Travel Briefs

New 5-day tourist passes are good for unlimited train and bus rides (buses are limited to routes within train-stop cities). The Japan Rail Central tourist pass, costing ¥13,500 (near $112), covers rail travel between Kansai Airport (in Osaka) and the city of Nagoya, including Fukui, Kanazawa and Takayama. A Japan Rail West pass, at ¥10,500, covers rail travel between Nagoya and Kii-Katsuura, including Toba and Owase. Purchase online and see route maps at http://touristpass.jp/en.

Located on the road leading to the active volcano Irazú and featuring videos and interactive exhibits on how Costa Rica was shaped by geological forces, from earthquakes to volcanoes, the attraction Magmática (phone +506 2552 0304) opened in October 2015 on Diagonal 31, off Ruta 219, in Cartago.

Among scores of world-class artists and orchestras performing in multiple venues in Leipzig, Germany, at the 2016 Leipzig Bach Festival, June 10-19, 2016, will be the St. Thomas Boys and Monteverdi choirs, the Gewandhaus Orchestra and American organist Cameron Carpenter. A new event, Cantata Day, on June 18, will feature 10 Bach cantatas, all composed from 1723 to 1724. Also to be noted, the 100th anniversary of the death of German composer/musician Max Reger. Visit www.worldwideticketing.com/bach-festival.

Marking the 500th anniversary of the death of painter Hieronymus Bosch, the exhibit “Jheronimus Bosch — Visions of Genius,” Feb. 13-May 8, 2016, will feature nearly 70 of his works, the most ever shown in one place, including nine never seen in public before. The Noordbrabants Museum (Verwesstraat 41, ‘s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; phone +31 73 6877 877, www.hnbm.nl) is open 9 a.m.-7 p.m. daily. Book tickets online. €22 (near $24).

On Dec. 15, Kuwait Airways ended the New York (JFK)-to-London (Heathrow) leg of its Kuwait City-New York-London-Kuwait City circuit rather than allow Israeli citizens to board its aircraft. The airline’s JFK-Heathrow flight often was cheaper than flights of other airlines.

From June 1 through Sept. 18, 2016, Brazil is offering US and Canadian travelers visa-free entry  for stays of up to 90 days to encourage attendance at the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Aug. 5-21. Having tickets to Olympic events is not necessary to take advantage of the offer. Normally, a tourist visa for Brazil costs a US citizen $160 and can take up to 60 days to process. 

In order to combat terrorism, European Union (EU) nations have agreed to collect information from air passengers, including each person’s name and address plus credit card details. The information, known as the Passenger Name Record, will be gathered from passengers on all flights into, out of and between EU countries. 

Originally proposed in 2007 but shelved over privacy concerns, the agreement was partly motivated by the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks in Paris.

In Macau, what is being dubbed as the world’s highest figure-8 Ferris wheel, the Golden Reel, is the centerpiece of Chinese hotelier Melco Crown Entertainment’s newest resort, Studio City (Macau, China; phone +853 8865 8888, www.studiocity-macau.com/en), which opened its doors on Nov. 5.

Listing upcoming events in Australia and continually updated, the Australian Events Calendar, available at www.australia.com/en/events.html, allows you to customize event searches by date, location and type, including “Arts & Culture,” “Food & Wine,” “Nature & Wildlife” and “Sports.”

Leading to the base of Uluru, or Ayers Rock, in Australia’s Northern Territory, the installation “Field of Light,” April 1, 2016-March 31, 2017, will have more than 50,000 illuminated glass bulbs on slender glass stems designed by artist Bruce Munro.