A 1½-hour guided tour of Heidelberg University, Germany’s oldest university (founded in 1386), is offered by Heidelberg Marketing (phone +49 6221 58 44 444, www.heidelberg-marketing.de/en). Sites visited include the Library, the Peterskirche and the Karzer, a prison for students.
In Amsterdam, the Modern Contemporary Museum, or Moco Museum (Honthorststraat 20, 1071 DE Amsterdam, Netherlands; phone +31 203 701 997, www.mocomuseum.com), dedicated to modern art and artists, was set to open April 9, 2016. The two opening exhibits feature Andy Warhol (to July 3) and graffiti artist Banksy (to Sept. 4).
Located next to the Van Gogh Museum in the Museumplein, it’s open daily 10 a.m.-8 p.m. in summer and 10-6 in winter. A ticket costs €12.50 (near $14) and can be purchased online.
The mansion of former Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu, Palatul Prima˘verii (50 Prima˘verii Blvd., Sector 1, Bucharest, Romania; phone +40 213 180 989 http://palatulprimaverii.ro [in Romanian only]), opened for public tours on March 12.
Sitting on a 3½-acre property in Bucharest, the 80-room mansion was designed by Ceaușescu and his wife in the 1960s. It houses a cinema, wine cellar and many luxury bathrooms and has a large garden.
After extensive renovation, Shakespeare’s Schoolroom & Guildhall (Church St., Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England, CV37 6HB, U.K.; www.shakespearesschoolroom.org) was scheduled to open to the public on April 23 (believed to be the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death).
In 2016, the annual Fêtes de Genève (Geneva Festival) will occur Aug. 4-14 on the shores of Lake Geneva in Switzerland. It will feature more than 100 food stalls plus carnival rides, open-air concerts and, on Aug. 13, a fireworks show on the lake. The festival culminates in a parade.
Entry is free, but rides and concerts may each cost CHF5 to CHF15 (near $5-$15.65). For info, contact Geneva Tourism (Rue du Mont-Blanc 18, 1211 Geneva, Switzerland; phone +41 22 909 70 00, www.geneve.com/en).
A shinkansen (bullet train) now links Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost main island, to Honshu, the main island, as of March 26. At an average speed of 160 mph, the Hokkaido Shinkansen travels 513 miles from Tokyo to just south of Hakodate (with an extension planned to Sapporo) in just over four hours, an hour faster than the standard train on the route. The train traverses the Seikan Tunnel beneath the Tsugaru Strait.
The Spirit of Scotland Travelpass provides, within the allowed time period, unlimited travel on several railways as well as on routes in Scotland serviced by Scottish Citylink, Stagecoach and First Bus motorcoaches and Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. Pass holders also get discounts on selected tours and cruises and 20% off fares for ferries to the Orkney and Shetland islands.
Steam locomotives, royal rail carriages and ephemera are among historical pieces on display at Train World (Princesse Elisabeth 5, 1030 Schaerbeek, Brussels, Belgium; phone +32 02 224 74 98, www.trainworld.be/en), which opened in Brussels’ Schaerbeek Station on Sept. 25, 2015.
The museum is dedicated to Europe’s primary mode of long-distance transportation since 1835, when the continent’s first railway line was completed, connecting Mechelen and Brussels, Belgium.
In Santiago, Chile, Sky Costanera, the highest man-made lookout point in South America, opened in August 2015 at the top of the Gran Torre Santiago building at the Costanera Center (Avenida Andrés Bello 2425, Providencia, Santiago, Chile; phone +562 29169200, www.skycostanera.cl/en/start). At 300 meters, Gran Torre Santiago is the second-tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.