Crossing bridge has some appeal after all.

Aberdeen

Scotland’s third largest metropolis – aka the granite city – has been rated the fifth most ‘unsung’ destination in the world by travel experts, Lonely Planet. “ Aberdeen has long been an unsung hero in Scotland and has history to rival Edinburgh. For years it was favoured by the Scottish kings and there is so much on offer in Aberdeen,” says author Abigail Blasi.

Swimming in the Seychelles
The Seychelles swimming ban has finally been lifted six months after a British honeymooner and a French tourist were killed in two separate shark attacks – the first in the Seychelles in nearly 50 years. Specially-trained life guards have now been introduced to the Anse Lazio beach (frequently voted one of the best in the world), following consultation with experts from South Africa.

Not

Malé

Tour operators say that the Maldives are still safe but the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) advises against all but essential travel to Male. The capital has witnessed a spate of violent clashes in recent weeks following the coup that toppled President Mohamed Nasheed.

Taking children on holiday during term time
The coalition is considering fining parents who take their children on holiday during term-time in an attempt to improve school attendance rates. It is estimated that 4.5million days of school are missed each year, because of pupils going on holidays.

What’s hot

Spain
Forget forking out a fortune to fly to Australia or the Caribbean and make for Spain instead. Temperatures might not match those of Barbados or Brisbane but Spain represents better value for money: Post Office Travel Money has revealed that a trolley of typical holiday items (sun lotion and the like) cost just under £38 on Spain’s Costa del Sol – almost £90 cheaper than the same items cost in Barbados and Brisbane.

Wearing a bikini in Egypt

Women visiting Egypt, who prefer to top up the tan in a bikini rather than an all one swimsuit, can pack their two pieces. Egypt’s new government has said that tourism “will not be subjected to any changes as long as we are represented in parliament. Bikinis and alcohol all round then.

Skiing rules
British holiday makers are hoping to see ski resorts introduce breath tests and penalty points in an attempt to curb reckless skiers, according to a survey by insurer More Than. Nearly one in there Brits are concerned about speed skiing, saying that they had been hit and/or injured by somebody skiing too fast. Meanwhile more than four in ten Britons want helmets made compulsory.

Skiing in Switzerland

On the subject of skiing, Swiss ski resorts are slashing prices this season by up to 33 percent – in a bid to boost visitor numbers. Case in point? Crans-Montana is offering 33 percent off accommodation, ski hire, passes and tuition up until February 11 and then again from March 10-April 6. For the full low-down, see our story: http://www.cd-traveller.com/2012/01/17/you-too-can-find-gold-in-crans-montana/

Enjoying a hot air balloon flight over Uluru
Australian adventure tour operator, Outback Ballooning, will start offering hot air balloon flight over Uluru next month. Negotiations for the 30 minute flights, which are priced at £300 per person, have taken two years.

Digital detoxing
Hands up if you spend too much time on your phone and/or laptop. That’s a lot of hands… which is why luxury operator, Black Tomato (www.blacktomato.com), is launching a digital detox in 2012. The week long trip to dreamy Caribbean destination, St Vincent and the Grenadines, takes in two private resorts and all technology is banned. Sign us up now…

What’s not
The cost of London hotel rooms
Looking for somewhere to lay your head in London during the Olympic Games? Be prepared to pay… Research into 60 London hotels conducted by Tessa Jowell, the shadow Olympics secretary, reveals that, on average, the cost of hotel rooms in London will quadruple during the Olympic Games.

Being a Concordia passenger

CD-Traveller readers booked to travel on the ill-fated Concordia should look away now. The cruise line has said that it will not refund airfares for holidays canceled as a consequence of the ship capsizing. In a statement, the cruise line (which has no legal obligation to reimburse customer for their losses) said: “For guests who choose to cancel their cruise, Costa will offer a refund plus a 30 percent future cruise credit. No compensation for airfares will be provided if they are cruise only passengers. Passengers should contact their airline and their travel protection provider.”

Bungee jumping in Zambia
Tour operator Shearwater has suspended a bungee jump after an accident which saw 22 year old backpacker Erin Langworthy plummet into Zambezi when her rope snapped 40ft above the water. Shearwater has said that it doesn’t know when the bungee would be open for business again – despite the Zambian tourism minister taking the plunge himself to reassure tourists that the 365ft jump is now safe.

