Travel Briefs | International Travel News

October 2013 issue

Offa’s Dyke damaged

Offa’s Dyke, a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site in Wales, was damaged in August when someone with a bulldozer carved out a 50-yard section and used the dirt to fill in a road nearby. It is a criminal offense to disrupt or damage protected monuments, and the authorities are investigating.

A popular walking trail for visitors, the 1,200-year-old monument is a long earthwork stretching about 80 miles from the Wye Valley to Wrexham. The dike is thought to have been built in the eighth century by King Offa of Mercia.

March 2013 issue

60 years of ‘The Mousetrap’

Record holder for longest-running play, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” debuted in London’s West End on Nov. 25, 1952. Since 1974, it has been performed at St. Martin’s Theatre (West St., Cambridge Cross, London, WC2H 9NZ, U.K.).

It plays 7:30 p.m. Monday-Saturday plus 3 p.m. Tuesday and 4 p.m. Saturday. Tickets cost from £16.60 (near $26) for Upper Circle 3rd to £63.10 ($99) for Stalls Premium. Go to the box office, phone 08444 99 1515 or visit www.the-mousetrap.co.uk.

August 2013 issue

Stonehenge approach

In southern England’s Wiltshire county, the A344 toll road that ran next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Stonehenge has been closed and will be torn up and planted over with grass as part of a refurbishment project designed to protect the entire site and improve visitors’ experience.

Plans include removing the tall fence, installing new paths and landscaping and building a new visitors’ center. Upon completion in summer 2014, a shuttle bus from the visitor center will take visitors 1½ miles along a portion of the old road, letting them walk the final path up to the ancient...

January 2013 issue

Diggerland, UK

In the UK, you can operate or ride construction machinery to dig for “treasure” or get hoisted in the Spindizzy at four Diggerland (phone 0871 22 77 007) adventure parks — located in Strood, Kent; Langley Park, Co. Durham; Cullompton, Devon, and near Castleford, West Yorkshire. (Some rides have height requirements.)

Licensed drivers age 17 and up can race front-loader (scoop) tractors; including general park admission for the day, this costs £125 (near $200). Or race dumper-truck chassis (bodies removed); a 2-hour session, after the park closes, costs £40 ($64). Racing is popular;...

May 2013 issue

Macau Grand Prix

The 60th Macau Grand Prix will be held in Macau, China, Nov. 14-17, 2013. The race is known as the only street-circuit racing event with both motorcycle and car races. The difficult, 3.8-mile track features sharply twisting corners and long straightaways.

Tickets cost $6.25 on practice days and $16.25-$112.50 on race days and are available in advance online and via the ticket hotline. Contact the Macau Grand Prix Committee (phone 853 87962268; www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo).

November 2012 issue

Canada’s plastic cash

Transitioning from paper to polymer currency, Canadian banks began issuing plastic 100-dollar bills in November 2011. In March 2012, plastic 50-dollar bills were issued, followed by 20-dollar bills in November; these are available through ATMs. The remaining denominations should become available in 2013. The partly transparent bills have holographic features difficult to counterfeit.

This summer, an urban legend spread, wrongly claiming that the plastic bills would melt in the heat of a parked car. They actually have a melting point of 266°F and in one test were boiled in water for...

July 2013 issue

Dolphin Academy, Curaçao

On the southern Caribbean island of Curaçao, visitors of all ages can interact with some of the 21 trained dolphins at the Dolphin Academy (phone +5999 4658900), located at the Curaçao Sea Aquarium in Willemstad.

In the “Dolphin Encounter” package, up to six people and a trainer stand in water and gently interact with a dolphin (15-20 minutes for $89 adult or $44.50 child).

“Dolphin Swim” is in the lagoon (30 minutes, $159).

In “Dolphin Free Dive,” snorkelers can dive, then hold the dorsal fins of two dolphins and be...

December 2013 issue

Southwest tightens policy

The domestic airline Southwest Airlines (800/435-9792) announced in September a change to its “no show” policy.

Previously, a customer who missed a flight could use the full value of his ticket toward a replacement flight or accept a voucher for a future ticket. Now if he is a “no show” at the gate and has not contacted the airline at least 10 minutes before departure to change or cancel a nonrefundable- fare ticket, he will lose the value of the entire ticket, including the value of the unused legs of the flight and the return flight.

Unlike most US airlines, Southwest...