Off the beaten track

The Galápagos now costs $220 in fees before you land. Two hours from Quito, a $4 bus takes you to Mindo's cloud forest: 500+ bird species, waterfalls and antpittas. Costs, safety and when to go.

Direct Wizz Air flights from Luton, 180 days visa-free and a solo budget of around £30 a day. How to plan a first solo trip to Armenia, plus the border zone to avoid.

Fly Wizz Air to Chișinău, take the bus to Tiraspol and cross the checkpoint. Route, costs, migration card, money and FCDO advice for Transnistria in 2026.

Drive Bosnia's most beautiful route in 5 days: Sarajevo, Konjic, Jablanica, Blagaj, Mostar, Počitelj and Kravica, with distances, car hire and safety tips.

Skip Vang Vieng. A practical guide to trekking Luang Namtha's Nam Ha forest and riding the Bolaven Plateau loop, with routes, costs and safety advice.

After years of closed doors and cautionary headlines, tourists are trickling back to the land of Babylon and the citadel of Erbil. But with the Foreign Office still warning against all but essential travel, the answer is far from simple