Travel Briefs

March 2011 issue | Appears on page 83

UK-Europe ferries

A website providing information on how to make your next trip more environmentally friendly — by keeping carbon emissions from motorized transport to a minimum — greentraveller.co.uk lists over 80 ferry journeys passengers can take between the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.

Select from a drop-down menu of ferry routes and find public transport options to/from the ports; ferry fares; sample itineraries, and travel times as well as direct links to booking tickets online. Sample...

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March 2011 issue | Appears on page 83

Hover to Isle of Wight

From England’s south coast, the quickest way to the Isle of Wight is with Hovertravel (Portsmouth, UK; phone 023 9281 1000).

A 10-minute hovercraft ride across The Solent takes you from Portsmouth’s Southsea Terminal to Ryde’s Esplanade Terminal on the Isle of Wight. The ferry fare one way is £8.50 ($13.50) adult and £4 child (kids under four, free) and round trip, £17/£8.

Transfer to Southsea Terminal from Portsmouth’s train station is available by Hoverbus for £1.

March 2011 issue | Appears on page 83

Outback quad biking

Ride a four-wheel motorbike on bush tracks and dry riverbeds of the Outback at Undoolya Station, the Northern Territory’s oldest cattle ranch, 17 kilometers east of Alice Springs.

All bikes are fully automatic and easy to ride, with no license required. Year-round, a 3½-hour rental costs AUD195 (near $197) and includes hotel transfers, water, quad bike training and a two-hour adventure.

Outback Quad Adventures (P.O. Box 2733, Alice Springs, N.T. 0871, Australia; phone [08] 8953...

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March 2011 issue | Appears on page 83

Crane dance, Singapore

Every night at 9 on Sentosa island in the Singapore Strait, two 10-story-tall, 80-ton animatronic cranes, whose wings are jets of water and who are bedecked with colorful lighting and visual effects, perform a 10-minute courtship dance on the waterfront at Resort World Sentosa (8 Sentosa Gateway, Sentosa Island, Singapore 098269; phone [+65] 6577 8888). The show is free and can be seen from off-site locations and the resort’s shopping and dining strip.

Resort World comprises six...

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January 2011 issue | Appears on page 26

Fish River Canyon

Over southern Namibia’s Fish River Canyon, a new viewing platform opened on Oct. 21. Located in Ai-Ais Hot Springs Game Park, in the Karas region, the facility also has a picnic area, informative display panels and bathroom facilities.

At 99 miles long and up to 1,804 feet deep, the canyon is the world’s second largest, after the Grand Canyon.

January 2011 issue | Appears on page 49

Jesus in Poland

“Christ the King,” a 118-foot-tall, white-plaster-and-fiberglass statue with a golden crown, was completed on Nov. 6 in Swiebodzin, Poland (about 50 miles east of the German border).

The world’s tallest statue of Jesus (six meters taller than “Christ the Redeemer” in Rio de Janeiro), it stands atop an artificial 16-meter-high mound of rubble on the outskirts of town. The statue was designed and built by local artists and craftspeople and funded by private donations.

January 2011 issue | Appears on page 64

Brits’ royal wedding

The wedding day of Prince William and Kate Middleton, April 29, 2011, will be a public holiday in the United Kingdom. Along with Easter, four public holidays will fall between April 22 and May 2. The wedding will be held at Westminster Abbey in London. Hotel rooms in the area were rapidly booked.

January 2011 issue | Appears on page 69

Austria flight tax

As of Jan. 1, passengers boarding flights in Austria are being charged an “ecological air travel levy” similar to the levies in Germany and the UK (Nov. ’10, pg. 67). The charge is €8 (near $10.50) for European flights and €40 ($52) for long-distance flights.