Weird, wonderful, and adrenaline-fuelled adventures around the world

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Sometimes you just want to get off the beaten track and explore the more isolated places of the world. However, getting to these places can often be both challenging and expensive. We've put together a guide on how to get to some of the most remote places on earth for under &pound;500 (And a few for under &pound;1,000) for you.
This list is not an exhaustive guide and we'd highly recommend doing your own research before making your way to the places below.
<h2>1. Gurbantunggut Desert, China</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/0d61be165463a34e5e17d70fcc6d3f45503865cc" alt="Gurbantunggut Desert China" width="740" height="450">
The Gurbantunggut Desert is China&rsquo;s second largest desert behind Taklamakan Desert and occupies 50,000 square kilometers of Northern Xinjiang. It&rsquo;s one of the most arid areas of the world but it is nearby to the glacial mountains of Tian Shan which is a major water source for the province.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
To get to the Gurbantunggut Desert you can take a flight from London to &Uuml;r&uuml;mqi (URC) the Capital city of Xinjiang province for around &pound;419 (With Tianjin and Hainan Airlines). This may include a stop at XIY Xi An Xianyang
Best time to visit for under &pound;500 is September - December
<ul>
<li>Once at &Uuml;r&uuml;mqi take a one hour bus/train at a cost of &pound;2 to the city of Shihezi, than take another bus to Group 150 (Yes this is a place, named by the military) for another hour for around &pound;1.</li>
<li>After arrival at Group 150, take a taxi or a coach for the last 10 km for a further &pound;1.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;423</li>
</ul>
<h2>2. Supai, Arizona</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/65fb2c184ae2c2cff16974e8eedda9fd112aa41b" alt="Supai Arizona Waterfall" width="740" height="562">
Visiting Supai isn't for the inexperienced traveller. It&rsquo;s one of the most remote communities in the USA, sits 8 miles from the nearest road and the mail delivery service for it&rsquo;s 43 households is carried out by a team of...mules. Home of the glorious Havasupai falls it&rsquo;s not a place to be missed, however.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Getting to Supai is unsurprisingly pretty difficult. You can get return flights to Las&nbsp;Vegas from London for around &pound;300. From there you&rsquo;re going to want to rent a car for the 4 hour drive to the Hualapai Hilltop which is essentially a car park where your options are an 8 mile hike to the village or the more pricey option of a helicopter ride. As we&rsquo;re on a budget we&rsquo;re going to recommend the hike here.
Dates: mid March - early April
<ul>
<li>London Heathrow (LHR) &ndash; Las Vegas (LAS): &pound;350 *via a short stopover in LA with American Airlines</li>
<li>Car hire: &pound;88</li>
<li>Entrance fee to the park: &pound;38</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;476</li>
</ul>
<h2>3. Kolsai Lakes, Kazakhstan</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/e2d32256dd3781f6d6e68490a8fd73bd45369cd3" alt="Kolsai Lakes Kazakhstan" width="740" height="587">
Around 75 miles southeast of Almaty and near the north slope of the Tian Shan Mountains sits the breathtaking Kolsai lakes national park. At its centre are the Kolsai lakes, often referred to as &lsquo;The pearls of Tien Shan&rsquo;, an untouched, scenic area of Kazakhstan.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
The first part of the journey involves flying into Almaty airport which can be done from London for &pound;380 return. You should be able to get a taxi from there to Saty for around &pound;16 return.
The first lake is fairly easy to get to by taxi or hitchhiking thanks to a new asphalt road from Saty. You are then able to hike to the second but make sure you take your passport as there is a border patrol due to the proximity of the Kyrgyzstan border.
These flights were found for 6th - 13th June but prices are consistent for a week long trip between April - June
<ul>
<li>London Heathrow LHR &ndash; Almaty International ALA: &pound;389 *with Aeroflot (Includes a short stopover in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow)</li>
<li>Taxi: &pound;16 return</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;396</li>
</ul>
<h2>4. Faroe Islands</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/599e78da4b094f5f5dfc62f919c335bbf25635e9" alt="Faroe Islands Overview" width="740" height="584">
The Faroe Islands is a little closer to home than some of the other locations on this list but it&rsquo;s still very much off the beaten track, in fact it&rsquo;s about as remote as you can get and quite difficult to get to from the UK with ease. Our flight hackers have managed to figure out how to get you those of you who fancy an adventure for under &pound;250.
6 of the islands are connected by road so you can soak up the vast amount of snow-capped scenery from a rental car once you have arrived at the pocket sized Vagar Airport.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Dates: throughout May
<ul>
<li>London Heathrow - Copenhagen - Vagar Airport Faroe Islands: &pound;253 *Airline: Scandinavian</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;253</li>
</ul>
<h2>5. Chang Tang, Tibet</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/2ba3e4a730752e9c165232a8280588c805fb482f" alt="Chang Tang Tibet" width="740" height="534">
Chang Tang is located to the west of the Tibetan Plateau and sits at an altitude of over 4000m. It&rsquo;s a truly wild and untouched 700,000 km2 area of largely uninhabited land which possesses harsh, arctic like winters.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Dates: March 24th - April 8th. Similar prices around late March - early April
<ul>
<li>Fly to from London to Leh, India for &pound;469 return with a long stop in Delhi.</li>
<li>From here you&rsquo;ll need to rent a car as its a 4hr bumpy ride towards the Tibetan Plateau *Airline: Air India</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;480</li>
</ul>
<h2>6. Kungsleden, Sweden</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/7a98dcf5bbe5d33b356e8d02990d5a213f7eda0e" alt="Kungsleden Sweden" width="733" height="589">
Northern Sweden is perfect for the more ambitious wilderness loving travellers. Kungleden, also know as the Kings Path is 270mile long hiking trail between Abisko (North) and Hemavan (South Sweden). The trail passes through the Game of Thrones esk Vindelfjallen nature reserve which has to be seen to be believed.
Huts, which are located 6-14 miles apart, are open between mid-June and end of September but the weather is usually unpredictable and potentially treacherous all year round.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
<ul>
<li>You can fly from London Heathrow to Kiruna for &pound;246 in June with BA &amp; SAS via Stockholm.</li>
<li>From there it&rsquo;s a 1.5 hour bus ride to Abisko for around &pound;10</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;256</li>
</ul>
<h2>7. Andaman Islands</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/ab92fd1359b100882bae286c928ea023129a7435" alt="Andaman Islands Beach" width="740" height="634">
