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.”
In August, the Transportation Security Administration imposed at U.S. airports an additional security screening of persons wearing head coverings such as turbans, scarves, cowboy hats or berets, and people who refused to remove them could be denied boarding. However, in October the guidelines were modified.
A “Phuket Town Treasure Map” shows a 2-kilometer walking trail of the Old Town of Phuket, Thailand, identifying historic buildings, shops and restaurants and offering snippets of information.
For a copy, contact the Tourism Authority of Thailand Phuket office (73-75 Phuket Rd., Muang, Phuket, 83000 Thailand; phone [66] 076 211 036 or 212 213, fax 076 213 582, www.tourismthailand.org).
Any of 80 upscale bed-and-breakfasts around London can be booked through Uptown Reservations (8 Kelso Place, Kensington, London W8 5QD, U.K.; phone 0044 020 7937 2001, fax 7937 6660, www.uptownres.co.uk). All close to public transit and with bath or shower, double and twin rooms cost £95-£105 (near $195-$216) per night and singles, £72-£80 ($148-$164), including breakfast and tax.
A small-group tour (limit, eight) gives access to the backstage areas of the Sydney Opera House (phone +61 2 9250 7250, e-mail tourism@sydneyoperahouse.com or visit www.sydneyoperahouse.com). Visitors can stand on the Concert Hall stage, visit the orchestra pit and peek inside dressing rooms plus enjoy breakfast in the Green Room.
At AU$150 (near US$102), the two-hour daily tour starts at 7 a.m. Bookings are required; book online or at the Guided Tours Desk.
A full-day tour of the wine country around Santiago by Vinobus includes the Maipo Valley; tour/tasting at Pérez Cruz Vineyard; Vineyard Santa Rita; the Andino museum, and Vina Santa Rita wine cellars. Lunch at Dona Paula restaurant is not included in the price.
Tours run daily from 9 a.m. $50 per person (minimum, three persons). Enotour Chile (A. Luis Thayer Ojeda 0130, Of. 1204, Providencia, Santiago, Chile; phone [56 2] 481 4081, www
enotourchile.com).
The hotel Sherlock Holmes, located (where else?) on Baker Street in London, offers discounted room rates when booked with a “Murder Mystery Event” party held in its restaurant.
Held twice a month, the interactive murder mystery dinner theater is performed over a three-course meal and lasts three hours. On a first-come, first-booked basis and along with a drink, clue packages and prizes, it costs £39.95-£79 ($63-$125) per person (with VAT).
The discounted room rate for the hotel is £135 (Fri/Sat/Sun) or £170 (weekdays) and includes breakfast.
An MP3 audio tour of music-related sites in Liverpool, England, can be downloaded for free at www.liverpool08.com/downloads.
“Pete Wylie’s Music Tour” is narrated by the founder of the band The Mighty Wah!, and the hour-long guide (seven tracks) takes day-trippers to sites of 50 years of pop, pyschedelia, punk and dance music. Accompanying the download is a 36-page publication, “Sound City,” which includes a “music map.”
The museum The Beatles Story (Britannia Vaults, Albert Dock, Liverpool, England; phone +44 0 151 709 1963, www.beatlesstory.com) celebrates Liverpool’s most famous musicians.
Displays are now at two locations, the Albert Dock district and Mersey Ferry Terminal, and include an audio tour narrated by John Lennon’s sister, a short movie on the “Fab 4,” rooms that celebrate their solo careers, an interactive children’s area and a Starbucks.
Open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. £12.25 (near $19.50) adult.
In Liverpool, you can visit the childhood homes of John Lennon (Mendips, at 251 Menlove Ave.) and Sir Paul McCarthy (20 Forthlin Road) aboard the 14-passenger Beatles minibus. Memorabilia, photos and displays chronicle the composers’ early lives.