The traveller's alphabet

FROM Argentina to Zambia, there's a destination just waiting to be explored.

Picturesque Budapest is being touted as the new Prague.

FROM Argentina to Zambia, there's a destination just waiting to be explored.

A: The accommodation junkie's favourite brand, Amanresorts, which celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2008, has defied GFC tends and continues to open boutique properties, including Amanfayun, 20 minutes from the ancient capital of Hangzhou in China, Amangiri in the American southwest, and Aman Sveti Stefan, a former royal summer residence surrounded by more than 800 olive trees, on an islet in Montenegro. More: amanresorts.com.

Qantas launched direct flights from Sydney to Buenos Aires in late 2008 and Argentina continues to be the prime destination in South America for soft adventure, winery touring and cosmo city style. Taking tango lessons and learning Spanish in Buenos Aires is the new rage, with excursions to Patagonia for fly fishing and stays at lodges such as Lago Verde Wilderness Resort (lovers of New Zealand's premium country lodges, take note).

Argentina celebrates its bicentenary of breaking ties with Spain this year with a varied program of cultural activities, including the reopening of Buenos Aires's fabled opera house, Teatro Colon. (Chile is also celebrating a bicentennial year.) More: qantas.com.au; hosteriaselaura.com; destinationargentina.com; visit-chile.org.

B: Canada's British Columbia should enjoy a tourism surge after its international exposure during the Winter Olympics (February 12-28) and Winter Paralympics (March 12-21). This province is the outdoorsy traveller's dream writ large and wild, with Whistler Blackcomb for superior skiing, world-class lodges and tented camps, including Clayoquot Wilderness Outpost in Clayoquot Sound Biosphere reserve on the westernmost edge of Vancouver Island, and a selection of floating fishing lodges (William Shatner's favourite is Nimmo Bay, where even heli-fishing is on the agenda). More: au.canada.travel.

In central Europe, Budapest is being talked about as the new Prague, and whether or not that makes any real sense, the Hungarian capital is full of glorious architecture, thermal baths, high-ceilinged salons serving cakes the size of cushions and one of the continent's best hotels, the fabulously restored art nouveau pile Four Seasons Gresham Palace, bang beside the Danube. More: budapestinfo.hu/en; fourseasons.com.

C: Cooking classes form the centrepiece of many special-interest holidays and with the MasterChef phenomenon still at full boil, the trend is set to continue. Melbourne expat Wendely Harvey has a succession of Australian food experts, including Diane Holuigue, Beverley Sprague and Valli Little, due to hold residential classes this year at her La Combe en Perigord manor-house cooking school in the beautiful French Dordogne. More: lacombe-perigord.com.

D: If you're looking for new frontiers, think Dili. East Timor's tourism industry is still at a fledgling stage but Intrepid Travel has seen the potential and offers two 15-day trips in July that feature ample time to explore the capital, mountain hiking, snorkelling amid the reefs of the Wetar Strait, village visits and a stay in simple beach huts on Atauro Island, connected with an ecotourism project that supports the local community. More: intrepidtravel.com.

E: Expeditionary cruising is growing at the same buoyant rate as big-ship cruising. Australia's popular Orion Cruises has a new ship, Orion II, due to launch in 2011 on Southeast Asia itineraries. Silversea Cruises reports a surge in bookings from clients with a "passion for discovery" for its latest liner, the 132-passenger Prince Albert II. More: orionexpeditions.com; silversea.com.

F: Seemingly forever embattled by coups and political machinations, Fiji nonetheless weathers the storms, has recently smashed visitor arrivals records and offers fantastic value for short-haul holidays. Check the new InterContinental Fiji Golf Resort and Spa beside Natadola Beach on the main island of Viti Levu, the self-contained The Residence and The Royal villas at Vomo Island in the Mamanucas and the smartly refurbished Malolo Island Resort near Denarau (with great reopening specials).

