Alaska by land, sea and air

Alaska has a brawny beauty. With terrain beyond rugged, words like stunning, gorgeous, massive and wild, fall short of capturing the essence of America's last frontier.

Approaching Glacier Bay aboard the Coral Princess, Pratheepan Selvaratnam -- a junior officer of the watch -- scans the mirror-smooth surface of the water and surmises that words fail to define Alaska because it is ever-changing.

"I was here four days ago and it's not the same. There's always something different to see," says Selvaratnam , who as a kid growing up in Don Mills dreamed about a life at sea. The former Toronto Sun delivery boy saved money from his paper route to help pay for a course in marine navigation at Georgian College and later landed a job with Princess Cruises.

We watch from the bridge as the ship continues to glide slowly through the narrow passage into the milky-turquoise bay. Fragments of blue-white ice -- which has "calved" off the glaciers that ring the bay -- float lazily past.

In these waters, officers on the bridge and at the stern "keep a constant watch," Selvaratnam says. "These glaciers are stable but the ice you see above the water is only one-tenth of the glacier's size. The rest is beneath the surface.

"The weather has been pretty good lately but conditions can change quickly. You can never let your guard down," Selvaratnam says. "It's Alaska, expect the unexpected."

I have been meeting the unexpected head on all week. Before boarding Coral Princess in Whittier, our small group of journalists had been touring the interior of Alaska, experiencing a lifetime worth of adventures in six days.

Our group has travelled many hundreds of kilometres -- by luxury coach and Princess railcars, on kayaks and dogsleds -- through mountain ranges, over canyons, braided rivers and lakes, past boreal forest, tundra and muskeg.

There has been flightseeing over impossibly high peaks and craggy glaciers, whitewater rafting on fast flowing rivers still frigid even in August, heli-hiking and sightings of bears, bald eagles and King Salmon.

The base for these adventures has been three of five Princess Lodges -- Fairbanks, Denali and Mt. McKinley. The land-based excursions are part of Princess' cruise tours.

Before flying to Fairbanks, I had imagined this part of the trip as a relaxed affair -- like a long weekend at a luxury cottage in the woods before the main event, the cruise from Whittier to Vancouver.

Instead, what I learned is the land tours are as thrilling as the cruise. And the lodges -- although as well appointed as any good hotel -- take a backseat to Alaska itself, serving as very comfortable staging points from which to embark on amazing wilderness adventures.

At the end of the day's exploration, the lodges are a place to swap stories, unwind over a fine meal and a few drinks, have a dip in the hot tub, and get a good night's sleep before the next day's discoveries.

Princess Cruises Tour Director Guy Glaeser says most people don't realize that the company's five lodges see almost 100,000 guests in a season that runs only from mid-May to mid-September.

There are many pre-and post-cruise options, each with its own merits, Glaeser says. He believes the escorted tours, which are only offered pre-cruise and include the services of a tour director, are a "tremendous value."

One of his favourites is an escorted package that includes most meals, eight nights' accommodation at Princess lodges in Fairbanks, Denali, Copper River and the Kenai Peninsula, a tundra tour, a Catamaran cruise and Princess Rail transporation followed by the seven-night Vogage of the Glaciers cruise from Whittier to Vancouver.

In general, Glaeser says, the land tours are the best way for visitors to come face to face with Alaskan culture,Gold Rush history, and remote wilderness areas "few people ever get to experience." These include Denali National Park, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which straddles the U.S.-Canada border, and Kenai Fjords National Park.

Glaeser says while deciding to take a tour before or after a cruise is a personal decision, he recommends pre-cruise tours. That way you can relax on the ship after -- in between shore excursions and shipboard diversions that is.

This is certainly true in our case. After almost a week of high adventure -- a jet-boat ride and wilderness hike along the Talkeetna River, a tour of Denali National Park, and flightseeing over glaciers and Denali -- aka Mt. McKinley, Alaska's highest mountain -- some of us are ready for some lower key activities.

These come in the form of soothing body treatments in the Balinese-inspired Lotus Spa. After our high-energy time on land, I pass on the fitness centre and go directly for a massage and a dip in the Lotus pool.

The next day some of us don plastic aprons and get our hands really dirty during the popular shipboard pottery class led by Russ McKeel. It isn't clear who has the most fun -- the students or McKeel.

The retired U.S. Air Force pilot obviously loves sharing his passion for pottery-making with passengers and makes it an enjoyable and productive experience -- even for complete beginners at the wheel.

In mere minutes he has us shaping clay into vessels that will later be fired and glazed.

McKeel says before joining the Air Force, he studied fine arts but couldn't earn a living as a potter so he also studied electrical engineering and later joined the Air Force.

But he didn't forget his first love. His career as a pilot often took him to major European cities and he seized the opportunity to visit some of the world's great museums and art galleries. Now that he's retired, McKeel can do what he loves year-round.

Another day, we take a galley tour and meet Paolo Merio, the ship's ebullient executive chef.

Merio shares his passion for his kitchen, food -- particularly Italian food -- and Princess Cruises. Like Selvaratnam, as a boy Merio also dreamed of a life at sea. His dreams were fuelled by reruns of The Love Boat, which was set aboard Princess ships. At 17, Merio joined Princess as a galley helper and worked his way up to executive chef.

"Now I spend more time here on the ship than at home in Como," Merio remarks.

As the Coral Princess nears Vancouver, I long for more time on board and start to daydream about my own life at sea. Of course, I don't want to work on board Coral Princess. I simply want to stow away and relive the nonstop adrenaline rush that is Alaska.

---

BOTTOMLINE

CRUISE INFORMATION

Princess Cruises offers a wide variety of Alaska cruises and cruise tours. Prices vary depending on options selected such as length of cruise tour, type of stateroom on board, etc. For details, see princesscruises.com or visit a travel agent.

ALASKA MARKS THE BIG 5-0

Alaska celebrates 50 years of statehood in 2009, making this year a particularly good time to visit. Anniversary events take place throughout the year and commemorative stamps and coins will make great, easily transportable souvenirs. For more on the celebrations, see Alaska's 50th Year of Statehood Celebration website at gov.state.ak.us/ASCC.


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Sleep with fish in Bora Bora

Bora Bora is easily the most exotic place I've ever been.

Let's start with the overwater bungalow because that's what puts Bora Bora over the exotic edge.

The whole idea of accommodation straddling the ocean was born in French Polynesia - the scattering of 118 South Pacific islands of which Bora Bora is the marquee name. When I first saw a photo of an overwater bungalow, I vowed one day to sleep in one.

What better place for the dream to come true than at the Four Season Resort in Bora Bora, which opened last fall and is already considered one of the finest hotels in the world.

It's home to 100 overwater bungalows, all with a view across the lagoon to Mount Otemanu.

"Of course, when we were building this resort overwater bungalows had to be featured prominently," said Four Season manager Sebastien Carre. "It's what people expect and anticipate when they visit this island."

There's the primate aspect of thatched roofs and a little house on stilts, but inside it's a luxury hotel suite complete with private veranda and ladder into the ocean for swimming.

Because it's so distinctive, other tourist hotspots around the world have adopted the overwater bungalow - namely Fiji, Bermuda, Belize, Mauritius and the Maldives.

Bora Bora has many other things going for it: There's the year-round ideal tropical climate; water the most incredible hues of blue, green and crystal; and excursions ranging from circumnavigating the island on jet skis to swimming with sharks.

When my family and I were there we took Raanui Tour's Lagoon Excursion, which included feeding five-foot-long reef sharks that apparently prefer eating fish over humans.

Our outing with Matiru Jet Tours was led by speed demon and showman Rapha Leechipsao, who says he's shown Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie around the island.




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How to score secret airline perks

What's the ultimate sky-high perk? For economy-class passengers, that would be a tray table that doesn't flop open by itself. But most travelers in economy, especially on long flights, would love a horizontal seat.

In fact, Toulouse, France-based Airbus announced at London's annual Business Travel Show last week that it is working on plans to fit bunk beds into economy class. While this innovation may not materialize for several years, there are some perks that passengers--from economy to first class--should be taking advantage of in the here and now.

Granted, it's easy to forget that some carriers are still offering value-added incentives, especially considering that passengers must now pay $7 for a blanket on Jet Blue or US Airways, and part with $15 to check a bag on American or United Airlines. And, of course, most of the perks are available only to business and first-class fliers. In Depth: How To Score Secret Airline Perks

But there are some nice incentives for everyone, depending on the airline. Air France, for example, offers every guest on every flight a bubbly pick-me-up: complimentary champagne. And yes, it's the real stuff, from the Champagne region of France.

Small Price, Nice Perk
And while most food in economy class now costs more than a wink and a smile at the stewardess, there are some benefits to paying for your meal. Certain airlines, such as Delta, have upgraded their offerings. Instead of an unhealthy, soggy mini-pizza or a mere bag of peanuts, passengers can fork over $8 and get a southwestern Caesar salad created by celebrity chef Todd English.

Life-altering choices? Definitely not. But paying a little extra gets a lot more when it comes to food in economy class. If this still isn't enough, however, and you desperately desire an upgrade, there are ways--other than begging nicely--to move up.

Steven Frischling, a professional photographer who became a travel consultant to C-level executives in 2005, says that for those looking to jump to business or first class, Y-Ups and Q-Ups--known as Z-fares in Europe and Asia--are a better way to go than hoarding frequent-flier miles for years on end.

Y-Ups are special codes on first-class airfare that indicate that the seat can be assigned to those looking to upgrade from economy. To find one of these fares, go to your preferred airline's Web site. Search the first-class seats on the flight you want to take. If any of those seats are tagged to a code like Q***UP, write down that code. Then, search for an upgradeable coach seat (some airlines don't allow upgrades for super-cheap coach fares), and write down the code for that seat, too. Finally, call the airline--they'll usually waive the telephone service fee for frequent fliers, if you ask--and use both codes to request that your coach seat be upgraded to the first-class seat. For the price of coach, of course.

