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Travel Agenda: Harry Potter; Viceroy resort in the Maldives; Italy's 'culture week'; Heineken Open'er Festival

 

Friday 30 March 2012 00:29 BST
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Tomorrow: Harry Potter's back – but this time it's the studio wizardry of the films that takes centre stage. The Warner Studio Tour opens today in Leavesden Studios, Hertfordshire, where the movies were shot. Visitors have the chance to walk through the Great Hall at Hogwarts School, peer into the Ministry of Magic, and ... potter along Diagon Alley. Props, gowns, models, monsters and green-screen gimmickry: it's all on dazzling display. Asked at the preview day what goes into butter beer (on sale at £2.95 a glass), the tour guide said, simply: "Magic." Tickets (£28) must be bought in advance (wbstudiotour.co.uk).

Next week: On Monday, the Maldives gets yet another new luxury hotel as the Viceroy resort opens on Shaviyani atoll, with a collection of 61 villas, five restaurants, an Ayurvedic spa and Padi-certified dive centre (viceroyhotelsand resorts.com).

In the diary: Italy celebrates the Settimana della Cultura or "culture week" between 14 and 22 April, when state-run museums, galleries and villas across the country have free entry. Venues include the Uffizi in Florence, the Colosseum in Rome, the Brera in Milan and the Academy in Venice (beniculturali.it).

Meanwhile, the Polish resort of Gdynia hosts the Heineken Open'er Festival, with Björk, Bon Iver and Bat for Lashes all on stage from 4-7 July. Four-day camping tickets cost 410 zlotys (£82) (opener.pl).

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