Travellers' checks

The right stuff To his many readers, the flying-jacketed, Triumph-riding Ted Simon was the rock star of independent travel in the 1980s, and his book Jupiter’s Travels (1980) – a beautifully written account of his fouryear, round-the-world motorcycle odyssey – inspired a generation to take to the road. An insatiable, exuberant traveller, he set off on a similar journey in 2001, aged 71, and spent three more dusty years in the saddle. This resulted in another book, Dreaming of Jupiter (2007), but it’s Jupiter’s Travels that remains the undisputed classic of its genre. Simon took along a pair of Pentax cameras on that earlier trip and, to mark the 40th anniversary of the beginning of his adventures, a coffeetable volume of his unpublished photos, titled Jupiter’s Travels in Camera, will be out next week. A finely illustrated retelling of the original, this will be an essential addition to the bookshelves of Simon’s devotees and a fine introduction to those who have yet to encounter him. Jupiter’s Travels in Camera is available from amazon.co.uk, where it can also be previewed. You can find out more about Simon at his website, jupitalia.com, and at jupiterstravellers.org, the website of The Ted Simon Foundation.

Past present The Astor House Hotel opened in Tientsin (modern-day Tianjin) in 1863, offering guests China’s first telephones, first electric lights and first lift, as well as “sanitary arrangements [that] are positively unrivalled in the Orient”. It was refurbished and relaunched three years ago as The Astor Hotel by Starwood Hotels & Resorts, and is this year celebrating its sesquicentennial with a 150 Years Anniversary Package. This includes one weekend night’s Grand Deluxe or suite accommodation, buffet breakfast, a 150 yuan (HK$190) dining voucher to use in the 1863 Bistro and Terrace, free Wi-fi, undisclosed “welcome amenities” and a 3pm checkout (subject to availability). Prices start from 1,050 yuan and 1,150 yuan (plus 15 per cent) for single/double occupancy. For further details and online reservations, visit starwoodhotels.com, or, for speedier results, just search for Astor Tianjin on Google.

Taking the Mickey Something that should appeal to both children and parents for next year’s summer holidays is a seven-night Mediterranean cruise aboard the Disney Magic. Adults who can get their head around the idea of spending a week aboard a Disney-themed ship with up to 2,700 other passengers will be rewarded with a cruise setting sail from Barcelona and providing shore leave at Villefranche on the Cote d’Azur (top), La Spezia, Civitavecchia and, finally, Naples before heading back to Barcelona. You’ll get about 12 hours in each location, so there will be time to visit places such as Nice, Monte Carlo, Florence, Pisa, Rome, Capri and Pompeii along the way, if you get your skates on. Disney Cruise Line’s oldest vessel, Disney Magic is currently undergoing refurbishment, so should be in good shape for the first Mediterranean cruise, which departs on May 31. Subsequent sailings are scheduled for June 7 and August 16, 23 and 30, and are priced from US$1,162 per person, or about US$100 more for a cabin with a porthole (or an Oceanview Stateroom, as they call it). You can find out more and book online with disneycruise.disney.go.com, or deal locally with TLX Travel, which offers this cruise on its website, www.tlxtravel.com.

Deal of the week Cathay Pacific Holidays’ Fukuoka Business Class Special starts from HK$8,710 per person, twin share, for roundtrip, business-class flights to the Japanese city (on Kyushu island) and two nights at the Hilton Fukuoka Sea Hawk Hotel (top), which opened about three years ago. Top of the price list is the Grand Hyatt, where package prices start from HK$9,320. Tax and fuel surcharges add another HK$598 to these numbers, but that’s still a fair deal for business-class flights and good hotels. Extra nights are also available and, with Nagasaki less than two hours away by train, an extra day would make a three-day JR Kyushu northern area Rail Pass worthwhile. These foreigners-only passes cost just 7,000 yen (about HK$550) for three days’ unlimited train travel, and can be bought at the airport on arrival. See www.jrkyushu.co.jp/english/ railpass.html for details. For more accommodation choices and package reservations, go to www.cxholidays.com.