Educational

Have you ever touched a meteorite? Protected the earth against supernatural life? Or made a bicycle trip through the galaxy? You can experience all of these things at the NEMO Science Museum in Amsterdam: the only museum in the world where you are allowed to touch everything!

Experiencing science at its fullest: that is what NEMO is about. The massive seablue building, which is just a stone’s throw from the bustling city centre Amsterdam and its striking train station, houses some of the world’s most fascinating exhibitions on modern-day science.

Since the dawn of human civilization there is something about the skies that captivates us and can have us looking up for hours. It never fails to fascinate the observer, to the point where we have spent billions studying and exploring our skies. So we have found some worldwide destinations where the stargazers among us can look to their heart's content.

Its home to a mid-boggling array of sea life and Australia’s most prestigious regatta but the largest collection of reefs on the planet remains under threat. This beautiful natural phenomena is worth a visit. You can plan your visit to coincide with a particular event or you can go just to observe the wonder of nature.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA USA
The world's largest and busiest launch facility, Kennedy is the place to touch a moon rock, get close to the coastal launch pads and, if you're lucky, watch a satellite take off, which still happens. Don't miss the bus tour to the Apollo/Saturn V Center, home to the largest rocket built (a 363ft-long moon rocket), the moving Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and the Shuttle Launch Experience.

One arm outstretched towards the Thames, grasping the tail of Tam o, Shanter’s horse in her hand, is the ghostly white figure of Nannie, figurehead of what was once the fastest tea clipper in the world.  Below her on the brow, the words Cutty Sark glitter in bright new gilding.  In old Scots, the phrase means short skirt of petticoat: the teasing garment that caused Tam, in Robert Burn’s  ballad, to risk losing his life to a ghostly dancer so fleet of foot that, had she been able to cross water like her racing namesake, she would have taken him to the underworld.

JAKOBSHAVN ‘ICEBERG FACTORY’, ILULISSAT, GREENLAND
This is one of the main outlets of the Greenland ice sheet. Here you can see enormous chunks of ice break off the main glacier and become icebergs.  Apparently, it’s where the one that sank the Titanic is thought to have originated.  Some of the Icebergs are half a kilometre in size and to see them up close is awe-inspiring as it is bizarre.  You can sit in a nearby hotel quietly having breakfast and watch these immense slabs of ice float past. Picture: Paul Souders / Barcroft Media

The St. Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg: This historic city was founded by Peter The Great (though not named after him, the hounour went to St. Peter).  I’ve chosen the fortress because it was the first structure built in the city.  The story goes that Peter was fighting against the Swedes and he drew a cross on the ground and said, “Here shall be born St.Petersburg.” It looks over a river and is like a vast version of Venice.

PERM-36: A slightly morbid choice, but this is the last of the political prison camps of the Soviet Age and it’s been preserved.  It didn’t close until 1087.  Back then, if you were found guilty of subversion or anti-state propaganda you’d be sent here.  You can see the tiny cells for solitary confinement.  They tried to break people’s spirit. Happily, they didn’t always succeed.
 

It can be tricky to keep the children entertained in summertime. The typical school holiday comes with 48 ‘I’m boreds’, seven ‘are we there yets?’ and two threats to ‘turn the car round’, according to a recent survey of British parents. Summer holidays also mean just three lie-ins for mum and dad and 24 temper tantrums from the little ones, research found. So if you’re dreading the school holidays, here’s our guide to what’s on that will keep the kids, and you, busy.