Getting a tattoo in Bali

Travellers to Bali might want to refrain from visiting a tattoo parlour. Australian health authorities have said that a tourist contracted HIV from an infected needle on the Indonesian island. The number of new cases of HIV in Bali last year, was up 19 percent from 2010.

Lerwick Hostel
Lerwick Hostel in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, has been voted the best hotel by Hostelling International Customers. Others hostels worth heading to in 2012 include Utano Youth Hostel in Kyoto (most comfortable), Baan Dinso in Bangkok (most efficient) and Martha’s Vineyard in the US (most friendly).

Strictly come… cruising

Not content with its makeup, fitness DVDs and clothing spin off ventures, Strictly Come Dancing – the BBC reality TV show – is taking to the ocean. The BBC has announced a deal with a tour operator to launch an array of dance themed cruise holidays. Members of the public will be able to attend ‘master classes’ run by Strictly’s professional dancers and meet the judges while cruising to their destination du jour. The cruises are scheduled to start later this year.

Taking a trip to the Titanic
2012 marks a century since Titanic, the unsinkable ship, erm sunk, and travellers with well stocked wallets can now book a trip to see the wreckage. For £41,784, Kensington tours will take you on a submarine trip from Newfoundland to the Titanic’s remains.

Burma
Burma is back on the radar. The National League for Democracy has lifted its recommended tourism boycott of the country, prompting operators to re-enter for the first time in 16 years.

New York

Over 50 million people headed to the Big Apple in 2011, representing a– a rise of 1.5 million on 2010. The figures cement New York’s status as the most popular holiday destination in America. For the low-down on what to see and do in New York, check out our travel feature http://www.cd-traveller.com/2010/04/08/new_new_york/

Going to the Galapagos
From Feb 1 there will be new rules and regulations in regard to cruise routes and frequencies to and around the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador. The new Galapagos National Park regulations will allow guests of onsite tour operators to stay a maximum of four nights and five days per ship. The new regulations are part of Ecuador’s conscious tourism initiative.

The curb on credit card charges

Good news for travellers: Airlines et al have been ticked off for the silly surcharges that they impose on those of us paying by credit card.  And rightly so: we are not charged extra for using a credit card in a restaurant so why should we be charged more when paying for plane fare on our credit cards? Of course, the worry is that now that the credit card surcharge ruse has been rumbled, companies will simply try and find another way to make the same money. Nonetheless, coming as it does at a time when our purse strings are suffering, the revelation that credit card fees will be revoked in 2012 is a cause for celebration…

NOT

Egypt
The recent unrest in Egypt has prompted the Foreign Office to advise UK travellers to avoid areas in Cairo such as the Egyptian Museum and Downtown. For the latest, see www.fco.gov. UK

The Nazca Lines
The Nazca Lines site in Southern Peru has been placed on the World Monuments Fund’s (WMF) 2012 Global Watch list of endangered heritage sites. Other sites listed as under threat include Mumbai’s Royal Opera House and the fishing villages of Halong Bay in Vietnam

Travelling by train

Rail fares are set to soar this year. The Association of Train Operating Companies has said that overall fares would go up by an average of 5.9 per cent altho9ugh in West Yorkshire, the increase will average eight per cent. Ouch! Commuters facing season tickets costing more than £4,000 for the first time include Hastings, Eastbourne and Bedford.

There are three main reasons for changing ports of call – official advice, weather conditions, and unforeseen circumstances.

The Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk) offers advice to all British travellers on going anywhere in the world. For instance, the latest bulletin on travelling to Libya is:

“Since March 3, we have advised against all travel to Libya. However in the light of the improving security situation on the ground the FCO has decided to change our Travel Advice to advise against all but essential travel to Zuwara, Az Zawiya, Tripoli, al Khums, Zlitan and Misrata, and the coastal towns from Ras Lanuf to the Egyptian Border, including Benghazi.  We still advise against all travel to all other areas of Libya.

Any British national thinking of travelling to Libya should take care and check our Travel Advice regularly. It is also important to note that the British Embassy in Tripoli is only able to provide limited consular assistance at present, but we do plan to deploy additional staff when the situation allows”.

