Under the Snowdonia Mountains, the world’s longest underground zip-line (and deepest) was opened at Conwy Falls, North Wales, in March 2015 by Go Below Underground Adventures (Snowdonia, Wales, UK; phone +44 1690 710108, www.go-below.co.uk/default.asp).
The Swiss “Family Trips” app allows travelers to search over 1,000 destinations and events in Switzerland by region and age group to plan appropriate family trips. The app, available for free for iOS and Android, also can suggest accommodations.
For travelers without access to a laundry, the Scrubba Wash Bag is a watertight bag with a washboard-surface interior for cleaning clothes. One wash load can include two shirts and two pairs each of pants, underwear and socks. To use, place clothing in the bag with some liquid soap, add warm water up to the fill line, then seal the bag and buckle it shut. Rub the clothes against the flexible washboard for 30 seconds to three minutes. Clothes can be rinsed in the bag or in the bath, after which you hang the clothes to dry or first roll them in a towel to speed up the drying.
In Hong Kong, the first museum dedicated entirely to the June 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in Beijing, China, the June 4 Memorial Museum (5/F Foo Hoo Centre, 3 Austin Ave., Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, P.R. China; phone +852 2459 6489, http://64museum.blogspot.hk [in Chinese only]), opened in April 2014.
Located at the confluence of the Yarapa and Cumaceba rivers in the Peruvian Amazon, the Treehouse Lodge (US contact in Bountiful, UT; 435/879-5839, www.treehouselodge.com) comprises eight bungalows connected by suspended walkways radiating from the central lodge, all built in the forest canopy at heights of 25 to 65 feet.
Shaped like a ship with sails unfurled, the Macau Maritime Museum (1 Largo do Pagode da Barra, Macau, P.R. China; phone +86 853 2859 5481, www.marine.gov.mo [in Chinese and Portuguese only]) is located in the Square of the Barra Pagoda.
The first floor contains historical artifacts of traditional Macanese fishing and sailing, the second floor focuses on Portuguese sailing and the third floor displays modern sailing technology. An aquarium gallery has four large tanks showing different aquatic environments: riverbed, harbor, coral reef and shipwreck.
For people planning to visit the Cambridge American Cemetery in England or the Normandy American Cemetery in France, two apps include driving directions, parking info, hours of operation, cemetery maps, tours to follow and stories about Americans buried there. Released by the American Battle Monuments Commission, the apps can be downloaded for free on iTunes and Google Play.
With thumbnail descriptions of countries and territories, covering population, currency, etc., along with regional maps and blank pages for making notes, the pocket-sized “Traveler’s Passport: Caribbean, Central America, South America” by Ron Snipe (6"x4½", 64 pages — $7.99 on Amazon.com) serves as a quick-reference guide and trip keepsake. Designed with cruise ship passengers in mind. Also available, “US & Canada,” with other regions in the works. Visit snipe-international.com.
The Booking Now app, by Booking.com, facilitates reserving hotel rooms around the world within 48 hours of check-in time.
When searching for a room, a user can specify hotel room preferences, including price range, Wi-Fi availability and having meals included in the price. The app can also use GPS to find the hotels meeting the user’s preferences nearest to his location and then give directions to the chosen hotel.
In Macau, more than 200 pieces of antique sound and video equipment are displayed in the Museum of Vintage Sound Machines (No. 13-15 Rua das Estalagens, Macau SAR, China; phone +853 2892 1389), located within Tai Peng Electronics & Appliances.
Exhibits include gramophones and phonographs that play original cylinders and records, hand-cranked music boxes, manual telephones and tube radios.
Book a visit at least one day in advance by phone or by emailing antique@tai-peng.com. Closed Saturday and Sunday. Admission, MOP30 (near $3.75).