Travel Briefs

September 2016 issue

London museum overnight

Overnight stays at London’s Natural History Museum (Cromwell Road, London, England; phone +44 20 7942 5000, www.nhm. ac.uk) are scheduled periodically throughout the year.

For adults over 18, “Dino Snores for Grown-ups” (£180, near $238, each) includes a night of museum exploration, live music, an all-night movie marathon, dinner and break- fast. With “Dino Snores for Kids” (£60), children age 7 to 11, accompanied by an adult, get to explore the museum and take part in educational activities and have a cold breakfast.

For tickets,...

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December 2016 issue

Cuban import limits lifted

On Nov. 14, the Obama administration lifted, by executive order, the import limit of $400 on Cuban goods as well as the $100 limit on importing Cuban cigars or alcohol. Travelers now may bring into the US, for personal use, any amount of cigars or alcohol, so long as they declare it at Customs and pay any import taxes. As with bringing items from other countries, the first $800 worth of imported goods is duty-free, with rising tariffs imposed on each additional $1,000 in goods. In addition, individual US states have varying limits on importing alcohol.Because the US embargo on Cuba...

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April 2016 issue

Cinque Terre hiker limits

Starting in summer of 2016, the Italian government will limit the numbers of visitors allowed on the pathways between the Cinque Terre villages, located on the Riviera in northwestern Italy. The total number of visitors allowed in 2016 will be 1.5 million. (Roughly 2.5 million people visited the Cinque Terre region in 2015.) Anyone wanting to walk the Cinque Terre pathways must purchase a Cinque Terre Card for €6 (near $7) for one day or €9.70 for two days. A Cinque Terre Treno card gives the holder unlimited on/off privileges on trains traveling between the villages; Treno cards cost €12...

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January 2015 issue

Crazy cave walk in Wales

In northern Wales, near the town of Blaenau Ffestiniog, visitors can explore a man-made cavern strung with trampoline-like elastic nets.

At Bounce Below (phone +44 1248 601 444, www.bouncebelow.net), the visit begins with a 5-minute funicular journey 100 feet underground to the entrance of the cavern, which is twice the size of London’s St. Paul’s Cathedral. On foot, visitors then bounce around, navigating the cave’s trampoline-like elastic nets on a route linked by slides. Multicolored lights allow visitors to see down to the bottom of the 180-foot-deep space. A visit lasts one...

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October 2008 issue

MP3 audio city tours

Tourcaster.com offers 250 downloadable audio tours of more than 30 cities on six continents. They can be added to MP3 players, including iPods, or burned onto a CD. Most tours cost $5-$23 each, and each comes with a numbered map and detailed directions.

Example — the “Piazza del Popolo to Fontana di Trevi” tour of Rome takes 2½ hours, with an audio length of one hour nine minutes, and costs $19.90.

For many destinations in Europe, South America and Asia, the site offers 20- to 30-minute “audio guides” which are not tours and which cost $5-$10.

December 2008 issue

Chunnel under repair

The Channel Tunnel between Britain and France has been operating at reduced capacity since a fire aboard a train carrying trucks damaged the southbound section on Sept. 11 of this year. Access by passenger and cargo trains as well as automobiles has been restricted; ferries operating between Calais and Dover have been taking up the slack.

Chunnel repairs are expected to be completed in February 2009.

November 2008 issue

Flemish tapestries

The Abbey of St. Peter in Ghent is holding the exhibition “Flemish Tapestries from the Burgundian Dukes” until March 29, 2009. It centers on tapestries that depict the victory over Tunis during a campaign of Charles V and includes many on loan from Spain.

Closed Monday. €8 ($11.50) adult, €6.75 senior/student. Wheelchair accessible. Contact Kunsthal Sint-Pietersabdij (Sint-Pietersplein 9, 9000 Gent, Belgium; phone +32 09 243 97 30, fax 97 34, www.gent.be/spa).

November 2014 issue

Speaking statues in England

In London and Manchester, England, 35 statues have been outfitted with tags that allow smartphones to play audio clips — some humorous, some historical — of each statue “speaking” about itself.

At each statue, visitors will see a circular blue plaque with a QR code to scan or a URL to type in in order to hear the speech. Playing the roles are actors, such as Patrick Stewart, who voices “The Unknown Soldier” in London’s Paddington Station. A list of statue locations, with printable maps, is at www.talkingstatues.co.uk.