Live the dream, says screen holiday firm

THEMED BREAKS:IT'S NOT ENOUGH for travellers to view a fantasy on the cinema screen: they want to live it, too. That's the claim, anyway, of a British tour operator, ITC Classics, which is offering film-themed luxury holidays.

For £2,650 (€3,350) per person, including flights, families can experience a version of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, a DreamWorks animation to be released on December 5th. In the film, the animals once again escape the zoo and find themselves in an African safari park. In the holiday, ITC Classics is suggesting five nights at Shamwari Game Reserve, staying in a five-star lodge in the "ultra-exclusive" valley of Eagles Crag - supposedly "a favourite with A-listers such as Brad Pitt".

If pretending to be James Bond is more your thing, then you might like an adventure holiday at the W Retreat Spa, in the Maldives, where no one will laugh at you when you ask for your cocktails shaken, not stirred. The holiday features a chocolate fountain, a lesson on a Seabob (from the film Die Another Day) and a private excursion to Gaatha Fushi island with disposable camera (for those Ursula Andress photos). The champagne and dinners are included, but you have to bring your own Bond girl.

The chance to envision yourself as Nicole Kidman alongside Hugh Jackman in Baz Luhrmann's television ad for Australia is also possible. For £7,380 (€9,300) per person (plus flights) you can experience crocodile river cruises, airboat rides, safaris and cattle mustering.

The list of film-related holidays also includes one based on the new How to Lose Friends and Alienate People, set in Manhattan. You might want to think twice about that one.

00-44-1244-355527, www.itcclassics.co.uk