Scotland’s busiest ski centre looks set to change hands, with current owners Highlands and Islands Enterprise testing the market to gauge interest in the resort.
Situated near Aviemore in Northern Scotland, Cairngorm Ski Centre is an excellent facility that has recently enjoyed its two most successful winter seasons, with British skiers and snowboarders taking advantage of the slopes that are somewhat closer to home than the Alps or popular European resorts such as Bansko and Zakopane.
The biannual celebration of high fashion in the legendary Italian city of Milan kicks off on the 22nd February in 2012, with an increased number of catwalk shows to add to this global fashion showpiece.
With numerous shows held at the Milano Fashion Centre and other venues across the famous city, the last week of February sees the great and the good of the fashion world such as Gucci, Armani, D&G and Prada descend on Italy’s fashion capital to display their latest wares.
It is known worldwide as the day of love and what better way to celebrate it than in France – a country famed for its romance and passion – and more specifically in the small village of Saint-Valentin.
Named after the Patron Saint of Lovers, the idyllic village is located between Chateauroux and Bourges, aptly in the very heart of France. To mark the day for lovers, a festival is held in the village, with houses decked out in bloom, the lovers’ garden opened for visitors and free concerts serenading the happy couples who come to enjoy the unique French ambience.
Originally set up in 1278 for agricultural professionals to showcase new machinery and farming methods, the San Biagio Fair in Bovolone, near Verona is now a far greater spectacle that draws visitors from around the region.
Around 50,000 visitors are expected at the fair which runs from the 28th to the 31st of January, more than 750 years since its humble beginnings. The event itself is full of traditional Italian delights such as folk displays of peasant costumes and various antique and contemporary markets. Other stalls exhibit Italy’s fascinating culinary culture, with local Verona specialities such as Grana Padano and local wines available to taste and buy.
Earlier this month it was revealed that air links between Glasgow and Dubai were set to be strengthened and now Scotland appears to be further improving its air traffic links by announcing new plans to launch direct flights to three French cities.
The holiday company France Travel Services has announced that it will offer flight-only and holiday packages between Glasgow and the French cities of Nantes, Lyon and Paris – the first two of which have previously not received direct flights from the Scottish capital.
This year from the 27th January to 5th February, Salzburg’s Mozarteum celebrates the life and works of the famous composer who was born in the popular Austrian city.
The week of concerts, that were first established in Mozart’s honour back in 1956, mark the birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus who died in 1791 having produced some of the most recognisable classical music in history.
Having run annually since 1977, the London International Mime Festival is now a well-established celebration of visual theatre in England’s ever-popular capital city.
Brightening up the at times gloomy month of January, the series of innovative performances can be found across the capital, with major venues such as the Southbank Centre, Royal opera House Barbican and Roundhouse all hosting entertaining shows involving slapstick, mime and puppets.
On the border with Switzerland, to the far west of France, Val d’Isere is well known for the high quality skiing and snowboarding it offers. But in the month of January, a whole new winter sport is born, with the Polo Masters Tour taking place at the foot of the slopes.
Now in its fourth year, the tour which will be held between 11th and 14th January sees top polo players from Argentina and Europe, along with their prize horses, take part in a tournament of entertaining polo matches held on the snow that gathers at the base of Val d’Isere’s most famous slope, Face de Bellevarde.
The annual celebration to mark the end of the festive period this year takes place in London on 8th January, where thousands of city-dwellers and passing tourists can enjoy all the quaint festivities of the Twelfth Night Festival.
Held in the Bankside district of Central London, just south of the River Thames, the event that is organised by performance company The Lions Part mixes ancient seasonal customs with contemporary festivities to greet the dawning of a New Year.
Scotland is a great setting in which to enjoy the warming glow of New Year’s celebrations, with Perthshire being a particularly popular retreat for tourists who have traveled north from England or from further afield to take in some traditional celebrations.
The village of Comrie, just a few miles from the outskirts of the beautiful Loch Lomond National Park, hosts some particularly quaint New Year’s celebrations, with hundreds of locals gathering in the village square for the Flambeaux Procession.
Featuring eight fired torches – ten foot long and carved from beech – that are carried by the village’s strongest men, the procession sees the lights led around Comrie, paraded through the streets by the fantastically authentic Comrie Pipe Band.