Travel Briefs

Passengers on the MV Discovery will have the best vantage point to witness a rare annular total solar eclipse in the South Pacific near Polynesia on April 8, 2005. The ship will maneuver to find clear skies under the 15-mile-wide path of the eclipse.

Discovery World Cruises’ 19-night “South Pacific Eclipse” cruise-tour departs April 2 and visits Papeete, Moorea, Pitcairn Island, Easter Island and, in Peru, Pisco and Lima. A team of eclipse lecturers will be on board.

Bonus savings of up to $1,000 per person are being offered by Radisson Seven Seas Cruises for bookings made by Aug. 15, 2004, on the Jan. 15 and Jan. 26, 2005, sailings of the Explorer II from Ushuaia, Argentina, to Antarctica, the Falklands and the South Shetland Islands.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2004, Relais & Châteaux includes 450 privately owned hotels and restaurants in 50 countries around the world, each establishment adhering to the association’s quality charter.

Gift certificates, in denominations of $50, $100 or $500 and valid for two years, can be used for gourmet dining, hotel accommodations, spa treatments and other amenities and may be purchased by calling 877/334-6464 or visiting www.relaischateaux.com/gift.

To order the international guide ($8 shipping and handling fee), call 800/735-2478.

Being celebrated in England as “Drama & Debate,” 2004 marks the 400th anniversary of two auspicious events in King James I’s court of 1604: Shakespeare’s debut performance before the King in the Great Hall, and the Hampton Court Conference which led to the commissioning of the first King James Bible. With that in mind, every weekend from April 9 to May 31, 2004, the Great Kitchens of Hampton Court Palace will demonstrate Jacobean Cookery.

On Jan. 20, two boats with explorers and film crews set off from Kampala, Uganda, on a journey that will cover 6,690 kilometers from the source of the Nile to the river’s mouth in Alexandria, Egypt. The river connects East Africa with the Mediterranean Sea.

Their progress can be followed at the websites www.settlethenile.com and www.thewhitenile.com.

An approaching comet designated Q4 (NEAT) is expected to be more than 2½ times brighter than Halley’s Comet. It will be brightest May 5-15, 2004, and the Seabourn Legend is making a 7-day Mediterranean cruise in May to provide ideal viewing conditions. On board to give expert commentary will be astro-journalist Dan Benedict, founder of the Eye On The Sky news service.

LanChile’s Visit Chile airpass program allows passengers to purchase an airpass, valid for travel to 15 Chilean destinations, at up to 70% savings compared to the cost of purchasing separate tickets for each segment of a trip. And, for the first time, the airpass includes Easter Island.

The program includes up to three airpass coupons for $285 when passengers purchase their international round-trip ticket with LanChile. Additional coupons, up to a maximum of three, may be purchased for $68 each.

Pakistan and India have agreed to continue cross-border bus service for five years. The resumption follows the restoration of regular airline service in early January. Train service between the two countries also was restored, and the weekly train is running between Lahore in Pakistan and Attari in India.

The air and ground links were suspended after India accused Pakistan of an attack on its Parliament two years ago. Pakistan continues to deny any involvement in the attack.

2004 marks the bicentenary of the Royal Horticultural Society, and Britain is celebrating with the Year of Gardening. Marking the occasion, the 2004 edition of a garden-visiting guide has increased the number of gardens featured to 1,250 and reduced its price to £12.99. In the 672-page paperback “The Daily Telegraph Good Gardens Guide” (2004, Frances Lincoln, Ltd., ISBN 0711222622 — 672 pp., $24.95), all the places featured are open to the public.

Scheduled to open in Berlin in June 2004 is an exhibition of works by photographer Helmut Newton, who presented 1,000 of his photographs to the city in October ’03.