Malolo's sister property Likuliku Lagoon Resort is flying the culinary standard for Fiji with light and inventive fare by ex-Bathers Pavilion (Sydney) chef Brett Kryskow and his pastry chef wife Chloe. Peter Gilmore of Sydney's Quay will run masterclasses at Likuliku, in conjunction with Kryskow, from April 8-12. More: ichotelsgroup.com; vomofiji.com; maloloisland.com; likulikulagoon.com.

Film trails (and those connected with television series) have long sparked interest for die-hard fans and new to the list for 2010, thanks to the irresistible on-screen antics of Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law, are tours of Sherlock Holmes's London, while Scott Hicks's The Boys are Back has refocused interest on South Australia's pretty Fleurieu Peninsula.

Addicts of the Twilight books and films are homing in on the logging town of Forks in Washington State, US, where the tales are set; visitor numbers have reportedly multiplied by thousands in the past year with more visitors a week than in a (pre-Stephanie Meyer year). More: forkswa.com.

Meantime, Edinburgh author Alexander McCall Smith has emerged as a one-man marketing machine for the little African nation of Botswana, thanks to the success of his No 1 Ladies Detective Agency collection of moral fables (the TV series is now showing on Foxtel's Showcase). There are themed tours in Gaborone, taking in the sets, including Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni's Speedy Motors and the lady detective's house in Zebra Drive. More: africainsight.com.

G: Glamour camping, or glamping, is still raging, with Australian luxe camps such as Sal Salis (Western Australia), Spicers Hidden Peaks Canopy Camp (Queensland) and Bamurru Plains (Northern Territory) proving you don't necessarily need to go to Africa for a thrilling safari. In India, there's five-star tented accommodation at Vanyavilas, near the entrance to the Ranthambore National Park (spot a tiger, if you're lucky), in a compound within the fortress-like Rajvilas at Jaipur, and in the Kanha National Park at twin camps at Banjaar Tola, one of the new safari redoubts run by Taj Safaris in conjunction with &Beyond. More: wildbushluxury.com; hiddenpeaks.com.au; oberoihotels.com; tajsafaris.com.

H: Entrepreneurial expat Australian hoteliers continue to surprise. Karl Steinberg and Christopher Ong, who have made such a splash with their Galle Fort Hotel in Galle, Sri Lanka (bestowed with a UNESCO Award of Distinction for Heritage Conservation in 2007), have opened Clove Hall, a petite colonial gem in Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. With just six suites (named for spices, from saffron to cinnamon), and bags of style, the hotel has been shaped from a once-dilapidated Edwardian bungalow on a coconut plantation originally owned by the Sarkie Brothers (of Singapore's Raffles Hotel fame). More: clovehall.com.

I: Istanbul is the 2010 European Capital of Culture (confusingly, Essen in Germany and Pecs in Hungary are also carrying the mantle this year; there were nine "official" cultural capitals in 2000). So the next 12 months should be a perfect time to visit well-priced Istanbul, with bonus cultural events and two museum openings, including (in July) the Museum of Innocence, inspired by the 2008 novel of the same name by Nobel Prize-winning author Orhan Pamuk. The collection highlights films, photos and assorted memorabilia to document life in Istanbul from the 1950s to the present. More: en.istanbul2010.org; goturkey.com.

River cruising in Europe has been huge for the past five years, with companies such as Viking River Cruises launching progressively bigger ships aimed at the Australian market. But how about river roving in India? Pandaw Cruises launched a 14-night Ganges journey between Kolkata and Varanasi in October last year; the Bengal Pandaw was the first passenger ship to sail between Calcutta and Varanasi on the mighty Ganges since the 1930s. More: pandaw.com.

J: Japan continues to be a drawcard for Australian travellers, especially skiers, and lingering fears of exorbitant costs have been assuaged by all-inclusive deals, accommodation initiatives from the JTB group's JapaniCan.com spin-off, and the opening of machiya heritage townhouses in the reliquary city of Kyoto. The Iori group has 10 machiya in Kyoto available for short-term rental, all featuring traditional architecture, luxury bathrooms, goosedown quilts, plus English-speaking concierges and requisite mod-cons. More: japanican.com; kyoto-machiya.com.

