Travel Briefs
Passion Play, Oberammergau
In Oberammergau, Germany, the Passion Play has been reenacted every 10 years since 1633. The 41st play will be held May 15-Oct. 3, 2010, and involve over 2,000 actors, singers and musicians.
Bike The Broads
Britain’s largest nationally protected wetland, The Broads, offers bicycling, boating and fishing on its shallow lakes and waterways.
Argentina tourist fee
On Jan. 1, 2009, Argentina will begin collecting a reciprocity tourist fee from visitors of all (22) countries that charge Argentineans for visas. For Americans, the fee will be about $134. It will cover the visitor’s reentry for a 10-year period.
Saudi Arabia entry
Saudi Arabia now requires visitors to declare jewelry, cash and any monetary instrument worth more than 60,000 riyals ($16,000). The move is to combat money laundering and the funding of terrorists.
Porto Card
In Porto, Portugal, the Porto Card offers free entrance or discounts at museums, monuments, shows, cultural institutions, restaurants and traditional shops and on tours and Douro River cruises.
Lisbon taxi vouchers
The average taxi ride within Lisbon, Portugal, costs €8-€15 (near $14-$26.50) and from airport to city, €12-€18. Fares are capped with a Taxi Voucher Lisboa, sold at the Lisbon Tourism booth in the airport arrivals hall, at the Lisboa Welcome Center and at Palácio Foz.
Van Dyck portraits
Sir Anthony van Dyck was the principal painter at the court of King Charles I. The exhibition “Van Dyck and Britain,” running in London at the Tate Britain (Millbank, London; phone +44 20 7887 8888, www.tate.org.uk), Feb.
Swims with horses
On Bazaruto Island, Mozambique, guests at the Indigo Bay Resort can swim in the Indian Ocean with some of the resort’s six South African Boerperd horses, floating on their buoyant bodies.
Oktoberfest 2009
The 176th Oktoberfest takes place in Munich, Sept. 19-Oct. 4, 2009. Fourteen large tents from beer distributors across Germany will crowd the Theresienwiesen festival grounds.
‘In Pursuit of Caravaggio’
Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio (1571–1610) revolutionized painting in Italy with his passionate style, and his works and life are the focus of a 13-day/12-night cruise of MS Columbus, Sept. 20-Oct. 2, 2009.
Body building
The structure of the museum Corpus, 21 miles southeast of Amsterdam, near Leiden, incorporates the form of a 115-foot-high seated human figure. On a 55-minute tour, visitors can, for example, climb inside a giant nose, smell fresh hay and feel a blast of wind from a giant sneeze.
VAT refunds in Colombia
Travelers to Colombia now can request a refund of the VAT (Value Added Tax) added to purchases of the following items: clothing, shoes, leather goods, toys, CDs, food for human consumption, liquor, perfumes, crafts, jewelry and handmade Colombian emerald jewelry.
Chunnel under repair
The Channel Tunnel between Britain and France has been operating at reduced capacity since a fire aboard a train carrying trucks damaged the southbound section on Sept. 11 of this year.
Save in Lisbon
The Lisboa Card allows free unlimited travel in Lisbon, Portugal, on Carris buses, trolleys and funiculars, the metro and the CP train lines Rossio-Sintra-Oriente and Cais do Sodré-Cascais.
Eurail pass extras
Purchase it before the end of November 2008, and the 15-day Eurail Global Pass (good in 21 countries) will extend to 21 days and the 21-day pass will be good for a month, while the Eurail Select Pass (three countries) will be valid for six or eight days’ train travel within two months (two extra
Drive Ferrari with Crystal
You can drive or ride in a Ferrari on an overnight shore excursion in Italy with Crystal Cruises (888/722-0021, www.crystalcruises.com or see a travel agent).
TourCrafters’ Paris
TourCrafters (Libertyville, IL; 800/482-5995, www.tourcrafters.com) has a 5-day/4-night “Paris City Break” package from $575 per person, double, out of New York.
Elephant polo
In the seaside town of Hua Hin, Thailand, the annual King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament will be held in 2009 on March 23-30 on the grounds of the Anantara Golden Triangle Resort (phone +66 53 784 084 or e-mail goldentriangle@anantara.com).
Bathe an elephant
In Ayutthaya, Thailand, you can ride, feed and bathe an elephant at the Royal Elephant Kraal & Village, about an hour away from Bangkok, where the Elephantstay (Royal Elephant Kraal & Village, 74/1 M.3 Tumbol Suanpik, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya, 13000, Thailand; phone [66] 80668 7727, www.elephantstay.com)
Händel cruise with Deilmann
Marking the 250th anniversary of the death of composer Georg Friedrich Händel, a 13-night “Baroque Music Festival” cruise is being offered by Peter Deilmann Cruises (Alexandria, VA; 800/348-8287, www.deilmann-cruises.com/theme), May 21-June 3, 2009.