Budapest
GLOBUS AND Cosmos are kicking off the New Year with a range of deals on bucket list adventures on offer until February 29.
Select worldwide Globus tours start from $2,799 per person and 20 Cosmos tours are now priced under $2,000 per person.
Globus tours on offer include the seven-day ‘Introduction to Ireland’ which journeys on a loop from Dublin to the west coast and back.
Highlights include the Cliffs of Moher, the Ring of Kerry and the House of Waterford Crystal. It is priced from $2,799 per person, including a saving of $100 per couple.
‘Highlights of Morocco’ is a 10-day Cosmos tour travelling through the cities of Fez, Marrakech, Meknes, Rabat, Casablanca and Erfoud.
The tour also takes you to Ouarzazate, where you’ll visit the Kasbah de Taourirt, and the fortified city of Ait Benhaddou, used as a set in the Gladiator movie. It is priced from $1,499 per person.
SWEET SUMMER SALE SAVINGS
COUPLES CAN save more than $1,000 on a range of eligible all-inclusive holidays from Wendy Wu Tours.
The offers are part of the company’s Summer Sale and are available until February 29.
Some of the tours included:
- The 12-day ‘Jewels of Japan’, a fully inclusive, ‘classic’ style itinerary. Highlights include experiencing Tokyo, Mount Fuji, Ryoanji and Kyoto. The tour also includes time to pause and reflect in Hiroshima and relaxed Miyajima.
‘Jewels of Japan’ is priced from $9,440 per person twin share with twin share travellers able to save up to $550 per person ($1,100 per couple). - The 14-day ‘Majestic Yangtze’ is a fully inclusive ‘classic’ group tour visiting China. Highlights include Shanghai, a Yangtze River cruise, watching giant pandas, Xian’s famous Terracotta Army, walking on the Great Wall and discovering ancient Ciqikou.
‘Majestic Yangtze’ is priced from $6,080 per person twin share with twin share travellers able to save up to $500 per person ($1,000 per couple). - ‘The Best of Borneo’ is a 16-day, fully inclusive ‘Go Beyond’ group tour which includes a visit to see the last wild orangutans that are under threat from habitat destruction.
There’s also a cruise on the Kinabatangan River, a Mt Kinabalu excursion, Semenggoh Nature Reserve and Bako National Park, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu, plus a traditional longhouse experience for a taste of local life.
It is priced from $7,280 per person twin share with twin share travellers able to save up to $400 per person ($800 per couple).
“While it’s clear that Australians don’t want to give up their travel plans, many of us are of course still looking for ways to save right now,” said Simon Bell, Managing Director for Wendy Wu Tours Australia.
Kristina Wilson, founder of Inverted Atlas
You’ll Dig This New Egypt Tour
INVERTED ATLAS has launched a new tour with unparalleled access to sites most travellers to Egypt never get to experience.
Interest in Egyptology is high following exhibitions at the Australian Museum in Sydney and the National Museum of Australia in Canberra.
“Egypt has been traditionally visited in the same way for years – the Giza Pyramids, a Nile cruise and the Valley of the Kings, it’s very hard to find something a bit different,” said Kristina Wilson, founder of Inverted Atlas.
“Our tour is different in the fact that we still explore the iconic attractions that have made Egypt famous all over the world, while also exploring off-the-beaten path and lesser visited sites.”
This includes VIP access to the Sphinx, access to an archaeological dig at the site of Hierakonpolis, the first capital of a unified Egypt, and a private tour of the new Grand Egyptian Museum.
Other highlights include a safari into the Faiyum Oasis to explore Wadi el Hitan – the ‘Valley of the Whales’ – to discover some of Egypt’s prehistoric inhabitants and access to the tomb of Nefertari, also called the ‘Sistine Chapel of Egypt’.
“Our tour is perfect for the second time traveller to Egypt and those with a real interest in ancient Egyptian history, as it doesn’t just visit the standard sites and travels with an expert tour leader who can hold discussions with group members at an academic level.”
Entitled ‘Invaders, traders & pyramid builders’, the 15-day tour is priced from $10,935 per person twin share. It will depart in September with no more than 15 travellers. International flights are not included.
Photo courtesy Parrtjima – A Festival in Light.
festival of light gets connected
VISITOR REGISTRATIONS are now open for Parrtjima – A Festival in Light, the only Aboriginal light festival of its kind in the world.
The free 10-day event is returning to Alice Springs (Mparntwe) from April 12-21.
This year’s theme is ‘Interconnectedness’, celebrating how everything in Indigenous culture is connected, with an emphasis on the complexities of the planting seasons and Indigenous Australians’ connection with the land and kwatye (which means both water and rain in Arrernte).
Curated by Rhoda Roberts AO, Parrtjima 2024 will once again share ancient Indigenous stories in creative new ways.
“Our ancestors were living under strict social structures and belief systems where everything was interrelated from the land and waterways to our sky country and seasons,” she said.
“This way of being has sustained and unified Aboriginal people for thousands of years. Everyone had a place and purpose guided by eons of storytelling, ceremony and song lines that connected the entire nation.”
Signature installations will return including the illumination of almost two kilometres of the 300-million-year-old MacDonnell Ranges and the immersive Grounded installation, where animated artwork is projected onto Country.
For its ninth iteration, Parrtjima has signed on new event delivery partners including leading creative experience design studio Grumpy Sailor and experiential events agency We Are Gather.
put georgia on your mind
WORLD EXPEDITIONS have launched a unique tour that promises to hit all the right notes.
The 13-day ‘Singing and Walking Adventure in Georgia’ will be led by renowned Choir Master Stuart Davis (pictured).
It promises to blend music with culture against the backdrop of Georgia’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed sites, ancient villages, dramatic mountain ranges and glaciers.
“Music and singing is an immensely significant aspect of Georgian culture – travellers on this journey can expect to be immersed in music, song and experience complete awe at the incredible surrounding landscape,” said Mr Davis.
Travellers will connect with like-minded individuals, become immersed in the country’s rich musical heritage, learn traditional songs and explore its diverse landscapes.
Davis will lead guests through the cities of Tbilisi and Kutaisi, the ancient cave town of Uplistsikhe and the remote Svaneti region.
The 13-day tour is priced from $4,790 per person. Flights are not included.
