Intrepid – Short Break Adventures

Get a free copy of the Intrepid Travel: Short Break Adventures travel brochure. For travellers who are longing to get off the beaten track, Intrepid Travel opens up a whole new world of opportunities.

Great adventures come in little packages too. Whether you’re after a wildlife experience, a food odyssey, a cultural escapade or some simple R&R, Intrepid’s Short Break Adventures are little parcels of awesomeness. Ranging from 2-8 days, they’re the perfect add-ons to longer trips or mini adventures in their own right.

So if you’re keen to experience the joys of family travel the real way, don’t hesitate, sign up now for your free copy of the Intrepid Travel: Short Break Adventures

Lego 2012

Welcome to the 2012 LEGO® Summer Catalogue!

This Summer, help fight evil with the LEGO® Superheroes across pages 2-9 , then head off down the mines with new CITY sets on pages 10-11 . Check out our Summer gift ideas on pages 22-23 and get into the patriotic spirit with our British sets on pages 20-21!

Plus, FREE Mini Sopwith Camel plane with orders over £50!*

AND, FREE standard delivery on all orders over £50 until 11th July!**

Bamboo Baby

Bamboo baBy’s Spring/Summer 2012 ‘Sweetie’ collection is now available to order. You’ll find fun new organic cotton prints, super-soft bamboo/organic cotton interlock, gorgeous bamboo denim styles and luxurious bamboo knitwear. All designs inspired by sweets!

Why Bamboo?

Bamboo is the most sustainable all-natural plant fibre on earth with amazing silky softness! Bamboo fabric is organic, sustainable and super eco-friendly whilst being gorgeously soft. Feeling is believing!

At Bamboo baBy they use organic bamboo & organic cotton in their baby clothes. Bamboo has an amazing softness and hypo-allergic properties that make it ideal for babies delicate skin. It is also very absorbent and great for keeping babies warm when it is cold and cool when it is warm. Bamboo is a grass and it grows quickly without the need for pesticides and water-making it a more eco friendly alternative to conventional cotton. It is also great for reducing environmental damage including soil erosion and global warming.

Bamboo clothing that may help sufferers of eczema:

As rough clothing, chemicals, infection, being too warm and damp can all be triggers of atopic eczema, organic cotton and bamboo clothing are both thought to help. Bamboo is very soft with sweat-wicking, thermo-regulating and anti-bacterial properties, helping to reduce a number of the triggers of eczema. Organic cotton is also cool to wear and allows the skin to ‘breathe’. Both bamboo and organic cotton clothes are free of chemical residues. The National Eczema Society provides a fact sheet with details of stockists of organic cotton, silk and bamboo clothing that may help sufferers of eczema.

Design Features

They want your Bamboo baBy and Bamboo Kids clothes to last as long as possible so they try to design them to fit well, be comfortable and to add design features to make them last for longer.

  • All their jeans, trousers and skirts have adjustable waistbands.
  • Their dungarees and pinafore dresses have 3 sets of poppers on the straps so they can be adjusted as your little one grows taller.
  • Their hooded tops are fully reversible so if one side gets grubby you can just turn them inside out!
  • Some of their shirts, jeans and trousers have poppers inside the legs or buttons on the sleeves so they can be made into three-quarter length.

And because bamboo fabric is soooo soft, hopefully you’ll never hear your little one complaining that anything is itchy!

Authentic Adventures – Singing Holidays

Authentic Adventures offer Natural Voice singing holidays in groups led by the inspirational Faith Watson.

You will stay in locally run hotels with an authentic feel and sing in a variety of settings – churches, old palaces, and beside the sea. They explore the regions, discover local crafts, enjoy music on the streets and visit villages where, whenever possible, they join with local choirs thanks to the knowledge of their guides.

All accommodation, transport within the region, and most meals are included and they enjoy eating together in a local restaurant or their hotel.

When not singing they usually offer easy walking and they remain open to surprises which regularly add to the magic of their holidays.

Natural Voice
‘Natural Voice’ holidays with Faith Watson are perfect for those who love to sing and may perhaps sing with a modern choir at home, but no musical training is required. Faith believes everyone can sing. She will bring a range of songs from around the world and each day the vocal exercises and rounds will grow into the full song. Their groups wax lyrical about the bond and shared feeling of singing in these groups.

Wendy Wu Concierge – The Ultimate Experience

Travel is not just a journey, it’s an experience. It’s about understanding the people and places visited, feeling a true sense of culture, history and being inspired by enriching encounters. Wendy Wu Concierge offers an unparalleled personal approach. Each itinerary is defined by the ultimate in service, luxury, and cultural highlights where private access is allowed to only the privileged few.

Wendy Wu Concierge partners with only the finest hotels to provide the ultimate experience and ensure the highest levels of comfort and service. Their featured selection focuses on The Peninsula and Shangri-La hotels. Offering luxury accommodation and representing the most prestigious addresses within each destination, all of their featured hotels provide the best in international and Asian hospitality.

Exclusive itineraries are created by their passionate Personal Travel Consultants, who deliver a premium service. They are committed to you and your holiday expectations from the time you contact them to the time you return home. See what you want to see, the way you want to see it.

Authentic Adventures – Photography Holidays

Authentic Adventures Photography holidays have gone from strength to strength thanks to our wonderful tutors and some very special locations.