The beautiful and largely untouched Andaman Islands are located in the Bay of Bengal between India and Myanmar. The islands are home to a number of tribes, including the Sentinelese, known for their hostility towards visitors. Many of the inhabitants have had little contact with the outside world. Only a dozen or so of the 300 islands are even open to visitors so this is a must visit for those looking to tick off a major place on their remote location bucket list. We&rsquo;ve figured out how to get you there for under &pound;500
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Dates: September - October
<ul>
<li>Flights to Chennai, India from London Gatwick can come to a cost of around &pound;345 *with Qatar Airlines (Via connecting flight in DOH Hamad International)</li>
<li>From Chennai it&rsquo;s onto Veer Savarkar airport, also known as Port Blair which is the main airport for the Andaman Islands, this will set you back a further &pound;58 with Air India.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;403</li>
</ul>
<h2>8. Rila National Park, Bulgaria</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/7ecf4aeddb4215bc1a29c829e244c98afc69922b" alt="Rila National Park Bulgaria" width="740" height="509">
Rila National Park is the largest nature reserve in Bulgaria that stretches across more than 800 square kilometers. Rila is perfect for blue lakes and hiking enthusiasts and it&rsquo;s only 100km away from the Bulgarian capital, Sofia. This means we have figured out how to get you there for a mere &pound;33!
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Dates: end of March - early April but cheap flights to Sofia can be found most of the year with Ryanair
<ul>
<li>Flights from London Stansted to Sofia: &pound;28</li>
<li>Bus from Sofia to Rila National Park: &pound;5</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;33</li>
</ul>
<h2>9. Siwa Oasis, Egypt</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/211de9ede0a0c35dfc4bde40fd24c17744daa34e" alt="Siwa Oasis Egypt" width="739" height="629">
Siwa is the ideal location for those desert daydreamers. Despite its arid appearance, Siwa is home to both olive and palm trees as well as multiple crystal clear springs which are dotted throughout.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Flying to Cairo can be done with Ukraine airlines for around the &pound;200 mark. From here you have a rather long drive of around 740km which could take 10 hours+. There is a night bus option which departs Cairo at 11pm and this only costs around &pound;8.
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;208</li>
</ul>
<h2>10. Guam, Micronesia</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/7f5402f0311141111d21f175a4feb6d3a4b7b42b" alt="Guam Micronesia" width="740" height="560">
If remote for you is crystal clear lagoons and white sandy beaches then the Micronesia island of Guam is for you, and we&rsquo;ve found out how to get you there for under &pound;500. The whole island is only 210sq miles, surrounded by coral reef it&rsquo;s the perfect place for avid scuba divers and snorkelers. Located in Typhoon alley, the higher risk months of a tropical storm are between August and October, so if you&rsquo;re looking to stay dry then visit in the dry season between December and June.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Dates: between March - June and September - November
<ul>
<li>China airlines are offering a route from London via a night stopover in Taipei each way for &pound;492.</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;492</li>
</ul>
<center>
<h2>Here are 3 more for under &pound;1k...</h2>
</center>
<h2>11. Barrow, Alaska</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/1a6391ed4175250800ac0bda639f27b0ab6fa577" alt="Barrow Alaska" width="695" height="613">
Ok, this one isn't under our &pound;500 threshold but we still think it&rsquo;s worth including as special mention as you can&rsquo;t really talk about remote destinations without including Alaska. Barrow, also known as Utqiagvik, is one of those unique areas of the world that basks in 24 hour sunlight for over 80 days in the summer and then the locals endure a complete blackout for over 60 days in the winter. Based at the tip of Alaska, you&rsquo;ll struggle to find more remote surroundings.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
We&rsquo;ve found flights from Dublin to Anchorage for as low as &pound;500 with Aer Lingus before and we know connecting flights to Barrow from Anchorage can cost around &pound;250. So you could experience this one of a kind location for around the &pound;750 mark.
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;750</li>
</ul>
<h2>12. Cape York Peninsula, Australia</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/e79cdcc9eb6792d0187413954224a10a417e8b5a" alt="Cape York Peninsula Australia" width="740" height="547">
The Cape York Peninsula runs parallel to the Great Barrier Reef and is located north of Cairns. It&rsquo;s nearest city however is in Papua New Guinea and not Australia, that&rsquo;s how remote this place is. Tackling Cape York means spending a few weeks in the bush, in near complete isolation with just your travel partner, your jeep and the scattered fuel roadhouses located every few hundred km for company. The juice is worth the squeeze if you like having your breakfast near pristine waterfalls, spending your days walking through rainforests and your evenings camping on deserted beaches. We&rsquo;ve found out how to get you there for only a touch over &pound;600 which includes a weeks 4x4 hire and a return flight.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
Flights in March to September can be found for under &pound;600
<ul>
<li>London to Cairns &pound;498 rtn (During March) *with China Southern via a stopover in Guangzhou</li>
<li>7 day hire of 4x4: &pound;140</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;638</li>
</ul>
<h2>13. Galapagos Islands</h2>
<img src="https://d20k4h1q6oowm6.cloudfront.net/id/bee8b60dc0e9532dee14d49cc2a3ddcfb15a8dfa" alt="Galapagos Islands" width="740" height="539">
Known for it&rsquo;s rare wildlife, The Galapagos are a pristinely preserved set of Islands off the coast of Ecuador. The islands and their surroundings are home to flamingos, sea lions, whales, rare birds and of course the Galapagos Giant Tortoise.
<h3>How to get there</h3>
In order to get to the islands you first have to fly into Quito, Ecuador. A return flight from Quito can be done for under &pound;500 via an overnight connection in Mexico City. From there the Galapagos can only be reached via another flight from Quito, which usually costs around &pound;427.
<ul>
<li>London Heathrow - Mexico City, Mexico - Quito, Ecuador: &pound;498 *(September 2019) with AeroMexico</li>
<li>Quito - Galapagos: $553 (&pound;427)</li>
<li>&pound;15 for the Ingala transit control card</li>
<li>Park entrance fee, non-residents of Ecuador 12+ years: &pound;77</li>
</ul>
<hr class="style1">
<ul>
<li>Total cost: &pound;1,017 (Let&rsquo;s blame the exchange rate for this being slightly over)</li>
</ul>
<center>
. . .
Still have questions? Feel free to drop us a message on <a href="mailto:support@jacksflightclub.com%E2%80%9D">support@jacksflightclub.com</a>&nbsp;and we'll be happy to help.
Please note, while we do have links to other websites in our articles, none are affiliate links and we do not benefit from you clicking on them, we just think they are a good resource :)
</center>

