Holiday details: Follow the footsteps of Charles Darwin and enjoy a 5-day cruise around the Galapagos islands. Travel to Quito, Ecuador and experience a day high in the Andes, including a tour round the equatorial city. Follow this with a 5-day guided cruise in the Galapagos, with the choice between an itinerary of the Eastern or Western Isles, both visiting the famous island of Santa Cruz. After this, a night’s accommodation in Guayaquil, with an optional tour of the riverside city.

Departs: 3 September, 26 September, 24 October.

Price: £3,495 for traveller 1, £1,747 for traveller 2 (saving £1,747). The price includes flights from London Heathrow to Quito (via Madrid) with Iberia, a 5-day tour of the Galapagos islands and a tour of Quito. All cruise meals are included and some others. Standard accommodation is included throughout the trip.

Book with: Cox and Kings.

From 101 Holidays newsdesk

Railbookers is offering 10% discount off all their rail holidays – book before 24 June for travel in July and August 2012.

Holidays must be for a minimum of 4 nights.

Options include city breaks throughout Europe and rail holidays in the UK and Europe – and further afield in the USA, India, China, South East Asia and even Namibia.

Find out more from Railbookers.

Holiday Details: Set in 8 acres of landscaped garden, the 5* Almyra hotel in Cyprus offers a seafront setting. Just 10 minutes walk from the coastal town of Paphos, the hotel boasts 4 pools, a tennis court and organic spa. Enjoy the views over the town’s fishing harbour and the classical Greco-Roman remains, or take advantage of the local watersports and golf courses.

Departs: 19 June.

Price: £789pp. Includes EasyJet flights from London Gatwick, transfers, complimentary half-board and 7 nights accommodation. Total savings up to £902 per couple.

Book with: Sovereign.

Holiday details: With 1 double and 2 twin en-suite bedrooms, Aeolus provides a week’s accommodation on the Greek island of Corfu starting at £137.50pp (based on 6 sharing). Just 450m from Coyvenas beach, the villa boasts a private pool and is situated between the villages of Kassiopi and Aghios Stefanos.

Nearly Avlaki is a Blue Flag beach and offers an English-run watersports centre, or trek up Mount Pantokrator, Corfu’s tallest mountain, for views of Albania and even Italy.

Departs: 18 or 25 June.

Cost: the week starting 18 June costs £825 for 7 nights accommodation (original price £1,450). The week starting 25 June costs £995 for 7 nights accommodation (original price £1,595). Flights are not included.

Book with: Vintage Travel.

Holiday details: Stay at the 4* Villa Nicolli Hotel in Riva, on the northern end of Lake Garda. A 10-minute walk from the town centre, the hotel is an excellent base to explore the beautiful mountain scenery. Enjoy the cobbled streets of Riva, including the 12th-century La Rocca castle or take advantage of the watersports activities available on Italy’s largest lake.

Free entry to the hotel’s indoor pool and spa is included, and Inghams offers a special spa package including facial massage, full body massage and body peeling for just £95pp.

Departs: 30 May.

Price: £496pp (saving £273pp). Price includes 7 nights half-board accommodation based on 2 sharing, with a free daily buffet lunch. Inclusive return flights are available from Gatwick, Manchester or Birmingham to Verona and transfers.

Book with: Inghams.

Holiday Details: Enjoy 7 nights half-board at the 5* Grand Hotel Elba Estepona. Close to the seaside town of Estepona and just 30 minutes from Gibraltar, the coastal spa hotel is a member of Small Luxury Hotels of the World. Offering 3 swimming pools and a beach restaurant, the hotel provides a great break for couples or families. The city of Malaga can be reached in a 90-minute drive.

Departs: Until 11 July.

Price: £998pp (saving £105pp) for 7 nights. Includes return flights from London (Luton, Gatwick or Stansted) to Malaga, car hire, half-board accommodation based on 2 sharing (breakfast and dinner included) and concierge service.

Book with: Kirker Holidays

Holiday details: The all-inclusive 4* Morgan Bay Beach Resort in St Lucia provides a tropical getaway for couples and families. Minutes from Rodney Bay Marina, the hotel offers an extensive range of watersports and activities plus five restaurants and four bars, all set within 22 acres of gardens. Supervised kids clubs are also available.

Departs: 2-31 October 2012.

Price: £899pp (save £750pp) for a week’s all-inclusive. The price includes Virgin Atlantic flights from London Gatwick and standard accommodation based on 2 sharing a room. Book by 28 May.

Book with: Tropical Sky

Hats off to the Cook Islands dancers and drummers who are currently performing in the UK – braving the cold and wet weather in traditional outfits better suited to their South Pacific home.