Go Foreign
Sure, this perk does take some legwork, but it's worthwhile on a long international flight. However, Frischling says that the biggest perk is membership in an international frequent-flier program.

"Your best bet is not to join a U.S. frequent-flier program," says Frischling, who left his U.S. programs in 2006 for British Midland Airways' (BMI) Diamond Club.

BMI is part of the Star Alliance, a group of 25 airlines that work together (United, Lufthansa, Air Canada and Air New Zealand among them), which means your points and upgrades can be applied to any of those airlines. While most U.S. airlines do not offer complimentary lounge access to frequent fliers, most foreign carriers do, which means you get the benefit of using those facilities within the U.S.--on airlines like United--without actually belonging to their frequent-flier programs.

Along with BMI, Frischling says that Air France and Korea Air offer the best perks (Continental is a partner of the latter). For example, once you've flown 100,000 miles on Korea Air, you're automatically given platinum status for life, which includes access to hotels discounts, rental car services and even bonus flight tickets.

While foreign carriers take extra care of frequent customers, it doesn't look like perks on U.S. airlines are going to improve anytime soon. In fact, they may get worse. Richard Laermer, a marketing expert who travels the world promoting his books on the topic, including last year's 2011: Trendspotting, uses the tactics such as the aforementioned Y-Ups, to score deals.

"Perks are dropping like flies," says Laermer. "I spend all my time these days figuring out what's being offered."

But perks are still available for now. So while it may take some legwork, from the simple (edible food), to the more complicated (first-class upgrades at economy prices), there are hidden perks out there. You just have to know where to look. In Depth: How To Score Secret Airline Perks


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Ships, condos best bet for '10 Games

VANCOUVER, B.C. - Winter Olympics conjure up images of skates and skis, mukluks and mittens.

But the 2010 Games are being held in British Columbia, where winter is just as likely to involve golf as it is giant slalom, and local tourism operators are hoping to cash in on the atypical climate.

The fact that people can sail in the morning and ski in the afternoon creates unique options for Olympic spectators.

One Alberta-based company is offering golf on nearby Vancouver Island before or after the Games, along with a stay aboard a cruise ship. Stays on the Norwegian Star start at $2,010 for a four-night stay.

And with around 27,000 hotels rooms available in the Vancouver area and as many as 300,000 visitors expected for the Olympics, travellers just might need to get creative finding a place to stay in 2010.

Though there's just one year until the Games, it's still unclear how many traditional hotel rooms will be available to the public.

"We're finding out as we go, particularly as we get inside a year we'll know more," said Walt Judas, vice-president of marketing for Tourism Vancouver.

More than half of Vancouver's hotel rooms are reserved for the international and local Olympic committees, who have until March to start notifying hotels of how many rooms they'll actually need, though it's not expected that any will be released.

Some hotels put aside as much as 75 per cent of their rooms for Olympic officials and media. Athletes and team officials will not be taking up space in hotels as they will be staying at the Olympic village.

"When the Olympics are all over and there is a big bill to pay, people will think 'oh yeah, the hotels are getting a lot of money.' But we aren't," said Zack Bhatia, the vice-president of Mayfair Hotels and Resorts, which owns six hotels in the Vancouver area.

Hotels in the Vancouver area and in Whistler, B.C. were asked to lock in rates during the bid phase for the Games. Those lucky enough to secure a room through the Olympic committee are only paying about 15 per cent more than high-season.

But room rates for the public are much higher.

At a Radisson hotel near the Vancouver airport, rooms during the Olympics will be $599 per night, with a minimum stay of four nights. The regular nightly rate in February is around $150.

But over-charging could leave operators with empty rooms or worse, said Judas.

"The customer that we see in 2010, the visitor that's here for the Games is the same person we want here in 2011 and 2012 and beyond," he said.

"If they think they've been hard done by in any way, or over-charged, we're not going to see them as a repeat customer."

Prices that were already high have climbed into the stratosphere in Whistler, B.C., which will host mountain events for the Games.

Fewer journalists are expected to stay in the mountain resort and the German Olympic delegation has cancelled plans to use the village as its base.

Vancouver-area hostels are taking a different approach.

Three run by Hostelling International Canada only raised their nightly rates by $5 or $10, even though they knew they could have charged much more.

"Jacking up prices isn't really in the spirit of what we've been about and what we were created for," said Shelbey Sy, director of marketing.

Both hotels and hostels say demand increased after tickets began to be allocated last fall, but no hotels with rooms left for the public are yet sold out.

Some hotels have given over their entire stock to tour operators and travel brokers, preferring a guaranteed payout to empty rooms.

Even with a bad economy, Americans are hungry for 2010 travel packages, said Anbritt Stengele with Sports Traveller, a Chicago-based company specializing in travel to sports events.

"The Olympics is once in a lifetime," said Stengele. "People are looking to still do this trip, but at a lower cost."

Rather than secure rooms at four-or five-star hotels, the agency is working with cheaper properties combined with add-on packages, Stengele said.

Even the Burnaby Cariboo RV Park and Campground has a waiting list.

"This is our slow time," park manager Harriet Mazur said of a typical February, but not in 2010.

"We will now double the number of people who are with us."

In Salt Lake in 2002 and last summer in Beijing, people found rooms cheaper in the days before the Olympics than by booking months in advance.

To save spectators the effort of scouring dozens of sites, tourism officials have set up an online listing at www.2010destinationplanner.com.

However, no hotels in the Vancouver-area are currently listed and bookings must be made over the phone.

Listings for private apartments for rent and house swaps increase every day.

Serdar Tevar is looking to rent his fully furnished, one-bedroom apartment in downtown Vancouver for $5,000 per month in February and March 2010.

"Why not to turn this opportunity into a two-month business and make some money?" he said in a e-mail. "I am not sure if it'd work. I decided to give it a shot at least."


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Hidden world of African healers

JOHANNESBURG -- Tucked away under a highway in downtown Johannesburg, the Mai Mai market is a hidden world where traditional African healers ply their trade.

Visitors can take in the heady sight of stalls packed with animal skins and strong herbs used to ward off evil and bring good health. It is also a great place to pick up beadwork and is known for its sandals handmade from rubber tires.

Dubbed "Ezinyangeni" -- the place of healers -- the Mai Mai market is dedicated to traditional African medicine or "muti."

The ill and the unlucky come to consult its herbalists or "inyangas" and its diviners known as "sangomas," who communicate with ancestral spirits and read the future by throwing bones.

For some, "muti" is associated with quackery and witch doctors. There are gruesome "muti" killings and crooks preparing to commit a crime are known to take part in rituals to make them invincible.

For most, though, it is the practice of an ancient art of healing that is passed down to a chosen few initiates.

But visitors be warned, there are some strange and macabre sights.

Skins and skulls line the eaves above your head as you walk along the rows of red-bricked buildings. There are snakeskins, crocodile skins, dozens of deer hides and the misshapen skulls of a few cows. Look carefully and you will see the odd (and illegal) leopard pelt, even the stretched grey fur of a baboon.

Bones yellow with age, bark and earth-red roots frame the windows and doorways of the little shops. Their shady interiors are lined with shelves of downy herbs. On front counters are rows of stoppered bottles filled with brown powders and nameless other dried organisms.

There is the lingering smell of "impepho," a plant dried into coils and burnt for spiritual cleansing.

The traditional healers are a tight-knit community and aren't always friendly to strangers. Communication can also be difficult as most of the healers only speak isiZulu, as the language of the Zulu people is called.

In one shop, a woman with sharp cheekbones and a stony glare kept us away. But a little farther away, Themba Maseko was as warm and inviting as his shop was enticing. The inside and outside were decked with strings of neon-coloured beadwork, thick belts made from cowrie shells, feather headdresses and patterned cloths.

Maseko says people from all backgrounds come to him with problems ranging from unemployment to sleeplessness, marital difficulties and infertility.

"You need to take time and throw the bones," says Maseko, referring to a custom of telling fortunes by casting small animal bones on the ground. "These bones will detect how things should be put in order."

The 38-year-old former bank clerk explains how he "got a calling" about 10 years ago. He used to fall into a deep sleep at his desk and went to see a traditional healer who told him he needed to become one himself.

"I never went back to the bank. I am supposed to be in a place like this," he says happily.

The Department of Health estimates about 70 per cent of South Africans use traditional African medicine, often comfortably alongside western medical practices. The tens of thousands of traditional healers in South Africa are being organized and regulated. Some play an important role in primary health care.

Maseko admits "muti" is still something of a taboo topic.

"Some people are afraid to come and they will wait until it becomes dark. But at the end of the day, muti is the charm of everybody," he says.

Maseko, and some of the other healers, will do consultations with foreign visitors for a negotiable fee. But most visitors prefer to just look on and wander around the market.


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Fun rains down on New Orleans

The economic downturn could not overshadow the revelry of Mardi Gras on Tuesday as partiers jostled for beads on parade routes and the French Quarter swelled with boozy fun and masked crowds.

In fact, many revelers poked the recession in the eye, dressing in costumes riffing on the bailouts, the stimulus package and busted budgets.

Suzanne Gravener dressed as the Statue of Liberty — but without a crown. That, she joked, had to be sold for cash because of the hard times. Her husband lost his job as a dairy salesman, she said.

"I still have my torch, though," the 59-year-old New Orleans school teacher said.

Carnival was one luxury the family could afford, she said. "This is the greatest free show on earth."

The day opened with clarinetist Pete Fountain leading his Half-Fast Walking Club out onto Uptown streets and headed for the French Quarter in a trolley car. The marching club marks the unofficial opening of Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, the last day of celebration before the solemnity of Lent.

By dawn, spectators crammed parade routes in anticipation of the day's biggest parades and costumed revelers mingled with all-night partiers in the French Quarter's narrow streets.

