Travel Briefs
Helsinki Biennial
Helsinki Biennial 2020, the inaugural art festival of what is expected to become a yearly event, will be held June 12-Sept. 27, 2020, on a former military base on the island of Vallisaari in Helsinki, Finland.
Japan castle burns down
Shuri Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the city of Naha on the island of Okinawa, Japan, burned down on Oct. 31.
Occupation Museum, Guernsey
Guernsey, one of Britain’s Channel Islands, was occupied by Nazi Germany from June 1940 to May 1945. Those years are commemorated by artifacts and dioramas at the Occupation Museum (Les Houards, Forest, GY8 0BG, Guernsey; phone +44 01481 238205, www.germanoccupationmuseum.co.uk).
Marriott & toiletries
Marriott (www.marriott.com) announced on Sept. 28 that it will no longer provide single-use toiletries bottles, such as shampoo, conditioner or soap, in its rooms. They will be replaced by refillable, pump-top bottles by December 2020.
‘Accessible Rome’ tours
For travelers with mobility issues, Italian tour company Roma Experience (phone, in the US, 719/266-2360) introduced two private tours in September: “Accessible Vatican” (including St.
Massive China airport opens
Daxing International Airport (PKX), serving Beijing, China, opened on Sept. 25. Shaped like a 6-armed starfish, with terminals in five of the arms, it is the largest single-building airport in the world, measuring 700,000 square meters.
Kuala Lumpur rail pass
When flying into Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a visitor can buy a KL TravelPass that provides not only a rail transfer from the airport into the city but two days of unlimited rides on the LRT, MRT and KL Monorail lines within the city.
Sleep with the fishes in Australia
Reefworld, a pontoon hotel with two underwater suites, is scheduled to open off the coast of Airlie Beach in the Whitsunday islands of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in late 2019.
Ireland’s Famine Way
The National Famine Way, a 165-kilometer walking route from County Roscommon to Dublin, was inaugurated in May 2019.
Tasmania art museum
At the Southern Hemisphere’s largest private-collection museum, The Museum of Old & New Art, or MONA (655 Main Rd., Berriedale, Hobart, Tasmania 7011, Australia; phone +61 3 6277 9900, mona.net.au), works of antiquity can be viewed side by sid
Saudi Arabia tourist visas
Travelers from 52 countries, including the US, Canada and UK, now can visit Saudi Arabia on tourist visas, introduced Sept. 27, 2019, for the first time. Evisas are available in one-month single-entry and one-year multiple-entry versions.
French Riviera Pass
The benefits of the French Riviera Pass, which allows free admission to more than 50 museums, parks, event venues, etc., have been expanded to cover the entire city of Nice and its metropolitan area in addition to the rest of the Côte d’Azur, already included.
Tracking wolves in Italy
A 3-day wolf-tracking experience in Abruzzo National Park, Italy, is offered year-round by European Safari Company (Toernooiveld 1, 6525 ED Nijmegen, Netherlands; phone +31 68 3583 623, www.europeansafaricompany.com).
TripAdvisor and animal welfare
In October 2016, TripAdvisor (www.tripadvisor.com) and its subsidiary, Viator (www.viator.com), stopped selling tickets to animal experiences in which travelers interact directly with wild animals, such as elephant riding, walking with lions, etc., as part of an animal-wel
400 years since Mayflower
Sept. 16, 2020, marks 400 years since Puritan pilgrims boarded the Mayflower and sailed from Plymouth, England, eventually landing in what they would name Plymouth in Massachusetts colony. A number of events will be held in the UK leading up to the date; visit www.mayflower400uk.org/events.
Thomas Cook collapses
UK-based travel company Thomas Cook went belly-up on Sept. 23, leaving more than 155,000 tourists stranded around the world.
Int’l Dark Sky Association
The following parks and sanctuaries were so designated by the International Dark-Sky Association (Tucson, AZ; 520/293-3198, www.darksky.org):
No sitting on Spanish Steps
In August, the city of Rome, Italy, banned sitting on the famous Spanish Steps and imposed other rules of order. Other activities banned include using wheeled suitcases on the steps of monuments, eating at monuments, attaching “love locks” to bridges and walking around bare-chested.
WWII Paris liberation museum
Three museums opened under one roof in Paris, France, on Aug. 25.
Museum of Mechanical Music, Portugal
Dedicated to mechanical music-producing items such as music boxes, player pianos, phonographs and pneumatic organs, Museu da Música Mecânica (Quinta do Rei-Rua dos Alegrias, Palmela, Portugal; phone +351 212 381 083, museudamusicamecanica.com/en), about 16 miles southeast of Lisbon, has more th