Travel briefs

Need some inspiration for your next road trip? Check out the new guidebook “MTV Roadtrips U.S.A.”

The book is divided into regional themes, such as “Retro Roadtrip: Miami to the Outer Banks,” “A Southern BBQ Roadtrip,” and “Cool in the Midwest,” with stops in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Denver and Salt Lake City. There is also a chapter on festival season in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic that includes New York City as well as Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tenn., and a West Coast trip starting in San Diego and ending in Seattle.

Each chapter starts with a funny “Superlatives: The Highs &Lows” list that includes items like “Worst place to be the designated driver: Denver” (because of all the good microbreweries) and “Biggest Burrito West of the Pecos And East of It” (Rafa’s Burritos in El Paso, Texas, which the book says are “literally as big as your arm”).

The book, which sells for $22, is the latest in a series of trendy guidebooks for young travelers produced through a partnership between MTV and Frommer’s, an imprint of New Jersey-based Wiley Publishing.

Also out this summer are MTV guides to Spain, England and France. The series started last year with MTV guides to Italy, Ireland and Europe.

Buy tickets to Rome’s Colosseum online

Tourists can now buy tickets to the Colosseum on the Internet and avoid long queues at the ancient Roman arena recently named one of the new seven wonders of the world, officials said.

The online booking system allows visitors to pick a spot on a guided tour in their preferred language, giving them access to the first century arena and its temporary exhibitions as well as the nearby Palatine Hill, where Rome’s emperors lived in luxury.

The $17 tickets must be collected at a Colosseum counter dedicated to Internet bookings, said Manuela Collelli of the Pierreci company, which operates the box office for the monument. In a few days, the Web site will let tourists print the tickets, allowing them to go straight to the entrance, she said.

Each year, 4 million people pay to visit the Colosseum and the Palatine. Rome authorities have said they forecast 5 million visitors in 2007.

Bookings can be made at www.pierreci.it or www.ticketclic.it.

Chinese city opens lavish public toilet

They’re flush with pride in a southwestern Chinese city where a recently opened porcelain palace features an Egyptian facade, soothing music and more than 1,000 toilets spread out over 32,290 square feet.

Officials in Chongqing are preparing to submit an application to Guinness World Records to have the free four-story public bathroom listed as the world’s largest, the state-run China Central Television reported.

“We are spreading toilet culture. People can listen to gentle music and watch TV,” said Lu Xiaoqing, an official with the Yangrenjie, or “Foreigners Street,” tourist area where the bathroom is located. “After they use the bathroom they will be very, very happy.”

Footage aired on CCTV showed people milling about the sprawling facility and washing their hands at trough sinks. For open-aired relief, there is a cluster of stalls without a roof.

Some urinals are uniquely shaped, including ones inside open crocodile mouths.

Lewis and Clark exhibit back in S.D.

A Lewis and Clark exhibit that has toured the U.S. for six years will call Yankton, S.D. home.

“Discovering the Rivers of Lewis and Clark,” an American Rivers exhibit, was on display in Yankton in 2001 before touring the rest of the nation. It was seen by more than 1 million visitors.

American Rivers Inc., which is dedicated to protecting and restoring healthy natural rivers, has finalized a deal with the Yankton County Historical Society, giving the local group five years to find a place to display the exhibit at least six months of the year, according to the Yankton Press and Dakotan.

The exhibit includes large educational panels, videos, interactive computers, a keelboat and other features related to the Lewis and Clark expedition.

Travel classes, seminars

Rick Steves’ Europe Through the Back Door hosts free travel classes from 10 to 11:30 a.m. most Saturdays at the Edmonds Theater, 415 Main St., Edmonds.

* Greece with Julie Coen, 10 a.m. Aug. 4.

* European Rail Skills with Gretchen Strauch, 10 a.m. Aug. 11.

* Italy with Heidi Sewell, 10 a.m. Aug. 18.

* Ireland with Pat O’Connor, 10 a.m. Aug. 25.

* European Rail Skills with Laura Terrenzio, 10 a.m. Sept. 8.

* Packing Light and Right with Ann Neel, 10 a.m. Sept. 15.

* France with Mary Campbell, 10 a.m. Sept. 22.

Reservations are recommended. Call 425-771-8303, ext. 298, or visit www.ricksteves.com/seattle.

The Savvy Traveler offers travel seminars at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. most Saturdays at 112 Fifth Ave. S., Edmonds.

* French for Travelers, 6 p.m. Tuesdays, July 31 to Aug. 28.

* Packing Like a Savvy Traveler, 10 a.m. Aug. 25.

* Africa: Top to Bottom, 10 a.m. Sept. 8.