Travel Briefs
Burgundy wine barge
The 6-night cruise “Grand Cru Special” on the 12-passenger barge Napoléon will focus on the 33 wines that come from plots of land certified as Grand Cru (great growth), the highest classification for vineyard land in Burgundy, France.
Flight seat for kids
For children who can sit upright on their own and who weigh between 22 and 44 pounds, CARES is a safety harness that straps around an airplane seat and provides child-sized restraints that attach to the lap belt.
Elizabeth I
In the wake of the new film “Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” on the website www.eet.org.uk an information sheet can be downloaded that allows visitors to follow in the footsteps of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603), from her childhood home in Hertfordshire to Tilbury Fort in Essex, where she rallied the tr
Women cruising Galápagos
Eight-day/7-night “women only” cruises to the Galápagos Islands will sail April 13-20 and Aug. 24-31, 2008.
Welly wanging in Wales
On the southwest coast of Wales, the annual Mud Festival takes place in 2008 on Sept. 6-7.
Using cell phones in flight
In December 2007, Air France began a 6-month test allowing e-mail and text-messaging service to cell phones while in flight (no voice calls yet). Only one Airbus A318 plane is testing the program, and no one will know ahead of time if it will be used on their flight.
‘Schengen’ members
The newer European Union (EU) member countries Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia on Dec.
Auto museum, France
In Mulhouse, Alsace, France, the French National Car Museum (192 Avenue de Colmar, BP 1096, 68051 Mulhouse, France; www.collection-schlumpf.com) houses some of the most expensive cars in the world.
Drivers on cells in UK
British laws passed in 2003 ban holding and using a cell phone while driving in the United Kingdom. In December 2007 the penalties were increased.
General Tours to Antarctica
General Tours’ 14-day “Land of the Penguins” cruise aboard the 84-passenger MV Ushuaia includes tours of Buenos Aires and Ushuaia and two shore landings per day in the South Shetland Islands and on the Antarctic Peninsula.
Iberian Peninsula website
The tourism offices of Portugal and Spain are collaborating on the website www.portugalspainboth.com, offering information on arts, wine, beaches and special events in both countries.
China in-flight thefts
China has issued a warning that thieves have been stealing items from overhead compartments during flights throughout the country. The crooks count on travelers not paying attention when someone rises to rummage in the bags.
‘Tricycle’ tours in Edinburgh
The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh offers a tour with a 3-seat, chauffeur-driven, 1600cc motor-tricycle.
Buckingham banquet table
During the 2008 summer opening of Buckingham Palace in London, July 31-Sept. 29, visitors for the first time may see the spectacle of the Ballroom set up for a state banquet.
Heathrow’s Terminal 5
British Airways’ new Terminal 5 at Heathrow International Airport in London will open in March 2008. The terminal complex alone is equal in size to all of Gatwick airport.
Copenhagen-airport link
Copenhagen’s metro now offers a rail link from Copenhagen Airport to the city center. Trains run from the airport every four minutes during rush hour and every six minutes until midnight, with a ticket costing DKK28.50 (near $5.60).
Hike Sweden
Southern Sweden’s Skåne area offers more than 600 miles of trails organized into 80 different day hikes. Most trails pass through private land open to hikers, others pass through villages and nature reserves, and some follow Bronze Age petroglyphs.
Schiphol smoke-free
As of Jan. 1, 2008, there is no smoking allowed in any public area of Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport. This includes bars, cafés, restaurants, airline lounges and passageways to/from the parking area. There will not even be any “substitute smoking facilities for passengers.”
Disney Australia tour
Disney Destinations is offering a 9-night, family-based, guided tour, “Discovery Down Under Australia,” that includes Sydney, Ayers Rock, a Great Barrier Reef catamaran, Aboriginal cultural centers, a Mossman Gorge hike and the Skyrail Rainforest Cableway.
Trackstick II GPS
Trackstick II is a personal GPS data logger that uses the Google Earth 24-satellite network to store its location at preset intervals. It can record your position every five seconds or up to once every 15 minutes.