How to get to some of the most remote places on earth for under £500

An underground town, and other weird, wacky and unusual architecture

Hey there, JFC-ers,
We've got a lot to celebrate this week! The party kicked off with <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2025/03/photos-carnival-2025-around-world/681910/">Mardi Gras and Carnival</a> celebrations around the world, while those of us in the UK whipped out the pancakes on Tuesday. In fact, some parts of England have turned into <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g089vvn4ko">quite the sport</a>. Here at JFC, we celebrated our own way, with a brand-new <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/new-orleans-destination-guide">New Orleans guide</a>.
Next came time to digest all the excitement with a quiet moment on World Book Day. The bookworms among you may fancy taking a look back at our article on&nbsp;<a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/unique-and-quirky-destinations-for-book-lovers">quirky destinations for book lovers</a> to help plan your next trip.
And then comes tomorrow's International Women's Day! From the <a href="https://www.exodus.co.uk/insights/historys-boldest-female-travellers">inspirational travellers</a> who came before us, to the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unearthwomen.com/5-matriarchal-societies-where-women-are-in-charge/">women-led societies</a> that still exist around the world, I'll be celebrating by letting the women of this world fuel my insatiable wanderlust.
Happy travels and safe landings,

Katy - Editor of The Detour

Arizona's Essential Out-of-This-World Road Trip Pit Stop

San Diego native Olivia left home two years ago to live on the road, but she always ends up back on the West Coast. When she's not hiking through the desert or the woods, she can usually be found exploring her current city and scoping out the best bars and coffee shops.

Written by Olivia

If you&rsquo;ve ever driven down the heavily trafficked Interstate 10 through Eastern Arizona, you have probably encountered a few billboards for a mysterious roadside attraction:&nbsp;
&ldquo;THE THING? YOU&rsquo;LL BE AMAZED!&rdquo;
&ldquo;THE THING? IT&rsquo;S A WONDER!&rdquo;
&ldquo;THE THING? YOU WON&rsquo;T FORGET IT!&rdquo;
In a distinctive shade of sunny yellow, these cryptic billboards arrive every fifty or so miles down the highway and have been turning heads <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/t9ju4y/the_thing_arizona_1967/">since the 1960s</a>. If you&rsquo;re a connoisseur of tacky roadside attractions like me, they&rsquo;re highly effective at making you memorize that exit number (exit 322) and flick that righthand turn signal when you see it.
When I finally arrive at the exit, a matching yellow building promises a museum and gift shop.