K: Kitchens . . . not the Harvey Norman or Ikea sink-and-stove models, but apartment-style hotels that offer equipped kitchens and other comforts of home. Travellers are eschewing the $25 room-service breakfast or late-night club sandwich in favour of self-catering at apartment hotels. Australian brands Quest and Medina are among the most successful, the former with more than 125 properties across Australia and in New Zealand and Fiji.

Medina's sister brand in Europe, Adina, has been a hit in Germany, Denmark and Hungary attracting guests from all major markets with low prices and spot-on city locations. More: questapartments.com.au; medina.com.au; adina.eu.

L: Where Lonely Planet points, many an adventurer hoists a backpack and follows. According to the publisher's 2010 must-go list, the big destinations will include El Salvador and Suriname in Central and South America, Germany, Greece and Portugal (where "a new wave of boutiques, art galleries and cafes are finding homes in once-crumbling buildings, and locals are beginning to rediscover the allure of vibrant downtown areas"). LP reckons favourites such as New Zealand and Malaysia can also continue to hold their heads high, with the emphasis on green-themed adventures.

LP earmarks Nepal as another travel favourite for 2010: "With the end of the Maoist uprising, trekkers are once again pitting might and muscle against some of the most challenging trails on the planet. Trekking in Nepal is one of those travel benchmarks, like seeing the Taj Mahal, or diving the Great Barrier Reef, or the first time you eat fried locusts." More: lonelyplanet.com.

M: Global warming and the prospect of sunken atolls has not put paid to resort development in the Maldives. The new in-ocean villas at Angsana Velavaru, with their spacious private pools and contemporary coral-orange interiors, have lifted the benchmark for this style of honeymoon hideaway. Fly Singapore Airlines' A380 superjet to Singapore and connect to Male; spend a night or two at Banyan Tree Vabbinfaru on North Male Atoll (20 minutes by speedboat from Male airport), and then fly by seaplane (45 minutes) to Angsana Velavaru in the South Nilandhe Atoll. More: angsana.com; banyantree.com; singaporeair.com.

N: Australians have been spoilt in the past by full-service airlines but low-cost flying with no-frills carriers who charge for everything from blankets to bottled water is now a reality. As a signal of things to come, the recently announced alliance between Qantas subsidiary Jetstar and the Malaysia-based low-cost carrier AirAsia should result in reduced fares around the Asia-Pacific region.

O: Online travel bookings and sales are growing at about 20 per cent a year and most travellers are familiar with top sites such as lastminute.com, wotif.com, zuji.com, webjet.com and needitnow.com. A growing trend is the accommodation auction site, with Australian-based provider ubid4rooms.com leading the charge, inviting users to bid for rooms. Surely it won't be long before online auctions are extended to flights, rental cars and other holiday components.

P: Poland is gearing up for Chopin Year 2010 and events across the country will celebrate the composer's birth 200 years ago at Zelazowa Wola, 60km west of Warsaw. Chopin's birth certificate is displayed in the parish church at the nearby village of Brochow, where he was baptised; highlights of the celebratory year include the Chopin and His Europe International Festival in Warsaw (August 2-31) and the 14th Chopin International Piano Competition, also in the Polish capital (October 2-23).

The Frederic Chopin Museum in Ostrogski Castle, Warsaw, has undergone renovations and will reopen on his birthday, March 1. More: chopin2010.pl.

Q: Queensland's Hamilton Island staged the promotional campaign to top all publicity pushes with its World's Best Job blitz early last year. Although the winner, and now island caretaker, Pommy Ben Southall, has been bitten by a Irukandji jellyfish and seems to spend 24/7 blogging mindlessly, the coverage has been amazing. (In a copycat move, Skomer Island in south Wales has advertised for a new warden: "Wanted: Enthusiastic person to share outdoor office with a colleague, thousands of day trippers and vast colonies of seabirds. Must love puffins." Doesn't have quite the same appeal somehow.)

Elsewhere in Queensland, five-star resort lovers are watching the previous Voyages Hotels and Resorts' islands, Bedarra and Lizard, with interest, hopeful the new owners will spend, spend, spend. More: hamiltonisland.com.au; bedarra.com.au; lizardisland.com.au.

