Resources

A short shelf of useful things: how to get there, where to sleep, what to carry, and who to go with. Some links are partner links; they cost you nothing and help keep the lamps lit here.

For a hire car at the other end, EconomyBookings searches some 800 suppliers across more than 150 countries — the familiar names alongside local firms, usually at a good deal less than booking direct. Before you reserve, it is worth reading The Car at the Other End: what a broker actually sells you, why the desk may not recognise the insurance, and the credit card rule that decides whether you drive away at all.

AutoEurope is the other broker we keep to hand, and the older of the two. Whichever you book through, the counter is still the counter: expect the polite attempt at extra insurance, and expect a sizeable deposit hold on a physical credit card in the primary driver's name. A scruffy car or a long queue at the desk is the local branch's doing rather than the broker's, so stick to the familiar brands where you can, and read the voucher before you reach the front of the line.

For the last leg — the one between the terminal doors and the bed you booked — Intui searches the local transfer firms and holds the price before you land. Ask the lodging first, since a house car is usually the easiest thing of all; if there is none, book the transfer ahead, keep the driver's number on your phone rather than in your email, and read The Last Ten Miles before you decide between a private car, a shuttle, and the train.

A word on how to use it. Aviasales sells nothing itself; it finds the fare and then hands you on. Where the price is the same or near enough, take the link that goes to the airline's own site — changes, cancellations, and a human being on the telephone are all easier when the airline holds the booking. If an agency undercuts the airline by a wide margin, look the agency up before you type in a card number. And check the bag allowance again on the final page: what the search promised and what the seller charges are not always the same thing.

Or begin with the map rather than a date. Drag it about, and the fares appear where they fall — useful on the days when the question is not where you must go, but where it would be pleasant to end up.

And a single route, watched over time — London to Bangkok, by way of example — so you can see what the fare has been doing before you decide it is time to book.

A town will tell you things at the pace of a bicycle that it will never tell you from a coach. If you are minded to ride, Two Wheels and a Morning sets out where the riding is genuinely easy, how to hire sensibly, and what to expect of yourself on a day out.

A word on the audio tours, so there are no surprises at the gate: nobody is waiting for you there. The voice is recorded, the map is on the phone, and the pace is entirely your own. That suits some days and not others — a recorded narration can read a little flat beside a good live guide, and a clip meant to start itself at a particular corner will now and then want a tap. Where it earns its keep is a walking route like The Footsteps That Began the Revolution, where the walk is the point and most of the stops are out of doors.

Yeah, it's a big deal, and you waited too long. But maybe — the match, the concert, the night everyone told you was sold out months ago. Seats do come back, usually late and usually from someone else's change of plan, and it costs nothing to look. Search by artist, team, or event below.

And if it is football you are following across a country, here is what is coming up.

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Delays, cancellations, and denied boarding can carry compensation under EU and UK passenger rights. AirHelp will take the claim on for you and press the airline; they keep a share of whatever is recovered, so it is worth a moment's thought — if you have the patience to file directly with the airline yourself, you keep the whole sum. If you do not, a part of something is better than all of nothing. Check a flight below.

Compensair is the other of the pair, and works the same way: enter the flight, and if there is a case under EU Regulation 261/2004 — or the Canadian or Turkish equivalents — they take it up with the airline in your name. Eligible disruptions run from about €250 to €600 a passenger, whatever the ticket cost. Nothing is payable unless they recover something, and the success fee is around 30 per cent, with a further slice if the matter has to go to court. Reviewers rate them highly and complain chiefly about how long a stubborn airline can be made to take. Before you file either way, it is worth reading When It Happens to You: what the law actually owes you, what to collect at the airport while it is still going wrong, and how long you have to claim.