South Africa’s famous Blue Train is back on track after last month’s collision on a remote stretch of line in the Karoo desert.

Nobody was killed in the accident — the first in the luxury train’s 60-year history — but 254 were injured, four critically, when the Trans Karoo Express slammed into the “Hotel on Wheels” late at night.

Passengers on both trains have been offered free trips as compensation.

A palace complex in Saddam Hussein’s home city, Tikrit, is to be turned into a tourist attraction, even though departing US troops say the shoddily built property should be condemned.

Provincial governor Hamed Humud Shikti plans to turn the former dictator’s luxury home into a leisure park as soon as the US withdrawal from the palace is complete — adding that he himself will be moving in “as a temporary measure”.

Hard on the heels of its irritating Baarmy Sheep ring tone — a remarkably tuneless ovine rendition of Jerusalem — the Cumbrian Tourist Board has honed its cutting-edge marketing by offering podcasts from the Lakes. The technically literate can now download enticing Lakeland travelogues, an accommodation directory and a detailed what’s-on guide direct to an MP3 player from www.golakes.co.uk.

If you fancy a hop to Normandy, there is a new ferry service from Portsmouth to Le Havre, LD Lines (www.ldlines.com). Four passengers with a car can expect to pay from £98 return.

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