Travel Agenda: Lapland UK; Amsterdam; Qatar Airways

Today: Father Christmas comes to Kent. Lapland UK opens on the Bewl Water Estate with an elf village, Siberian huskies, left, reindeer, a toy factory, ice rink and of course Santa Claus himself; until 24 December (laplanduk.co.uk).

Further south in Cornwall, the Celtic Beer Festival is at the St Austell Brewery with live music, Cornish food and 150 different brews to sample (staustellbrewery.co.uk).

This week: Amsterdam gets an impressive injection of high-concept design on Thursday, in the shape of the Conservatorium hotel, right. A 19th-century, brick-built bank has been transformed (conservatoriumhotel.com). After opening its doors in July, the Museum of Liverpool opens new galleries on Friday, including one dedicated to the Liverpool Overhead Railway, the world's first electric elevated railway (liverpoolmuseums.org.uk).

In the diary: Qatar Airways has announced a batch of new routes for 2012, adding options for UK travellers from Heathrow and Manchester to destinations such as Perth, Zanzibar and Kigali, via Doha (qatarairways.com).