Travel Briefs

Visitors spending at least one night in the Swiss capital are eligible for a free Bern Ticket, which allows for unlimited travel on public transit in zones 100 and 101 as well as on the Marzilibähnli and Gurtenbahn funicular railways. 

The Bern Ticket is valid during a visitor’s entire stay in Bern. In fact, any traveler arriving in Bern with a confirmed reservation at a hotel or boarding house is guaranteed free public transfer from either the Bern-Belp Airport or train station to...

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In Melbourne, Australia’s Central Business District, as of Jan. 1, 2015, people can ride trams for free. Sites of interest within the “Free Tram Zone” include the Queen Victoria Market, the Melbourne Observation Wheel and the Parliament House. Sites within a 5- to 10-minute walk of the free-fare zone include the Melbourne Museum, the National Gallery of Victoria and the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Those boarding or debarking the tram outside of the free-fare zone must purchase a “myki”...

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Visitors to Abu Dhabi can ride in a modern abra, or wooden boat, using Capt. Tony’s (Abu Dhabi, UAE; phone +971 02 650 7175, http://captaintonys.ae) “Water Hopping Service.”

Passengers are picked up at the Souk Qaryat Al Beri marina and the Ritz-Carlton and Fairmont hotels in the Khor Al Maqta’a district and travel 25 minutes to the Eastern Mangroves.

A ticket costs AED50 (near $14) one way and AED80 round trip. On Fridays and Saturdays only, boats pick up passengers from 10 a....

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The VoiceTra4U app can translate spoken English into 26 languages. To use the app, select the input and output languages, speak into your phone as you would on a call, and the app will translate your words into text and (in 13 languages) audible speech.

Your phone must have network access for the app to work. Available on iTunes and Google Play, the app is free, but a user may have to pay for data usage, depending on his phone contract.

An exhibit of Byzantine-era gold and silver coins and medallions — discovered 50 meters south of the Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerusalem in April 2013 during the excavation of a sixth-century-AD building — is being held until Jan. 30, 2016, at the Israel Museum (11 Ruppin Blvd., Hakirya, Jerusalem, Israel; phone +972 2 670 8811, www.english.imjnet.org.il).

ILS54 (near $13.50) adult or ILS27 senior or child (under 17).

The Lonely Planet eBook guide “Accessible Melbourne” highlights wheelchair-friendly restaurants, shops, scenic sites, activities and participatory sports in Melbourne, Australia, and offers tips for visitors with mobility, hearing or vision impairment. To download a free copy, visit www.lonelyplanet.com/accessible-melbourne and fill out the online form.

More than 150 objects held at London’s British Museum since being collected in Australia, many from the times of earliest contact between indigenous peoples (Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders) and nonindigenous people (British), will return to Australia for the exhibit “Encounters,” Nov. 1, 2015-March 28, 2016.

Among the objects are a wooden shield believed to have been taken by James Cook in 1770, a mid-1840s Tasmanian shell necklace and an 1870s dilly bag. 

National...

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Visitors to Hamburg can set sail on Alster Lake, located in the center of the city, with Pieper Sailing School (An der Alster 10, Hamburg 20099, Germany; phone +49 40 36 16 32 17, www.hamburg-city-sailing.de [click on “English Version”]). 

Interested mariners can rent a skiff and a skipper for a simple lake tour or for a sailing lesson. Each lasts about 1½ hours. English-speaking skippers are available. 

With a skipper, too, sailboats can be rented for €98 (near $105) total by...

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