This year they are excited to offer four new fabulous photographic locations to add to their photography holidays in Morocco, India, Iceland, Tuscany, and the Greek island of Santorini. They have a new photography trip to Venice and an exciting new dual centre adventure planned for the vibrant and distinctive Caribbean island of Cuba.

The locations
Their photographers enjoy working with the light bouncing off the sea on the Greek island of Santorini, while Morocco and India offer exotic locations, inspiring landscapes and cultural contrasts. In addition to the hilltop towns of Tuscany, they have a new photography city break to Venice focusing on the contrast of moonlight reflections on water by night as well as day time sights. They are returning to Iceland, this time to explore a new region in the north.

Their photography tutors are award winning photographers with the expertise to share their tips and teach their techniques and skills.

The itineraries blend large landscapes with close up detail. They use air-conditioned transport to take us to their locations and adventures. Excursions and meals are taken together as a group but all activities are optional and their hotels are ideal places to relax and review your digital photographs.

Discover Scotland

Welcome to Discover Scotland

Quality Scottish Self Catering Holiday Cottages located throughout Scotland. Whether you are looking for Coast or country cottages in the south and borders, West Coast or Highlands they have something to suit all and allow you to Discover Scotland’s heritage, superb scenery or adventurous outdoors for yourself.

Scotland has for centuries been a wonderful place to visit and explore – for its superb heritage and varied scenery, the sense of freedom whether visiting city or country, the ability to relax where ever you are and the internationally renowned warm welcome extended to all visitors.

Whether you are looking for an active holiday or just want to laze on a golden beach, enjoy the majestic mountain scenery with the chance of seeing Golden Eagles, enjoy the islands and lochs the choice will be yours to take. Don’t forget that as this is Scotland, there are golf courses everywhere, fishing is available on loch, river and sea and, for the cyclist and walker, all in all Scotland is unsurpassed.

Authentic Adventures – Walking Holidays

Whether you are an experienced hiker or someone who likes to amble rather than ramble, there is an Authentic Adventure for you.

‘Walking over lemons’ in Andalucia is where it all started for them and they are pleased to be returning to the Subbetica natural park again this year. The region is famous for its neolithic caves. Their walkers walk through steep olive groves, past vultures circling the cliffs, taking in the views of little whitewashed villages clinging to the craggy outcrops of the mountains.

Gozo, the little island off Malta with its citadel of the Knights of Malta, is a new walking destination for them, and provides a chance to spot dozens of species of migrating birds stopping off on their route. Also new for them is the picturesque Greek island of Santorini, with its myth of Atlantis. The views of whitewashed churches and sparkling blue sea will refresh the senses.

Walking in Lanzarote has been one of their surprises, the tapestry of salt pans and volcanic lava fields creating a unique landscape that is unlike anywhere else.

Italy remains one of their best loved destinations for walking in beautiful scenery with Stefano and his team of fascinating guides to explain all about the wildlife and history of his country. You will be led through the vineyards and farmsteads around the Val d’Orcia – Tuscany’s classic wine producing landscape.

For those who prefer demanding walks they have a new walking holiday in the Italian Alps at Gran Paradiso with its amazing backdrop of lakes and mountains.

The languid pace of life in Kerala in India is a delight for meandering along the canal paths and steeping through the lightly scented tea gardens is one of their more exotic adventures. A true delight, the spices and colours of Kerala will linger in the memory.

Surrounded by the undeniable rhythms of Hispanic music, cobbled streets that wind amongst the colonial buildings, palm fringed sandy beaches and lush sugar cane producing valleys, Cuba never fails to impress and amaze. On foot you can meet the real people of this outstanding island, of the tourist route and experience the real authentic Cuba.

Group size
Their groups are typically between eight and 14 and therefore have little impact on the locals and their environment.

Single travellers
Their groups are renowned for their friendliness and as a result most weeks have several single walkers. They try to keep the single supplement to a minimum.

Wendy Wu – Late Deals

Visit China this year from just £90 per day, fully inclusive!

Great value just got better – Save up to £500 per couple*

Their fantastic value, fully inclusive tours have just become even better value! For a limited time only, they are offering unbeatable savings on their best-selling group tours to China and Indochina.

Choose from a wide selection of departure dates this year. Make 2012 a year to remember with Wendy Wu Tours

Call a Personal Travel Consultant today to avoid disappointment.

*£500 Saving valid on selected China Tours departing in Jun 2012. All other savings valid for selected China and Indochina tours departing Jun – Dec 2012. All featured offers subject to tour and flight availability. New bookings only. Book by 30 Jun 2012.

CLICK HERE for Great Last Minute Deals

Authentic Adventures – Painting Holidays

People come on Authentic Adventures painting holidays for a relaxed and enjoyable artistic adventure, and many return year after year to seek out new subjects and new locations. Last year they painted in two new settings: Idyllic Santorini and the beautiful island of Gozo, in addition to returning to their roots in Subbetica, Spain.

For 2012 they have selected two new destinations including the Caribbean Island of Cuba, and Aracena, Spain.

Their tutors
All their tutors are professional painters, working in a range of media. More importantly they are friendly, patient and encouraging in helping you develop your techniques, whatever your level of experience. They are totally committed, teaching for 6-8 hours per day with free time in the afternoons, although you may take as many breaks as you wish.

With a range of locations available in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, you’re bound to find inspiration on one of their trips.