EvErythingyou nEEd to know

G12 11 - 17 January 2013InOut | THE CPH POST ENTERTAINMENT GUIDESPECIAL SECTION

IT’S ONLY just occurred to me that the song ‘Holiday’ isn’t even about a holiday. All these years and I thought

Madonna was making a profound com-mentary on how Americans are content to ‘holiday’ at home and never experi-ence the big wide world outside their borders. Yeah baby: “In every nation/It’s time for the good times/Forget about the bad times/One day to come together” – a bit like ‘Imagine’ I always thought.

But Madonna’s American, innit! She’s singing about a day o� work, not a trip abroad – she would have called it ‘Vacation’ otherwise, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Not sure I like that word. It implies you’ve vacat-ed somewhere and that somewhere was infested by insects. And then when you vacation somewhere else, you take them all with you.

Sadly for many of us, this is an all-too familiar scenario. A hastily booked package tour, too last-minute to proper-ly assess the alternatives, and then seven � ea-bitten, undernourished days later, you return to your homeland more in need of a break than before you left.

� is is where the Travel Fair comes in. Under just one roof, it has every type of holiday that you can possibly imag-ine, to every corner of the planet: hot/cold, sporty/relaxing, expensive/cheap, faraway/local, family/singles, quiet/re-lentless – it’s all here at the Bella Center to peruse, so you can take your time and select the kind of holiday that suits you.

Save yourself the heartbreak of wad-ing through hundreds of villas that all look the same, website comments that look suspiciously like they’ve been writ-ten by the resort itself, and details that look like they’ve been Google translated and run through a pigeon English spell-checker.

After all, this is the most signi� cant purchase you’ll probably make this year – the least you can do is dedicate the time it deserves, and a couple of hours spent looking for the ideal booking in return for a couple of weeks of bliss sounds like a fair trade-o� to me.

So whatever you call it – holiday, vacation, sabbatical, beano – the Travel Fair has all the answers. All you need to do is attend.

READ MORE ON ferieibella.dk

Start dreamingfind the vacation you’ve been dreaming of at the 2013 ferie & fritid travel expo

18 - 20 JANuARY 2013

The first leg of your summer holiday begins Jan 18-20 at Bella Center. Come visit the Ferie & Fritid travel expo to find great deals on trips. While at the expo, make sure to take part in our exciting activities and register for one of our prize drawings. Need inspiration about what to do on your next holiday? You’ll find plenty of information about:

Holiday & leisure travel • Camping • diving • golf • sport • World travel • Holiday Homes

BELLA CENTER TRAVEL FAIRTO THE PLEASURE DOME

WELCOME

BEN HAMILTON

G1311 - 17 January 2013 Inout | The cph posT enTerTaInmenT guIde

Looking for an escape route from the annual trips to the in-laws’ summer-house? or perhaps

you just enjoy the week of inevitable dampness and claustrophobic shelter-ing indoors, perusing well-thumbed copies of Se og Hør or emulating our ryder Cup heroes on the dilapidated local mini-golf course. Because a short Metro ride to the Bella Center on the days between 18 and 20 January can give you some inspiration for planning the perfect getaway – or failing that, a chance to dream.

The Holiday fair has areas dedicat-ed to travel, camping, sport, golf, div-ing and holiday homes. You can sample gastronomic specialities from the four corners of the globe, watch the world come to you in the film Lounge, try a whole variety of sports and leisure activ-ities, take instruction in diving in one of the specially constructed pools, as well as visiting all the usual stands from the well-established travel agencies. for kids with itchy feet, Legoworld, Pippi-world and the CPH diveshow should provide plenty to keep them busy.

Revisiting Herr Hitler and Pearl Harbour

CuLtourS iS a travel agency with a difference. it will march you off to his-torical destinations such as Hitler’s un-derground rocket factory near Harzen where prisoners from the local concen-

tration camp manufactured V1 and V2 rockets. Cultours’ idea

of a beach holiday is a jaunt to the D-Day invasion

beaches of normandy or even a more up-

market and ex-otic excursion

to Pearl Har-bour. Expert guides are provided,

but recently Cultours has decided to harness the technology of the iPad and let its guests in tokyo and new York wander around alone minus the jabber-ing guide, but with the security of the all-knowing iPad informing and leading the way.

Whisky galore on the high road

“You’LL takE the high road and i’ll take the low road” − quite literally, if you are a guest of Liselotte Doug-las. Her marriage to a Scotsman and career as a stress coach inspired her to lead groups of Danes from Holy island to the remote whisky distilleries of the glens. Her tours not only have a root in the love of trekking in the beautiful Highlands, but also in the philosophies of mindfulness where the rhythm of your walking boots will take over and give you a feeling of being completely in the moment.