All the cruise line head offices are in constant communication with all the relevant Foreign Offices, embassies and consulates, and will advise their captains accordingly. This advice takes into account local conditions such as general strikes (in the case of Athens, recently, when Arcadia changed her plans to go there), and civil unrest (when locals were protesting in Alexandria in Egypt during a trial in October, and ship excursions were curtailed)

Changes due to weather conditions usually mean that the sea is too rough for the captain to either enter the port in the first place, or to leave it once safely berthed. He has to take into account not only any damage to an extremely expensive vessel, but more importantly, in cruise company minds, the safety of the passengers. No-one wants to have a Medical Department full of people with broken bones due to the ship tossing, turning and lurching while trying to keep to the prescribed course. Again, this is unfortunate when passengers have banked their hopes in reaching a certain port, but overall passenger safety and comfort overrides the hopes of a few.

Unforeseen circumstances are the very rare events that no one wants to even consider! Severe illness on board, unrepairable damage, etc.

What happens when a ship itinerary is changed? In almost every case, the captain will change course for an alternative port. The cruise line staff will be rushing round negotiating new berthing arrangements, calculating lost revenues and increased fuel costs, organising new excursions, and refunding pre-booked excursion payments onto passenger accounts while the passengers stroll round on board discussing the effect on their holiday. Devastating in the case of the Australian honeymooners desperate to see Florence, annoying in the case of wine buffs wanting to buy port in Oporto, but just interesting in the case of the majority of passengers who get to see somewhere quite unexpected! (Nafplion instead of Athens, Cadiz instead of Oporto on our most recent trip.)

It is always a possibility that you might visit an unexpected port. But your cruise company will usually be sympathetic to your comments. It’s just that sometimes it’s out of their hands.

HOT

Sleeping to Scotland

Britain’s first every budget sleeper bus is now running from London to Glasgow, with fares starting from a bargainous £1! Even better? The Stagecoach vehicles are super swish: customers get their own berth, complete with reading light, curtains, a duvet , blanket and pillow plus an overnight pack with toothbrush, toothpaste, eye mask and a bottle of water. One word: result!

Skiing
Word has reached CD-Traveller towers, that thousands of skiing holidays are being discounted heavily. Why? One reason is that many schools are returning as early as January 3, preventing families from enjoying a decent amount of time on the slopes, after Christmas has come and gone. Then there’s the fact that Christmas and New Year both land on a weekend this year. But for those who don’t mind ringing in 2012 up in the air, there are some amazing discounts to be had.

Ryanair

Chief executive, Michael O’Leary, plans to make the budget airline one of the biggest airlines in the world: new routes are planned for Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Scandinavia. Subsequently Ryanair should see passenger numbers soar to 120 million in the next decade.

Poland and Ukraine
To date neither Poland or Ukraine have featured high on the ‘hit list’ of British travellers, but 2012 should change that. The two nations will jointly host Euro 2012 and both football mad England and the Republic of Ireland, have qualified for the tournament. The draw for the finals of Europe’s biggest football tournament took place at 5pm last Friday.

Putting passengers first
A new bill promising to put passengers’ needs first, has been published by the Government. If the legislation – put forward by Britain’s transport secretary Justine Greening is approved, Britain’s aviation regulator will be given the ability to fine airports for poor performance.

NOT

Vanity
A quarter of women under 30 have admitted that it takes between five and 10 attempts to achieve, what they consider a ‘passable’ passport picture.  Please! It’s a passport picture – not a Vogue cover!

Cairo

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office is warning Britons to avoid certain areas of downtown Cairo, following fresh clashes between protesters and the Military. “We strongly advise that British nationals stay away from Tahrir Square, including the Egyptian Museum and the Downtown area of Cairo including Maspero and the Interior Ministry. British nationals should avoid all crowds and demonstrations,” urges the FCO.

Fog delaying flights
A thick blanket of fog caused flights to be cancelled at Heathrow Airport at the end of last month. Manchester, Glasgow, Brussels, Stockholm, Cologne, Nice and Amsterdam were among the destinations affected. Still, we’d happily put up with the fog, if it means avoiding a freezing winter.

Skiing in Europe

Yes, I know we urged you to take to the slopes in the ‘What’s hot’ section above, but book carefully: many European ski resorts remain stubbornly green, with no snow on the horizon. For sure fire snow in Europe, you need to book resorts with high-altitude ski areas. Alternatively head to North America: Whistler and Vail have both experienced an excellent start to the season.