What's new?
Biking holidays
Highlands and Islands Adventures (01463 239716, mountainbike worldwide.com) used to specialise in Scotland but is branching out with new trips abroad, from £570, including the Himalayas (pictured) and the Sierra Nevada.
UK breaks
The Steven Spielberg film of War Horse, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Emily Watson and David Thewlis, and in cinemas from 13 January, was filmed at Castle Combe in Wiltshire. Many of the cast and crew stayed at the village's Manor House Hotel (01249 784809, manorhouse.co.uk, rooms from £190) and others (the more A-list, we imagine) stayed at Whatley Manor (01666 822888, whatleymanor.com, rooms from £305) which has a two-Michelin-star restaurant and a spa. Other scenes were filmed on Dartmoor. Premier Cottages (01822 610136, premiercottages.co.uk) has holiday lets near the villages of Meavy and Sheepstor, both of which feature in the film. These include Old Tavistock Railway Cottages, where some of the crew stayed, which sleep four or six from £350 for three nights.
Literary lectures
Kenwood House in Hampstead, London hosts free lectures by writers and historians such as James Twining, Dan Snow and Imogen Robertson in January and February. Call 020-8348 1286 to book. More info at english-heritage.org.uk/daysout/events.
Snow watch
Snowfall on 24-25 December in most French and Austrian resorts has left around 1-2m at the top (3m in Chamonix). In Italy, Gressoney and Cervinia have lots of coverage (2m) and there is plenty in Switzerland too (1-3m at the top in most major resorts).
• skiclub.co.uk
Escapism
Looking for a show to fill the hole that Frozen Planet has left? Sharks that "walk on land", the largest green turtle gathering on the planet, and the most poisonous creatures known to science ... these are just some of the extraordinary wildlife on BBC2's The Great Barrier Reef, a three-part series presented by Monty Halls. Part one will be broadcast at 8pm tomorrow. For more information go to experiencequeensland.com/GreatBarrierReef.
Cheap date
Thomson Al Fresco (0871 971 0600, thomsonalfresco.co.uk) has cheap family breaks in April or May, including a week for up to six people at Altominicio Family Parc in Lake Garda, Italy for £190 including ferry crossing. It's self-catering in a mobile home (with a pool and slides), but still ...
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Near-death experiences
• Narrowly missed being crushed to death by a falling giraffe in the Kalahari. Nasty, but quite funny, way to go @frankellett
• We were in Donetsk, a mate beat all and sundry at arm wrestling in the bikers' bar, so they pulled a gun on us @AllyRH
• Nearly died in a speeding Nigerian taxi when a vulture hit the windscreen and flopped about on my lap @DennisMLane
• Should have been in hotel destroyed in tsunami. Hospitalized instead in Colombo – dengue fever saved my life @AnnieConnected
• Walked into Tenderloin district of San Francisco, saw dead body on street with perpetrators, had to walk past them @shelleyanorphan
• Guatemala: watched lorry next 2 our overcrowded bus slide off sheer mountain rd as dozens of hitchhikers leapt out the back @tangledfeet
Lots of you tweeted us with your near-death travel horror stories – see our pick of the best here on Storify
Next: weird drinks
Where's hot now
Buenos Aires (28C)
December and January are the warmest months in Argentina's capital, a wonderful city for art, shopping, clubbing, tango and, of course, steak and wine.
Return flights from Gatwick to Buenos Aires cost from £649 with STA Travel (0871 230 0040, statravel.co.uk). Fare valid for travel between 1 January and 31 March 2012.
Insurance alert! Bikini's poor coverage
Travel-loving women of Britain, fret no more. There is now a travel insurance provider especially for you. Bikini Travel Insurance, "designed by women for women", offers personal belongings cover tailored to reflect women's needs, a 24/7 "crisis response service", and a bridal add-on package.
But does Bikini genuinely have something different to offer female travellers? Alas, the answer is no. While splitting personal belongings cover into categories – clothes, handbags, hair straighteners – may seem like a clever idea, in reality the more specific the cover, the more potential there is for problems when making a claim. Any items not specified in Bikini's list are not covered. The only advantage to such a system comes when claiming for high-value items, as Bikini gives you a marginally higher single item allowance than other insurers. This is only the case, however, with the company's most expensive policy.
As for the Bridelicious add-on, there is little to be gained for the extra on your premium as the items covered fall under the personal belongings cover of most other providers' policies. And where the crisis response service is concerned, many leading insurers offer similar advice and assistance services.
It's not all bad, though. Bikini's policy document is clearly worded: it's easy to see what you're covered for and how to claim.
However, this isn't enough to justify higher-than-average premiums, let alone the guilt any clear-thinking woman would feel about buying into such a condescending operation.
• bikinisure.com
Jo Caird
Send us your tips
Let us know the strange and funny things you've spotted abroad, your holiday nightmares and other ideas for this page by emailing travel@guardian.co.uk or posting on Twitter to @guardiantravel, using the hashtag #TravelCorkboard