Adventures with Pippi

for tHE nostalgic travellers, a trip to Sweden is on the cards, for who can resist the charms of Pippi Longstock-ing? a quick trip over the water to Vim-merby transports you and the family to astrid Lindgren’s world. familiar char-acters − including karlsson på taket (on the roof ), Emil, ronja røverdatter (the robber’s daughter) and the pigtailed Pippi − entertain the guests in streets and houses taken from Lindgren’s be-loved books.

Summer-houses in summery locations

“LEt’S BuY a summer house,” says your significant other. it’s time to up the stakes with a visit to the oriental invest stand. You might have seen them on tV in ‘Hammerslag’, the guess-the-house-price tV show on Dr1. oriental invest

SPeciAl Section

Bella center travel fair

everythingyou need to know Bella Center, Centre Boulevard 5, 2300 Cph S; StartS Fri Jan 18, endS Sun Jan

20, open Fri & Sat 10:00-18:00, Sun 10:00-17:00; tiCketS: over-12S 90kr, under-12S 45kr, under-FourS Free adm, two adultS, two kidS: 200kr; www.FerieiBella.dk

gives you the chance to buy your own sumptuous summer-house close to the palm-lined beaches of Thailand, com-plete with a five-year rental agreement if you want to rent out the property. This could be one for those with one eye on retirement.

Be the James Bond of the campsite

Want to fEEL like a dashing James Bond recently equipped by gadget spe-cialist Q? Well, that’s admittedly a bit of an exaggeration, but aB Camping will be demonstrating its range of thief-beat-ing Pacsafe products including: Wire security nets for backpacks, a lockable iPod case that still allows you to listen to music, a well-disguised belt with a secret pocket for notes and coins, and stylish handbags with steel wire sewn into the shoulder strap. all designed to give you peace of mind while on holiday.

A smile on your face in more ways than one

CanaL triPS are a classic highlight of many a tourist destination, but rarely root canal treatment. tandrejser com-bines quality dental treatment at Hun-garian prices with a day or two in the bustling city of Budapest. tandrejser works together with a dental clinic in Budapest to offer all-inclusive package tours that provide interpreters, taxis from the airport and a hotel room in the centre of town. no need to feel down in the mouth with Danish dentist bills − an overnight stay in Hungary will soon put the smile back on your face.

So even if the financial crisis has hit you hard, the Holiday fair will be a place where, for 90kr, you can allow yourself to dream a little. Perhaps there is an al-ternative after all in 2013 to the musty cottages of the Danish coast.

Pete Streader

g14 11 - 17 January 2013Inout | The cph posT enTerTaInmenT guIde

The comeback kid: Sri LankaYears of war and the 2004 tsu-nami have kept Sri Lanka off most itineraries, but thanks to massive government invest-ment and the end of hostilities in 2009, the country is firmly back on the tourist map. All of which is good news for travellers because Sri Lanka has much to offer. A 2,000-year-old culture, eight UNESCO sites, palm-fringed beaches and tropical jungle inland make it one of the Indian Ocean’s most diverse places to holiday, while the low prices make it more accessible than most.

having a momenT: TruLy ‘greaT’ briTainCall it the Olympic effect if you like, but there’s no denying that Britain is having a moment. Forbes magazine’s most cultur-ally-influential country of 2012 has even more to offer in 2013, including the opening of Eu-rope’s tallest building, London’s Renzo Piano-designed Shard, in February, and a wealth of cul-tural and music festivals to look

forward to during the summer months. Away from the capital, head west to Northern Ireland’s Londonderry – the UK capital of culture for 2013 – and south to Cornwall, where you’ll find spectacular beaches and some seriously bijou places to stay.

The diver’S dream: TobagoFrequently overshadowed by its larger sister island, Trinidad, Tobago offers a beguiling com-bination of perfect white sand beaches, few tourists and some of the best diving in the world. The Japanese Gardens reef just off Speyside in the north of the island is home to the world’s largest brain coral, while Buc-coo Reef has enough marine life to keep you entertained for hours. Stay at the Magdalena Grand (magdalenagrand.com), where along with wonderful sea views, you’ll find the Carib-bean’s best piña coladas cour-tesy of its consistently charming barman, Kevin.

off beaTen TrackS: The PhiLiPPineSBoth culturally and physically separate from the rest of Asia, the Philippines remain relatively undiscovered, although that’s largely down to its size. With more than 7,000 islands, there’s enough room to keep even the most intrepid explorer busy for months, while for everyone else, there’s miles of gleaming white beaches, emerald-green paddy fields and the exhilarating organ-ised shambles that is the capital, Manila. While the country has no shortage of backpacker-type dive hotels, it’s garnering a repu-tation for serious luxury, courtesy of its growing army of boutique hotels. The tiny 15-room Eskaya (eskayaresort.com), tucked away on the tropical Panglao Island, is a case in point.

