Lonely Planet's Tom Hall offers advice on taking the slow boat to Tangier, car-free Italy with a teenager and exploring IranI want to give my 16-year-old daughter a fantastic holiday in Europe next summer as we've had a really tough year; two interesting weeks, not too packaged, no car rental, moderate budget. As a single mum safety is important too.ElaineYou might find a small group adventure tour to your liking. Several companies do these very well, and get you to places that you would otherwise have found tough to reach without hiring a car. Intrepid Travel's (intrepidtravel.com) 15-day Baltic Explorer (from �1,485pp excluding meals) travels from Helsinki in Finland to Berlin exploring the cities and natural scenery in between ? you pass through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.If you'd rather do your own thing, I'd suggest a combination of two or three cities, possibly linked by rail, with the scope for excursions. Your daughter qualifies for cheaper rail fares, making four days of rail travel in Italy within a month �63 for her and �126 for you. It'll be hot, but I'd imagine you'd both love the adventure of taking the train between cities and the combination of art, shopping, gelato and pizza.Just within Italy there's a huge choice but Rome to Venice via Florence ? and Pisa if you wish ? or Bologna is a marvellous linear journey easily done without a car. You could take the train there and back via Paris if you wanted (see raileurope.co.uk for details and fares) or take a budget flight. If your daughter has a longer holiday than usual this year, then go earlier for the best prices and fewest crowds, the latter being the main downside of Italy at this time. Readers' suggestions are welcome.My girlfriend and I want to go to Iran in April, flying from Tehran to the southern city of Shiraz to start our journey back to Tehran as suggested in the Lonely Planet, but it doesn't seem possible to book the internal flight. The only flight options we are offered are Tehran to Shiraz via Dubai, which seems ridiculous. How can we book internal flights in Iran?Matthew MorrisIt may be that you're a little early. Iran Air (iranair.co.uk) has online booking on internal flights, but when I tried to book a date in early April I was routed via Kuwait. Aha, I thought, I was asking to travel via Imam Khomeini International, the main international hub, rather than the older Mehrabad terminal, which handles the bulk of domestic traffic, but the results were still unsatisfying. When I looked to go from Mehrabad to Shiraz in December however, I was offered a selection of direct flights, bookable online and costing �48 one way, including taxes. I have asked Iran Air when its April flights will be bookable and will post a comment below when I hear back. In the meantime, you can concentrate on the slightly trickier business of securing an Iranian visa. I'd love to know how you get on with all of this ? do post back here if and when you have success.I am heading to Morocco next Easter with my young family (adventurous boys plus intrepid wife). Thought it would be interesting to enter from the Spanish mainland, ie fly to Malaga and catch boat to Tangier. Is this a good idea and where would you stay for your first night in Tangier? Any advice about trains to let us go deeper into the country and see places like Marrakech would be welcome.Mike TaitThe busiest sea crossing between Spain and Morocco runs between Algeciras and Tangier and is the best and most exciting way to arrive. There are also fast boats from Tarifa to Tangier. If you really like ferries, you can make your way from S�te in France and Genoa in Italy but these are much slower services. Direct Ferries (directferries.co.uk) has information and links on ferries across Europe. Although there are lots of crossings between Algeciras and Tangier, you will find ferries busy, especially at the end of Easter week, so advance booking is a good idea.Once in Tangier, there are plenty of budget options around the port gate and medina, but you may find yourself feeling swamped by touts. The budget options in the Ville Nouvelle are often better so consider hopping in a cab there. Hotel El-Munira (no website, doubles �15-20) on Rue Magellan is a good bolthole and was where William Burroughs wrote the Naked Lunch. If you find it full, there's plenty more choice nearby.To get from Tangier to Marrakech you can take an overnight train, or a day service changing at Rabat ? see oncf.ma for times. There are also bus connections which can be quicker but are not as sociable.We're travelling from Manchester to Mongolia next July for the third time, to visit our daughter and granddaughters who live there. The best option seems to be flights with Air China, with only a one-hour stopover in Beijing. Do you think this will be long enough? We are not sure whether we would have to change terminals in which case one hour does not seem long. The alternative is to go via Heathrow and Moscow with Aeroflot. We travelled with Aeroflot the first time we went and survived but do not want to be stuck in Sheremetyevo airport for any longer than necessary! The stopover time on the return flight is only 50 mins ? this would be great if there were no delays. What do you think?Lynn BarrettRound the World Flights (roundtheworldflights.com) suggests that 60 minutes is the minimum travelling time through Sheremetyevo and would recommend two to threee hours for the change you're undertaking in Beijing. Even this sounds like a bit of a squeeze and could make for some stressful incoming flights.To see alternatives you may find it useful to have a look at the recently revamped ITA Trip Planner software, which is freely available at http://matrix.itasoftware.com/cvg/ ? login as a guest. They also have a mean, free iPhone application. Both can search for flight itineraries and give you a useful steer on available options and indicative prices.I sympathise when it comes to Sheremetyevo but one route through here appears a better option than the next best route through Beijing, which appears to involve day-long layovers in each direction. A combination of KLM and Aeroflot via Amsterdam requires five hours at Schiphol and two in Moscow, so you may decide this is a better bet. Departures in July travelling this route should cost around �1,020 depending on who you book with and when.IranItalyTangierTom Hallguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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