Britain’s Lancaster has 30 kilometers of off-road bike routes created from disused railway lines. Travelers can rent bikes for £1 per hour or £6 per day from Cyclepoint (at Lancaster Station, LA1 5NW; phone 01524 389410). Bikes can be delivered to other stations, such as to the Lake District.
Highlights from 3,000 years of Jerusalem’s history combined with special effects comprise the attraction The Time Elevator (37 Hilel St., Agron House [Nahalat Shiva], Jerusalem 91004, Israel; phone +972-2-6248381, www.time-elevator-jerusalem.co.il), across from Independence Park.
Audience members sit in chairs on motion platforms and tilt, swoop and shake while watching a 30-minute film that covers events from the days of King Solomon to the Six-Day War. Headphones provide narration in eight languages, including English.
In Hiroshima, Japan, the one-day Streetcar Pass (unlimited rides) costs ¥600 (near $7) adult or ¥300 child; the one-day Streetcar/Ferry Pass (unlimited streetcar and ferries to/from Miyajima) costs ¥840 adult/¥420 child, and the two-day Miyajima Pass (unlimited rides on streetcars, ferries and aerial tram at Miyajima) costs ¥2,000/¥1,000.
Visitors can buy a streetcar pass at the streetcar terminal in front of JR Hiroshima Station (south side), in some hotels or on a streetcar that has a conductor.
In Seoul, Korea, the “Yellow Bus” runs a circular route, stopping at nine major tourist sites: Daehan Cinema, Toegyero 5 (oh)-ga, Dongguk University entrance, National Theater of Korea, North Seoul Tower, Namsan Library, Mt. Namsan Walkway, Seoul Animation Center and Toegyero 3 (sam)-ga.
It runs 8 a.m. to midnight. The fare is 550 won (46¢) for 10 kilometers (then 100 won/5 km). Bus stop signs are round and yellow and picture a bus.
In May, a new Overground train route opened in East London, running from Dalston Junction in the north to New Cross, Crystal Palace and West Croydon in the south. Visit www.tfl.gov.uk.
The stumps and roots of 10 massive trees commercially logged in rainforests of Ghana, part of the “Ghost Forest” art project, are being displayed in England until July 31, 2011, on lawns of Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History (Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3PW, U.K.; phone +44 1865 272 950). Free entry.
In late 2010, The Royal Shakespeare Company (The Courtyard Theatre, Southern Lane, Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, CV37 6BB, U.K.; phone 0844 800 1110) will return to performing in its original theater, which began a £112 million ($175m) renovation in March 2007.
The Art Deco building was refurbished and extended to include a rooftop restaurant, riverside terrace, exhibition space and a new auditorium with a stage that extends into the audience (as stages did in the Bard’s days).
In the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, renovations of level 5 (top floors) should be finished by March 2011. Until then, the Impressionist and Post-Impression galleries will remain closed. However, Level “O” (lower floor) is still open with works by Manet, Monet, Cezanne et al. Open 9:30-6, Tues.-Sun. €8; special exhibits, €9.50.
The repairs to the railway covered by landslides between Cuzco and Machu Picchu have been completed and full train service has resumed, including that of Orient Express’ luxury train Hiram Bingham,, leaving Cuzco daily at 9:10 a.m. and arriving at Machu Picchu station at 1:09 p.m. Return is at 6:07 p.m., arriving Cuzco at 9:59.
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