The national capital will be putting on its cheeriest face for the annual Canberra Craft Beer & Cider Festival, which will be held on March 21.
Held in the streets surrounding the Mercure Canberra, the festival showcases the best of Canberra’s craft beers and ciders, along with local foods and entertainment.
Interstate breweries will also be on show, with a record 250 brews available for tasting, along with beer/cider food matching sessions, guest speakers and ‘meet the brewers’ sessions.
While brews may take centre stage during the day, the festival is family friendly, with an extensive range of free activities for children.
Mercure Canberra, the host hotel for the festival, has released a ‘Beer Fest 2020’ package which includes overnight accommodation at the four-star hotel, a four-pack of Sydney Brewery beers, entry to the festival, five tasting tickets, and breakfast.
The package is available from $224 per room per night for one or two people and applies to stays on both Friday and Saturday nights, with special rates for additional nights.
Visit www.mercurecanberra.com.au.
The Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival: a celebration of centuries-old pagan traditions. Image: Natalie Mendham.
Held in the deep south of Tasmania in the dead of winter, from July 10-12, the bacchanalian Huon Valley Mid-Winter Festival is a celebration of storytelling, winter feasting, and centuries-old pagan traditions.
It’s staged near the village of Ranelagh in the heart of apple-growing country, about a 30-minute drive south of Hobart.
Prepare your flower crown, face paint, and gumboots.
Visit www.huonvalleymidwinterfest.com.au.
Queensland’s Year of Indigenous Tourism: features more than 80 tours.
The Cairns and Great Barrier Reef regions are the world’s only regions home to Australia’s two Indigenous cultures — those of both the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
They can be experienced on more than 80 tours during Queensland’s Year of Indigenous Tourism.
Indigenous art, dance and storytelling reveal a history stretching back more than 40,000 years. Multifaceted cultural events bring traditional custodians of the land together for a display of dance, art, music and fashion, while cultural centres introduce the stories and traditions of Australia’s First Nations People.
More than 600 Indigenous visual and performing artists from communities throughout mainland Queensland and the Torres Strait Islands showcase their diverse cultures and artistic wealth at this prestigious annual event.
The CIAF exhibition, for instance, is on in Cairns from July 10-12 and includes an ethical art marketplace, fashion show, cultural performances and free family activities.
Visit www.ciaf.com.au.
Deals for families: Metro Advance Apartments & Hotel, Darwin.
Metro Advance Apartments & Hotel, Darwin has a ‘Family Getaway’ deal priced from $170 per night in a two-bedroom apartment.
Save up to 10 per cent on accommodation, plus also receive sweet treats on arrival, complimentary wifi and overnight car parking.
Kids under 12 stay free with this web exclusive, with guaranteed 11am check-out.
The apartments contain one queen bed and two single beds.
Visit www.metrohotels.com.au.
A rail legend: the Spirit of Progress.
In April, for the first time in a generation, one of Australia’s oldest express trains, the famous Spirit of Progress, will depart Sydney, with Cruise Express offering an opportunity to ride the legendary train as part of a six-day heritage rail-and-sail journey between Sydney and Melbourne.
To mark the historic return of the Spirit of Progress to Sydney, Cruise Express has launched a five-night ‘Spirit and the Princess’ journey, which includes a two-day trip aboard the train from Sydney to Melbourne, with an overnight in Albury, two nights in Melbourne and a two-night cruise back to Sydney aboard the Golden Princess.
Fares, including selected meals, are available from $2290 per person.
Phone 1300 766 537 or visit www.cruiseexpress.com.au.
Basque country: a region famed for its fine food.
Adventure Canada and Cruise Traveller are offering early-bird discounts of up to US$3300 per couple on a new expedition cruise of Spain and France’s Basque Country, a region famed for its fine food, impressive architecture, dramatic coastline, historic towns and picturesque vineyards.
Departing June 2, 2021, the new cruise-stay package includes a free night’s accommodation in Bilbao, Spain, followed by the nine-night expedition cruise onboard the Ocean Endeavour – a 198-passenger ship equipped with 20 zodiacs, multiple lounges and a top-deck observation room.
Bookings made before June 1 this year will include the 15 per cent discount.
The cruise-stay package is available from US$5775 per person twin-share.
Phone 1800 507 777 or visit www.CruiseTraveller.com.au/basque.
The Hanseatic city of Bergen.
Beyond Travel is offering discounts of up to $700 per couple on its ‘Fabulous Scandinavia’ small group package.
The 10-day escorted tour is now priced from only $3168 per person twin-share.
Explore some of the best of the region from Copenhagen to Stockholm with a mix of historic capitals and the wild nature of the majestic fjords.
Highlights include the Hanseatic city of Bergen, the stunning Voringfossen Waterfall, and travelling across Hardanger Bridge, one of the longest suspension-bridge spans in the world.
Price includes accommodation in centrally located four-star premises with daily breakfast, a selection of dinners, services of a tour manager, sightseeing excursions and transport in a private air-conditioned coach, overnight ferry in an outside cabin to Oslo and return airport transfers.
Phone 1300 363 554 or visit www.scandinavia-and-beyond.com.au.
The JW Marriott Sanya Haitang Bay.
Marriott International has opened the JW Marriott Sanya Haitang Bay, located on the coast of China and claimed to seamlessly blend in with the area’s lush landscape.
Inspired by the theme of stone, the subtle design of the hotel is reflected in an octagonal fountain and peacock pavilion.
The property has 142 guestrooms and 18 villas, featuring private balconies and combining modern designs with traditional aesthetics.
Two dining facilities ensure the ultimate epicurean experience for travellers.
Guests can enjoy live cooking presentations in JW Kitchen’s all-day open-kitchen restaurant or relax in the tropical ambiance of the JW Lounge, which features signature cocktails and wines from around the world.
Visit www.marriott.com
The Amalfi Coast village of Ravello.
Exodus Travels is offering free single supplements across selected itineraries and dates throughout 2020.
Its eight-day ‘Walking the Amalfi Coast’, for instance, is priced from $1849, free of single supplement and saving $513.
Spend eight days in a family-run property surrounded by the vineyards and orchards of Bomerano.
Soak up southern Italy’s charm while setting foot in Amalfi’s cobbled streets, visiting Pompeii’s preserved Roman City, now a world heritage site, and discovering the volcanic crater that resides on Mount Vesuvius.
The tour includes all breakfasts, four packed lunches, six dinners, accommodation, transport and a tour leader throughout.
Visit www.exodustravels.com/au.
The stunning Dorset coast: made even more famous by Thomas Hardy.
This year, 2020, marks 180 years since the birth of famed British author, Thomas Hardy, and visitors can explore the countryside which inspired the celebrated Victorian novelist on a self-guided, inn-to-inn walking tour through Dorset offered by On Foot Holidays.
Beginning in the cathedral city of Salisbury, less than two hours from London, the seven-night route in Dorset winds west past the ruins of Wardour Castle to the hilltop town of Shaftesbury, before making its way through Dorset and finishing at Lyme Regis on the Jurassic Coast.
Part of the route’s popularity is its connection with Hardy, who lived in the area and set most of his works there.
Many film adaptions of his novels have been shot in the Dorset countryside, including 2015’s Far from the Madding Crowd, and the self-guided tour takes walkers to some of the film’s stunning locations.
Visit www.onfootholidays.co.uk.
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