"It was cold, but nobody minded," said Delores Johnson, 53, of Slidell, La., who staked out a place on St. Charles Avenue with a group of friends dressed in matching green and gold shirts. They arrived on the oak-lined historic parade route just after midnight Monday.

The first parade of the day was Zulu, the traditional African-American parade, followed by Rex, the king of Carnival, and hundreds of truck floats.

At 4 a.m., Zulu members got into costume, which for them means blackface, huge afro wigs and grass skirts. Zulu marks its centennial this year.

"Oh, my God, if my family could see me now, the only good news is that they wouldn't recognize me," said Zulu member John Rice after his face was painted. "This is the only city in the world where you can get away with this."

In the company of Zulu rode Mayor Ray Nagin on horseback. The mayor was outfitted as a gladiator, or as he called himself a "recovery gladiator," in honor of a city's rebuilding from Hurricane Katrina.

Eight parades rolled through New Orleans streets on Saturday and Sunday. Two were scheduled for Monday night, including Orpheus, with founder Harry Connick Jr. and guests Jim Belushi and about a dozen other celebrities.

Other celebrities taking part in Mardi Gras are Kid Rock, Joan Rivers and Bryan Batt. In all, there will be more than a dozen singers, actors and comedians among the hundreds of thousands of revelers in town to see the more than a dozen Carnival krewes and glittery floats that will parade through New Orleans and its suburbs.

One celebrity who won’t be attending the festivities, however, is Louisiana native Britney Spears. Her publicist said the pop star will not arrive in New Orleans until after the city celebrates Mardi Gras for the launch of her "Circus" concert tour on March 3.

But fans will still have plenty of other musical acts to enjoy. Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds is the featured entertainment Friday for the Zulu organization’s ball, which is marking 100 years, while Kid Rock is performing at the Krewe of Endymion’s ball after that group’s parade Saturday night. On Sunday night, Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews and rapper Juvenile are performing at the famed Tipitina’s night club.

On Monday, Belushi, star of ABC’s "According to Jim," is performing after the Krewe of Orpheus parade with his band, The Sacred Hearts Band. They’re part of the entertainment lineup for those attending the Orpheus ball.

Katrina was on the mind of Cherry Gilbert, a 42-year-old Seattle bus driver who helped organize a family reunion for about 80 members of the Gilbert clan, many displaced to cities like Dallas and Atlanta by the 2005 storm.

"This is the first time since Katrina we've all gathered here and it's a beautiful thing. There's nothing like New Orleans ... and family," Gilbert said, camping out on St. Charles.

It was the 49th time Fountain, 78, has made the journey from Commander's Palace, one of the city's most famous restaurants. Costume-clad revelers snapped photographs of Fountain and his entourage of men dressed as toy soldiers in reds, greens and aqua blues. Fountain has had health problems since Hurricane Katrina, but still plays his clarinet during the parade.

Along for the walk for the 43rd time was Jim Ponseti, 74, of Gretna, La. "We don't play, we just play around," Ponseti said of himself and his fellow nonmusical marchers.

The weather was expected to be mild, with temperatures in the 60s and the skies sunny.

Big crowds over the weekend and nearly full hotels bode well for a busy Mardi Gras. Visitors bureau spokeswoman Mary Beth Romig said officials were cautiously optimistic because of the slumping national economy.

Tourism officials hope to match last year's crowd of about 750,000. Before Katrina, Fat Tuesday typically brought in about 1 million people.

There was a shooting after Friday's parades and police said there was another shooting about 6 a.m. Tuesday near Bourbon Street. Still, police said the celebration was mostly peaceful.

"Everyone seems to be enjoying themselves and not making trouble for anyone else," spokesman Bob Young said.

Many visitors gather in the French Quarter area, where Carnival's more ribald side takes place.

"I just keep calling my friends at work and telling them what they're missing," said Bud Weaver, 31, of Philadelphia. "It's 40 degrees colder there and none of them had beer for breakfast."

Mardi Gras officially ends at midnight Tuesday. Police, followed by street sweepers, move down Bourbon Street announcing the event is officially over and Lent has begun.

In heavily Catholic New Orleans, many revelers will be in church Wednesday to have ashes daubed on their foreheads as they begin 40 days of prayer, penitence and self-denial leading up to Easter.

____

Associated Press writers Stacey Plaisance, Mike Kunzelman and Becky Bohrer contributed to this report.


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Top remote-island getaways

Feel like you need an escape to a small, secluded spot where the BlackBerry won't get a signal? It might sound idyllic, but getting to a faraway place such as the Cook Islands, an archipelago in the South Pacific, isn't easy if you live anywhere other than Australia or New Zealand. For those traveling from Los Angeles, it takes at least 15 hours to find your way to the main island, Rarotonga.

But it's worth the schlep. For some, the draw is the turquoise lagoon--arguably the bluest in the world--that was named one of the most "unforgettable places to see before you die" by travel photographer and writer Steve Davey. For others, the privacy and pampering are more than enough.

In Depth: Top Remote-Island Getaways

At the Aitutaki Lagoon Resort & Spa, located on the tiny island of Motu Akitua, a two-minute ferry ride from Aitutaki, visitors enjoy the lagoon almost completely undisturbed. The entire resort has just four bungalows and one villa. Rates start at an affordable $210 per couple, per night, in the low season.

Indeed, while fewer of us may be traveling this year--70% of business travelers, for example, predict that they'll be cutting back on 2009 trips, according to a recent survey by Alexandria, Va.-based Association of Corporate Travel Executives--those who can still afford to get away should consider a faraway escape. Not only are hotel rates less expensive than last year, but the price of airfare has dropped, which means travelers can milk more value out of the dollar.

Despite the predicted downward travel trend, surprisingly, 25% of affluent travelers plan on taking more leisure trips in 2009 than they did in 2008, while 94% plan on spending the same or more on leisure travel in 2009 than they did last year, according to an August 2008 survey conducted by Orlando, Fla.-based marketing firm Y Partnership. Surveyors interviewed over 2,100 leisure travelers with an annual household income of $150,000 or more.

Fewer Travelers, More Deals
Of course, the ransacking of the financial sector between then and now may mean those numbers have changed, but it's safe to say that plenty of people will still travel this year. And when they do, they'll want the ultimate experience for spending their hard-earned dollars; conveniently, remote islands looking to keep their rooms full will offer exclusivity, privacy and beauty for a lower price.

"Today, people are looking for once-in-a-lifetime experiences quietly. Faraway islands offer that," says Albert Herrera, vice president of hotels and resorts at Ft. Worth, Texas-headquartered travel adviser trade group Virtuoso.

The extreme end of that once-in-a-lifetime journey is an escape from civilization relatively close to it: Necker Island in the British Virgin Islands, which may be the most exclusive beach spot in the world.

Owned by billionaire Richard Branson, the island is typically rented out to one party at a time--which means it'll cost you. However, you and your guests receive complete access to the staff, who will organize everything from beach Olympics to tennis tournaments to kite surfing. There's also a fully operating spa and Michelin-starred chefs. Renting out the entire island runs $51,000 per night, for up to 28 guests.

This year, however, one of the most in-demand--but still remote--spots is the Galapagos, which is celebrating Charles Darwin's 200th birthday. While it's not an easy journey--four hours from Miami to Quito, Ecuador, then another two-hour flight, with one short stop along the way--guests are greeted by pristine beaches.

The real appeal, of course, is the wildlife--this is, after all, where Darwin developed his theory of evolution by natural selection. But that doesn't mean visitors have to rough it. One option is to stay in luxury digs at the Royal Palm on Santa Cruise Island, the only five-star hotel there, which boasts an art gallery, 360-degree-view suites and villas, as well as regional Ecuadorian food.

As Remote as it Gets
For an island experience with a real difference, however, think beyond sand and sun and consider a trip to the arctic.

Luxury tour operator Abercrombie and Kent offers 20-day cruises to Antarctica, South Georgia Island and the Falklands that start at $10,295 per person. The trip is laborious and consists of a nine-hour flight from Miami to Buenos Aires, then a five-and-a-half-hour flight to Ushuaia, Argentina, then several days on a boat. However, the wildlife, including a colony of king penguins in South Georgia Island, makes the trek more than worthwhile.

Indeed, what these remote islands offer, more than exclusivity, is a one-of-a kind experience, says Boise, Idaho-based travel agent Lindsey Wallace. And maybe most importantly in these stress-inducing times, they allow you to truly get off the graft for a few days.

"You can be confident that no one is going to find you there."

In Depth: Top Remote-Island Getaways

 


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Spicing things up in Louisiana

Mardi Gras may be Louisiana's biggest tourist draw but the annual event, which peaks Feb. 24, is only one reason to visit the state. Another is food: Lousiana has a unique culinary tradition that can be experienced year-round, even in smaller cities like Houma.

At Boudrea and Thibodeau's layers of cardboard and newspapers cover the tables. There's no cutlery, just containers of hot sauce and several giant-size rolls of paper towels.

Boudreau and Thibodeau's advertises Cajun cooking, as do many eating places in this city an hour's drive southwest of New Orleans.

The appetizers, all deep-fried, arrive on plates: Onion rings, shrimp, oysters and boudin, a Cajun blood sausage. A few bites and you've reached your saturated fat limit for the week, possibly longer.

The main course ingredients, all boiled, arrive in buckets: Shrimp, potatoes, a spicy Cajun sausage called andouille and corn on the cob, followed by crawfish, freshwater critters resembling miniature lobsters.

I haven't eaten since breakfast. Neither has the journalist from Montreal's La Presse sitting across from me, so we wreak havoc on the mound in front of us.

"C'est bon, c'est bon,'' she keeps exclaiming.

Bits of shell go flying, seafood juice splatters shirts and slacks. It's great fun, particularly washed down with bottles of Abita Amber, a Louisiana beer that puts the ubiquitous Bud Light to shame.