I enter to find a typical southwestern travel center. Think Native and Mexican goods, and snowglobes of landscapes that have never seen snow. I am directed to the far corner of the store, past the aisles of t-shirts and talavera pottery. In this corner, there is a door under a chain of neon lights.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Hi,&rdquo; I say to the woman sitting by the door. &ldquo;I want to see the Thing.&rdquo;
&ldquo;You&rsquo;re in the right place. Cash or card?&rdquo;
I am charged five dollars to see the Thing. I have not been given any further information about what I&rsquo;ve just paid for, but I still have a feeling this is a bargain.&nbsp;
Now, if there is any chance you&rsquo;ll ever find yourself on this lonely stretch of I-10, I suggest you stop reading here before I spoil the entire surprise. This is the sort of attraction that you have to enter blindly.&nbsp;
Ticket in hand, I go through the door with absolutely no idea what is on the other side. It opens into a long, colorfully lit hallway.

The first thing I notice is a giant statue of a dinosaur. The second thing I notice is a flying saucer surrounded by alien mannequins. These are tied together with a series of plaques and murals that begin with one bold declaration: Aliens visited Earth during the time of dinosaurs and conquered them using mind control helmets.
Okay. Definitely a bargain.
I read every word of every plaque, and the story unfolds. After eons of cerebral interference from the aliens, the dinosaurs gained sentience and started fighting back, and eventually their interplanetary enemies send the Chicxulub asteroid to wipe them out.&nbsp;
The aliens go home, they come back millennia later, they find humanity, and they proceed to guide us through our entire history, which is told through more displays (including a life-size model of Winston Churchill riding in a Rolls driven by an alien, because you can&rsquo;t prove that never happened).
All of this information is delivered with passionate seriousness and just enough &ldquo;What if&hellip;&rdquo;s to maintain plausible deniability.

I would have considered this money well-spent if the museum ended here. But this is all pretext, the preparation, the prologue &mdash; we haven&rsquo;t even seen the actual THING yet. A plaque before the final room informs me that the attraction&rsquo;s founder, Thomas Prince, acquired it in 1950 through methods that are &ldquo;shrouded in secrecy.&rdquo;
I enter the final room. Speakers are looping the X-Files theme. It&rsquo;s a darker room than the others, lit by the glow of something roped off in the corner.&nbsp;
As I approach the exhibit, I see a glass coffin containing a mummy. It&rsquo;s holding a second, child-sized mummy. They are ambiguously inhuman, in a way that suggests either unearthliness or advanced decay.
This is the titular THING: two mummies, supposedly unidentifiable as terrestrial beings. They&rsquo;re here to ground everything we&rsquo;ve just seen into some kind of tangible fact. The rest is just statues and storytelling, but here we have the evidence.

The exhibit ends here and I am guided by signs back into the glaring fluorescents of the gift shop.&nbsp;
&ldquo;What did you think?&rdquo; asks the lady who sold me my ticket.
I am still absorbing many things, including the fact that I just witnessed a truly Barnum-esque sideshow in 2025, that I am absolutely going to write about this for JFC, and that I&rsquo;ve drunk coffees that cost more than that experience.
&ldquo;I thought it was great.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Oh, good. I&rsquo;m so glad.&rdquo; She is visibly relieved.
I suddenly get the vibe that this woman has dealt with disappointed tourists many, many times.
Because THE THING? isn&rsquo;t designed to impress, not genuinely. Like most roadside stops along American interstates, the ridiculousness is the attraction. It&rsquo;s an entire niche culture built on irony. Not everyone understands it, but if you want to get the most out of an American road trip, you have to let yourself in on the joke.

You shouldn&rsquo;t show up to a spot like this and feel disappointed when it turns out to be silly &mdash; you should show up because it will probably be silly. Because there&rsquo;s just something special about driving through hours of Nebraska farm land and finding a <a href="https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/carhenge">replica of Stonehenge made out of vintage cars</a>, or going out of your way for the <a href="https://www.travelks.com/listing/worlds-largest-ball-of-twine/2344/">world&rsquo;s largest ball of twine</a>. To paraphrase Ken Smith of Roadside America, a good highway attraction isn&rsquo;t about what it actually is, but the fact that <a href="https://www.routemagazine.us/stories/mystery-in-the-desert#:~:text=I%20say%20this%20a%20lot%2C%20but%20a%20good%20roadside%20attraction%E2%80%94it%20isn%E2%80%99t%20about%20what%20it%20is.%20It%E2%80%99s%20about%20what%20you%20remember.%20It%E2%80%99s%20about%20building%20a%20memory.">you&rsquo;ll always remember seeing it</a>.
When it comes to memorable hooks, it doesn&rsquo;t get much better than dinosaur mind control and alien mummies. And that was an intentional marketing ploy.&nbsp;
Do some Googling, and you can find a true, honest-to-God backstory for this funky exhibition. The aforementioned Thomas Prince is the source of those cryptic and eye-catching billboards, having displayed the Thing along the highway until his death in 1969.
The mummies were then purchased by Bowlin Travel Centers (a familiar name in these parts &mdash; nearly every service station seems to be under their jurisdiction) and Bowlin decided to dress up the mummies with a tale about aliens and dinosaurs.&nbsp;
After all, you gotta earn those five dollars, and sci-fi sells big in this part of the country. Just ask Roswell, New Mexico. Or Amargosa Valley, Nevada, where the mystique of nearby Area 51 drives folks towards UFO knick-knacks and a (legal) alien-themed brothel. If you&rsquo;re operating a funky attraction in the deserts of the Southwest, the real money is in making Ed Wood look like Spielberg.
But all of this only explains the events after Prince put the mummies on show. So&hellip; what are those mummies, then? Where were they found? Are they&hellip; real?

