Open House for the summer

The Palace of Westminster is opening its doors to tour groups this summer. This will be the first time that visitors have had access to the chambers of the Houses of Parliament: previously members of the public have had to seek the sponsorship of their MP to attend the visitor's gallery. The tours, led by London Blue Badge guides, are an experiment for the duration of Parliament's summer recess.

Visitors will be able to walk through both chambers and Westminster Palace, but not Big Ben. 'It is quite a complicated route because the Palace was not designed for large groups of people,' said visitor manager, Michael McDonald. 'On a normal day,' he continued, 'we get about 1,000 visitors when the House is in session, but we think this figure could double.'

However visitors will not enjoy the privileges of either peers or MPs. 'It is a long-standing rule that unelected members of the public are forbidden to sit on the benches,' said McDonald. Tourists will also miss the Mace, which only appears on the House of Commons' table when Parliament is in session.

If the trial is a success there are plans to continue the tours next year. The Palace will be open from 7 August until 16 September and tickets are only available in advance from Ticketmaster (020 7344 9966) and may not be bought on the day. A charge of £3.50 covers the guide's fee, and tickets are on sale now.

Climb every European mountain

A British mountaineer sets off on 11 July for the final stage of a world record-breaking attempt to climb the highest peak in each European country in the shortest period of time.

Rod Baber, 29, will be tackling the final three peaks on his hit-list, having already conquered the highest mountains in 44 European countries.

Baber is scheduled to complete his attempt in a total time of just two-and-a-half years: the current record stands at eight years. However, the remaining peaks will provide some of his most difficult challenges. He will be guided up Mount Daravica in Kosovo to avoid land-mines, and will also have an armed guard on Mount Ararat in Turkey, while Mount Shkara in Georgia has only ever been climbed twice before.

Baber has already scaled , among others, Mount Olympus in Greece, Mont Blanc in France, the UK's Ben Nevis, the treacherous Hvanndalshnukar in Iceland and the slightly flatter Vaalserberg in the Netherlands. He has also climbed Castelgandolfo in the Vatican City.

To follow Baber's progress into the Guinness Book of Records log onto the website of his sponsor, AltaVista.

The address is www.altavista.co.uk and it will soon feature a link to the AltaVista Europe 47 Challenge homepage.