Cajuns, if you remember your high school history, are descendants of Acadians, French Catholics expelled by the British from Nova Scotia in 1755. Some started trickling into Louisiana a decade later and flourished.

Cajun cooking, a local chef explained, is a mix of seven cultures -- French, Native American, Spanish, African American, German, Italian and British. So you find gumbo, an African word for okra but used to describe a popular stew-like soup, and bread pudding, a British favourite, on the same menu.

Of the four Cajun restaurants we visited, A-Bear's Cafe was tops. (The name is a play on the French pronunciation of the owners' name, Hebert.)

A typical lunch special is smoked sausages with red beans, rice and either potato salad or coleslaw for $6.75 or a big bowl of gumbo, either shrimp or chicken and sausage, with potato salad for $6.95.

Appetizers include crab fingers, fried cauliflower, crawfish pies, catfish, hush puppies, fried okra and popcorn shrimp. Sweet potato fries are a popular side dish.

Jane Hebert, whose husband, Curly, does the cooking, brought us a taste of grilled catfish. When I asked about the sauce, she replied: "It's a buttery-based secret.''

I did learn why their red beans are superior to what I eat at home: Theirs are made from scratch, not via a can-opener.

Houma chef Roy Guilbeau says you boil the beans, dump the water, and boil them again. In the second cooking he includes what he calls "the holy trinity'' of Louisiana cuisine -- celery, green peppers and onions -- which he sautes first. He adds oregano, parsley and green onions at the end of the second cooking, along with chopped smoked sausage.

The Cajun food at Bayou Delight, about 10 km from Houma, near Gibson, is also tasty. The lunch special the day we visited was only $5.99, and that included homemade peach cobbler. Favourites include fried catfish topped with shrimp sauce, soft-shell crabs, alligator etouffee, and oyster or shrimp gumbo.

Dinner at Big Al's Seafood Restaurant in Houma resulted in a mass swearing-off of anything deep-fried. The frog's legs were okay but the crab claws, alligator and other bits and bobs had been left in hot oil so long they tasted pretty much alike.

One word I didn't see on any menu was "blackened."

In the 1980s, famed New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme introduced this term for searing meat and fish with pepper and other spices. Blackened meat and fish became all the rage. But heavy-handedness with the hot stuf led to the belief that Cajun cuisine was super spicy.

The real stuff isn't.


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Heavenly place to head downhill

There are few views in skidom as heavenly as the one from the top of Heavenly Mountain Resort.

From this ski area's pistes high in the Sierra Nevada mountains, you're rewarded with a vista of Lake Tahoe shining a spectacular sapphire blue. The scene -- reminiscent of the mountain/water combo of Switzerland's Lake Geneva -- is framed by jagged white peaks. Beyond, the desolate brown of the High Desert is in sharp yet stunning contrast.

Heavenly straddles the California-Nevada border. Its northeast slopes snake into Nevada, home of blackjack and roulette inside its casinos. Its southwest slopes trickle into a quieter California. Somehow the disparity works, offering skiers both serene and lively experiences in the same vacation.

The serenity starts with an early morning gondola ride up from South Lake Tahoe, Heavenly's central base. Skiers sitting backward in the gondola cars spot early views of Lake Tahoe's unmatched beauty. With 300-plus days of sunshine at Heavenly per year, skiers' chances for catching some brilliant views are good.

The sights are enhanced by trees, which cover the resort. Located inside the El Dorado National Forest, Heavenly's giant pines are protected. Developers can't cut the trees and the runs are full of them.

The huge fields of widely spaced trees offer shelter from the wind, collect powder snow and give riders some fun stuff to ski in and out of.

Heavenly's ski terrain -- 1,943 hectares, the largest in California, is a mix of easy, intermediate and advanced, with some expert. There are 24 lifts, including nine high-speed express chairs, an aerial tram and a gondola.

Forty-five per cent of Heavenly's runs are graded intermediate. Blue-square trails like Big Dipper, Galaxy and the popular California Trail -- which starts in Nevada and ends in California -- are all gentle-rolling and moderate.

The spice for experts kicks in at 3,071 metres atop the Milkyway Bowl. Accessed via a moderate hike over snow and boulders, Milkyway is wide-open, powder-filled and fun. It leads to more double-black terrain at Heavenly's eastern boundary and steep runs with fun names -- Stateline Chute, Snake Eyes and The Fingers.

With 35% expert terrain and big snow dumps, Heavenly is a good choice for hard-driving skiers. Plus, its proximity to 13 other Sierra ski resorts, including Squaw Valley and Northstar-at-Tahoe, make it attractive for road-trippers.

Heavenly is accessed easily from Nevada's Reno airport; flights connect from major U.S. hubs, including San Francisco, L. A. and Denver. From Reno it's an easy 1.5-hour drive by shuttle bus or rental car to South Lake Tahoe, the main hotel base of Heavenly Mountain Resort. There's a slew of lodging -- from lakeside motels and casino digs, to mountain-side condos.

Heavenly Village on the California side of South Lake Tahoe is home to the Marriott's new Timber Lodge condo-hotel. The lodge is self-contained, with several pools and hot tubs, a gym, a restaurant-bar and shopping. Heavenly's gondola comes right to the hotel's front door.

Also out the front door: Nevada. A few steps along the busy street leads you to the casinos, which is where the "lively" part starts.


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Over a barrel in Glenville

GLENVILLE, N.S. -- After nine years of battling over "Glen Breton," a company that claims to make North America's only single-malt whisky -- far from the Scottish highlands -- recently won the right to keep the name for now.

On Jan. 23, Glenora Distillery president Lauchie MacLean announced the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa had upheld the firm's registration of its trademark single malt.

Begun in 1990, Glenora faced its first challenge over the name "Glen Breton" 10 years later, when it launched Glen Breton Rare Canadian Single Malt Whisky as one of its trademark names.

The Scotch Whisky Association, which opposed the trademark registration bid, has successfully barred distilleries outside of Scotland from calling their whiskies "Scotch" and argued using Glen was deceptively misdescriptive.

Early in 2007, the year I visited, the Trade-marks Opposition Board in Ottawa ruled Canadians would not be confused by "Glen," since many international whisky makers use the word. Then, last year, Mr. Justice Sean Harrington of the Federal Court of Canada denied the trademark application, saying the word implied Scottish roots.

After successfully appealing that ruling, MacLean said he hopes the whisky association will not carry the battle into a fourth round by appealing to the Supreme Court of Canada.

He expressed hopes the Nova Scotia company and the protectors of the Scotch name will be able to develop as smooth a relationship as the taste of Glenora's whiskies.

Its buildings, including a guest inn, pub and fine-dining restaurant, are on both sides of McLellan's Brook.

The tree-lined stream flows down from the Mabou Highlands south of Inverary on the west coast of Cape Breton -- where about 25% of the population has Scottish roots. This province's name, in Latin, means New Scotland.

During my tour, whisky director Donnie Campbell said the water that supplies the distillery carries the flavour of apples since it flows over the roots of trees in nearby orchards that bear the fruit in autumn.

Glenora was conceived by Bruce Jardine, who realized no single malt whisky was made in the area, despite its Scottish traditions.

The ancient Gaelic language can still be heard in these highlands and Gaels are credited with inventing "Uisge Beatha," which translates as "The Water of Life."

Jardine went to Scotland and travelled for a year, studying the traditional methods of Scotch-making, which ranges from the bottling of single malts to blends produced from a variety of whisky aged and stored in wooden kegs before being mixed together after years of aging, Campbell said.

Some brands of Scotch are made from as many as 42 different whiskies, he said.

"Half the world's whisky is Scottish, but only 31/2% is rare single malt," Campbell said.

North America is known for similar liquors: Rye in Canada, bourbon in the U.S.

But unlike those alcoholic beverages made from various grains such as rye, barley and corn, Campbell explained, "single malt whisky has to be 100% barley.

Canada's first large-scale distillery was established in 1799 by Montreal-based beer-brewing magnate John Molson (1763-1836). By the 1840s, there were more than 200 distilleries in Canada, with J.P Wiser, Henry Corby and Hiram Walker having established southern Ontario has the country's premier whisky-making region.

Under new ownership since 1994, Glenora imports its barley from Scotland, where it is malted to the company's specifications, Campbell said. "The reason we malt the barley is to germinate and convert the starch to sugar ... that's what we use to make our whisky."

Using barley, yeast and water, the company aims to produce about 50,000 litres a year.

"When we distill, the smell fills the glen," Campbell said.

Jardine, who lost the company after going into receivership in 1994, died in his 40s just before the distillery's first bottling was completed in 2000.

"It's sad," Campbell said. "Nobody knew what would happen, but he had a pretty good idea."

The first bottling sold out and the second bottling "was gone before ever hitting the shelves," he said.

Doing their own bottling and labelling by hand, employees now ship some Glenora award-winning whisky to Europe.

Glen Breton is described in a brochure as having a "medium-bodied, but pleasantly fiery aroma that combines butterscotch, heather, honey and ground ginger "with elongated, wood-infused undertones."

The sips we sampled on a balcony overlooking the giant traditional copper cooking pots truly lived up to the promise. In the end, for whisky-lovers, the true test is all about taste.

MORE INFORMATION

The guest season runs from early May to mid-October. In addition to a gorgeous setting along Route 19/Ceilidh Trail -- which connects to the world famous Cabot Trail on the western side -- the area offers a variety of music and entertainment, hiking trails, waterfalls, beaches, hunting, fishing, deep sea fishing, horseback riding, windsurfing, whale-watching, golf courses, museums, galleries and -- of course -- a Glenora whisky tour. (In Ontario, the LCBO advertises a 750 ml. bottle of Glen Breton Rare Canadian Single Malt Whisky at $89.55.)