That&rsquo;s the thing about the Thing &mdash; officially, no one knows. There are a few competing theories (most involving some <a href="https://www.routemagazine.us/stories/mystery-in-the-desert#:~:text=%E2%80%9C%5BThe%20Thing%5D%20was,kinds%20of%20things.%E2%80%9D">arts and crafts</a>), but there are no definitive answers. If anyone at Bowlin has real concrete provenance for these figures, they&rsquo;re not talking. The secret of the mummies just might have died with Thomas Prince.
I think that&rsquo;s for the best. That last kernel of mystery makes it easier to forget every official bit of history and enjoy the gaff. A weary driver encounters enigmatic billboards, surrounded in every direction by miles of empty desert, and is offered a rare and glorious chance to suspend their disbelief to Fox Mulder levels.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s roadside gold, an exhibit so sincere in its irony that it has drawn in visitors for six decades. Because it&rsquo;s not about whether those mummies were clearly papier-m&acirc;ch&eacute;, it&rsquo;s about the fact that you&rsquo;ll remember them forever.
So if you&rsquo;re ever driving down I-10 an hour east of Tucson, hit the brakes at exit 322. You won&rsquo;t forget it.

Travel Tales

Flight Finding Team Lead Allan is your expert on the inner workings of the airline world. If you&rsquo;ve ever seen a debut deal on a brand spanking new route or a bonkers drop on an old classic, you've got him to thank!

Answered by Allan

"Hello, I am flying out of LAX to Greece but returning from Rome. What are the best options, book one-ways, or multiple roundtrip flights with one carrier? I saw you had a LAX to Rome round trip with great pricing. How logical would it be to land at Rome and take a less quick jump from Rome to Athens?"

Hey dear reader!
Flight Nerd Allan here with just enough info to make this reality come true. Because it&rsquo;s become a bit of an open secret among my friends how much I love just poking around on Google Flights, I&rsquo;ve become the guy everyone goes to when they&rsquo;re looking for how to get somewhere for cheap. And the one thing I always say when they wanna go from the US to Europe&hellip;&nbsp;
&ldquo;All you need to book initially are the big pond-hopping flights across the Atlantic. Book any other legs on their own&rdquo;
It&rsquo;s pretty simple: if you try to book a multi-city trip that includes small inter-Europe flights, you might get into really expensive territory, as most search engines will default to keeping your flight with the same airline/alliance. So, if you&rsquo;re flying over with Delta, they&rsquo;ll try to offer you the regional flight with KLM or Air France, for example. And those can be crazy pricey.&nbsp;

Instead, find the best deal on the big flights, book those, and then book the smaller legs with a budget carrier on a totally separate booking. That way, you&rsquo;ll get an even better price than if you booked altogether.
And on this specific route, there&rsquo;s been even better news lately. Norse Atlantic just added a non-stop route from LAX to Athens - the first time this route has been served non-stop in years. Pair that with their non-stop to Rome from LAX and you have the makings of a beautiful &ldquo;in here, out over there&rdquo; trip. It may not come out quite as cheap as into Rome both ways, but it&rsquo;s going to be the best bargain for those looooong West Coast flights, and non-stop to boot.
Safe travels :-)

"What&rsquo;s the best way to get to Iceland from Los Angeles? And do you have an Iceland itinerary?"

Hey there!
Unfortunately, LA to Iceland is not a super convenient route. The Icelandic carriers don&rsquo;t fly planes big enough to reach LA from Keflav&iacute;k Airport, and their domestic US partners tend to be budget airlines like Frontier and Spirit.&nbsp;
If you look on Google Flights, you&rsquo;ll see loads of 1 or 2 stop options, usually stopping over in places like Denver, Houston or Baltimore. But I wouldn&rsquo;t recommend booking one of those unless you&rsquo;re on a strict timetable and only certain dates work.
If you have any bit of flexibility, I&rsquo;d watch out for deals from Seattle. Icelandair DO fly there and we usually see the non-stop from SEA to KEF in the $540s RT or so. Pair that with a $150 RT domestic flight up to Seattle from Los Angeles and you&rsquo;re looking at in itinerary around $700&nbsp; when most other one 1-stops from LA get closer to that $1,000 RT mark.
<a href="https://simpleflying.com/icelandair-will-fly-to-19-us-canadian-airports-this-year-with-record-flights/">This handy article</a> will give you a rundown of all the non-stop routes currently operating between the US and Iceland.

