Fionn Davenport's Travel Desk

VIRUS IN PARADISE

Visitors to the Caribbean are increasingly picking up a nasty souvenir – the debilitating chikungunya virus, which causes severe flu-like symptoms and has already affected up to one million people. Since the first case was diagnosed in late 2013, the Pan-American Health Organisation has identified 874,000 cases throughout the region, with Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, the Dominican Republic and Martinique (above) among the worst affected. The virus is contracted through mosquito bites and causes a sudden onset of high fever and joint pain, especially in the hands, wrists, ankles and feet. Symptoms usually last up to 10 days but can lead to fatal complications in the most vulnerable – more than 100 people have died in the last year.

There is currently no vaccine or treatment for chikungunya and visitors to the region are strongly urged to take the necessary precautions to avoid mosquito bites.

BRIGHTMAN BLASTS OFF

Sarah Brightman has forked out more than €38 million to travel to the International Space Station next year, but for just over €11,600, you can watch her take off and get some space training into the bargain. Start in cosmonaut-training facility Star City just outside Moscow, where you’ll experience zero gravity and do some space walk training. Then you’ll travel 2600km southeast to the Baikonour Cosmodrome on the Kazakh steps to witness the launch. The trip, limited to 20 people, runs from September 28th- October 6th. Flights to Moscow included. see

[ mircorp.com/trip/inside- the-russian-space-program ]

GET AWAY AT HOME

The Cliff Townhouse on St Stephen’s Green, Dublin, has a midweek one-night B&B package (€213 based on two people sharing), including a park view room and a three-course lunch in its  restaurant. Until December 22nd. The Europa Hotel in Belfast (hastingshotels. com) is offering overnight rates from £45 per person sharing; its Heartbreak Hotel package (£55) includes the Elvis Christmas show, but if Michael Jackson is more your thing, try the Man in the Mirror package (£67). If you want to get away from the Christmas mayhem, Mount Juliet (

[ mountjuliet.ie ]

),  Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, has a B&B weekend package for €225 that includes two nights in a manor superior king room and one dinner in the Michelin-starred Lady Helen Restaurant. Until January 29th.

FIVE HOTELS IN MILAN

Throughout northern Italy, children traditionally look forward to the feast of Santa Lucia on December 13th, when they open presents she left for them the night before and the whole family comes together to eat goose. It is a nice time to be in Milan – here’s five places to bed down in: 

Antica Locanda dei Mercanti

(Via San Tomaso 6;

[ locanda.it ]

; room from €200)

It looks like a private home, which is exactly the ambience the owners are looking to project, only this house has 14 beautifully decorated rooms (recommended are the ones with a terrace) and the kind of attentive service you’d expect from a five-star hotel.

Brera Apartments

(Via San Fermo 1;

[ brerapartments.com ]

; apartment for two from €120)

If you’re going for self-catering accommodation, you won’t do better than one of six apartments spread about the city’s most sought-after neighbourhoods (Brera, Moscova and Montenapoleone). Each is stylishly appointed with nice wooden floors, mezzanine bedrooms and a decently equipped kitchen.

Bulgari Hotel

(Via Privata Fratelli Gabba 7b;

[ bulgarihotels.com ]

; double from €600)

Perhaps the most exclusive of Milan’s hotels is this exquisitely designed boutique hotel – the first of the super-chic chain – adjacent to the Botanical Gardens in the Palazzo di Brera. As you would expect, the rooms are the last word in designer luxury, having been created by top-rated designer Antonio Citterio.

Hotel Principe di Savoia

(Piazza della Repubblica 17;

[ hotelprincipedisavoia.com ]

; room from €300)

From Woody Allen to billionaire sheikhs, the penthouse suite atop Milan’s grandest hotel has seen them all; for everybody else, they have to make do with the smaller but supremely elegant rooms. The art nouveau bar downstairs is one of the most beautiful in Italy. It is near the train station but a taxi ride from everywhere else.

Maison Borella

(Alzaia Naviglio Grande 8;

[ hotelmaisonborella.com ]

; double from €140)

This canalside four-star overlooks the Naviglio Grande and offers a real touch of class to the area. Surrounding the central courtyard are elegant rooms (a tad small, but beautifully appointed) and a self-catering apartment that sleeps four in loft-style luxury.

NEW EYES ON VAN GOGH

Viewing art out of its intended context is the inevitable downside to visiting the world’s best-known art collections, but the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam is looking to set that to right by completely reordering the 100 or so paintings by the Dutch artist in its collection (the biggest in the world and the city’s second-most popular tourist attraction). The works have now been divided up chronologically across four floors and arranged alongside works by other artists that Van Gogh would have been familiar with throughout his life.

These include works by Pissarro, Monet, Seurat and Gaugin – including the latter’s portrait of Van Gogh painting sunflowers, done when both artists lived in Arles – pictured left. See

[ vangoghmuseum.nl ]