For more, write Glenora Inn Distillery, P.O. Box 181, Mabou, N.S. B0E 1X0, phone 1-800-839-0491 or visit glenoradistillery.com. For travel information, contact the Nova Scotia Department of Tourism, Culture and Heritage toll-free at 1-800-565-0000 or novascotia.com.


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Two takes on sunshine

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- The St. Petersburg Evening Independent used to give away the newspaper free on days when the sun didn't shine.

The paper no longer exists. But it didn't die because it gave its product away free. It had to cough up only 295 times in 76 years, fewer than four times a year.

It circulated throughout Pinellas County, the coastal strip running from Tarpon Springs in the north to St. Petersburg. And to this day Pinellas gets an average of 361 sunny days a year.

Forty years ago, when the free giveaway was in full swing, Pinellas made the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest stretch of daytime sunshine: 768 consecutive days (Feb 9, 1967, to March 17, 1969.)

But it's not only the sun that brings visitors here in droves. The other lure is the beaches, something like 50 km of the best sand in Florida, on a dozen barrier keys running from Clearwater Beach to Pass-a-Grille. This combination has made Pinellas County -- now marketed as Florida's Beach -- the biggest single vacation destination on Florida's Gulf Coast, attracting 3.8 million visitors a year.

Many of those visitors are Canadians, mostly Ontarians, drawn by the extra attraction of the Blue Jays in Spring training in Dunedin.

It's a far cry from the situation only a couple of decades ago when this area was a somnolent retreat, peopled mostly by retirees. The cynics called it God's Waiting Room or Wrinkly City. Then, in the 1980s, it caught fire, adding major league sports, top class museums and galleries, new hotels and condos, and dozens of other attractions.

So, although yes, there are still plenty of grey and blue-rinse heads here, there's also plenty to interest the average, younger visitor too. There are the beaches, of course, and baseball (the Blue Jays in Dunedin, Philadelphia Phillies in Clearwater, the Yankees across the bay in Tampa and, a bit farther south, the Pittsburgh Pirates in Bradenton and the Cincinnati Reds in Sarasota).

If past trends persist, by the height of the season in February, one in every six visitors to Pinellas County is a Canadian.

They won't want to spend all their time on the beaches or at a ballpark. And here they're in luck for that boom that started in the '80s made the area the cultural powerhouse of the Gulf Coast.

There are nearly 40 museums. The Salvador Dali houses the largest collection of the surrealist artist's work outside of Spain and it's planning to move into a new $35 million US building in 2010. Meanwhile, you can find it at 1000 Third Street on the St. Petersburg waterfront.

Boxcar No. 1130695-5 is a heartbreaking exhibit in the Holocaust Museum, a sad reminder of man's evil. In this 8-metre long railcar, a marker says, up to 100 people were "stuffed,'' on their way to the concentration camps. Many suffocated on the way.

The Florida International Museum is the home to a permanent collection devoted to the life and career of President John F. Kennedy and his family, and hosts top-tier travelling exhibitions.

Great Explorations! is a children's museum with the emphasis on discovery and creativity, primarily with a science bent. It even organizes birthday parties and themed sleepovers.

Two interesting little museums in Tarpon Springs, the historical museum and one called Spongerama, tell how the seaport was settled by Greek divers, who harvested the rich sponge beds in the gulf. The town is still very Greek. Try any of the restaurants for a treat. And there are great deals on real sponges.

MORE INFORMATION

There are scheduled and charter flights to both Tampa International Airport, on the east side of Tampa Bay, and St. Petersburg-Clearwater International on the beach side. If you're driving, it's about 2,400 km from Toronto. For more information, visit floridasbeach.com or call toll-free 1-877-352-3224. General tourist information on Florida is available at visitflorida.com.


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Warm up to Florida deals

Canadians love Florida. According to VisitFlorida statistics, 2,832,300 of us visited the Sunshine State last year --up from 2.5 million in 2007.

Still, a little research before heading south is well worth the effort. Learning about new attractions, events and deals can enhance your vacation and save money.

Tough economic times have created some excellent deals this year. Here's a sample:

PARADISE FOUND

If you're travelling to Naples, Marco Island or the Everglades, the new Paradise Priced Perfectly promotion is filled with winter warm-up offers to lure travellers to Southwest Florida's Paradise Coast region.

Until April 15, area hotels and resorts are offering lower-than-usual peak season rates, credits, additional hotel nights free, and deals on golf, spa treatments and more. For details, see myparadisesavings.com.

If you miss those deals, another promotion begins in May. The free Paradise Coast Values in the Paradise VIP card offer visitors thousands of dollars in savings at participating restaurants, attractions and shops from May through December 2009. Savings include attraction discounts, half-off offers and other deals. The VIP card is available at four visitor centres. Contact paradisecoast.com or 1-239-225-1013 for a free guide.

Looking for lodging on the Paradise Coast? The Convention and Visitors Bureau wants vacationers to know it's possible to get "value rates" even in high season at several properties including the Lemon Tree Inn, Bayfront Inn 5th Avenue, GreenLinks Golf Resort & Conference Center and the Marco Island Lakeside Inn.

SMILEY FACE

Orlando's new "Bundles of Free Smiles" program includes free admission to attractions, free room nights, and even free events across the area, from now through June 30. Created by the Orlando CVB, the promotion complements the destination's newly launched "Orlando Makes Me Smile" program, which lists more than 50 free offers on bundlesoffreesmiles.com.

KISS AND TELL

Kissimmee likes to boast of its great location near Orlando and the world's top theme parks. Now it hopes to entice more visitors with new attractions and spring deals.

New in Kissimmee: The opening of Shingle Creek Regional Park, Florida's only zipline ride, and four giant white alligators at Gatorland from now until September.

Turning a year older anytime soon? Nearby Walt Disney World is offering free admission to one of the resort's four parks throughout 2009 on your birthday, while several hotels -- Holiday Inn Maingate East, Seralago Hotel or FunSpots Hotel -- are also offering free night deals if you stay over on your special day.

Other lodging deals: Royale Parc Suites has suites with kitchenettes from $99 per night, including breakfast, and evening cocktail reception.

All Star Vacation Homes is offering visitors who stay four nights in a private pool vacation home or condo a fifth night free between now and April 10. And Hayes Vacation Homes is providing $100 vouchers toward attraction tickets for guests staying five nights in one of their homes by using the promo code HVHKISS.

For more, visit the Travel Deals section of floridakiss.com.

SEAWORLD ORLANDO'S MANTA

Swoop over sea and sky, see amazing underwater animal habitats, then soar on a flying coaster. That's what you'll experience on the new mega-ride Manta, which opens at SeaWorld May 22.

The journey begins when you enter a mythical village celebrating ray legend and lore, see 300 rays and thousands of fish through floor-to-ceiling windows, then fly underneath the belly of a coaster train shaped as a giant manta. The 2.8-hectare, 42-metre tall attraction is located inside the main entrance to SeaWorld.

FORKS & CORKS

The second-annual Forks & Corks on Florida's Suncoast this spring promises to be a world-class food and wine event. Highlights include vintner dinners, a late-night kick-off soiree, seminars and a Grand Tasting with visiting wineries, food demonstrations, samples, live entertainment and a charity auction.

The event is presented by the Sarasota-Manatee Originals, a group of 50-plus independent restaurateurs on the coast along with winemakers from around the world. Events take place May 14-17 in various locales including Anna Maria Island, Venice, the University of South Florida's Sarasota/Manatee Campus, and The Ringling Museum of Art Courtyard.

For details, see freshoriginals.com/forksandcorks.

SANIBEL SEA SCHOOL

Many hotels offer excellent marine programs for kids, but they're often restricted to guests only. Another option is the Sanibel Sea School, which is open to all. The school teaches children and adults about the ocean and its inhabitants using the setting of the barrier island habitats of Sanibel and Captiva.

Students, who typically range in age from 6 to 13, are divided into groups of 10 with each group supervised by a lead educator. Rates start at $55 for half a day. Day courses and week-long camps are also available.

For more, contact 239-472-8585 or info@sanibelseaschool.org.

GOING TO THE DOGS

Staying at the TradeWinds Island Grand Resort on St. Pete Beach is never "ruff" for dogs -- or their owners. That's because the resort has opened a pet play zone and pet-friendly suites in response to a growing number of requests by visitors travelling with their dogs or cats. The TradeWinds Island Grand has a new doggie play area, an attractive waterside walking zone, 48 pet-friendly suites and a room-service menu, just for pets. Contact 1-866-JUST-LET-GO (587-8538) or justletgo.com.

SUNNY SIDE UP

If you're headed to Greater Fort Lauderdale, you may want to check the revamped official website before you go. Sunny.org, has beefed up content of popular sections as well as new Google map-it capabilities, a build-your-own itinerary section plus a calendar of events. Check the live beach cams, updated every 15 seconds, or book a room on sunny.org and get a free beach starter kit with beach towel and flip-flops.


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Best Caribbean snorkeling

Snorkeling is a terrific way to see your Caribbean travel destination from a new perspective. Slipping beneath the surface to swim through corals and spy on reef fish helps a tourist gain some appreciation of the natural world beyond the clubs and casinos.

For such rich rewards, the sport doesn’t ask for much in return. For starters, it requires little skill or athleticism—only the ability to feel comfortable in water. “You don’t even have to swim to snorkel,” says Renee Leach, who guides snorkel tours on Bonaire in the Netherlands Antilles. “You float. You can’t sink.” In fact, Leach has guided snorkelers as young as 3 and as old as 93, and has pulled nonswimmers around by the hand.

See our slideshow of Best Caribbean Snorkeling.

“If our guests are not experienced snorkelers we go straight to a shallow area where we ‘learn’ to snorkel in waist-deep water and test out the equipment so even people who actually can not swim can participate in the snorkeling,” says Elena Humphrey, who guides trips to Puerto Rico’s La Corillera Nature Reserve.