And as for an Iceland itinerary, well that all depends on your travel style! The classic &ldquo;must-sees&rdquo; within easy reach of Reykjav&iacute;k can be found on the popular <a href="https://www.re.is/golden-circle-tours/">Golden Circle</a> route.
For a short trip, this is a good aim. You can find loads of tour companies online offering single day trips on the route, covering the rugged landscapes of Thingvellir National park, the geysers of, well, Geysir, and the huuuuge Gulfoss waterfall.
But if you have more time to play with &mdash; and a bit of an adventurous side &mdash; that&rsquo;s where trips to Iceland get really interesting.&nbsp;
The country&rsquo;s main highway,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nordicvisitor.com/blog/iceland-ring-road/">the Ring Road</a>, is the ultimate road trip if you&rsquo;re looking to spend 10&ndash;14 days checking out otherworldly landscapes, glaciers, waterfalls, black sand beaches and more. However, it&rsquo;s the <a href="https://anywhereweroam.com/f-roads-in-iceland/">F-roads</a> traversing the country&rsquo;s mountainous interior that&rsquo;ll really get your heart racing. Only accessible during the summer months, this is the way to get well-and-truly off the beaten path.&nbsp;
And although much of the country&rsquo;s allure lies away from its capital, do make time to spend a day or two in Reykjav&iacute;k itself! Between a class at <a href="https://theelfschool.com/">Elf School</a>, a visit to a somewhat <a href="https://www.phallus.is/">less conventional museum</a>, and checking out the street art as you pop between the local boutiques, there&rsquo;s more than enough to fill a short city break. Add in a summer <a href="https://adventures.is/blog/puffins-in-iceland/">puffin-spotting</a> or whale-watching tour, and your itinerary will be absolutely packed!&nbsp;
Hopefully you've got a few exciting ideas for your Iceland trip now! Have a fantastic time :-)
 Do you have a question you'd like answered in The Detour? Let us know below 👇

Reader's Corner

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across web this week.
<ul></ul>
<ul>
<li>Great news, it's <a href="https://youtu.be/B4-L2nfGcuE">nesting season</a> in Big Bear Valley! </li>
<li>Want to glide through passport control? Remember not to wear a <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/ai-passport-control-david-bowie-bali-indonesia-b2709656.html">t-shirt with your favourite musician's face</a> on it! </li>
<li>On your next trip to Croatia, you may be able to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/01/communist-tito-yugoslav-adriatic-luxury-beach-resort">book yourself a room</a> in the former holiday resort built for Tito's Yugoslav military. </li>
<li>And finally, Air India passengers flying from Chicago to Delhi on Thursday found themselves thanking <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/delhi-bound-air-india-flight-returns-to-chicago-after-being-airborne-for-10-hours-here-is-why/">clogged toilets</a> for their 10-hour flight to nowhere. Now that's what I call a crap flight!</li>
</ul>

Travel News

Arizona's Essential Out-of-This-World Road Trip Pitstop

<a href="https://www.fluentin3months.com/hello-in-vietnamese/">Xin Ch&agrave;o</a>, JFC-ers!
A week ago, I stepped off a plane in London Heathrow to be greeted by temperatures little above freezing. A stark contrast to the 30 &deg;C+ I&rsquo;d been experiencing in Ho Chi Minh City just 16 hours earlier, to say the least!&nbsp;
Between enjoying copious quantities of phở and soaking in lantern-lit streets, I was delighted to meet fellow JFC-ers who had been summoned by the call of Vietnam. Both by the pool and on the streets, we found ourselves surrounded by like-minded travellers, many spending a month or more traversing Southeast Asia.
In fact, my friend Rachel and I had the good fortune of arriving in both HCMC and Hội An just a couple of days behind JFC-ers Kate &amp; Bex, whom I first met in Bari&rsquo;s rather depressing ferry terminal during last year&rsquo;s&nbsp;<a href="https://lupine.co.uk/race/about.html">Lupine Race to Tirana</a>. Lucky for us, they&rsquo;d already sussed out great spots for beers with a view by the time we touched down (the first place we met in Ho Chi Minh was very literally called &lsquo;The View&rsquo;).
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/e7600ef86bbe632b9804dd601cace1aed9c9768b" width="459" height="344" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
There&rsquo;s nothing quite like getting travel tips and advice from other JFC-ers. All the recommendations I got from you to head up the coast to Da Nang and Hội An instead of Phu Quoc are a major part of what made my trip so memorable. The weather may not have smiled down upon us so much, but we were delighted just to spend hours getting lost in the historical old town.
And that leads me to the next ask. We&rsquo;re on the lookout for a new <a href="https://jacksflightclub.com/join-us">Senior Full Stack Developer</a> with a deep understanding of Python to join the Jack&rsquo;s Flight Club team! We usually find that the best candidates are already JFC-ers, so if you or anyone you know fits the bill, apply via the link above.
Happy travels and safe landings,

(Re-)Learning How to Cross the Road

Detour Editor Katy is a budget travel aficionado who has already travelled to more than 50 countries. Whether she's at home or on a foreign adventure, she has a particular talent for stumbling upon tasty Georgian restaurants.

