December
Ski in Courchevel
Ski resort accommodation doesn’t get much bolder than in the latest hotel from the Oetker Collection, which has the likes of Frégate Island in Seychelles and Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc on the French Riviera in its portfolio. L’Apogée Courchevel is a ski-in, ski-out joint at the top of Courchevel’s former Olympic ski jump. But the views down over the village are just a teaser. There’s a private ski lift, a Sisley spa with a huge mosaic-tiled pool and an event dining restaurant under the command of the two Michelin-starred chef Yannick Franques. Meanwhile, true exclusivity comes in the separate five-bedroom chalet, with a private spa, butler and home cinema. The resort is aiming to be the very best in French ski accommodation, and opens on December 11.
Half board deluxe rooms at L’Apogée Courchevel (www.lapogeecourchevel.com) cost from €900 (Dh4,552) a night
European market hopping
Central Europe’s Christmas markets combine craftsmanship and cosiness – think fur-coated clichés of roasted chestnuts, wooden stalls and twinkling lights. Quality varies dramatically between them – some are prone to overdoses, others keep to the spirit of countryside artists selling their wares. In Germany – the heartland of festive markets – the one in Nuremberg has four centuries of history and rules against mass-production on its side, while Regensburg’s lets you watch the craftsmen at work. Elsewhere, Vienna has the best mix of shopping and sightseeing – its markets are spread across the city, often with swoony palace backdrops.
AMA Waterways (www.amawaterways.com) has an 11-day land-and-cruise Christmas markets package through Prague, Nuremberg, Regensburg, Vienna and Budapest. Suite cabins cost from US$5,158 (Dh18,945)
Iniala Beach House, Phuket
Phuket’s lurch from backpacker hangout to high-end retreat is complete, with this new, three-villa, 10-bedroom dazzler simultaneously pulling off high design, relaxed sophistication and small-scale intimacy. Dishes at the Azurmendi restaurant come courtesy of Eneko Atxa, the youngest Spanish chef to be awarded three Michelin stars, while the rooms are eye-popping. Beds hang down from the ceiling without touching the floor, seating is moulded into the shape of the room and 500,000 Swarovski crystals have been studded into the pool table. Each villa has a private bar and there’s 200 metres of immaculate beach frontage to lie out on. This is the prime time to visit, too – relatively low humidity and rainfall play up Phuket’s paradise pedigree.
Villas are available for hire, starting at $25,000 (Dh91,823) per week, from December 11 (www.iniala.com)
January
All-Action Australia
The height of the Australian summer sees Melbourne at its most exuberant. The cafes and boutiques are at their buzziest, and the beaches offer a cool-down between gallery-hopping and fine dining at Vue de Monde (www.vuedemonde.com.au) and Attica (www.attica.com.au). The key date is January 26 – Australia Day – when numerous events kick off, including free concerts in the Sidney Myer Music Bowl and a humongously expensive fireworks display in the revamped Docklands area. January 26 also sees the climax of the Australian Open tennis tournament – the first Grand Slam of the year, which runs from January 13 at Melbourne Park.
Etihad (www.etihadairways.com) has returns from Abu Dhabi to Melbourne from Dh6,485. Tickets for the Australian Open finals weekend cost from AUS$670 (Dh2,290) through Ticketek (www.ticketek.com.au)
Clown around in Monaco
Despite its yachts and playboys image, Monaco takes on a less ostentatious vibe during the mild winter months, and cultural programmes kick in. A key tent peg (or rather, big top peg) is the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, which runs between January 16 and 26 in 2014. Widely regarded as the equivalent of the Olympics for circus performers, it takes a competition format, with acts coming in from as far afield as China, Ukraine and Cuba.
Taking place inside the purpose-built Chapiteau de Fontvieille, the shows in the first half of the festival are essentially highlights packages from the competing performers. Later shows are a showcase for the winner of the Clown d’Or (Golden Clown) trophy.
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies direct from Dubai to nearby Nice from Dh3,825. Prime seats at the festival (www.montecarlofestival.mc) cost from €91 (Dh450)
Jawai Leopard Camp
Of all the big cats, leopards are notoriously tricky to spot. But the new Jawai Leopard Camp in India has been specifically set up with seeing them in mind. Near Rajasthan’s Jawai Bandh reservoir – a haven for geese and flamingos – the camp isn’t inside a national park, allowing for greater freedom of movement. The jeeps are customised for prime viewing, and largely untravelled locations mean leopard numbers are high. Winter’s low humidity helps, too. Jawai is aiming for small-scale and sustainable, with just eight luxury tents that have the stainless steel-and-leather sleekness of upscale hotels. Each has a private deck with views of the craggy wilderness. Separate spa and dining tents are also on-site.
Twice daily game drives with trained trackers are part of the all-inclusive package, which costs from 40,000 rupees (Dh2,405) a night (sujanluxury.com/jawaileopard-camp)
February
A taste of Taiwan
Emirates launches its new route to the Taiwanese capital, Taipei, on February 10. Highlights include Taipei 101 – the Burj Khalifa’s predecessor as the world’s tallest building – and the National Palace Museum. Counterintuitively, the latter has a far more impressive Chinese history collection than any museum in China. After sundown, numerous night markets bring the city to life, and hot spring complexes provide relief from the intensity just outside the centre. But the island’s real charm lies out of the city – in the Oolong tea plantations in the mountains, the marble-lined Taroko Gorge within the Taroko National Park and the spa resorts around the majestically photogenic Sun Moon Lake. February’s great timing, too – safely away from the unbearably humid and typhoon-wracked summer months.
