A new book, Scaventures Jerusalem: The Experiential Guidebook, is offering visitors a new interactive way to explore the city.
Based on the scavenger hunt adventure created by tour guide Tali Tarlow, and tried by more than 25,000 people, the guidebook gives different roles to each person, providing clues, missions and games, with maps and playing cards and well as trivia and quizzes, letting travellers become detectives, explorer and navigators.
The book aims to unlock some of the city’s secrets as well as including stories about Jerusalem’s past, with routes through five different areas and over 100 missions to carry out.
The 'new Hawaii' gets easier
With its tropical scenery and luxury hotel vibe, China’s Hainan Island has been gaining a reputation of the “Hawaii of the East” — and the country has now made it easier for those travelling from Western Europe to visit visa-free following changes last month.
The number of countries with 30-day visa-free access has more than doubled to 59, including the UK.
Previous restrictions included tour groups being given preference for visa-free entry over individuals.
Part of a drive to encourage tourism to the area, around three times the size of the Hawaiian islands combined, there are currently no direct flights from the UK, but there is a growing number of luxury hotels.
Atlantis Sanya resort opened in February, following the Rosewood Sanya last summer and The Sanya Edition, which has its own private ocean, with water pumped in from the South China Sea.
Summer ski
Although the winter season officially came to an end on May 1, ski fans can still get onto the slopes after a huge nine metres of snowfall in Val d’Isere, with some of the winter lifts reopening in early June for the first time in the French resort’s 82-year history.
Pistes which will reopen include the top of the OK World Cup downhill and the less demanding Verte (snow-conditions permitting), from 7am to 12pm, with lift passes costing from £24.50 per day.
Or for a rather different summer mountain experience, head to Verbier in Switzerland, where a new aerial walkway has opened.
Made up of three courses, it includes free-fall jumps, zip wires and other aerial challenges, with different levels of difficulty from the easiest green course up to the most difficult red version.
Boutique Istanbul
As tourists begin to return to Turkey once more, there’s a stylish new opening in Istanbul, the first for The Unbound Collection by Hyatt in the country.
The 45-room Nish Palas Istanbul is set in Nisantasi, one of the city’s oldest neighbourhoods, with a rooftop bar overlooking the Bosphorus, plus a spa with traditional hammam and locally inspired treatments.
Set amongst designer boutiques, art galleries and restaurants, the area is known as one of Istanbul’s most creative, with photos on its history decorating the rooms.