Written by Katy

Lesson number one during any trip to Vietnam is crossing the road.
It sounds mundane, but honestly, it&rsquo;s far from it. Who needs to go skydiving, bungee jumping, or canyoning when you can simply cross from one side of Ben Thanh Market square to another.
Doing even a little research on Ho Chi Minh City will quickly tell you that motor scooters/mopeds are a way of life here, not just a means of getting from A to B. They&rsquo;re truly vehicles for the whole family (and their dog). In a densely-packed city of around 9 million, that makes for some seriously chaotic roads. But at least there are pedestrian crossings&hellip;

Before I travelled, I watched a video on &ldquo;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DEwaavWP9dZ/?hl=en">How to Cross the Street in Vietnam Like a Pro</a>&rdquo; &mdash; the fact this exists was enough for me to take it seriously.&nbsp;
In the video, a local tour guide explains things like moving slowly and predictably, don&rsquo;t back-track or stop abruptly, don&rsquo;t run, etc. All fairly straightforward tips. But then there&rsquo;s the advice to raise your hand as you cross the road to make yourself more visible. In fact, she says that this is now law and raising your hand is essential when you step out in front of traffic.&nbsp;&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s also the buddy approach, where you smile awkwardly at a local and hope they&rsquo;ll shepherd you across, or the defensive line, where you hide yourself at the far side of a large group, essentially using them as human shields. I&rsquo;d be lying if I said I didn&rsquo;t employ that last tactic on more than one occasion.&nbsp;
With all this in mind, and having witnessed the sea of scooters weaving around our car from the airport, I felt apprehensive about taking those first steps out of our hotel on day one. Apprehensive, but about as prepared as I could be, I suppose. I&rsquo;d just step out, raise my hand and go.&nbsp;
The reality check came immediately, when we attempted to reach the coffee shop directly across the street from our hotel. We made our way to the crossing (no traffic lights, just lines painted on the ground), took a few deep breaths and waited for a gap in the traffic.&nbsp;
&ldquo;Okay, 3, 2, 1&hellip; go!&rdquo;

Rachel and I launched out onto the crossing, hands raised, attempting to keep our eyes open while vehicles came hurtling towards us. We were met with horns blaring, as a large car and 5 scooters rushed down our &ldquo;quiet&rdquo; side street. More than few expletives escaped from my mouth at that moment, but we persisted.&nbsp;
Once safely* on the other side of the road (I&rsquo;ll come back to this later), we debriefed. None of those drivers had any intention of stopping for us, despite the marked crossing. The horns &mdash; why?! We did what we were told. Then I remembered that video; while scooters will weave around you, cars can&rsquo;t, but that doesn&rsquo;t mean they&rsquo;ll stop. Basically, avoid cars at all costs.
We caught our breath and bravely pulled ourselves together before heading into the coffee shop where we&rsquo;d meet our future holiday romance: <a href="https://www.lordlucy.com/post/vietnamese-iced-coffee">Vietnamese iced coffee</a>.&nbsp;
There&rsquo;s really no right or wrong place to drink coffee in Vietnam, it&rsquo;s all great. But ultimately this was the beginning of our love affair with <a href="https://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn/en/origin.html">Highlands Coffee</a> &mdash; a local chain more prolific than Starbucks in the West. You could say that a chain is the wrong place to sample the local produce, but the condensed milk to coffee ratio there was the soothing hug we needed to tackle more simple pedestrian activities.
<img src="https://cdn.jacksflightclub.com/id/d6cfdcda22183e5805dc39635469a8f85af36ea5" width="250" height="404" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;">
As we continued along our route towards Ben Thanh Market (approximately 5 minutes&rsquo; walk from our hotel), we tested our nerves on a couple more small crossings. We waited for the cars to pass, looked both ways a thousand times, and only stepped out when the gap in the traffic seemed great enough for us to make our presence known. We survived.
Then we turned onto the big street. The huge street. We were on one side, the market was on the other. More expletives.
But here we had two things on our side: other pedestrians and traffic lights. This felt like it could be a game changer, so we gathered in among the crowd of other tourists who were vibrating anxiously at the side of the road. The moment the man turned green, we stepped out en masse.&nbsp;
It turns out that the human shield/defensive line approach was the right one for our first Big Road. Like much of the rest of the world, you&rsquo;ll find that in Vietnam, traffic can still turn the corner into the lane you&rsquo;re crossing. When that&rsquo;s 30+ scooters weaving around and among you, it is intimidating to say the least, so we learned to stay close to the pack.
Another thing that quickly became apparent was the lack of raised hands &mdash; in fact, the only other people raising their hands were clearly tourists. Not once during our two-week trip did I spot a local doing it. Part of me suspects that may be by design. After all, it&rsquo;s we tourists who are the unpredictable pedestrians, the ones locals really need to look out for.

After a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, we were less intimidated by the roads. We developed rules that worked for us, like never rushing to catch the end of a green man &mdash; always wait for the next one, wait until you&rsquo;re both fully prepared to step out, and if in doubt, throw your arm in the air and hope it helps. And wherever there was the option, always use a crossing with lights.
Now for that caveat about being &ldquo;safely on the other side of the road.&rdquo; With so many vehicles comes a huge demand for parking. And where better than on the pavement? We frequently found ourselves scrambling between parked mopeds, but it was not unusual to have to walk out along the edge of the road to get by. Somehow, this was less scary than crossing.
During our trip, we&rsquo;d meet other foreigners at crossings and in central reservations, all taking deep breaths and looking around frantically, like rabbits in headlights. Like us, most would steady themselves and step forth. But the one tactic I never saw twice came from a woman who raised her arms and released high-pitched noises similar to a siren as she darted across with purpose. She made it across just fine.
All this to say, if you thought you knew how to cross the road, you&rsquo;ll never truly learn until you visit Vietnam (or, perhaps, India). Even in smaller, partially-pedestrianised tourist hubs like Hội An, throngs of pedestrians are at the mercy of the next scooter-rider rushing home for dinner.&nbsp;
But it&rsquo;s not an impossible challenge to overcome, and the beeping of horns quickly becomes a soundtrack to your trip. And in those moments where you&rsquo;re beginning to wonder whether the treasures that lie across the other side of the road are even worth it, just remember there&rsquo;s probably a Highlands Coffee waiting to give you a soothing hug just a few yards further along.

