As of the start of 2015, travelers on tours with Overseas Adventure Travel and Grand Circle Travel (Boston, MA; 800/955-1925, www.oattravel.com or www.gct.com) no longer are being asked to tip local guides and motorcoach drivers. Except for tips to the tour leader, gratuities now are included in the tour price. This policy also includes guides and drivers on Grand Circle Cruise Lines shore tours but not ships’ staff.
Exploring the nature and future of luxury and including items crafted of gold, gems, plastic and cloth, the “What is Luxury?” exhibit will be held April 25-Sept. 27, 2015, at the Victoria and Albert Museum (Cromwell Rd., London, SW7 2RL, U.K.; phone +44 020 7942 2000, www.vam.ac.uk).
The museum, near the South Kensington Underground station, is open 10 a.m.-5:45 p.m., Mon.-Thur. & Sat.-Sun. and 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri. Admission is free.
Visitors to New Zealand can use TravelPass bus passes offered by InterCity (Sky City Travel Centre, 102 Hobson St., Auckland, New Zealand; phone +64 9 583 5780).
InterCity TravelPass trips follow preplanned itineraries. TravelPasses are good for up to 12 months after purchase, and, for as long as the pass is valid, a rider can pause his trip and stay in one of InterCity’s destinations, then board a later bus to finish his trip. Passes also cover ferrying between islands (when applicable). The buses have free Wi-Fi, too.
Along with sleeper-car service on rail routes from Berlin to Amsterdam, Prague, Basel and Copenhagen, the only sleeper-car-equipped train from Berlin to Paris made its last journey on Dec. 13, putting an end to an institution that predated WWII. Travelers who want to travel by train from Berlin to Paris now must change trains at Cologne.
In northeastern China, the city of Beijing passed an ordinance on Nov. 28 that will ban smoking indoors in all public buildings and buses and at outdoor locations near schools and hospitals by June 2015. It also will ban advertising for cigarettes in magazines, newspapers and films. Fines for violating the new rules range from CNY50 (near $8) to CNY200.
The capital city, a municipality of over 21 million people, has an estimated four million smokers.
A deal struck between the US and Chinese governments on Nov. 12 extends from one year to 10 years the validity period of tourist and business visas for US citizens traveling to China. The application process and the visa fee of $140 remain the same. Any traveler continuing to Hong Kong or Macau must get a multiple-entry visa in order to reenter China.
Chinese citizens benefit from new, 10-year tourism and business visas to the US.
India’s electronic visa program now includes the US, for a total of 45 countries.
To apply for a 30-day Indian visa online, go to https://indianvisaonline.gov.in/visa/tvoa.html and complete the application on the website. The cost is $60. You also must email a front-facing photo and a scan of the first page of your passport.
On the 120-year-old Tower Bridge in London, England, a glass walkway has been installed that allows visitors to see down to the River Thames 138 feet below. The walkway, itself, is 36 feet long and six feet across.
Access to the walkway is included with admission to the bridge — £8 (near $12.50) per adult when booked in advance or £9 at the door (phone +44 0 20 7403 3761, www.tower bridge.org.uk).
In northern Wales, near the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, visitors can explore a man-made cavern strung with trampoline-like elastic nets.
In the Dutch town of Eindhoven, 123 kilometers south of Amsterdam, cyclists may ride on a bike path patterned with glow-in-the-dark swirls inspired by one-time resident of the city Vincent van Gogh.
Opened in November 2014 as part of a pilot project for smart highways incorporating the technology, the designs are created using gravel, coated in road-grade luminescent paint, embedded in the asphalt. The paint stores light during the day and glows at night for up to eight hours.