Travel Briefs

You can learn about more than 400 years of English gardening by visiting London’s Garden Museum (Lambeth Palace Rd., London, SE1 7LB, U.K.; phone +44 20 7401 8865, www.gardenmuseum.org.uk). 

On the Franklin Expedition in 1845, searching for the Northwest Passage, the ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror entered Canadian waters and were never heard from again. Though camps and graves were found by rescue parties, the ships remained lost for over 150 years. Erebus was discovered in 2014 in shallow water near King William Island in Canada’s Nunavut Territory. Two years later, Terror was discovered nearby. 

The Loen Skylift, one of the steepest aerial trams in the world, began operation on May 20 in northern Norway’s Nordfjord area. Picking up 35 to 40 people every 30 minutes, each enclosed lift takes five to seven minutes to travel 3,300 feet up from the waters’ edge to Mount Hoven. At the top is the cliffside Hoven Restaurant. 

Visitors caught taking photographs in the Alpine village of Bravuogn, or Bergün — located in Switzerland’s eastern canton of Graubünden — would be fined CHF5 (near $5), it was announced on May 30. Bravuogn officials said the fines were meant to keep people off of social media and make visiting the town a more pleasant experience. 

The village’s director of tourism admitted that it was unlikely anyone would actually be levied the fine.

In early June, the city of Venice, Italy, banned the opening of new hotels in the city center in an attempt to stem the tide of tourists flocking to the city each year. The ban does not prevent new hotels from opening on the outlying islands or on the mainland. 

Each year, Venice, which has a population of 55,000, attracts nearly 30 million tourists. At the time of the new hotel ban, the city center had 25,400 rooms for let. 

The mayor of Rome, Italy, signed an order on June 13 that will help protect more than 40 Roman fountains of historic or artistic value from vandalism and misbehavior. 

The order calls for fines from €40 up to €240 (near $46 to $274) for acts such as throwing objects other than coins into fountains, washing clothes in fountains, climbing onto and into fountains and committing acts of vandalism. Roman police have also been tasked with monitoring fountain sites more vigilantly.

Garbage workers throughout Greece began a strike on June 19, one which was ongoing as of press time, causing piles of garbage to build up on the streets of major cities. Workers were striking due to fears that austerity measures could cause up to 10,000 of them to lose their jobs at the end of their contract period. The Greek government has promised to find at least 2,500 permanent positions for the workers.

Animal lovers can eat breakfast with a koala in Sydney, Australia, at Featherdale Animal Park (217-229 Kildare Rd., Doonside, Sydney, NSW 2767; phone +61 2 9622 1644, www.featherdale.com.au). 

Breakfast (fruit, pastries and ham plus coffee or tea) begins at 8:15, before the park opens, and ends at 8:45, and guests will be joined by a koala and a zookeeper, 8:30-8:45. The breakfast, which must be booked at least a day in advance, is offered daily and costs AUD35 (near $26) per person, not including AUD31 for park admission.

At the Museum of Miniatures (Strahovske navdori 11, Prague 1, Czechia; phone +420 233 352 371, www.muzeum miniatur.cz/en), the exhibits all must be viewed with microscopes. 

Using self-made tools, artists have created miniature sculptures so small, each can fit in the eye of a needle or even on the leg of a mosquito. Highlights — a flea with golden horseshoes, a portrait of author Anton Chekhov on a poppy seed and the Lord’s Prayer written on a human hair. Open daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Entry, CZK150 (near $6.40).

Travelers can get discounts and “2-for-1” deals at restaurants, museums and attractions in 11 locations in Switzerland with the Swiss Coupon Pass. Containing 100 coupons, the pass has offers for city tours, train-class upgrades, vehicle rentals and more. Locations where coupons can be redeemed include Zürich, Geneva, Bern, Lucerne, Davos and other major cities. 

The Swiss Coupon Pass book costs CHF49 (near $50) and is available online from the Switzerland Travel Centre (www.switzerlandtravel