Israel’s Ministry of Tourism has launched a new internet site which allows visitors to Israel, and those planning a visit, to ask questions and receive recommendations and information before and during their stay, with a team of licensed tour guides from the Israeli Tour Guides Association providing answers within 48 hours of a posting. The site will also feature 300 tourist attractions and 500 accommodation options and will serve as a forum for exchanging information, personal recommendations and travelogues.
If you haven’t caught up with the idea that Majorca long ago shed its kiss-me-quick image and is now a very chic, up-scale island, the music festivals taking place later this year should convince you. They include the International Sa Pobla Jazz Festival in August with free concerts in Palma’s main square; the two week-long Alcudia Jazz Festival in early September; the Opera Season, which runs until November at the Teatre Principal in Palma — productions including Madam Butterfly —and the Jazz Voyeur Festival, which will be headlined by Diana Krall on August 5. As a base, Mallorca Farmhouses offers properties of all kinds across the island, including a one-bedroom apartment in stylish Palma, from £299 for three nights, including maid service, welcome hamper and car hire (0845 800 8080).
Gorgeous Grayshott Spa and top UK nutritionist Amanda Hamilton have combined to offer a body cleansing and weight-loss programme at the health resort on the Surrey-Hampshire border. The programme blends natural therapies and supplements with an eating regime designed to provide fast weight-loss. The four- and seven-day programmes, which start later this month, cost from £1,375 per person, and include all meals, health consultations, massages, a food-intolerance test and lots more (01428 602020.
A series of new combination “passports” from Keith Prowse Attractions offer Florida’s top theme parks and entertainments from £135 for a week for an “Orlando Thrills & Spills” passport. This covers major venues such as Walt Disney World Resort, Universal Studios, the new water park, Aquatica and the Kennedy Space Centre, while a new, two-week “Do It All”’ passport at £299 per adult (and £259 per child, aged 3-9), provides an Orlando FlexTicket with 14 days of unlimited entrance to five theme parks including Universal Studios and Sea World, access to Florida’s four main Disney parks over a seven-day period, plus seven admissions to five other Disney attractions and a dinner-show ticket (02890 23 24 25).