Organised by Cook Islands Tourism, the European Roadshow kicked off in London with performances in iconic sites from Trafalgar Square to Westminster.

Many of the dancers have never left the Cook Islands before – we can only imagine they can’t wait to get back there to warm up.

Find out more about the Cook Islands.

Holiday details: Ideal for couples, enjoy the 5-star Evason Hua Hin and Six Senses Spa, based in 10 acres of tropical garden in Pranburi, Thailand. Indulge in Skin Food treatments, jump into a jacuzzi or simply relax in the meditation cave.

Thirty minutes south of the regal town of Hua Hin, the resort offers daily shuttle buses for those who wish to explore the area. For thrill seekers, snorkelling, kiteboarding and Thai boxing facilities are also available.

Departs: 28 May.

Price: £699 pp (original price £955). Includes Thai Airways flights and transfers from London Heathrow, 7 nights bed and breakfast based on 2 sharing.

Book with: Hayes & Jarvis

By Catherine Leech, Director, 101 Holidays

“A room with a private plunge pool” exclaimed my mum. “That sounds a bit extravagant”.

What the hell – we went for it and paid up for 3 nights of R&R in the Andalucian sunshine at DDG Retreat in the hills behind Estepona. Travelling at the end of April, it was a dead cert dream mini-break for me and post-pneumonia mum.

We flew with Ryanair from Bournemouth. Who needs checked baggage for 3 nights in the sun…? We each had a carry-on bag with the bare essentials – 3 swimsuits, a couple of skirts, sandals, 100mls of decanted sunscreen and a cotton sweater, just in case, for me.

Much like seeing an unfavourable horoscope, I chose to ignore the weather forecast which indicated some cloud. This was the Costa del Sol in late April – a little cloud cover wasn’t going to rain on our parade.

I can only imagine that our disappointment in the weather was somewhat akin to arriving at the Ice Hotel to find there has been a hot spell.

En route to the hotel, we found a great spot on the seaside in Estepona for a stellar lunch of arroz mariscos – a yummy soupy shellfish-rich delight – and a drop of chilled white. So far, all was going to plan. We opted to sit in the shade in case we got hot and bothered. Big mistake – huge – it was the last we were to see of the sun for the rest of our stay.

We arrived at DDG Retreat to the warmest possible welcome from the owners, the fabulously hospitable Alex and Olga. Casa Oleandro, with its private plunge pool and outdoor claw bath, was indeed heaven. By now, it was feeling a tad chilly but we were higher up in the mountains and the staggering views of the nearby pueblo blanca of Casares and soaring eagles more than compensated.

It’s all about romance, seclusion and tranquility at DDG Retreat – ideal for a minimoon or battery recharge. There are just five casas, a stunning pool, a spa room with one open wall facing out to the mountains and an eclectic but appealing collection of antiques, artworks and fabrics from around the world. Alex and Olga, who come from Siberia, are a well-travelled couple who built their home in this idyllic spot and then decided to share it with others by developing a small hotel, with discreet buildings dotted around the hillside. They are rightly proud of their creation.

If you opt to have dinner there, cooked to perfection by Olga, you sit in pretty cabanas for two in the charming courtyard. That night, however, we headed in to the main house where a log fire had been lit and a pile of soft cream blankets were more than welcome. Still – tomorrow was another day and we crashed out full of hope and excitement.

And then the rain started, the temperature dropped further and we found ourselves in a freak cold snap…..the car’s ice alert pinged as we headed up to Ronda and it was clear that I had under-packed! I didn’t even have a pair of socks.

The next two days were spent huddled up in blankets playing cribbage and gin rummy, doing crosswords and snoozing back at DDG – and heading off in the car to Estepona (with its charming and atmospheric old town), Ronda (picturesque but heaving with umbrella-brandishing coach tour groups) and for some long lunches and longer dinners.

We scored with all our restaurant choices and were seriously impressed by the reasonable prices, warm welcome and delicious food. I particularly recommend Venta Garcia (a contemporary take on traditional Spanish cuisine) and La Sal (+34 952888369), on the beach as you turn up to the Casares road from Estepona.

My mum and I giggled our way through it all, reminisced about perishing cold holidays in Scotland years ago and a change is as good as a rest, they say. We honed our cribbage skills, met possibly the most solicitous and charming hotel owners in the business and I found a perfect bolt hole to recommend to friends (and visitors to 101 Honeymoons).

For the final irony, Alex and Olga chatted to family who told them it was an unseasonably warm 24C in Siberia – as we shivered in an unseasonably cold 8C on the Costa del Sol.