Travel Briefs

The free information service Cayman Concierge is staffed by a team of Cayman Islands experts; some have worked for the Department of Tourism for 20 years. The team informs visitors of the many experiences available on the islands, such as bioluminescence kayaking, rare blue iguana tours and helicopter flights to spot turtles and eagle rays.

You can e-mail Cayman Concierge (concierge@caymanislands.co.uk) seven days a week and phone (in London, +44 020 7491 7771) 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. (GMT), Mon.-Fri.

In Berlin, the Reichstag closed its dome to visitors in 2010 due to terrorist bomb threats. The dome reopened in April 2011, but every visitor must register a few days ahead. As of March 2012, registration cannot be done by phone and must be done on the Internet or in person.

The dome is open 8 a.m.-11 p.m. daily. Admission is free, and a self-guided, 20-minute tour of the building and dome (using a free audio guide) begins every quarter hour.

To mark the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the Nefertiti bust at Akhetaton, the exhibit “Amarna 2012 — 100 Years of Nefertiti” will be held in Berlin’s Neues Museum (Bodestrasse 1-3, 10178 Berlin, Germany; phone 030 266 42 42 42), Dec. 7, 2012-April 13, 2013.

An exhibition on the Antikythera shipwreck is being held in Athens at the National Archaeological Museum (44 Patission St., Athens 10682, Greece; phone +30 210 8217724) until April 28, 2013.

“Star Wars Identities: The Exhibition” is being hosted at the Montréal Science Centre (at the foot of Saint-Laurent Boulevard, on King-Edward quay; 877/496-4724) until Sept. 16, 2012 (CAN26.50 [near $27] adult or CAN23.50 senior), then at the Telus World of Science (11211 142nd St., Edmonton, Alberta T5M 4A1, Canada; 780/451-3344) from Oct. 27, 2012, until at least April 1, 2013. The 5-year exhibition continues to Europe and Asia.

Through Sept. 30, 2012, visitors to the Palace of Holyroodhouse (Canongate, Edinburgh, Scotland; phone [0131] 556 5100), at the east end of the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, can combine their tour of the residence with a half-hour “Garden History Tour,” including ruins of a 12th-century abbey and the site where the Queen’s Garden Party takes place.

The guided walk runs hourly, with the last tour starting at 5 p.m. Combined residence/garden tour tickets cost £12.80 (near $20) adult, £11.65 senior or £7.85 child (6-16); under 5 is free.

India is a bargain for travelers these days. On May 31, the exchange rate reached a historic low of 56 rupees per dollar, the lowest rate in over 60 years.

In April, a judge upheld a new law in the Netherlands that effectively ends the selling of marijuana to tourists. Coffee shop owners now will be allowed to sell cannabis only to registered members (2,000 maximum per shop) with valid local addresses and identification.

The ban went into effect on May 1 in three southern provinces and will apply nationwide by the end of 2012. Lawyers for the 700-plus coffee shops affected say that if they lose their next appeal, they’ll take it to the European Court of Human Rights.

In June ’11, Malaysia Airlines banned infants from flying in the first-class sections of its 747s. In July ’12, the airline became the first carrier to have a “no-kids zone” in one section of economy class.

For A380 Airbus flights, children under 12 flying economy class are restricted to the lower deck. In fact, the online-reservation system will not display upper-deck seats to passengers buying tickets for young children.

Liverpool, England, was a “day call only” port for cruise ships until March 2012, when it received permission to be a “turnaround” port, where ships can begin and end their cruises. A new terminal is being built, and in May the port welcomed its first ship on a “turnaround” cruise. The facility expects to handle 17 turnarounds and 24 day calls in 2013, with visits from lines such as Celebrity, Fred. Olsen and Hapag-Lloyd.