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WHEN SELF-CONFESSED
nerd,
Guardian
columnist and author
of
Bad Science,
Dr Ben Goldacre
goes on holiday, he steers clear of
typical tourist traps. You’re far more
likely to find him at an abandoned
nuclear bunker or enthusing with the
proprietor of a specialist museum
than at a theme park. And it seems
he’s not alone.
Two years ago, Goldacre asked the
Twittersphere for more nerdy day
trip suggestions andwas inundated
with responses from fellow curious-
minded travellers. Somany, in fact,
that he decided to set up Nerdy
Day Trips (
nerdydaytrips.
com
), a crowd-sourced
site that highlights interesting
and unusual things around
the world. “I wanted
to share the fun
nerdy day trips
that I had had, but
more than that, I
wanted to find out about
other people’s hidden
gems,” he explains.
“Not somuch the
glossy museums, but
Victorian horse-
racing courses or
abandoned roads
sliding down a valley.
“There was also a
nerdy point at stake:
I thought, if we can
provide people with
a database that makes
everyone’s local knowledge
accessible to all, then we all
get to have more fun.”
Travellers looking for
good spots to get their
geek on can just click
on a destination on the
website’s map and the
details of an obscure
venue will pop up. Check
out one of our nerdy faves...
TRAVELLER
27
Get your geek on
Areyouan intrepid intellectual?Try thewebsitehelpingyou tonerdupyourdaysout
FOR (COOL) TRAINSPOTTERS
Munich
Visit the railway station
from
The Great Escape
. Now a
private residence, it was originally
built to a Polish design to be used
in the film.
Neustadt railway station,
Bahnhofsplatz, Neustadt
REV UP YOUR HARD DRIVE
Barcelona
Take a guided tour of
MareNostrum, Spain’s secondmost
powerful supercomputer, sited in
a former chapel on the Technical
University of Catalonia campus.
Applications to visit must be sent at
least oneweek in advance.
29 Calle
Jordi Girona; bsc.cat
TOOLS OF TORMENT
Prague
You’ll find three floors
of exhibitions displaying over
60 torture instruments at the
Torture Museum.
1 Križovnické námestí;
tel: +420 723 360 479
KNOWLEDGE IS
POWER
Lisbon
An old
thermoelectric plant
has been transformed
into Lisbon’s Electricity
Museum, explaining
energy production and its
history.
Avenida Brasilia
GO CUCKOO FOR CLOCKS
Manchester
See the world’s
largest collection of cuckoo
clocks in the charming but
eccentric Cucklooland. Take
along your own clock for
repair.
The Old School,
Chester Road, Tabley,
Cheshire; cuckoolanduk.net
DISCOVERIES
WORDS CATHERINE COOPER
QUIRKY
HINT OF GEEK
DELICIOUSLY DORKY
NERDY YET NAFF
GEEK GURUS ONLY NEED APPLY
SPECSAPPEAL
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