R: Rail travel is back on track, experiencing a renaissance as travellers look for ways to avoid the stress of airport security crackdowns and lickety-split timetables. Great Southern Rail has introduced services on the Southern Spirit, with enroute excursions, the option of European-style Platinum Service sleeper cabins (similar to the Ghan), and a choice of itineraries to Uluru and the red centre of Australia or along portions of the east coast. More: thesouthernspirit.com.au; gsr.com.au.

The Orient-Express group's hidden treasure is the Royal Scotsman, which operates a selection of top-class rail journeys, from several nights across the Highlands to the just-launched seven-night return-trip Grand Tour of Great Britain (first departure, July 9, from Edinburgh). More: royalscotsman.com.

In India, rail talk is all about the Golden Chariot, a train with palatial carriages attended by "costumed captains" that runs seven-night return journeys from Bangalore to stops in southern India. Australian wholesalers such as Adventure World market the train; this company reports India as its second-biggest destination, after Vietnam. More: adventureworld.com.au.

S: Get used to that term superliner (or, more terrifyingly, megaliner). It's the age of the very big cruise ship and the world's largest, the Oasis of the Seas, carries a mind-boggling 6292 passengers plus 2165 crew and has rock-climbing walls, a basketball court, an ice-skating rink, a carousel with hand-carved wooden animals, a shopping arcade the size of a mini-mall, cantilevered whirlpools and a Central Park at sea with 12,000 live plants and trees.

"I've never been a believer in building it big just for size's sake. We build large because we've had so many ideas they simply don't fit in a smaller hull," announced Royal Caribbean Cruises' chief executive Richard Fain at the ship's launch in December. More: royalcaribbean.com.

South Africa boasts revamped airports, new infrastructure and licensed home-stays as part of its preparation for the 2010 FIFA World Cup (June 11-July 11) and visitors will reap the long-term benefits of this nationwide investment. More: southafrica.net.

Seoul is the 2010 World Design Capital, which heralds a calendar of fashionable events including the centrepiece Seoul Design Fair (September 17 to October 7), the South Korean capital's reply to design weeks in chic centres such as Milan and New York. Seoul now rivals regional competitor Tokyo for designer stores, galleries and wow-factor malls. More: wdc2010.seoul.go.kr.

World expositions may seem a bit old hat but that's not stopping Shanghai pulling out all stops for its Expo 2010 (May 1 to October 31). China's most cosmopolitan city has a Better City, Better Life theme this year and zillions have been outlaid to upgrade key urban precincts, including the historic riverfront Bund boulevard. The Expo website suggests a mind-boggling 70 million visitors are expected. More: en.expo2010.cn.

T: Watch Sri Lanka this year as the political situation stabilises and tourism picks up. Travel & Indulgence's pick here is all to do with cuppas. Ceylon Tea Trails is a product developed by the Dilmah tea company in the Bogawantalawa Valley in the country's central reaches, about four hours from Colombo by car.

The trails link four classic colonial bungalows built for one-time British tea estate managers and set in lovely gardens. The houses have been sympathetically restored and offer four to six guestrooms; pursuits in the valley include cycling, trekking, whitewater rafting, tea factory tours and, of course, the taking of orange pekoe in bone china during the afternoon-tea hour. More: teatrails.com.

U: Who could resist the US this year with the Australian dollar so strong and recent-entry airlines to the trans-Pacific route, such as V Australia and Delta, forcing a fare frenzy. New York City is blazing to trot; it was the most popular tourist destination in the US last year (for the first time since 1990) and about 46.7 million visitors are expected this year. There has been rampant hotel development and brilliant new places to stay include the British Firmdale group's Crosby Street Hotel (in SoHo) and The Surrey (on Manhattan's upper east side) introducing a revved-up level of townhouse chic to the Big Apple accommodation scene. And don't miss NYC's amazing High Line elevated public park, which has attracted more than two million visitors since its opening last June. More: firmdale.com; thesurrey.com; thehighline.org.

