Travel Briefs

Travelers with a layover at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport (NRT) can take a free tour with a volunteer, English-speaking guide through the airport’s Transit & Stay Program (www.narita-transit-program.jp).

For travelers with more than three hours free, four guided tours are available: a visit to the Shinsho-ji Temple, dining at a Japanese buffet, a countryside bike ride and cosplaying (role playing) at a reproduction Edo-period town. For those with more than six...

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In Dudley, West Midlands, England, visitors can take a subterranean boat tour through a former limestone quarry, seeing fossils embedded in the quarry’s walls (from the area’s distant past as a coral reef) and reconstructions of the once-thriving mine. Tours are aboard one of two boats built in the 1930s.

The 45-minute tour is offered hourly, 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Wed.-Sun. £8 (near $10), adult; £7.50, senior, or £6.50, child (3-16). The canal entrance is...

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On a seaside track on the Dutch Caribbean island of Bonaire, visitors can each race a 3-wheeled landsailing cart (in Dutch, blokart) powered by the same type of sail used on small sailboats.

Blokart speeds average 18-25 mph but can reach 38 mph in strong winds. Less speedy blokarts are available.

Each guest is given safety instructions and lessons before entering the track, with instructors positioned to assist. The experience costs $30 for 30 minutes or $50 for an hour.

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Forty miles north of Rome, a restaurant that seats only two people, Solo per Due (Via Villa di Orazio 2, Vacone, Italy; phone +39 0746 676873, www.soloperdue.com), is located in Vacone. It’s housed in a 19th-century home, with the remains of a Roman villa on the grounds plus a palm garden.

Reservations for lunch or dinner can be made only via email (info@soloperdue.it), and guests choose their arrival time.

During the meal, the waiter is summoned with a silver bell. The...

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A fire caused the roof and central spire at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, France, to collapse on April 15. It is believed the fire was caused by an electrical fault associated with ongoing restoration work. Many of the cathedral’s treasures, including a relic of the crown of thorns, were saved. Sixteen historic bronze statues had been removed from the spire four days before the fire and are intact.

The stone structure of the cathedral (including much of the interior ceiling...

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Jet Airways, India’s second-largest airline, suspended all future flights on April 17 after being unable to secure funding to pay debts. Though not out of business as of press time, the airline had not said when it would begin offering flights again.

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Ramon International Airport (ETM) began operating in southern Israel, near the city of Eilat, on March 4. It is Israel’s second international airport, after Ben Gurion (TLV) in Tel Aviv. At press time, it was serviced internationally only by Ryanair flights from Europe.

Ramon is the first civilian airport built in Israel, as Ben Gurion was originally a British RAF base, though it has since been greatly expanded.

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A new airport terminal known as Jewel (Terminal 4) began operation at Changi Airport, Singapore, on April 17. The terminal provides service for 26 airlines, has more than 280 shops and restaurants and is anchored by a 131-foot-tall atrium featuring thousands of tropical plants in a 5-story garden plus the world’s largest indoor waterfall, cascading from the center of the roof.

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