The hotel in the Wes Anderson film “The Grand Budapest Hotel” is almost identical to the Corinthia Hotel Budapest (Erzsébet körút 43-49, Budapest, H-1073, Hungary; phone +36 1 479 4000), which opened in 1896 and was renovated and partly rebuilt in 2002.
Offering an exploration of the town of Confucius’ birth, the Shangri-La Hotel Qufu (3 Chunqiu Rd., Qufu, Shandong, 273100, China; phone 86 537 505 8888) has a 2-night “Family Cultural Journey” package that includes a guided tour to the Confucius Research Institute and Nichan Mountain, location of the cave in which Confucius is reputed to have been born.
The package costs CNY2,200 ($353) per person, double, and CNY3,400 (near $546), single.
For the 25th anniversary of Magellan’s (888/450-7715), the travel product store is offering a 25-dollar gift card to any customer who submits an idea for a product that the company adds to its lineup.
Just outside the Latvian town of Valmiera, near the entrance to Gauja National Park, the Barefoot Nature Trail is a 4,500-foot-long trail on which visitors can experience walking on many different surfaces, like glass spheres, pinecones, chestnuts and sand. Elements of the trail also test balance.
Entry costs one lat (near $2). The path is located at the SPA Center & Hotel (J. Dalin¸a Street 2, Valmiera; phone +371 27879242), where a path map can be purchased. Footbaths (two lats) are available at the end of the walk.
The 140-mile drive from Durango to the coastal city of Mazatlán on Mexico’s Federal Highway 40D, inaugurated in October 2013, takes about 2½ hours, as opposed to the 6- to 8-hour drive on the “Devil’s Backbone,” Mexico’s Federal Highway 40, whose route it roughly parallels through the western Sierra Madre Mountains.
In County Clare, Ireland, the town of Killaloe on the Shannon River is celebrating the 1,000-year anniversary of the Irish king Brian Ború, who defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014.
From his palace in Killaloe, Ború ruled over a large area of present-day Ireland, AD 1002-1014, commanding a fleet of more than 300 vessels.
Until Sept. 11, 2014, in Jerusalem, 11 of the world’s oldest masks, dating from 9,000 years ago, will be on display at the Israel Museum (Ruppin Boulevard, Jerusalem, Israel; phone 972 2 670 8811). The stone masks, which were found in a 20-mile radius of the city, were created in the Neolithic period.
Open 10 a.m.-5p.m. Sun., Mon., Wed., Thurs.; 4-9 p.m. Tues.; 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Fri. and 10-5 Sat. Entry, NIS50 ($15).
For travelers using Eurail, the app “Rail Planner” offers a European trains timetable and trip planner that can be used without a data connection. City maps for all participating countries are included, as are details on each train’s amenities, such as first-class seats, bicycle transport and bar cars. The app is available free on the App Store and Google Play.
The French national railway company SNCF (phone +33 8 92 35 35 35) as of April 1 once again is participating in the 4-Country Eurail Select Pass. In January 2013 the country withdrew from the pass (Dec. ’12, pg. 68). A 4-Country Eurail Select pass is valid for two months and costs from €407 (near $560) for five travel days to €592 ($814) for 10 travel days.
Also, Eurail has eliminated its 3- and 5-country passes.
Enacting a stricter policy regarding carry-on luggage, in February United Airlines instructed its employees, and even security checkpoint workers, to check the sizes of carry-on bags before passengers try to board the plane with them. Passengers caught with oversized bags are being asked to return to the ticket counter to check them for a fee.
United said these measures were enacted due to late-boarding passengers often being left with no room for carry-ons in the overhead compartments, despite their luggage being within the size limits.