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Every Monday throughout January we round up the best travel deals, new openings and things we like in a bid to banish the winter blues
DEALS
Early Booking Offer in Sicily
Siracusa on Sicily's southeastern coast is packed with atmosphere and layered with history. In among the townhouses and palazzi of Ortigia, the old town, is Casa Luisa, a small ground-floor apartment in a sea-facing building (sleeping 2-3). Stay here and live like a local – saunter down to a nearby cafe for your morning espresso, hit the beach, then join the evening passeggiata. If you want to explore the area, head for the nearby baroque town of Noto or slightly further to Modica or Ragusa.
Prices range from £515 to £685 per week but there's a 15% discount on all bookings made before 15 March with Essential Italy (01223 460100, essentialitaly.co.uk/sicily_apartments_casa-luisa)
Relax with a traditional, long cruise
Cruise companies are offering a growing selection of activities and excursions as they target younger, more active holidaymakers. But for those who like the idea of a more traditional, long-distance voyage involving whale watching, lazy six-course dinners and plenty of time with their Kindle, there are bargains aplenty at this time of year.
Scores of cruise ships are "repositioned" from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean each spring, and as a result offer longer cruises with fewer ports of call at reduced rates. MSC (0844 561 1955, msccruises.co.uk) currently has an 18-night cruise from Cape Town to Genoa (via Namibia, Cape Verde, Las Palmas, Lisbon and Valencia) for £679, and a 17-night cruise from Fort Lauderdale to Dover (via New York, the Azores, Lisbon and La Coruna) for £499.
Norwegian Cruise Line (0845 201 8900, ncl.co.uk) calls their repositioning voyages "Transatlantic Cruises". This April bargains abound. The line is currently offering cruises from Miami to Barcelona (via Madeira) for £344, and New Orleans to Dover (via Miami and the Azores) for £414.
A bed for £10 a night
Generator (020-7432 7350, generatorhostels.com) is a hostel chain aimed squarely at young, party-loving travellers – at least if the website's anything to go by: "book a bed baby!" screams its home page. Click on the individual locations: London, Dublin, Berlin East, Hamburg, Venice, Copenhagen to see a list of facilities including "banging" bars, lounges made for "chillaxing" and vending machines for night owls.
But with dorm beds from £12.75pp, you can't knock it. All the hostels have bars, free Wi-Fi, laundry facilities and are centrally located; most have women-only dorms, and some have private rooms with en suite.
In March a new hostel-cum-hotel is opening in Barcelona with separate en suite hotel rooms on its top floor; and in May a hostel opens in Berlin Mitte, while the Venice property will reopen with a revamped interior in June.
Today, the chain launched a sale offering 20% off all bookings made via the Generator website until 21 February, and valid for travel throughout 2013 (subject to availability).
If you're travelling on a budget and want to meet (translation: party) with fellow travellers, Generator is a brilliant option.
NEW HOTEL
Iceland's new design eco-hotel
The architects behind the Ion Hotel (ioniceland.is) claim to have taken inspiration from the legends of Iceland's early settlers; although judging by its isolated location, its brutalist aesthetic and the fact that an entire section of the building juts threateningly out of an icy hillside, they were also drawing on the rich architectural heritage provided by international Bond villains.
Aside from more humdrum attractions, including two restaurants and a spa, the dizzying suspended wing overlooks Lake Thingvallavatn, whose unpronounceable waters will supposedly provide "a cloud of geothermal steam", giving the impression that the building is floating on thin air. Unsurprisingly, given Iceland's green track record, this new luxury landmark is built on recycled and renewable materials and draws its heat and power from surrounding hot springs. The Ion is set to open this month and, though actual photographs of the hotel are yet to surface, its artist's impressions show a highly ambitious building, and an impressive spot from which to see the northern lights or try your hand at white-water rafting and snowmobiling.
Discover the World (01737 214291, discover-the-world.co.uk) offers a winter adventure break based at Ion from £815pp (based on two sharing) including return flights, airport transfers, three nights' B&B at Hotel Ion, northern lights safari by superjeep, lava caving, two-course lobster dinner at Rauda Husid and entrance to the Blue Lagoon.
ADVENTURE
Swim with humpback whales or wild spotted dolphins
Another World Adventures is offering an exciting opportunity to join a crew of experienced scientists to research and interact with endangered humpback whales in the Caribbean waters north of the Dominican Republic or wild spotted dolphins in the Bahamas. Eight people will be able to join the Sea Dragon's crew that includes experienced oceanographer Rodrigo Olson and film-maker Belinda Braithwaite on this 10-day trip. No previous sailing experience required. You will be able to swim with the animals in their natural habitat and take home an HD underwater film of the experience (conditions allowing).
This not-for-profit venture costs $3,390pp. Humpback whales departs Samana Bay, Dominican Republic 7-17 April 2013; wild spotted dolphins departs Georgetown, Exumas, Bahamas, 24 April-4 May 2013. Another World Adventures (anotherworldadventures.com).
FAMILY
Make this year's summer festival a holiday
With many festivals stretching either side of the weekend and ticket prices costing upwards of £150, more music lovers are justifying the spend by turning their weekend in a field into a music mini-break. Spotting an opportunity, family friendly Larmer Tree Festival in Salisbury has decided to go the whole hog and open its site for a week, so that families can set up camp and explore the area – Stonehenge, Longleat safari park, the New Forest and Jurassic Coast are a short drive away – two full days before the festival kicks off. The festival is a mix of music, comedy and street theatre, with plenty of free activities for kids, from baby yoga to puppet workshops and a youth zone for 11-17 year olds.
Family Festival Holiday Experience, Larmer Tree Festival, 15 -21 July 2013 (festival runs 17-21 July). Tickets include five-day festival pass plus camping in a separate field with "luxury" loos, hot showers, cafe, campfire, barbecue area and a car park. Adults, £210 (£205 early bird tickets), youth (11-16 years), £150, child, £75 (up to age 10),
023 8071 1820, larmertreefestival.co.uk/tickets.html