Travel Tips

&ldquo;My parents, husband and I are planning to drive to Edinburgh from Yorkshire in May for a long weekend. Probably a Thursday to Sunday. Thinking where is best to stay and what to do? Is it advised to drive round Scotland or take public transport like tram.
An itinerary for 3/4 days would be great!&rdquo;

Answered by Katy 

Hi there, reader! I may be biased, but I think a trip to Scotland sounds like a great plan, and May is about the time when a little sunshine should make an appearance.
I previously wrote up a suggestion for a <a href="https://members.jacksflightclub.com/travel-hub/the-best-cross-country-scotland-road-trip-according-to-a-local">week-long road trip around Scotland</a>, so have a look at that for some all-around Scottish destination inspiration. But with only 3 or 4 days on the ground in Edinburgh, you&rsquo;ll find yourself with plenty to do without even leaving the capital.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;d suggest honing in on what you want to see there first &mdash; maybe the castle, the <a href="https://edinburgh.org/blog/the-secrets-underneath-edinburghs-streets/">underground streets</a>, the views from <a href="https://ewh.org.uk/calton-hill/">Calton Hill</a> or <a href="https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/holyrood-park-and-arthurs-seat-p914341">Arthur&rsquo;s Seat</a>? If you&rsquo;re fans of Dan Brown&rsquo;s Da Vinci Code, you&rsquo;ll probably need to schedule in a visit to <a href="https://www.rosslynchapel.com/">Rosslyn Chapel</a>, too.

It&rsquo;ll be tough to work out a way to squeeze it all into a couple of days, but obviously I&rsquo;d suggest visiting Glasgow as well (I&rsquo;ll even show you around!). The two cities are less than an hour apart by train, which makes the trip incredibly easy. Alternatively, you can head to Stirling to see its&nbsp;<a href="https://great-castles.com/stirling.html">historical castle</a> and the <a href="https://www.nationalwallacemonument.com/explore/our-story/">Wallace Monument</a> &mdash; and maybe pop in for a dram at the <a href="https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/curly-coo-bar-p1177261">Curly Coo whisky bar</a>.&nbsp;
With so much to see in Edinburgh alone, you&rsquo;ll probably want to stay pretty centrally. But hotels can get pricey, so you may want to look closer to Haymarket station than Waverley. That&rsquo;ll keep you within reasonable walking distance of the main sights, while also in a convenient spot for catching buses and trams.
On that note, I would suggest leaving your car at home if you can. With LNER trains connecting Edinburgh to London via York and Doncaster, you should hopefully be able to find a convenient route north.
Plus, for only a few days in the city, you really won&rsquo;t need to drive. Buses, trams, and trains will be able to take you anywhere you need to go, usually with a simple tap of your card or a conveniently placed ticket machine.&nbsp;

Hopefully this has answered a few of your questions, reader! I look forward to hearing how your trip goes, and don&rsquo;t hesitate to get in touch if you decide to visit Glasgow :-)
 Do you have a question or idea you'd like to see in the Detour? Let us know below!

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.
<ul>
<li>It&rsquo;s been another scary week for aviation, as a Delta Air Lines plane found itself landing upside down on the runway in Toronto. Thankfully, all those onboard have survived, and now Delta is offering up <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/delta-plane-crash-toronto-30k/">$30,000 compensation</a>. </li>
<li dir="ltr" role="presentation">Passengers flying from New York to Dublin last weekend were treated to an <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/travel/news-and-advice/united-airlines-plane-diverted-canada-dublin-newfoundland-b2701340.html">impromptu weekend on the Canadian island of Newfoundland</a>. Luckily for anyone attending Mass on Sunday at the nearby cathedral, passenger Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, found himself with plenty of time to kill. </li>
<li>If all this leaves you feeling more than a little anxious about flying, take a look at <a href="https://www.afar.com/magazine/expert-tips-and-advice-for-overcoming-a-fear-of-flying">these expert suggestions</a> on managing your fears. </li>
<li>And finally, first came the fake pandas, then came fake tigers, and now there&rsquo;s fake snow. Unseasonably warm temperatures at China&rsquo;s Chengdu Snow Village meant that this year&rsquo;s Lunar New Year celebrations were less blanketed in snow and more <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/snow-village-in-china-apologises-for-using-fake-snow-during-unusually-warm-weather-13311766">blanketed in cotton wool</a>. Despite all apologies and offering refunds, it could take them a while to live down that flake news.</li>
</ul>

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An underground town, and other weird, wacky and unusual architecture

Arizona's Essential Out-of-This-World Road Trip Pitstop

Vietnam - where learning to cross the road isn't childs play

The best cross-country Scotland road trip, according to a local