back To iTS beST: beiruTThe Lebanese capital has had a bad press in the past, largely due to the civil war that ripped the country apart during the ‘80s. Although the bullet holes re-main, the city is now a vibrant

hotspot that is swiftly becoming one of the best places to party in the Middle East. Wonderful Ottoman and colonial-era archi-tecture make it easy on the eye, as do the snow-capped Lebanon Mountains that flank the city’s eastern boundary. Thanks to the maniacal drivers, crossing the road is an extreme sport, but most of the locals are warmly welcoming.

reaL WiLd WeST: arizona Complete with towering cacti, miles of dusty desert and old-fashioned frontier towns, Arizo-na is the perfect place to indulge your inner cowboy. At the White Stallion Ranch (whitestallion.com) in the Saguaro National Park, you can try your hand at traditional Western pastimes such as team cattle penning and horse-whispering before retreat-ing to the equine-themed bar for a chilled out sun-downer. Fur-ther north, the mighty Grand Canyon and red massifs of Mon-ument Valley are geological mar-vels that are not to be missed.

nordic cooL: STockhoLmCopenhagen might be leading the Nordic revival, but Stock-holm is teed up to give the Danish capital a real run for its money in 2013. In May, the new ABBA museum opens in Djurgarden, while this month sees the launch of Nosh & Chew – a ridiculously cool addition to Stockholm’s smorgasbord of dining options, located at the equally stylish Berns Hotel (berns.se). The Swedish capital is also gaining ground on its Dan-ish rival thanks to the enduring popularity of Steig Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its kick-ass heroine, Lisbeth Sa-lander. Sarah who?

remoTe ParadiSe: The cook iSLandSScattered across the western Pa-cific Ocean, the Cook Islands are a tropical wonderland that mar-ry a 1,000-year-old Polynesian culture with the opportunity to let your inner Robinson Crusoe run riot. Rarotonga, the largest of the 15 islands, offers a magi-cal mixture of dense wildlife-

filled jungles, jagged sawtooth peaks, bone-white beaches and the chance to relax in style at the isolated Te Vakaroa Villas (tevakaroa.com). Overlooking the stunning Muri Lagoon, each of the six cottages comes with a private infinity pool and a per-sonal guide.

PerfecT ciTy break: neW orLeanSAn area that has become syn-onymous with the word ‘hur-ricane’ might not sound like the ideal spot for a break, but New Orleans – and the sur-rounding state of Louisiana – are well worth the price of a plane ticket. Swampy bayous, cleaned-up golden sand beach-es and New Orleans’ Franco-American brand of bonhomie make the region completely irresistible. The old French Quarter remains a vibrant place to tuck into a plate of fried cat-fish, while the Afro-Caribbean soundtrack emanating from the bars and clubs provides the perfect foil for the city’s grand European-style architecture.

From indulging Robinson Crusoe fantasies in the Polynesian paradise of the Cook Islands to black rhino-spotting in Zimbabwe’s strikingly beautiful hinterland, Ruth Styles rounds up the destinations that should be at the top of your list over the next 12 months

Special Section

G1511 - 17 January 2013 Inout | The cph posT enTerTaInmenT guIde

Where to go on holiday this year

Ruth Styles is an award-

winning travel and life-

style journalist, who writes

for the Daily Mail, the

Evening Standard and

National Geographic Trav-

eller among others. Based

in London, she has also

lived in Africa and the

Middle East, and spends

much of the year roaming

the globe. Favourite places:

Namibia, Oman, Zanzibar

and Copenhagen.

special section

adventurous in africa: chiredzi, zimbabWeThis year’s Livingstone bicentenary is the perfect excuse to take a fresh look at southern Africa Zimbabwe in par-ticular. Although the malign influence of Robert Mugabe is still evident, away from Harare you’ll find some of the most beauteous countryside on Earth, diverse wildlife and incredibly friendly people. Head to the Malilangwe Re-serve in the remote Chiredzi district to take a closer look at the animals, as well as the chance to indulge in some dictator-approved luxury – Pamushana (singita.com), the reserve’s eco-friendly lodge, was once a favoured destination of the Gaddafi clan.

natural born thriller: leWa conservancy, KenyaOwned by the well-connected Craig family, the Lewa Conservancy (lewasa-faricamp.com) in northern Kenya is famous for its record-breaking numbers of Grévy’s zebra and for being the spot where Prince William broke a million aspiring princesses’ hearts by propos-ing to Kate Middleton. Follow in royal footsteps and bed down for the night in one of the Conservancy’s luxe eco-tents, before heading out at dawn for a closer look at those zebra and spectacu-lar views of the sun rising over Mount Kenya.