Absolute Travel (www.absolutetravel.com) offers tailor-made, nine-day highlights tours of the island, staying in top-end accommodation, from $5,370 (Dh19,725) per person. Return Emirates (www.emirates.com) flights to Taipei from Dubai cost from Dh3,245
Grace Marrakech
The snow doesn’t stay on Morocco’s Atlas Mountains for long, but February tends to be the best time of year to see the white-capped makeover. And few places have better views of the mountains than the Grace Marrakech. Formerly the Les Terres M’Barka, the Grace reopens on February 14 following an extensive eight-month refurbishment. The emphasis is on an idyllic tranquillity far removed from the city’s frenetic medina. Set amongst 15 hectares of lush countryside, the retreat has its own horse stables and vegetable garden, plus sprawling olive groves. The suites have traditional Berber comfort in mind rather than flashy exuberance – fireplaces, one-off wooden furniture, carefully sourced textiles and natural material bed linen give a luxuriously homely feel. After a day of intense sensorial bombardment in the souqs, the Grace aims to offer the diametric opposite.
Deluxe suites at the Grace Marrakech (www.gracehotels.com/marrakech) cost from €384 (Dh1,896) per night
Venice Carnival
If anywhere is best visited out of season, Venice is it. Summer can turn into a sweaty, crowded torture as the cruise ships flood the city with tourists. In February, there’s more room to explore and the mists whipped up off the lagoon make strolling along the canal-side paths tremendously atmospheric. February also plays host to the most melodramatic of Europe’s great festivals, the Venice Carnival (www.carnevale.venezia.it). This year’s runs from February 15 to March 4. The city’s theatres fill up with special international productions, squares become stages for concerts that range from baroque classical to reggae, and St Mark’s Square becomes a focal point for lavish dance productions. It is the masked balls that are most readily associated with the carnival, however. The pageantry-packed events take over banqueting rooms in numerous palaces, backed by orchestral music from the Venetian Republic’s glory days.
Ball tickets cost from €130 (Dh658) on www.venice-carnival-italy.com. Emirates Holidays offers three-night breaks at Hotel Danieli, including return flights from Dubai, from Dh6,390 (www.emiratesholidays.ae)
March
Browse Boston
Of all the cities in the US, Boston does winter cuddliness best. It’s a small-scale, walkable city of handsome brownstone houses and snowball-fighting kids on the central Common. There’s also an all-pervading sense of history here that’s absent from many US cities. When Emirates launches direct flights there on March 10, the worst of the winter chills should be over (although you’d be ill-advised to go without a good coat). It’s a good time for catching the Ivy League college buzz on the Harvard University campus, shamelessly wolfing down sweet treats in the chocolate shops of Beacon Hill and Back Bay then delving into the numerous museums that tell Boston’s – and America’s – rich revolutionary history. The absolute must-see? That’s the I M Pei-designed John F Kennedy Presidential Library.
Direct Emirates (www.emirates.com) flights from Dubai cost from Dh4,995 return. Stay at the Liberty Hotel (www.libertyhotel.com) – a stunningly converted prison – for the real wow factor. Superior king rooms cost from $915 (Dh3,361) per night
Maalifushi by COMO
The Maldives isn’t exactly short on island resorts with over-water bungalows, but Maalifushi by Como – soft opening in December and fully operational from March 1 – has plenty to distinguish it from the herd. The key one is the snorkelling and diving – the surrounding reefs didn’t get hit by El Niño, so are largely unbleached and unusually vivid. The resort has a resident marine biologist and its own PADI diving centre, but non-divers can get the full pampering treatment, too. It’s the only resort on the Thaa Atoll, the spa is one of the largest in the country, there’s a 44-metre pool and the seabound ladders from the bungalows lead you to smooth sand rather than rocks. The atoll is surrounded by other uninhabited islets – one of which is owned by the resort and can be used for secluded, romantic picnics.
During March, a week’s stay in an over-water suite at Maalifushi by Como (www.comohotels.com/maalifushi) costs from $10,631 (Dh39,047) including breakfast
Las Fallas
Few festivals are as visually spectacular or intensive as Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain. A week-long bout of mayhem – where a firecracker could go off next to you at pretty much any given moment – celebrates the end of winter. The centrepiece of the festival are the fallas – giant effigies, often with a political or satirical point behind them – which are paraded through the city’s main streets. The parades are accompanied by rockets being set off and displays of fireworks. This barrage of smoke and noise runs from March 12 to 19, but the crescendo comes from around 10pm on the last night. The fallas, now wrapped with explosives and yet more fireworks, are burned in the Plaza del Ayuntamiento (Town Hall Square). The timid are advised not to venture too near the inferno.
Dnata Travel (www.dnatatravel.com) offers a week-long stay at the central Westin Valencia hotel during the festival, including Turkish Airlines return flights via Istanbul, from Dh8,424 per person