 “No certification,” says Luis Saez, a dive instructor who manages a guide service that takes snorkelers among the islands of La Cordillera. “It’s something the whole family can enjoy. It’s something really simple to do.”

Not only does it take less training and skill than scuba, it also takes less equipment—a real advantage for a traveler. You can pack a mask, snorkel and flippers in a tote bag. If you don’t have gear or left it at home, you can usually pick up a mask and snorkel at a local dive shop for under $20. (More, of course, if you want good-quality stuff.)

See our slideshow of Best Caribbean Snorkeling.

Compared with diving, says Karen Moise, part owner of a Nature Island Dive shop in Dominica, “it’s not as cumbersome. But you can see a lot of stuff, a lot of marine life.”

And if you don’t have gear and don’t want to buy any, simply sign up for a tour that provides the gear. The key to a good guided experience is finding guides who are involved in pointing out interesting stuff underwater and then, back at the surface, explaining what you’ve seen, Moise says.

As easy as it is to go snorkeling, some places provide a better experience  than others. Even in the Caribbean—as close to ideal snorkel waters as you can imagine—some sites stand out.  What makes these great snorkeling spots? Whether you plan to spend every waking hour in the water, or only paddle around for a single afternoon, it comes down to four things: clear water (often with visibility approaching 100 feet), mild currents (or none at all), abundant aquatic life (especially healthy corals and diverse reef fish), and the chance to get away from the crowds.

See our slideshow of Best Caribbean Snorkeling.

Some of our best Caribbean snorkeling spots are no farther away than a public beach or park. On the island of Dominca, the bizarre bubbling volcanic formation known as Champagne is easily accessed from shore. On the island of San Salvador in the Bahamas, some of the best diving, including a 261-foot shipwreck in 20 feet of water, lies just offshore from the Riding Rock Inn Resort and Marina.

Others spots are a bit harder to reach. You’ll need a boat—at the very least a kayak—to snorkel La Cordillera Nature Reserve in Puerto Rico. And to explore fabulous Mona Island off the west end of Puerto Rico is a major expedition. You’ll need not only a boat but at least a couple of days.
 
When it comes to undersea life, some of our sites have a bonus. For example, Hol Chan Marine Reserve on Ambergris Caye in Belize boasts not only coral and small fish, but abundant rays and sharks as well. Mexico’s Isla Contoy stands out for giving snorkelers a chance to swim with whale sharks, the world’s largest fish.

And if snorkeling with a fish that stretches 30 feet doesn’t cast your vacation experience in a new light, nothing will. Here are our picks for the Caribbean’s best snorkeling stops.

See our slideshow of Best Caribbean Snorkeling.


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Europe's greatest alpine railway

Mention legendary rail journeys and several spring to mind: Canada's Rocky Mountaineer, Russia's Trans Siberian, and the Ghan, which crosses some of Australia's vast emptiness.

Yet none of these has received the recognition bestowed earlier this year on a relatively unknown one in Switzerland, that of UNESCO World Heritage Site. That designation went to Rhaetian Railway, the largest alpine railway in Europe, its Albula-Bernina route, and the landscape through which it passes.

The route, between Thusis, Switzerland, and Tirano, just over the border in Italy, crosses the Alps in two places. The landscape that shares the designation is dazzling.

The Albula portion, in eastern Switzerland, opened in 1904 and bores through mountains. It's only 67 km long but features 42 tunnels and covered galleries and 144 viaducts and bridges.

The 61-km Bernina line runs over high alpine passes and was conceived as a tourist train right from the start, more than a century ago. Engineers, conscious of the need to provide the best-possible views, built only 13 tunnels but constructed 52 viaducts and bridges.

I spent a memorable day last fall riding both lines.

The Bernina Express took us from the jet-set ski resort of St. Moritz past the highest point on the Bernina line, Ospizio Bernina, at 2,253 metres. Through the big, curved coach windows was a spectacular combination of mountains, waterfalls, glaciers, and raging streams.

Our turnaround point was Alp Grum station, which offers panoramic views of the Palu Glacier -- or does when the weather co-operates. We arrived in rain and mist, but did catch a glimpse when the sun emerged briefly before we had to head back.

It was all blue skies by the time we reached the Albula line and two of the most dramatic views of the day.

From Survava, post buses took us to the base of the Landwasser Viaduct. It's 136 metres long, built of stone, and sits on 65-metre-high pillars. There we waited, cameras poised, until the Glacier Express, which Rhaetian also operates, burst out of a tunnel, slowed and stopped in the middle of the viaduct.

The second highlight was the Viamala Gorge, near Thusis, whose sheer, 300-metre-high rocky walls prompted philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche to remark: "I shall write nothing about the terrible magnificence of the Viamala Gorge, which makes me feel as if I had never really known Switzerland."

Rhaetian Railway offers a variety of rail experiences year round.

From early May to mid-October, for example, you can board the Bernina Express at either Chur, Davos Dorf or St. Moritz and travel to Tirano. A second-class return ticket this year cost from 58 to 114 francs (about $62 to $122), depending on your starting point, plus an advance seat registration fee.

For details on rail adventures, visit rhb.ch and click on E at the top right for the English version.


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Mayan Riviera grows

The first time I laid eyes on what is now called the Mayan Riviera it was just struggling into existence.

There was a handful of resorts on a stretch of beach called Playacar, reached by dirt road from Playa del Carmen, the dusty fishing town where you caught the ferry to Cozumel.

Getting to Playa del Carmen took up to an hour on a potholed, two-lane road from Cancun airport.

Sixteen years and four visits later, the Mayan Riviera is barely recognizable.

It now stretches for 130 kilometres, from Puerto Morelos, 18 km south of the airport, to Tulum. Along it are 360 hotels with 36,000 rooms.

The airport has been replaced by a huge, privately operated one. A four-lane divided highway runs along the coast.

Playa del Carmen's population has exploded to more than 250,000. Its annual growth rate of nearly 20 per cent was until recently the highest in Latin America.

I spent a day last month with Jeanette Rigter of the Riviera Maya Tourism Board getting up to speed on new developments. Here are some of them:

- Alltournative, an adventure company, has a half-day, small-group excursion called Rio Secreto, or Secret River. Guests don helmets with flashlights, wetsuits and life jackets and descend about 18 metres to an underground river. Walking, and in one stretch swimming, they explore caverns and view stalactites, stalagmites and coral.

I did an Alltournative trip in 2002, when the company was getting started. The best part was visiting a genuine Maya community deep in the jungle, where we zip-lined, rappelled down a cenote, canoed, lunched on traditional food and met some of the villagers. Called Mayan Encounter, it remains one of their most popular tours. Visit www.alltournative.com.

- Hidden Worlds Cenotes Park's SkyCycle lets visitors pedal a cable bicycle suspended at treetop level over rainforest, enter caverns, and snorkel a natural underground river system. Visit: www.hiddenworlds.com/default.aspx

- The newest attractions at Xcaret, a sprawling theme park, are "Vino de Mexico," a wine cellar selling only Mexican wines, and an opportunity to swim with sharks. Visit www.xcaret.com.

- Tulum by Night uses lasers to highlight features of these Mayan ruins. Guests use headsets to listen to the commentary, given in five languages. Rigter said the headsets blot out distracting noises at this busy site.

- Although the Mayan Riviera has a high percentage of four- and five-star resorts, even more upscale ones are coming, including such brands as Mandarin Oriental, Fairmont, Rosewood, Banyan Tree and Viceroy.

- Look for more ecologically sound practices, like those employed at the new Hacienda Tres Rios. Instead of tearing out precious mangrove forest, the resort was built above it on columns. Underground water pre-cools the air-conditioning system, and the heat that system generates is captured. Motion sensors in guest rooms turn lights off automatically, and the air-conditioner shuts off if patio doors are opened.

Insider's tips

- Rigter took me to Yaxche, on 8th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Tenth, which serves Maya cuisine. She suggested chayanade, made from a jungle plant rich in iron and flavoured with lime, followed by massewal, a lime and shredded chicken soup with tortilla strips. We split an order of cochinita pibil, orange-marinated pork wrapped in a banana leaf and slow-cooked. It came with beans, rice, tiny tortillas.

Yaxche has been honoured by the National Chamber of Restaurants as the best restaurant in Mexico specializing in regional cuisine.

- You can get a big plate of food for US$9 or so at Tarraya, a fish and seafood restaurant in business right on the water that's been around since 1968.

- Jardin de Marieta, a passageway off Fifth Avenue, provides respite from the crowds and heat. It's peaceful, shaded by tall trees, and has attractive shops and eating places.


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Southbound?

We are Canadian. We don't complain. But let's face it, by mid-January we have had it with the boots, the woollies, the shovelling out. Who can blame us for deserting "home and native land" for the Sunshine State?

Stats show that up to 2.5 million of us flee to Florida annually for a break from winter. Of that figure, almost 40% of us drive.

There is a choice of tried-and-true routes leading south, the most popular being I-95 down the Eastern Seaboard, 1-79 and I-77 south from Erie, Pa., and I-75 from Detroit. But, when winter's blasts are relentless, take our word, you'd be wise to consider I-75 from Detroit.

It's not the most scenic and it's a tad longer than the other routes but there are a number of reasons the Canadian Automobile Association has long recommended I-75 as the preferred winter route to Florida.

First, there are no confusing directions. Simply take Hwy. 401 westbound to Detroit, hang a left onto I-75 and follow the white line 1,541 km through five states until you hit the Welcome to Florida sign at the Georgia-Florida border.

Another plus is when snowstorms prevail, I-75 is the best bet for a safe drive. It's arrow straight and flat, particularly in the north where you're most likely to hit snowstorms and icy roads. By the time you reach the mountainous areas in southern Kentucky and Tennessee you're less likely to encounter bad weather.

