Smart Traveller

The Telegraph is offering readers the chance to win a seven day trip to Norway.

The prize includes a 6 night Voyage North Cruise for two from Bergen to Kirkness on a full board basis and you’ll get to see places such as Tromsø  (the Arctic Capital) and Trondheim’s Nidaros Cathedral.

You can enter the competition via the Telegraph’s website.

Image courtesy of: © Helen Panphilova | Dreamstime.com

In the final part of our series of posts about car hire holidays in Italy’s Lake Como region, we find out what there is to see and do in Cernobbio, and take a look at the route from Cernobbio back to Milan.

Cernobbio sits at the foot of Monte Bisbino and its most famous attraction is the Villa D’Este. The Villa D’Este was originally a convent, but the cloister and some of its land was bought by Cardinal Tolomeo Gallio of Como during the 16th century, and he commissioned the architect Pelligrino Pelligrini to build a villa there. The villa was completed in 1568 and was named Villa Garrovo. It was handed down through the Gallio family following Tolomeo’s death and some of its owners improved the villa and its gardens.

In 1784, the Gallio family sold the villa to Marquis Bartolomeo Caldera, who was married to Vittoria Peluso, a ballerina. When the Marquis died, Vittoria married Count Domenico Pino, a General in Napoleon’s army and comissioned the construction of fortresses and towers in the gardens of the villa in order to remind him of his military days.

In 1815, Vittoria begrudgingly sold the villa to Queen Caroline of England, the wife of King George IV. King George and Queen Caroline never lived together and their marriage disastrous, so when she was offered an annual allowance from the King in order to leave England, Caroline headed for Italy. She saw the Villa Garrovo and set her heart on buying it.

It was Caroline who changed the name of the villa, from the Villa Garrovo to the New Villa D’Este. She made a number of improvements to the villa during the five years that she lived there. Unfortunately, she got into debt and gave the villa to her bankers until she could afford to buy it back, but was not able to do this and died in 1821.

The villa was opened to the public in 1825, but it was sold to Prince Domenico Orsini and then to Baron Ippolito Ciani, who restored the estate and constructed a new villa, which is now called “The Queen’s Pavillion”.

In 1873, the Villa D’Este was turned into a hotel and it has attracted many celebrities over the years, including Mark Twain, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Elizabeth Taylor, Woody Allen and Mel Gibson. The hotel has retained many of its original features, including the beautiful painted ceiling in the Napoleon Room, and you can see some wonderful works of art in the hotel, or see the statues, fountains and fortifications in the Villa D’Este’s gardens.

Cernobbio’s other famous villa is the Villa Erba, which was constructed in the 19th century for the Erba family. Now a conference centre, the Mannerist-style Villa Erba also houses a museum (”The Rooms of Luchino Visconti”), which contains exhibits relating to Luchino Visconti, the Italian film director, who was the son of Duke Guiseppe and Lady Carla Visconti.

Lady Carla was the daughter of Commandatore Luigi Erba and Anna Brivio, who purchased the property in 1882 and built the lakeside villa so that they could live in more elegant surroundings than the manor house that already existed on the land. Unfortunately, “The Rooms of Luchino Visconti” are only open to the public during May and you will need to book a tour in advance.

Other attractions in Cernobbio include the 16th century Villa Pizzo and the 18th century Church of S. Michele di Rovenna, and you can also take a walk along the waterfront.

Once you’ve explored Cernobbio, you can head back to Como in your hire car. It will take you about 15 minutes to get there. Just head south on the Via per Cernobbio.

You can then either spend a day or two in Como or drive back to Milan. To get back to Milan from Como in your hire car, simply head south on the A9 partial toll road and then take the exit for the A8/E62 to Milan. You can then either spend some more time exploring Milan or return your car to the car rental office and fly home.

BBC Wildlife Magazine has got together with Intrepid Travel to offer readers the chance to win an eight day holiday in Tanzania.

The prize consists of two places on an Intrepid Travel “Serengeti Trail” trip. This trip begins in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. You’ll travel across the Great Rift Valley to Kisii and then to Musoma, near Lake Victoria in Tanzania, before heading into the Serengeti National Park, where you will camp for a night. You’ll then head off to the Ngorongoro Crater and the Meserani Snake Park before returning to Nairobi.

Please note that the prize does not include flights, airport transfers or any other accommodation. Meals are provided on the nights when you are camping, but you will need to pay for all other meals.

You can enter the competition via the BBC Wildlife Magazine website and entries must be received by midnight on 9 March 2009. The winner must take the trip before 1 March 2010 and the following dates are not available: any dates during July and August, or between the 16 December 2009 and 6 January 2010.

Image courtesy of: © Kristian Sekulic | Dreamstime.com