V: Voluntourism has become one of the industry's favourite catch-phrases, but unlike such manufactured collisions as staycation and chillax, this invented word and, more importantly, this form of altruistic and feel-good tourism, is here to stay. There are myriad choices available but Projects Abroad is a good starting point, with options from China to Costa Rica, while STA's i-to-i programs, from conservation initiatives and short-course English teaching to wildlife research and community developments, are proving popular with young gap-year travellers. More: projects-abroad.com.au; statravel.com.au.

Villa rentals are still the budget-wise way to go for families and houseparty groups headed to Bali. Alu Bali, a charming villa complex in beachside Seminyak, run by Australian expat Lewis Norman, has added Petitenget House to its inventory. The three-bedroom pad comes with a lovely pool and pastel interiors, and is a steal at $US390 ($420) a night (less if fewer bedrooms are required), including in-villa cooked breakfast and airport transfers. More: alubali.com/petitenget-house.

And don't just associate villas with beaches and tropical climes. How about a safari houseparty? Aside from its six glam suites (with showers so large that frequent guest Elton John has dubbed them "car washes"), South Africa's Royal Malewane, in the Timbavati Game Reserve abutting Kruger National Park, has the six-bedroom Africa House. In the Great Fish River region of the Eastern Cape, Kwandwe, part of the &Beyond Africa portfolio, has an inventory of sole-use lodges and villas, including the eight-guest Relais & Chateaux-listed Melton Manor. More: royalmalewane.com; andbeyondafrica.com.

W: Women-only tours are proving big-sellers, and not simply for ladies of a certain age. Just-for-chicks shopping tours, spa escapes and bonding getaways are being offered by mainstream operators. Sydney foodie Maeve O'Meara's Gorgeous Safaris are typical of the type; she has a Vietnam trip in March and an outing to Broome, in conjunction with pearl doyenne and hotelier Marilynne Paspaley, in June (the trip is dubbed Girls and Pearls, of course). Inspired Travel also has a swag of tours for females under its Gutsy Women Travel brand aimed at active travellers typically in their 30s. (T&I likes the sound of an Adventurous Wench seven-day escapade to the reefs and ruins of Belize.) More: gourmetsafaris.com.au; inspiredtravel.com.au.

X: X-tras was the buzzword in 2009 as operators competed for business and we bargained for add-on meals, spa treatments and other value-plus packaged inducements. As the industry recovers from the downturns of 2008-9, we will still be in haggling mode, but the bargains won't last forever. Canny operators have not discounted their core prices, however, but built-in savings such as "free" extra nights and kids' meals, airport transfers and upgrades. Financially beleaguered destinations such as Dubai may have more appeal to bargain hunters as many hotel tariffs continue to drop; "to reflect new market conditions", the British-owned Premier Inn group has slashed rates at its two Dubai properties by 40 per cent and big retail bargains are likely at the annual grabfest, the Dubai Shopping Festival (January 28-February 28).

Y: Do it your way and still have the safety net and infrastructure of a reputable wholesaler. World Expeditions has had enormous success with its range of about 60 self-guided U-Tracks products in Europe and also offers outings aimed at families, such as walks around Mont Blanc, cycle tours of Provence, and barge-and-bike holidays in Holland, Belgium and France. On many of the self-guided cycling trips, bike trailers are available that accommodate up to two children (to a maximum of 40kg-60kg, depending on specifications), and Trail-a-Bikes for children four to nine. Trips are sensibly graded according to one's level of fitness and commitment to working up a sweat. More: utracks.com.

Z: Zambia is the latest safari hot-spot; luxury operator Abercrombie & Kent has opened its own Sanctuary lodges and tented camps (including Sanctuary Sussi & Chuma in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park, with 12 treehouses built into the living canopy of giant ebony trees), thus ensuring a consistently high standard of accommodation and services. Itineraries are flexible (try canoeing on the lower Zambezi), with optional Victoria Falls extensions; Zambia's South Luangwa region is billed as the "home of the walking safari" allowing ranger-escorted guests to view the African bush from a different perspective. More: abercrombiekent.com.au.

For Susan Kurosawa's exclusive list of Australia's hot accommodation picks for 2010, see WISH magazine, Friday, February 5.