Our weekly look at the new and fun in the world of travel, including a cool pop-up beach camp in Mexico, a 3,000km-plus trek in New Zealand and a hairy trip to Cairo
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Escapism
In Tulum, Mexico – just over an hour's drive from Cancun – a stylish pop-up camp by Design Hotels, called Papaya Playa Project, opens next week. There are 99 cabanas (from basic to luxurious), a beach-shack bar, raw food bar, lounge, live DJs, full-moon parties, and "Mayan-influenced" spa treatments.
• From $25-$675 per night, open until April (papayaplayaproject.com)
Where's hot now?
Mali (33C)
From November to March is the dry season in Mali, one of the most interesting places to travel in west Africa. See the fishing communities of the Niger river and the Tuareg of the Sahara, and enjoy amazing music.
• Royal Air Maroc (020-8432 3421, royal-airmaroc.co.uk) currently has flights to Bamako from London for around £588 in early January
Cheap date
Mallorca Farmhouses is offering 20% off self-catering properties for next spring and autumn if booked by 31 December. Cal Rei Petit, for example, sleeps six in Pollenca from £504 per week, which works out at £84pp.
• 0845 800 8080, mallorca.co.uk
What's new?
New Zealand's 3,300km Te Araroa trail. Photograph: Andy BelcherTrekking
Fancy a stroll? New Zealand's 3,300km Te Araroa opens today as one of the world's longest walking routes. Linking Cape Reinga, at the northern tip of the North Island, and Bluff, on the South Island's southernmost coast, mainly by pre‑existing trails and back-country roads, it would take months to complete. A highlight is the Tongariro Crossing, across a volcanic landscape (pictured). Around 100 people a year are expected to complete the full walk.
• Download maps at teararoa.org.nz
Accommodation
New accommodation rarely opens on the Scilly Isles, but next May will see the addition of four one-bedroom, sea-view suites and seven luxury cottages to the Island Hotel's Sea Garden Cottages on Tresco. Seven nights costs from £1,295 for two, half-board.
• 01720 422849, tresco.co.uk
Teenage trip
If your teenager has been inspired by Alan Sugar's Young Apprentice, they can develop skills to thrive in the business world on a Young Entrepreneur summer camp in the French ski resort of Alpe d'Huez with Peak Horizon. Aimed at 15- to 17-year-olds, they include workshops and talks, and cost €2,499 for two weeks all inclusive, in July or August.
• 01273 244695, peakhorizon.com
Five-step city break to Madrid
1. Fly Manchester to Madrid, for the weekend of 9-12 Dec, £160pp return, or 16-18 Dec, £80 (ryanair.com)
2. Stay at Chic&Basic Colors hotel, rooms from €62 (chicandbasic.com)
3. Eat at La Broche (labroche.com)
4. Shop at 500-year-old El Rastro market, or Feria Mercado Artesanía craft fair in Plaza de España, 17 December-5 January
5. Party in the hip Malasaña district
Travel trash
What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right? Well not so much anymore, according to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, which is campaigning to stop people "over-sharing" on Facebook and other social media. Sin City's "atmosphere of adult freedom" is threatened by the posting of pictures and comments that others would prefer kept private, it says.
• visitlasvegas.com/knowthecode
Tweet ur trip
Worst travel companion
Did Lands End to John O'Groats in 2002 (in six days) with a 60+ YO Kiwi who hadn't even bought a map. Odd, but great character
@niceguysean
Travelling in Colombia with a girl from California, who lived in a tree when she was at home.
@alibaverstock
• Next week: worst hotels
Travel warning! Caution in Cairo
In the initial aftermath of the Egyptian revolution, the Egyptian State Tourist Office and several tour operators pushed Cairo as a fascinating post-revolution travel destination. Tahrir Square, the base camp for Egypt's newfound freedom, was promoted as the latest tourist attraction. However, political unrest continues and visitors should be aware of the chaos at tourist sites.
I visited Cairo last week during protests before Monday's elections. Tourist numbers were visibly down, and there was an air of lawlessness in some areas. In downtown Cairo, I witnessed three bag snatchings in one afternoon. At traffic lights on the way to the Great Pyramid of Giza, hawkers (long known for their aggressive sales tactics) leapt on to my taxi and hit our driver through his window, shouting for him to let us out so they could sell us camel rides and trinkets. They stayed on top of the car, hitting the roof and windows as we drove closer to the pyramids. I stayed 10 minutes and didn't even go inside. The police looked on powerless and bemused.
The Foreign & Commonwealth Office is currently telling travellers, especially women, to be cautious, to avoid Tahrir Square and to adhere to local customs, but is not actually advising against travelling to Egypt. However some tour operators, such as Red Sea Holidays, have temporarily suspended Cairo excursions.
Khaled Ramy, the Egyptian State Tourist Office's UK director, said: "The Egyptian Museum is open, all tourist sites are open – it's business as usual." This may be the case from afar, but for me, the hawkers' menacing faces pushed up against the back windscreen will be the enduring memory of my trip.
Shahesta Shaitly
