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From Times Online

October 29, 2007

Your Top 10 stopover questions

Times Online's Assistant Travel Editor Ginny McGrath with the best of your queries about how to break up a long-haul flight

Passengers queue as they approach check-in at Heathrow Terminal 3

Ginny McGrath

1. The best Oz stopovers - Maura Byrne is a regular visitor to Australia and has already had stopovers in Hong Kong, Singapore, Tokyo, Bangkok, and Beijing - our expert advises on some more unusual destinations

2. Two stopovers on the Kangaroo Route - Margery Jones is visiting Australia and wants to visit a different stopover destination on her outward and return legs. Our expert finds a way to see Hong Kong and Singapore

3. How do we get around the world avoiding the US? - Alistair Wallace is planning a round-the-world trip to visit Penang, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada but doesn’t want to tackle US immigration. Richard Green suggests a route via South Africa

4. Fly via the Middle East to the Far East - Hong Kong, Bangkok and Singapore are classic Far East stopovers, but the growth of Middle East carriers has brought a host of new options - new routes have been added since Mark Hodson's feature, but all the relevant carriers and their websites are listed here

5. Stopovers en route to New Zealand - Jon Foster wants to break the journey in each direction, but wants to avoid the Far East

6. Can I see Iceland en route to NY? - Dan Kavanagh wants to pair two unusual destinations in one trip

7. What can I do with six hours in Bangkok? - Carol Melville and her husband are to Bangkok on route to Luang Prabang and have six hours before their connecting flight, but it's not enough time to leave the airport, says expert Richard Green

8. How to pass the time in Singapore - but for Ian Taylor, there's better news - eight hours in Singapore is plenty to see the city or just hang out in the sprawling Changi airport

9. Is Brunei worth a visit? Tracy Cummings was offered a Darwin flight via the mini-sultanate, and wants to know what there is to see and do

10. Hawaii en route to Australia - Jane Haddon wants to avoid the crowds and explore the barefoot and boutique sides to the Pacific islands. Here's how to stopover in style

A couple of years ago we bought a new Mecedes and we decided to take an offer from Mercedes to collect the vehicle from the manufacturer in Germany.We drove through parts of Germany, France, Luxemberg, Brussels on our way back to UK via the Tunnel.
The whole trip took 9 days and was one of the most enjoyable holidays we have had. To the extent that we would like to visit all parts of Europe in the future.
The only downside was finding sutable accomodation. By about 3-00pm our efforts where consentrating on a Hotel and not on the areas we were traveling through. We always found a Hotel but they were usually quite expensive.
What we would like to know, is there an equivilent to Premier Lodge/Travel Inn in Europe where with a Hotel list we could ring ahead or just arrive on spec and probable get a room at a reasonable price.
Trusting you can assist.

Philip G Ormrod, Shrewsbury,