Travel Briefs

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.

Guests will take the Eurostar to the TGV express from London to Macon to embark July 20, 2008, cruise the canals and arrive in Dijon July 26, returning to London by train. There will be wine classes, tastings and receptions plus meals from the ship’s Cordon Bleu chef.

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).

Travelers can use the Copenhagen Card for unlimited travel on public transit. A 24-hour card costs €29 and also provides free entry to 60 museums and attractions.

Contact the Copenhagen tourism office (1, Gammel Kongevej DK-1610, Copenhagen, Denmark; phone +45 7022 2442 or fax 2452, www.visitcopenhagen.com).

The newer European Union (EU) member countries Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia on Dec. 20, 2007, became part of the “Schengen” agreement zone in which citizens of participating countries may cross land borders (but NOT air) without having to show passports.

As of Nov. 11, 2007, any Western visitor to Libya must provide an Arabic translation of his passport, even if he has a valid visa.

The change in policy was instituted without any notice, and several planeloads of tourists were turned away. Libya is currently the only country in the region with this requirement. 

The Scotsman Hotel in Edinburgh offers a tour with a 3-seat, chauffeur-driven, 1600cc motor-tricycle.

For a 2-night hotel stay that includes a one-hour, 15-minute “Edinburgh City Tour,” prices until September 2008 are £590 (near $1,177) for a deluxe room, £660 ($1,317) for an editor’s room and £395 ($1,576) for a publisher’s suite, with a maximum of two per room.

For an extra £130 ($268), guests can select the 2-hour, 30-minute “Edinburgh and Coastal Tour.” 

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 troops about to face the Spanish Armada. 

Naples, Italy, has widened its ban on smoking. It now includes outside areas near parks, wherever children under 12 are present, near pregnant women and at outdoor cultural events and demonstrations. Fines of $40 to $370 can be levied on violators.

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.

Drivers used to receive an automatic fine and have points removed from their driver’s license when caught. Now they face up to a 2-year sentence and an unlimited fine.

The ban does not cover using hands-free phones, but drivers still can be charged if police think they are not in control of their vehicle.

MAXjet, the all-business-class airline based in Dulles, Virginia, declared bankruptcy on Dec. 24, 2007, and ceased flying. Booked passengers should seek a refund from their credit card companies or travel agencies. For more info, call MAXjet at 888/435-9629 (in the UK, phone 44 [0] 1279 216 428), e-mail info@maxjet.com or visit www.maxjet.com.

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.

One innovation — in the short-term-parking garages, when you get your parking slip a picture is taken of your license plate. Illuminated arrows on the floor guide you. When you return, slipping the ticket into a reader will display the car’s location on a map.