It might be the latest in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise but the fifth instalment, Dead Men Tell No Tales, was filmed almost entirely in Queensland with locations including Australia’s Gold Coast and the uninhabited Whitsunday Islands.
So if you fancy unleashing your own inner Jack Sparrow, try one of these sailing adventures — before hoping to be marooned on the islands’ fabulous white sand beaches.
Board the 74ft timber Lady Enid, with day trips to Whitehaven Beach or the family-friendly Derwent Hunter tall ship, itself the star of an Aussie TV show. With both half and full-day tours available, kids can help drive and hoist the sails.
Or for longer voyages, sail away for a three-night cruise in the Solway Lass, a tall ship dating back to 1902 with a wartime history as dramatic as any Hollywood plot, or three days on the Ise Pearl, a restored Japanese pearl lugger with just eight guests allowed on board. Rum optional.
For more details, visit www.queensland.com
Rome metro makes history
For travellers to Rome, wandering the streets of the Eternal City has always been one of its biggest pleasures — but now there’s a good reason to head underground.
The San Giovanni Metro station is the first of three in the city which will also function as a museum, after construction of the new underground line revealed over 40,000 Ancient Roman treasures.
Passengers travel back in time from the Middle Ages through Imperial and Republican Rome as they descend, with glass cases displaying delicate perfume bottles, marble statues, bronze fish hooks and giant amphorae among other finds, not to mention a collection of 2,000-year-old peach stones.
The station, near the St John in Lateran basilica, is around a 15-minute drive from the old Jewish Ghetto and not far from the Porta Maggiore, one of the old eastern gates in the city’s 3rd century walls.
The first of two museum-stations planned on the new line, it is expected to be fully open to the public later this year.
Overwater Caribbean
For years, if you wanted to sleep above the waves in an overwater villa, the Caribbean was off limits with the idyllic bungalows only in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific.
But after the success of its first luxurious overwater suites in Jamaica, at Sandals Royal Caribbean, Sandals Resorts is launching 21 more at two different resorts, with glass floors and overwater hammocks.
Nine new Over-the-Water honeymoon butler bungalows are now open at Sandals Grande St Lucian Spa & Beach Resort, with 12 more coming to Sandals South Coast in Jamaica this November, available to book now.
Prices from £5,999 for seven nights, including flights.
