At London Heathrow Airport, bus service between Terminal 5 Business Car Park and the main terminal was replaced by driverless electric “pod cars” in September. Each of the 21 pods can carry four passengers and their luggage. There is room for no more than one wheelchair per pod.
MapsWithMe, a free app for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, allows you to download maps of destinations worldwide for offline use, avoiding costly data-roaming fees. Some countries, like Germany and France, have maps broken down by state.
The maps used by the application are from community-created OpenStreetMap data, which may be less accurate in rural areas than commercial maps. Download MapsWithMe from the App Store.
At Singapore’s Maritime Experiential Museum & Aquarium (8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island, Singapore 098269; phone +65 6577 8899), visitors can explore five floating, full-size replicas of historic ships, including a Han Dynasty-era Chinese junk and an eighth-century Indonesian sailing ship.
Other exhibits include a replica of one of Admiral Zheng He’s 15th-century treasure ships, a gallery of maritime artifacts and objects from historic Asian trade routes.
Queen Margrethe II, celebrating 40 years on the throne of Denmark in 2012, is a respected artist, textile designer and book illustrator (she illustrated two Danish editions of Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings”).
Works of hers — oil paintings, watercolors, church textile designs, décopage, scenography and embroidery — can be seen in the exhibit “Essence of Colour,” Jan. 28-July 1, 2012, at the Arken Museum of Modern Art (Skovvej 100, Ishøj Municipality; phone 43 54 02 22), 15 minutes south of Copenhagen.
The exhibit “Gustav Klimt: Up Close and Personal” is being held in Vienna, Feb. 24-Aug. 27, 2012, in honor of the 150th anniversary of the birth of the painter (1862-1918).
As of Jan. 1, Slovakia is covered by Eurail’s Global Pass, which allows unlimited rail travel in (now) 23 European countries within specific time periods.
Every year in Jukkasjärvi, near Kiruna in northern Sweden’s Lapland, a hotel sculpted out of snow and ice is built in stages, with all rooms of the art project completed by late December. The current ICEHOTEL (phone +46 0 980 66 800) opened on Dec. 3 and should close April 14, 2012.
Room rates are SEK1,250-2,900 (near $182-$423) and, for a deluxe ice suite, SEK7,000 ($1,022).
A zip-line course has been opened on the Caribbean island of Dominica by Rain Forest Adventures (Miami, FL; 305/704-3350). The three-line course includes a ride over the 350-foot Breakfast River Gorge. The zip-line ride can be purchased with either a tour of the Chattannier Nature Trail ($50) or a ride on the Rainforest Aerial Tram ($99).
Dial 1188 in Latvia and the State Tourism Development Agency will provide support in emergencies, answer travel questions and trouble-shoot travelers’ issues, in English, 24 hours a day. In addition, the website (click on “EN”) has maps, information on services, a calendar of events, online ticket sales and discount coupons for attractions such as the Riga Zoo.
2012 holds the 100th anniversary of the birth of composer, musician and artist John Cage. In Vienna, Austria, the art-and-culture venue quartier21 (Museumsplatz 1; phone 01 5235 8811 717) is hosting “Membra Disjecta for John Cage: Wanting to Say Something About John,” Feb. 17-May 6, 2012.
The free exhibition will feature more than 50 of Cage’s works and present concerts, performances, lectures and a workshop for children and teens. Open 10-7 daily.