Travel Briefs

The “Foliage Train,” known locally as the Centovalli (100 Valleys), runs 52 kilometers between Domodossola, Italy, and Locarno, Switzerland. It operates from mid-October to mid-November each year, when the trees begin to shed their leaves. Each car features full-length windows.

The 2-hour trip crosses 83 bridges and goes through 31 tunnels, with stops in the towns of Camedo and Intragna. A round-trip ticket, costing €43 (near $51) first class or €33 second class, is valid for two...

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Those interested in visiting Estonia can plan their trip with the help of an interactive map available on Estonia’s tourism website. On the map, travelers can check off topics they are interested in, such as festivals, bird-watching, museums, churches or shopping. Having found an interesting location, they can then find selected restaurants and accommodations in the area.

Visit www.visitestonia.com/en/map-of-estonia.

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A Ryanair flight from Athens, Greece, to Vilnius, Lithuania, was diverted by a fighter jet to Minsk, Belarus, on May 23 so that Belarusian authorities could arrest a dissident journalist and his girlfriend who were on board. Air authorities in Belarus told the pilots that a bomb threat had been made against the aircraft.

In response, air authorities across Europe asked their nations’ airlines to avoid Belarus airspace. Many airlines and countries canceled all flights to and from...

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The Centers for Disease Control approved a Caribbean cruise scheduled to leave from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on June 26 with Celebrity Cruises (888/751-7804, www.celebritycruises.com), making it the first paid cruise to depart from the US since March 2020. Other lines had previously been approved for test cruises, ones without paying passengers.

In order to skip the testing phase, Celebrity guaranteed that at least 95% of the crew and passengers would be vaccinated for COVID-19.

As of press time, The following countries had opened or waived testing and/or quarantining requirements for vaccinated travelers. (A person is not considered vaccinated until two weeks after their final injection.)

• The Bahamas began waiving any testing requirements for vaccinated travelers, including the rapid antigen tests required for interisland travel, on May 1.

• Israel was scheduled to open on May 23 to a limited number of vaccinated travelers who are members...

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In an effort to reduce air pollution, French lawmakers approved a plan to ban domestic flights along routes that can be reached by train in less than 2½ hours. Connecting flights along the banned routes from major airports are still allowed but are not able to be booked as stand-alone flights.

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As of April 20, American Airlines (www.aa.com) now rebooks passengers who missed their flights by no more than 15 minutes onto the next available flight at no additional cost. Only the destination city must remain the same; the routing and the arriving airport may change due to availability.

Passengers who arrive before their flight departs but after final check-in will also be rebooked for free.

On April 27, the Dominican Republic announced that it was removing all COVID-19 restrictions for incoming travelers. Now anyone traveling to the Dominican Republic from any country will not need to show vaccination status or any negative COVID tests on arrival, nor will anyone not showing symptoms of COVID-19 be asked to quarantine.

According to a statement from the government, every incoming passenger will have to submit to a temperature check, and a randomly chosen 3%-15% of...

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