Potter about in Cornwall
Sometimes the gentlest of hobbies can give the greatest pleasure; creating a bowl out of a lump of clay can be hugely satisfying. It’s also pretty difficult, which is why a few lessons in the art of pottery can be very useful. Stay at the aptly named Pottery Cottage and the owner, who lives on the adjoining Hale Farm, will give tuition in creating ceramics in his purpose-built studio. The cottage, which sleeps four, is two miles from Port Isaac and has a private terraced garden and lovely tranquil views across the surrounding farmland.
A week costs from £372, based on four sharing, through Classic Cottages (01326 555555, www.classic.co.uk).

Kalaripayattu in Kerala
One of the oldest martial arts traditions in the world, kalaripayattu is the basis of kung fu and combines physical training with the traditional art of “marma” – knowing and activating 107 energy points in the body. These are points that correct energy flows and replenish its resources; learn the art and you become a warrior and a self-healer. Transindus (020-8566 2729, www. transindus.com) offers two weeks at the Ayurveda Mana in Kerala, a charitable trust that offers comfortable accommodation alongside a kalaripayattu centre used by villagers and professionals.
The 12-night trip costs from £1,374pp, including flights, transfers, all meals and kalari, yoga and meditation tuition.

Unleash your inner novelist in Turkey
Virginia Woolf said that an essential for any creative writer was a room of one’s own. If that room happens to be on a Turkish hillside with glorious views and all the facilities of a super-stylish hotel, so much the better. The Dionysos, high in the hills above the small seaside village of Kumlubuk, is the location for a week’s creative writing course, running on May 8. The course involves group sessions in the morning and one-to-one tutorials with the tutor, Sarah Bailey, in the afternoon. It aims to help to overcome writer’s block and teach how to formulate plot, character and structure.
The group is of no more than 15, and the week’s course costs £1,000pp, including flights, transfers, half board and a day’s gulet cruise through Exclusive Escapes (020-8605 3500, www.exclusiveescapes. co.uk).

Picture perfect in Abruzzo
Point 101 photography holidays aim to provide a fun few days in unspoilt Italy – lots of local red wine and communal pasta suppers – with a gentle introduction to digital SLR photography. This is more for people looking to improve the quality of their holiday snaps than those keen to shoot a cover for Dazed & Confused magazine. The course takes place in Abruzzo, a refreshingly unspoilt and less touristy region of Italy, meaning that the coach trips around the countryside – timed to coincide with sunsets or particular times of day – are easy and stress-free.
A four-day course costs from £75pp including full board and tuition, but not flights, through Point 101 (020-7241 1113, www. point101.com).

20 great learning holidays

Climbing in Mallorca, cooking in Thailand, sumoing in Japan - it’s amazing what you can learn on holiday

Top 10 breaks to get you out of a rut

Tired of listless beach holidays? From a soulful retreat in a Californian canyon to Wildfitness in Kenya, we select the best holidays to reboot your life

Kids learning holidays

How are you going to keep the kids busy this summer? Easy. Pack them off on a learning holiday (and yes, you can go too)

White-knuckle in Norway
If you love a white-knuckle ride, they don’t come much scarier than a bobsleigh run. There’s actually considerably more to it than simply hurling yourself on to a sledge and hanging on for grim death, as this short course demonstrates. Under the expert tuition of either the GB Bobsleigh Team or the Lillehammer Olympic Park Team, you get to experience the thrill of zooming down an icy run at speeds of up to 60mph. The two-night break to Lillehammer in Norway starts off with tuition on the bobsleigh and skeleton riding, before races in the afternoon and a skidoo safari the following morning.
The weekend costs £960pp, including flights, transfers, half-board and activities through Original Travel (020-7978 7333, www.originaltravel.co.uk).

Art on safari
The vast skies, dramatic landscapes and unique wildlife make Africa a dream destination for artists, and a painting safari offers the chance to see the sprawling countryside and diverse animals in a new light. This is a slow-pace safari, encompassing Malawi’s Liwonde National Park and Lake Malawi, along with the South Luangwa National Park in Zambia. Tuition is by Mary-Anne Bartlet, who offers one-to-one teaching as well as exercises and suggested subjects, using mainly graphite pencils and watercolours. Groups are small, and there is time to discuss your work and meet local artists.
The 14-night trip costs from £2,058pp excluding flights through Why Don’t You – part of Wexas Travel (0845 8386262, www.whydontyou.com).

Discover your inner guru
It can be tricky getting to grips with yoga by trying to learn the ancient art for only an hour a week, but if you take a holiday of intense yoga tuition, there is a far greater chance of actually getting to grips with the discipline. Yogoloji (020-7730 7473, www.yogolo-ji.co.uk) offers yoga holidays in Barbados, where days start and finish with yoga, allowing you to learn the positions slowly and discuss your progress with your instructor. Since the accommodation is at the sumptuous Sandy Lane resort, this is not about back-to-basics simple living, but rather understanding and learning the principles of meditation and yoga with a healthy dose of luxury added in.
The next group course, with no more than ten participants, staying in the glammy “Jamoon” villa is from March 5. It costs £2,800pp for ten nights, excluding flights, but including all tuition, full board and transfers.

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