Sistine Chapel to cap visitors
The number of visitors allowed into the Sistine Chapel will be capped, as will the length of their visit, in increased efforts to protect Rome’s most significant artistic treasure.
About six million visitors a year – up from 1.5 million in 1980 – squeeze into the chapel, 2,000 at a time, to gawp at Michelangelo’s famous frescoes, but museum director Antonio Paolucci is set to cap the number at 20,000 a day and also set a time limit on the length of their visit.
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But it’s not all bad news for visitors: a new LED lighting system has been introduced that will make the ceiling frescoes much easier to view and heighten the impact of the foreshortening used by Michelangelo in depicting his figures, which now seem to ‘pop’ in near three-dimensional splendour.
Paolucci also announced that from early 2015 visitors will be able to explore the chapel in 3D by donning a disposable pair of ‘intelligent glasses’ that will also explain the chapel’s history.
[ museivaticani.vaOpens in new window ]
An eye on London
Nothing says you’ve arrived quite like arriving in a helicopter, which you can do at Battersea Heliport.
London Helicopter’s 20-minute tour costs £199 per person and takes in all of the city’s main sights, including the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, London Eye and – from a slight distance – Wembley Stadium.
They have just launched the first night-time tour of the city, which will cost £4,000 for six people and runs until February 15.
[ thelondonhelicopter.comOpens in new window ]
Five hotels in Budapest
Christmas fair season is upon us and one of Europe’s most popular exemplars takes place in Pest’s Vörösmarty Square – at the end of the Váci utca (aka Fashion Street) – between November 27 and December 31. Since 1998 it has devoted itself to promoting all things traditionally Hungarian, so all of the handicrafts sold here are local.
Here are five hotels to park your purchases in:
Danubius Hotel Gellért
(XI Szent Gellért tér 1;
[ danubiusgroup.com/gellertOpens in new window ]
; room from €150)
Every city has its grand dame of hotels, and in Budapest it was the elegant, art nouveau Gellért. It’s been surpassed, but it’s still a pretty swanky place with a vast underground baths and spa.
Four Seasons Gresham Palace Hotel
(V Széchenyi István tér 5-6;
[ fourseasons.com/BudapestOpens in new window ]
; rooms from €300)
They don’t come any grander than this impressive fin-de-siecle, art nouveau palace. Everything about the place is opulent – beginning with the enormous lobby.
Hotel Palazzo Zichy
(VII L Lorinc pap tér 2;
[ hotel-palazzo-zichy.huOpens in new window ]
; room from €125)
The former palace of the Magyar aristocratic Zichy family has been transformed into a fine modern hotel.
Lánchíd 19
(I Lánchíd utca 19;
[ lanchid19hotel.huOpens in new window ]
; rooms from €120)
Absolutely top-rate boutique hotel on the Buda side overlooking the Danube, with sensational views of the river and, behind it, the castle.
Zara Continental Hotel
(VII Dohány utca 42-44;
[ continentalhotelbudapest.comOpens in new window ]
; room from €95)
One of the city’s most elegant baths – the Hungária Fürd? – is now the equally elegant Zara Continental, complete with a beautiful gardens with a swimming pool.
New York City for $30
New York’s Staten Island Ferry (
[ siferry.comOpens in new window ]
) is practically the only thing in the city that’s free, which makes it one of the world’s great travel bargains – especially for the stupendous views of the Statue of Liberty and Lower Manhattan. But not many visitors know that the seven-day MetroCard gives you unlimited travel on the city’s subway system and bus network for just $30. That works out at a big saving as each individual journey costs $2.50.
Northern Sri Lanka no go
The Sri Lankan government has banned visitors from travelling to the Jaffna region in the north of the island without special permission. Outsiders had been able to travel to the former conflict zone since the end of the war in 2009, but were subjected to frequent security checks.
Earlier this year the UN Human Rights Council voted to investigate allegations that the Sri Lankan military killed up to 40,000 civilians in their defeat of the Tamil Tiger uprising.
Although Jaffna isn’t as popular with tourists as other regions in the south, travel experts worry that the announcement will be detrimental to the tourist industry, which has developed successfully – if slowly – in the aftermath of the war.
Getting away at home
It’s all about midweek deals at the moment – the four-star Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa (
[ radissonblu.ie/hotel-sligoOpens in new window ]
) in Sligo has an offer of one night B&B plus dinner for €49.50 per person sharing that runs until December 19.
Just down the coast, the Westport Coast Hotel (
[ westportcoasthotel.ieOpens in new window ]
) has a midweek package until November 28 offering two nights’ B&B for €89pps, with a free bottle of wine.
If you fancy a midweek lakelands getaway, the elegant Kilronan Castle Estate & Spa (
[ kilronancastle.ieOpens in new window ]
) in Roscommon has a package that includes two nights’ B&B, plus one dinner for €159pps – the weekend rate is €179pps – that runs until December 19.
Micro Guide: Munich
STAY
Bayerischer hof
(Promenadeplatz 2-6; bayerischerhof.de; room from €250)
The most famous of the city’s elegant hotels.
EAT
Königsquelle
(Baaderplatz 2; mains from €9)
A city institution that serves terrific Bavarian cuisine and also does a fine line in whiskies.
DO
Dachau
(Alte Römerstrasse 75; kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de)
The grim horror of the concentration camp explored in admirably graphic detail; take the S-Bahn to Dachau.