Books, butlers and beach club bargains

The 2009 edition of the Jewish Travel Guide is in the bookshops, and anyone who wants to know where to find a synagogue, a kosher restaurant or kosher accommodation across the globe, from Albania to Zimbabwe, via Japan, Mexico and Poland, should not leave home without it. Clearly set out, its 432 pages are packed with practical information, along with maps and a list of Jewish heritage tours and kosher holidays and cruises. There is also a calendar of festivals in 2009 and 2010, and helpful listing of kosher fish (Vallentine Mitchell; www.vmbooks.com).

● Keen walkers should head to Derbyshire’s lush countryside for the Peak District Walking Festival from April 25 to May 4. One of the walks is being sponsored by Wheeldon Trees Farm, the up-scale holiday cottages run by Deborah and Martin Hofman, who exchanged their north-west London Jewish life for 12 acres of pastureland at the head of a secluded valley in the Peak District. The couple are sponsoring a walk on Sunday April 26. The stylish, well appointed cottages, which sleep from two to five guests, cost from £195 for two nights and £467 for one week (www.WheeldonTreesFarm.co.uk; 01298 83219)

● And if you are in the mood for some serious walking (and some serious fun), Finchley-based charity One to One, which supports disadvantaged children in Israel, is trekking from the Red Sea to Solomon’s Pillars for its 2009 Israel trek. From November 7 to 15, the route starts in the Eilat Mountains and takes in Amram’s Pillars, the spectacular Red Canyon and Timna Lake. After camping out for five nights, trekkers spend Shabbat in a top Eilat hotel. Registration fee is £425, plus sponsorship of £2,500 (www.one-to-one.org; 020 8343 4156).

● If you are heading for New York don’t miss the Jewish Museum’s two new exhibitions. “The Danube Exodus: The Rippling Currents of the River”, is a multi-media exhibition, based on footage shot by a Hungarian sailor who ferried East European Jews fleeing Nazi persecution down the Danube. The resulting 8mm footage was adapted and re-edited for this exhibition. The second new exhibition is of 50 paintings from the collection of Dutch collector Jacques Goudstikker, most of whose paintings were seized by the Nazis in the 1940. The works on view are those returned to Mr Goudstikker’s heir following a-long battle for restitution. (www.thejewishmuseum.org; 001 212 423 3337).