March: From Panama's beaches to the shores of Tripoli

Where to go, what to do in 2011

The destination

With more than 1,500 islands and long stretches of pristine beach along both its Pacific and Caribbean coastlines, Panama is a hotspot in the first half of 2011. British Airways (ba.com) starts flying there (en-route to Costa Rica) from March.

The route

BMI (flybmi.com) is to launch a daily service from London to the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Meanwhile, British Airways begins flights to Marrakech, Morocco, three times a week.

The accommodation

The 12-room Zetter Townhouse (thezetter.com), sister to the much applauded Zetter hotel, will be available by the room or for sole occupancy. Rooms from £222 per night.

The great outdoors

The second stretch of the Munda Biddi (mundabiddi.org.au) cycle trail in Western Australia opens this month. The 84km (52 miles) stretch from Nannup to Manjimup, taking in fertile lands for black truffles and wineries, will be linked to 500km of cycle trails already created in the area.

The cultural attraction

Don't miss your chance to stand next to Freud, Mozart, Johann Strauss the Younger and Arnold Schwarzenegger, when Vienna's Prater opens its Austrian branch of Madame Tussaud's (vienna.info/en/sightseeing/prater). Barack Obama will be there, too, and the Prater promises no roped-off areas to keep you from your heroes.

The adventure

Head deep into the Sahara on a brand new trip with Black Tomato (blacktomato.co.uk), which starts in south Morocco before heading into the desert. Explore Morocco's highest sand dunes, set up camp under the stars and get to know the volcanic landscape of the Draa Valley, which is virtually uninhabited and scattered with crumbling kasbahs. From £1,750.

The British day out

Popular attraction At-Bristol will continue to entertain families with the launch of a £1.5m permanent exhibition, All About Us (at-bristol.org.uk), opening on 11 March. Science will be brought to life with 50 new exhibits, including feeding a skeleton to watch nutrients pass through the body, and Sound Bite, which lets you play music through your head bones.

The winter sports

The BRITS Festival (the-brits.com), in Laax, Switzerland, from 20 to 27 March, unites snowboard and ski action with live music and DJs nightly, including heavyweights Pendulum headlining. There's daytime on-snow action featuring UK Olympians Ben Kilner and Zoe Gillings, and three times X-Games Gold medallist, Jenny Jones.

All prices are per person, based on two sharing, unless otherwise stated. Hotel room prices are per room per night, unless otherwise stated