Many happy returns - tax returns that is! It’s time to ditch the reciepts and have some fiscalicious fun on one of our exclusive End of Financial Year hotel getaways in Sydney and Melbourne. With up to 30% off our regular deals and free night offers, you’ll be breaking out the champagne, not breaking the bank. Read more »

Stop that rumbling! Tantalise the taste buds with some food frolics and wine ramblings across Europe. From the elegance of candlelit dinners to rustic picnics at regional foodspots, there’s enough to satisfy the lustiest appetites. Read more »

Put down the knife! It’s time to let someone else do the slicing and dicing for you on a multicultural selection of food and wine holidays across New Zealand.

Do your soufflés fall flat and your mash turn to mush?  You can learn from the best and eat scrummy food too at the Food Show in Wellington from 8-10 May 2009. Watch internationally renowned cook, Donna Hay, whip up a ‘no time to cook’ demonstration feast, and witness the battle of the steak knives as Ramsey wannabes compete for the Chef of the Capital title. Return to the InterContinental Hotel Wellington for a whirlpool, sauna and some good ole TexMex food at the Arizona Bar and Grill.

Get your rocks off in Rotorua with a traditional Maori Hangi feast where The Heritage Hotel offers culinary fare of the more European kind at Chapmans restaurant, including smorgasbord and à la carte menu, as well as exceptionally stunning views of the geothermal wonders of this special city.

You might spot a wobbly hobbit while on a personalised Gourmet tour of Central Otago’s wineries.  At a maximum of 10 people, your guide takes you to an underground wine cave and the ‘Big Picture’ experience – an innovative way of exploring wine via visual and aroma cues – and a great way to stimulate your appetite for the cheese tasting and gourmet lunch platter (technically known as ‘getting the munchies’). Over 7 hours, you’ll soak up the beauty of the Kawarau Gorge, Otago Goldfields, and Lake Dunstan. With senses and tummies satiated, it’s time to sleep like a sloth at Peppers at the Beacon hotel on Queenstown’s Lake Wakatipu. Ok, maybe after a sauna and massage.

Easter eggs, bunnies and shows may have come and gone, but does that mean chocolate should  feel neglected and unappreciated for the rest of the year? Why not show how much you care with a tour of Cadbury World in Dunedin, complete with its irresistable five-storey high chocolate fall and Wonka-like gift shop. Take your newly adopted goodies back to the Cable Court Motel, where you and the family can devour and concoct chocolate creations to your heart’s content.

Who needs Nigella and Jamie when you can have your own hot and spicy experience with these Aussie foodie getaways? From tastings to titbits, morsels to feasts, you’ll not only indulge your senses, but learn how to teriyaki like Tetsuya and glaze like Gordon.

Test your 10,000 taste buds under the glorious sunshine of the Noosa Wine and Food Festival from May 1-3 2009. Over 150 contributors will tempt you with tasters, share recipes and show you new and wonderful foods, wines and ways to enhance your gastronome fixation. This year’s Australian/Italian theme includes a grand degustation where you can crunch on cannoli, slurp on spaghetti, feast on fettucini and nibble on gnocci whilst listening to Kate Ceberano and exploring over 100 events. After buying up big, try out your new skills in your own kitchen at the Horizons at Peregian, which has direct beach access, surf lessons and a fitness centre to work up an appetite for your culinary creations!

Cook it again Sam. Enjoy a night of candles, couches, chords and cous cous on a Mystical Moroccan Cooking Class to Music in Melbourne. The mood is set with a dash of live music, champers and cheese, before enimatic chef Bart Beek reveals his secret to cooking Moroccan delights such as spiced chicken, chermoula salmon, kataifi pastry nests and more – with wine to match every course. Spend the next day enjoying an epicurean odyssey in Melbourne before indulging at Collins Kitchen at the Grand Hyatt, which has 5 different cooking concepts, and allows guest interaction with the chefs. Maybe you’ll feel like sushi, or a patisserie treat, or just a drink at the RU-CO bar with its 2700 bottle wine room.

Béchamel, blanching, sauté, julienne, bouquet garni—it all seems like another language. Translate it into your mother tongue with a Learn to Be a Chef lesson in Sydney. Slice, dice, and learn the basics of chopping, sauce making and stock preparation - and yes, you do get eat what you make, be it paella, duck or any one of many culinary themes offered. And for dessert, return to the Establishment Hotel for cookies instead of turndown mints, and over 7 bars of sweet and savory cocktails, including the renowned Hemmesphere.

Red, white, rosé, isn’t it all the same? Heavens no! Wine lovers know the difference between bubbles and botrytis and no matter your expertise, you too can be a winemaker for a day at various vineyards in the Swan Valley near Perth. Have a cheese and wine tasting, then go to another estate to blend your own wine, followed by a platter lunch overlooking a picturesque brook. Oh yes, and there’s also some chocolate tasting in there, perfect with the fortifieds. The coach drops you back in Perth, and you can totter over to the Hilton Hotel Perth Parmelia, with its renowned Globe Wine Bar and Restaurant, stocked with over 350 different wines.

With the sun unraveling itself from the cloudy grey scarf of winter, it’s time to get in the mood for warmer days ahead. Food, fairytales and fandangos await you in the European springtime.

Fling yourself around with the gaiety of children’s story character Heidi on a guided coach tour of Zurich, then onwards to old towns, a medieval castle, caves and waterfalls with panoramic views of the Alps. After breathing in all that fresh mountain air, book into the dreamy Engimatt Hotel Zurich and you’ll be a Sleeping Beauty in no time.

Spring is when fresh foods appear in abundance—smell the herbs and fruit, feel the grains and listen to the hearty spruiking of stallholders during a private London Weekend market tour. In three hours you’ll delve into the cool, creative and crazy of boho Brixton market as well as the foodie-feast that is Borough market. Near the tour meeting point of Royal Victoria Station you’ll find the Crowne Plaza Hotel London, complete with luscious waterfront views.

Take advantage of spring generosity in Italy with the Spring FAI days on 28-29 March, which gives you discounted or free access to heritage monuments and places of interest rarely open to the public. In the Genoa province, visit an abbey, a richly decorated domestic house, and a quaint and authentic Barber’s shop where you can even get your hair cut. For more ye olde charm stay at the Golden Tulip Hotel Moderno Verdi, an historic building remodeled with modern amenities.

On the 28th of March, kick up your heels and enjoy the opulence of a special evening at Monaco’s Rose Ball—mingle with royalty and celebrities at a champagne dinner, followed by dancing in the Salle des Étoiles hall. Each year is a different theme, so be ready for an exotic evening. Waltz on back to The Hotel Metropole in the heart of Monaco, recently refurbished by French Decorator Jacques Garcia.