Even if you do run into snows or heavy fog, or just need to make a pit stop, there are lodging facilities, restaurants and gas stations located at virtually every exit between the Motor City and the Florida border. Another plus is with such a variety of mid-range and budget hotels and fast food outlets vying for your business you're bound to benefit from competitive pricing.

Many seasoned I-75 travellers will tell you they never leave home without a copy of the award-winning Along Interstate 75. Written by Mississauga-based Dave Hunter and updated bi-annually, the 15th edition ($29.95, Mile Oak Publishing) is now available in major bookstores, at CAA offices, at i75online.com or by calling 1-800-431-1579.

It takes about three days to drive to Florida. Plan on stopping around Cincinnati the first night, Atlanta the second night and by noon the third day you should be crossing the Georgia-Florida border.

Here are some insider tips from Dave Hunter:

- Drive past major cities before stopping for the night. That way you'll be heading in the opposite direction from the morning rush into the city.

- Lodging located a kilometre or more along service roads off the exit ramps is often cheaper than hotels by the exits.


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It's summer somewhere else

The Weather Channel’s recent barrage of wind chill warnings has been dire news for millions of people. Indeed, one Chicago office worker dreaming of sunnier pastures speaks for much of North America this particularly brutal winter when she says: “I’m about ready to hurl myself out of my 14th floor window at the office.”

Kate Weigle, a PR manager in the Windy City, recently said, “It seriously feels like we’re living inside a snow globe here. Today I was in the conference room, surrounded by windows, and the snow was blowing from the ground up. It was literally coming from every direction. It’s so depressing.”

See our slideshow of 10 Sizzling south-of-the-equator winter trips.

Our prescription for the winter blues? Swap hemispheres and seasons for a true summertime escape that adds something exotic to the equation.

Before you even factor in the wind chill, there have been days in the far northern reaches of the U.S. that have seen the mercury barely limp above negative ten degrees this winter. And Weigle, for one, is over it. “Whatever tax return I get this year, it’s all going toward a vacation someplace warm,” she said. “You can’t live like this, waking up to the same gray everyday--it does something to the psyche.”

For travel agents, at least, tax returns plus the wicked weather equal a reprieve from the current travel industry slump. “It’s very, very cold here. People are coming in and saying, ‘How soon can I leave, what can I get?’” said Alicia Kohs, a Travel Consultant with Travel Center Tours, a Chicago agency specializing in luxury corporate and personal travel planning.

Kohs said that package trips to Mexico and the Dominican Republic are generating the most interest among her clients who are looking for the best deals with immediate departures to warmer climes. But with daily nonstop flights to capital cities such as Buenos Aires, Santiago and Sao Paolo from most major American airports, South America is easy to reach from the continental United States.

See our slideshow of 10 Sizzling south-of-the-equator winter trips.
 
For a beach experience so stylish and sexy it puts South Beach to shame, set your sights on Uruguay. Punta del Este (less than an hour by plane from Buenos Aires in nearby Argentina) has been called many things: the St. Tropez, the Hamptons and the Monte Carlo of South America. There are Brazilian and Argentinean supermodels galore during the peak summer months, December to February.
 
This is no backpacker retreat; money oozes from this place—not only in the flashy casino at the luxe Conrad Hotel, but in the beautiful harbor, too, where you can tap your toes to the rhythm of bobbing yachts while enjoying fresh seafood washed down with medio y medio, Uruguay’s national drink. “Punta is very seasonal. In the summer you have three times the people than in the off-season. It’s like everything explodes,” said Montevideo resident Franco Vidiella.

For more beauty on the beach, head a few hundred miles north of Punta del Este to the beaches of Florianopolis on the island of Santa Catarina in Southern Brazil. Floripa, as Brazilians call this California-esque coastal enclave, is as renowned throughout Latin America for its golden beaches as it is for the golden-haired bombshells that abound. Germans, Polish and Italians colonized the South of Brazil, explaining the Giselle Bündchen look-a-like phenomenon that’s unmissable on the beaches here.

“Floripa is recognized as a top-end beach place in Brazil,” says Sao Paolo tourism executive Francisco Costa Neto. “They have some great seafood there, too, so it’s really the best of both worlds.”

The eastern beaches, particularly Praia Mole, draw international surfers and gorgeous groupies for good waves in a strut-your-stuff atmosphere, while the southern beaches, popular with Santa Catarina locals, are emptier due to the colder water, rocky shoreline and more remote access (many require hiking in).

Ponta dos Ganchos, an hour north of Santa Catarina, features 20 oceanfront bungalows on an isolated peninsula. With private saunas and plunge pools, it's Floripa’s most high-end place to stay.

And another Brazilian beach destination that’s now even easier to access from North America is Salvador de Bahia, in the north of Brazil. In November 2008, American Airlines introduced daily nonstop flights from Miami to this samba capital on the pretty bay of Todos os Santos that’s home to a heady mix of fine colonial architecture and exotic African influences. For escapism like no other, check in to Praia do Forte EcoResort, an hour north of Salvador, set on a deserted beach fringed by coconut palms.

“It’s about people just wanting a new experience,” said Margaret Labar, manager of One Stop Travel in Orlando, Fla., about the appeal of southern hemisphere travel destinations during North America’s winter months. “People are looking to get away from the norm.” And while a bit more transit time to the sunshine is required, there’s no time like the present to put Australia and New Zealand on your escape-from-winter itinerary. These days, the sunshine Down Under makes its way into your wallet, too.
 
“At the moment, what we’re seeing is a much lower New Zealand dollar, which translates very well for American travelers,” said Annie Dundas, North America Regional Manager for Tourism New Zealand, “And a number of the lowest airfares are out, too, for travel in February and March. Those two elements combined are making it a reasonable time to get to New Zealand at our best time of the year.”

Although Queenstown lures adrenalin addicts, nearby Wanaka is appealing for its lower key ambience. One of New Zealand’s finest properties The Whare Kea Lodge is set on 70 acres of quiet farmland overlooking placid Lake Wanaka. Book the four-person chalet for a private retreat with Mount Aspiring views out of every window.

Across the Tasman in Australia, pass up the touristy Gold Coast for Western Australia, where a Down Under aqua safari like no other awaits at Ningaloo Reef. Reopening on March 10, 2009, after renovations just in time to spot the migrating whale sharks, Sal Salis Ningaloo Reef dishes up the ultimate "glamping" experience. An upscale eco-camp set in a national park with luxury wilderness tents as your home away from home, the Sal Salis good life means vast ocean views and Red Kangaroos for neighbors. And when you’re snorkeling on the fringing coral reefs and marveling at the majestic whale sharks, life inside your former snowglobe world will feel very distant, indeed.
 
The Southern Hemisphere is loaded with out-of-the-box haunts that offer all the luxuries of North American and European resorts. Whether you’re looking to luxuriate on a South American coast that’s a bonafide supermodel breeding ground, or go on a whale shark spotting safari in a luxurious Australian eco-camp, we’ve sourced the best southernly locales for slipping out of the cold and into something entirely more agreeable.

See our slideshow of 10 Sizzling south-of-the-equator winter trips.



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Exotic and erotic India

KHAJURAHO, India -- If there's one time of year when most people's thoughts turn to love it's Valentine's Day. But in this northern Indian town, love, or at least one form of it, is in the air all year round. And visitors, including many couples, waste no time in finding it.

The thousand-year-old temples of Khajuraho may be architecturally impressive but what they've come to see are the many erotic sculptures that grace the ancient structures.

Some of the stone artwork is so explicit that Mahatma Gandhi once advocated their destruction. It's hard to believe the Father of India, practitioner of non-violent civil disobedience, and proponent of all things Indian, would give his blessing to a band of vandals who wanted to chip the offending sculptures off the temple walls.

What exactly did he find so objectionable? It could've been the scenes of group lovemaking, bestiality or any of the other myriad combinations of intimate acts so openly portrayed.

According to a book on Khajuraho I bought from a vendor in town, the Bengali poet and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore informed Gandhi that a national treasure "could not be so cavalierly demolished because some people were uncomfortable that their ancestors were sexual beings."

Fortunately, damage was prevented and the sculptures, which can be found on almost all of the 25 temples, were saved. Today, Khajuraho is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the highlights of a trip to northern India.

A superb example of Indo-Aryan architecture, the temples were built between the 9th and 10th centuries by the Chandela dynasty, which dominated Central India at the time. The temples are divided into three groups: Western, Eastern and Southern groups, which you can see in about a day or so.

The Western group is the most spectacular and the one with the most erotic sculptures. This is where you'll find the Kandariya Mahadev Temple, considered the finest in Khajuraho with almost 900 statues adorning the interior and exterior. It also has a 30-metre-high spire with 84 smaller spires rising up alongside it, creating the impression of a mountain range.

About an hour into my tour, I was beginning to see a pattern in the stone erotica -- it appeared that men were always on the receiving end of all the pleasure. I pointed this out to my guide.

"Wait," he said, leading me around the other side of the temple where he singled out a few particular panels for my attention.

I cannot describe the scenes (afterall, I was reminded, this paper is distributed in schools), suffice to say, it would satisfy a woman's sense of fair play -- or should that be foreplay? Either way, it appeared the Chandela carvers were equal-opportunity pleasure masters.

Scholars cannot explain the reason for all the erotic art, though theories abound. One interpretation (though not a popular one) is that artists were representing life as it was in their society with unhampered sexual expression, or perhaps the sculptures were a form of sex education for adolescent Brahmin boys growing up in all-male temple schools.

My guide seemed to subscribe to the theory that the images were manifestations of tantric practices. By gratifying the baser instincts, he said, it was believed one could transcend evil and gain enlightenment.

The erotic stone work garners a lot of attention, but it comprises only a small part of the temple art. Most of the sculptures portray a range of other subjects: Gods and goddesses, dancers, musicians, warriors, real and mythological animals, elephants engaged in playful battle, and soldiers on the march.

