Travel Agenda: Chateau Les Carasses; National Parks Week; The Pig hotel; Eccleston Square Hotel; Floating Dutchman

Today: Check into Chateau Les Carasses, which is opening its gates in the Languedoc region of south-western France. The restored 19th-century vineyard comprises a small winery, luxury hotel, infinity pool, tennis court and bistro ( lescarrasses.com).

This week: National Parks Week gets under way on Monday, celebrating Britain's protected natural reserves. Events are taking place in all the parks, such as a wildlife walk in the Peak District and the New Forest Show. The latter is the location for a new hotel, The Pig, which opens on Monday. The sibling of the luxurious Lime Wood hotel, it offers a more informal but no less stylish setting ( thepighotel.co.uk). Another notable opening that day is the Eccleston Square Hotel, which claims to be the most hi-tech in London ( ecclestonsquarehotel.com).

In the diary: Next time you have a lengthy stopover at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, hop aboard the Floating Dutchman. The newly launched amphibious bus ferries visitors from the airport into the city to cruise the canals on a tour that lasts three hours, before heading back to Schiphol ( floatingdutchman.nl).