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New boat booking website, wine-making experiences, and Cycle Southern England: Travel agenda

Where to go and what to know

Travel Desk
Friday 09 October 2015 04:40 EDT
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The Big Draw, the world’s largest drawing festival
The Big Draw, the world’s largest drawing festival

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Quick draw

The ArcelorMittal Orbit in east London will host The Big Draw, which bills itself as the world's largest drawing festival, this half term. Budding artists can create their own masterpieces on a large piece of community artwork, shaped like the London skyline. The festival runs from 24 October to 1 November and costs £10 for adults, £5 for children. arcelormittalorbit.com

All change

Passengers on British Airways flights from Heathrow to eight long-haul destinations will no longer be able to enjoy the facilities of Terminal 5. Services to Accra, Cape Town, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami, Nairobi, Phoenix and Vancouver move to Terminal 3 on 14 October. ba.com

In a spin

Cycle Southern England is a new initiative to encourage cyclists to explore areas including Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Dorset, Wiltshire and Berkshire by bike. The website features various downloadable routes and itineraries, plus practical advice and bike hire information. cyclesouthernengland.co.uk

New crush

Smooth Red has a new range of harvest and wine-making experiences. They start at £156pp, and visitors get hands-on at vineyards across Europe, with picking, treading, and blending grapes – as well as sampling wines. Destinations on offer include Champagne, Porto and Rioja. smoothred.co.uk

Shackleton in Antarctica
Shackleton in Antarctica

Big night

November 2015 marks 100 years since Sir Ernest Shackleton's mission to Antarctica in Endurance came to grief. Silversea Expeditions will host a Shackleton evening at the Royal Geographic Society in London on 24 November, with Michael Palin as guest of honour. It will mark the start of a new exhibition about the explorer, "The Enduring Eye". rgs.org

Set sail

A new boat booking website, Zizoo, has launched in the UK. It offers more than 6,000 sailboats, catamarans, and gulets across 30 countries in the Mediterranean, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and beyond. Boats are available with or without crews. Prices start at £25pp per day. zizoo.com

Stay smart

New device SatSleeve+ turns your smartphone into a satellite phone, ideal for those who travel to remote areas without a mobile signal. The clip-on accessory looks like a phone cover, and also has an SOS button which users can connect to a pre-set number, in case they find themselves in trouble. From £400. expansys.com

Island time

Le Touessrok in Mauritius is set to reopen as a Shangri-la Resort and Spa on 1 November after a six-month renovation. It will feature Mediterranean village-style architecture as well as drawing inspiration from its location. There will be eight new restaurants, a luxury spa, and a kids' club. shangri-la.com

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