At one time marching soldiers, in the form of Islamic invaders, could have posed a threat to Khajuraho had it not been for the temples' remote location. After the decline of the Chandelas in the 13th century, Khajuraho was abandoned and the temples were hidden in thick jungle for an astounding 700 years.

By the time of their accidental rediscovery by a British military adventurer in 1838, only about 25 of the original 85 temples were found. But most visitors today agree it's more than enough to make a journey here worthwhile.

---

IF YOU GO ... OR DON'T

Khajuraho, a pleasant town of 19,290 people, is 600 km southeast of Delhi. To learn more about the temples while at the site, you can rent an audio guide or hire a guide (ask the tourist office across from the Western group of temples to recommend one). There's also an informative 50-minute sound and light show in the evening at the Western group narrated by Amitabh Bachchan, one of India's most popular screen icons.

Everyone in town is now gearing up for the annual Khajuraho Dance Festival, which takes place this year from Feb. 25 to March 2. India's top classical dancers will perform various traditional dances with the temples as the backdrop. Book ahead as hotels are busy during this time. For details, check khajuraho-temples.com. For travel information on India, check incredibleindia.org or call 416-962-3787.

INDIAN LOVE STORY PART OF TORONTO'S WORLD STAGE

If you can't make it to Khajuraho this Valentine's, a good alternative close to home is a performance of Shakuntala, an epic love story by the 5th century Indian playwright Kalidasa. The world premiere of this new Canadian adaptation of an Indian masterpiece runs until Feb. 15 at Fleck Dance Theatre (former Premier Dance Theatre) at Harbourfront Centre.

For more information, contact harbourfrontcentre.com or 416-973-4000.


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Budget L.A. during Oscars

LOS ANGELES - Enjoying Oscars season in Los Angeles, especially during a recession, doesn't require a designer ballgown, diamond encrusted necklaces or a shiny, gilded statuette.

The Academy Awards, the entertainment industry's annual, ultimate ode to the movies, takes place Feb. 22 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, http://www.oscars.org. While celebrities spend thousands of dollars to prep for the lavish ceremony, travellers to the city can get a taste of the Oscars and movie history, plus glimpse celebs, without the big bucks or bling.

Hollywood: The Kodak Theatre sits in the middle of the expansive Hollywood & Highland Center, a sprawling entertainment complex at 6801 Hollywood Blvd. that includes clothing stores, a bowling alley, the towering Renaissance Hollywood Hotel and movie theatres adjacent to the famed, copper-tipped Grauman's Chinese Theater, http://www.hollywoodandhighland.com.

About 300 bleacher seats along the red carpet at the Oscars become available during a one-week lottery in late September through the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. But revellers can still observe Oscar preparations at Hollywood & Highland until the centre closes the night before the awards show.

For free thrills, stroll down the nearby Hollywood Walk of Fame, stretching down Hollywood Boulevard. Glittering stars on the sidewalk display the names of thousands of celebrities. Grauman's Chinese Theatre's forecourt showcases cement-steeped celebrity handprints and autographs, from Paul Newman's meaty palms to Marilyn Monroe's smaller ones. Impersonators dressed up as Superman, Monroe and others entertain on the street.

Oscar events: People itching to get in on some thrifty pre-Oscars action can snap up tickets to events held in the five days before the show by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences at its Beverly Hills headquarters, 8949 Wilshire Blvd. Note that tickets, which range from free to US$5, become available Feb. 2, and go very quickly.

The events include symposiums with the current crop of makeup and hairstylist Oscar nominees, plus nominees in the feature animation and foreign language film categories. Film clips will also be screened, http://www.oscars.org/events-exhibitions/events/index.html.

Movie-lovin' fashionistas should go to the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising's 17th annual "Art of Motion Picture Costume Design" exhibit, 919 S. Grand Ave., where roughly 125 costumes from more than 20 films released in 2008 are on display. The free exhibit includes a grip of current best costume design Oscar nominees: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Duchess," "Australia" and "Milk," http://fidm.edu.

Studios and sets: Official tours of movie and TV studios throughout L.A. plop you into the thick of the biz, also without breaking your bank account.

A twirl around the Paramount Studios lot, 5555 Melrose Ave., where "Nip/Tuck" and "Dr. Phil" are filmed, costs $35 per person, http://www.paramountstudios.com. The roughly 70-minute tour of NBC Studios, 3000 W. Alameda Ave., travels through sets for "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Days of Our Lives." Tickets cost $8.50 for adults and $5 for kids. Separate tickets to attend "The Tonight Show" are usually in high demand, http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Tickets.

Dubbing itself "The Entertainment Capital of L.A.," Universal Studios Hollywood has the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes tour, plus a theme park featuring zesty, hair-flattening rides based on "The Simpsons," "The Mummy" franchise and other TV shows and movies, http://www.universalstudioshollywood.com.

Current online-only packages include two days of admission for the price of one: $67.99 general entrance and $57.99 for those under 48 inches.

Trams have been taking tourists through Universal's famed backlot since 1964. The current 45-minute tour showcases working and old sets, fiery and water-logged attractions recreating scenes from Universal movies, and snappy video narration by Whoopi Goldberg.

On a recent day, tram travellers could see a crew shooting in front of a backdrop of yellow and beige houses making up Wisteria Lane for ABC's "Desperate Housewives."

Close by, robotic dinosaurs spit water in a leafy "Jurassic Park" setting. Cars straight out of "The Fast and the Furious" collide in a fiery crash. The dilapidated Bates Motel filmed for Alfred Hitchcock's Oscar-nominated 1960 thriller "Psycho" looms near the wrecked 747 airplane from Steven Spielberg's 2005 film "War of the Worlds" and the snow-powdered town of Whoville in "Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas."

The Universal Experience, a recent addition to the theme park, houses dozens of movie artifacts, from the silky dresses in "Atonement" to Gregory Peck's glasses in "To Kill a Mockingbird," the 1962 film that nabbed him a best actor Oscar. The exhibit displays the gleaming best picture Oscar statuette for 1973's "The Sting."

Greystone Mansion and park is one prime film location tucked away in Beverly Hills, on 905 Loma Vista Dr., http://www.greystonemansion.org. TV shows such as "Gilmore Girls" and dozens of movies, including "The Witches of Eastwick," "X-Men" and "The Big Lebowski," have filmed there. A-list stars have also been known to tour the grounds on their off days.

The massive 80-year-old mansion is perched on seven hilltop hectares of spiralling staircases, waterfalls, ponds, fountains, cypress trees and grassy lanes that tourists can roam for zilch moolah.

Organized group tours are allowed inside the house, plus guests for "The Manor: Murder and Madness at Greystone," a play inspired by the real-life demise of Edward "Ned" Laurence Doheny Jr. and his male secretary, http://www.theatre40.org/the-manor.html. Doheny Jr. and Hugh Plunkett were found dead inside the mansion in 1929, just months after the building was completed and Doheny Jr. moved in with his family.

Various movie productions have left their mark on the estate, from ornate black gates with looping Rs from 1994's "Richie Rich" to the house's bowling alley, renovated by Paramount over six weeks for Daniel Day-Lewis' pivotal bloody scene in "There Will Be Blood." All that blood won him last year's best actor Oscar.

Dead celebs: Those not opposed to traversing cemeteries (attention fans of TV show "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") will be sweetly rewarded by a free treasure trove of dead-and-gone movie icons throughout the city.

The Hollywood Forever Cemetery, 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., is a 25-hectare urban expanse of grass, trees and tombstones flanked to the south by Paramount Studios http://www.hollywoodforever.com. Classic film stars including Rudolph Valentino and Oscar-winning director Cecil B. DeMille are buried there. Memorial markers for blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield and punk rocker Johnny Ramone attract fans from all over the world.

"Some of the graves and the stones here are just amazing," gushed retired nurse Gaye Culos, 62, recently visiting from Canada. Culos and her husband stood next to DeMille's huge marble tomb, decorated with orchids beside a lake. DeMille's circus spectacle "The Greatest Show on Earth" snagged him a best picture Oscar in 1953. Nearby, dried roses and a sign in red ink saying "I love you father" sat next to Valentino's crypt in the cemetery's white marble mausoleum, brightened by newly restored stained glass windows.

Glendale-based Forest Lawn, 1712 S. Glendale Ave., is another destination, stretching over more than 121 hectares of grass-covered hills north of downtown L.A. Here you'll find grave sites for the likes of Clark Cable, Humphrey Bogart, Nat King Cole, Carole Lombard and Walt Disney, http://www.forestlawn.com.

Food: A good place to stuff your face while watching for live celebs is the Farmers Market, 6333 W. Third St., plus its immediate neighbour, The Grove, an outdoor mall, http://www.thegrovela.com. A litany of stars, from Rihanna to Al Pacino, Kate Bosworth, Victoria Beckham, Lindsay Lohan and Heidi Klum, have all been photographed there, not so incognito, http://www.farmersmarketla.com.

The market, this year celebrating its 75th anniversary, is one of the city's most charming spots, offering everything from side-by-side stands bursting with fruits and vegetables to French, Italian, Korean, Brazilian and Mediterranean cuisine, plus quirky tchotkes (cheap, colourful gifts can be found at the sticker store).

Sit down at an outdoor table, rest your feet. For just a few bucks, pick up a coffee and pastry from Bob's Coffee & Doughnuts to jump-start or top off a day trolling Tinseltown.

Getting around: L.A. is known for its car culture, but public transportation has been on the rise. A Metro day pass is $5, and a weekly pass is $17, with unlimited rides on trains and buses, http://www.metro.net. The Metro Red Line sweeps from downtown L.A. through Hollywood. Various companies offer values on train and walking tours, http://www.hollywoodchamber.net.

Accommodations: A plethora of websites can help snag a great deal on motels and hotels around town, from http://www.losangeles.hotelscheap.org to http://www.expedia.com and http://www.yelp.com.


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