Travel tips

Sep 6, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Bulb fields blooming near Melbourne

Melbourne (dpa) - Around half a million tulips comprising more than 100 different varieties will soon be blooming in the Australian spring at the country's Tesselar Tulip Festival. The community in the Victoria State town of Silvan is located less than an hour by car from Melbourne. The floral spectacular gets underway from September 15th and runs through to October 12th. Events include a Dutch Weekend with traditional costumes and a sculpture competition. The winning entry will become a permanent feature at Tesselaar Gardens and can be visited year after year. (www.tulipfestival.com.au).

Secret hopi ruins revealed

Pueblo, Arizona (dpa) - Homlovi State Park in Arizona is offering for the first time tours of hopi ruins and artifacts not normally open to the public. Homolovi is Hopi for 'Place of the Little Hills' - the traditional name for Winslow, Arizona. The tours cover an area of more than 150 ruins, some of which date back 800 years, the Arizona Tourist Authority reports. Trips for a maximum of 15 participants are scheduled for October 1st, 2nd, 15th, 22nd and 29th. To avoid disappointment places should be reserved by telephone using the number 001 928/289 41 06.

Swiss museum showcases Hermann Hesse

Montagnola, Switzerland (dpa) - The Hermann Hesse Museum in the Swiss village of Montagnola is showing an exhibition of works by German painter Gunter Boehmer, who penned many portraits, sketches and illustrations of the famous German writer and Nobel Literature laureate Hermann Hesse. Boehmer was a friend of Hesse's and visited him often. The Museum is open until October daily from 10.00 to 18.30. It is located around 10 minutes by car from the city of Lugano.

See Dutch masterpieces in Texas

Houston, Texas (dpa) - One of the world's finest private collections of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish master paintings will go on display soon at the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, Texas. The around 60 works will feature in the show from November 13th to February 12th. Masterworks include those by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Jan Stehen and Gerrit Dou. Tickets for the exhibition are available from 3.50 dollars. On Thursdays entry to the show is free of charge. (www.mfah.org)

Qatar Airways flies to new Chinese gateway

Doha (dpa) - Qatar Airways has announced the launch of flights to a fifth Chinese gateway - the western city of Chongqing from November 28. Operating three-times-a-week, the non-stop service from the airline's hub in Doha, capital of the State of Qatar, will take the carrier's capacity to China up to 28 flights a week. The new Chongqing services will be operated with an Airbus A330 in a two-class Business and Economy configuration. Chongqing has a population of just over 30 million people.

Australian dive festival launched

Brisbane (dpa) - The Australian resort of Heron Island is hoping to tempt watersports lovers with a six-day festival from September 5th to 11th. The programme includes two dives a day for guests with a third every night. Other attractions at the Great Barrier Reef resort are courses on advanced photography and underwater camera techniques along with speakers and experts from the diving industry. (www.heronisland.com)

Ploughing championship near Strasbourg

Strasbourg-Oberhausenberg (dpa) - More than 60 young ploughmen from all over Europe will be on hand in fields near Strasbourg soon for the 28th European Ploughing Championship from September 13th to 18th. Oberhausenberg is the venue for the contest which takes place on 100 hectares only a few kilometres from the heart of the city. A rural market, model village, farm implement display and wheatfield maze all add to the fun. Organisers expect around 100,000 people to attend. (www.lesterresalenvers.com)