The International Maritime Museum Hamburg (Kaispelcher B, Koreastrasse 1, 20457 Hamburg, Germany; phone +49 [0] 40 300 92 300, fax 300 92 30 13, www.internationales-maritimes-museum.de) opened in June.
A 7-minute walk from the piers, the 9-floor museum covers 3,000 years of maritime history, with ship designs, scale models, uniforms and paintings. Open 10-6 Tues., Wed., Fri., Sat. and Sun. €10 ($15.50).
Tel Aviv, Israel, celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2009, with ceremonies on April 4 and special events, entertainment and exhibits into December. Call the Israel Government Tourist Office (New York, NY; 888/774-7723 or 212/499-5650) or visit www.tlv100.co.il or www.visit-tlv.com.
Homecoming Scotland 2009 will be celebrated countrywide from Jan. 25 (the 250th birthday of poet Robert Burns and a national holiday) to Nov. 30 (St. Andrew’s Day, this year featuring Scottish music from folk to contemporary).
Burns Night is annually marked with poems, music and haggis. Glasgow will have the Celtic Connections winter music festival.
In the Spirit of Speyside Festival, May 1-10, the Scotch whisky industry will host events, tastings and residential whisky courses.
The Eiffel Tower will be getting a $267-million renovation over the next 10 years.
Plans call for upgraded elevators, improved handicapped access, a larger restaurant with lower prices, a champagne bar and more shops.
In 2009 the government will introduce Internet prepaid ticketing for groups, in preparation for a system in which all visitors will reserve 30-minute time slots on the Internet instead of waiting in line.
Noel Coward, Charlie Chaplin and Queen Elizabeth II have stayed there, and its Long Bar saw the birth of the cocktail known as the “Singapore Sling.” It’s the Raffles Hotel (1 Beach Road, Singapore 189673; phone +65 6337 1886, http://singapore.raffles.com), and its rich history is showcased in the Raffles Hotel Museum.
The Russian artist Wassily Kandinsky (1866-1924) was a modernist and the founder of abstract painting. His Blue Rider School is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and in Munich the Lenbachhaus (Luisenstrasse 33, 80333 Munich, Germany; phone +49 89 233 32 00 0, fax 32 00 3, www.lenbachhaus.de) is holding an exhibition of about 90 of his works, Oct. 25, 2008-Feb. 22, 2009.
In Suffolk, the shop The Chocolate Lady (Bower Hall Farm, Steeple Bumpstead, Haverhill, Suffolk CB9 7EG, U.K.; phone +44 0 1440 730346, www.thechocolatelady.co.uk) offers 5-hour chocolate-making courses, covering materials, tempering, molding, truffles, dipping, coating and packaging.
Each course, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., costs £150 (near $298) per person and includes refreshments and a gourmet lunch. Reservations a must.
In France, the Château of Vaux le Vicomte (77950 Maincy, France; phone +33 1 64 14 41 90, fax 33 1 60 69 90 85, www.vaux-le-vicomte.com), upon which the design for the castle of Versailles was based, is open to visitors in 2008 from March 15 to Nov. 9, 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-5:30.
Entry at €12.50 (near $19) includes access to the castle, gardens and carriage museum. Night visits cost €15.50 ($24). An audioguide costs €2.50.
The castle’s gardens, open 8 p.m. to midnight, with last admission at 11 p.m., are lit with 2,000 candles on Saturdays, May 3-Oct. 11.
On the Eyre Peninsula of South Australia, you can spend AU$89 (near US$82) on a “Seafood & Beyond…” rewards card and get AU$100 (US$92) worth of discounts at participating hotels, attractions and tours along the “Seafood & Aquaculture Trail.”
When you present the card, not only do you receive a 10% discount, you also earn AU$1 reward point back for every AU$10 spent. The reward points can be spent at seafood restaurants along the trail.
El Al has partnered with Mini Israel, a park near Latrun with scale models of over 360 tourist attractions in Israel, to offer airport check-in, security checks and luggage transfer to passengers who wish to visit the park before departing Ben Guryon airport. Visitors can see the park and arrive at the airport up to 55 minutes before takeoff.