Four great experiences for the true aficionado
l You can’t beat a day of pampering for unwinding after the Christmas rush. Any chap looking to really indulge a lady should look to the spa at the plush Sofitel St James’s Hotel, whose ultimate package includes a crystal necklace from renowned French glassware company Baccarat. For pampering, you get the Zenith Signature treatment, a rejuvenating treatment inspired by Baccarat crystal, using rock crystal to soothe and relax. £2,900 www.sofitel.com.
2 For chaps who enjoy a bit of grooming and mollycoddling, the one-day Refined Package at the Refinery male spa salon (in Mayfair and in Harrods) involves around six hours of treatments, which can be tailored to the customer’s preferences. For instance, you might go for an ocean mud treatment (massage using a marine mudpack to warm the muscles) combined with a pedicure, a facial and finished off with a wet shave. Vouchers for this and other treatment packages can be bought from the salons or the website. £350, www.the-refinery.com.
3 Is this the best boys own adventure package ever devised? The story of the Norwegian commandos who in 1943 parachuted into occupied Norway and survived a winter on an ice plateau before blowing up the factory where the Nazis were developing their atomic bomb is one of the greatest tales of wartime heroism, immortalised in the Heroes of Telemark film with Richard Harris and Kirk Douglas. Recreating the mission, this four-day package involves parachute and weapons training with authentic equipment, making the jump onto the Hardanger mountain range plateau, staying in the hut used by the original saboteurs before infiltrating enemy lines and making the attack. £1,150 + VAT, www.quintessentiallyescapes.com.
4 For the ultimate adventurer, luxury menswear brand Alfred Dunhill has teamed up with travel company Black Tomato to offer a series of out-of-this-world experiences based on a journey made 80 years ago by Dunhill executive Clement Court, as he scoured the world for beautiful objects. Head to Russia to go backstage at the Bolshoi before doing “catapult training” in a mile-high fighter jet; learn Bushido from Samurai masters in Japan or get a private tour of the Louvre in Paris. Our pick, though, is a week-long journey across Mongolia, travelling deep into the Altai Mountains, meeting local shamen and learning eagle hunting. That’s £3,450 per person. To spend a month doing the entire journey over all four destinations, its £27,750. www.blacktomato.co.uk