Travel tips: What's a good stopover if I'm flying to Venice?

ANY SUGGESTIONS FOR A FIVE-NIGHT SEPTEMBER STOPOVER EN ROUTE TO A CRUISE FROM VENICE? ALSO, IDEAS FOR 24 DAYS POST CRUISE? HAVE VISITED THE POPULAR ITALIAN DESTINATIONS, LOOKING FOR OFF THE BEATEN TRACK LOCALITIES, ONE WEEK EACH. J BRENNAN , SEAFORTH, NSW



The choice of stopovers depends on whether you prefer cities in Asia or the Middle East. In the Middle East, Dubai has the most to offer for the visitor on a five-day stopover. In Asia, Singapore is a great choice, and Singapore Airlines has some excellent hotel deals in its Singapore Stopover Holiday program. Bangkok is livelier and a little more challenging but if you're up for it, this is an exciting city with plenty to offer in the way of culture, food and shopping, and hotel prices are fantastic.With 24 days to spare after your cruise you've plenty of scope but there is no part of Europe worth visiting that is off the beaten track, the continent is just too crowded for that.If you want to experience a part of Italy that is quite unlike any other, head for Sicily and the Aeolian Islands. Sardinia and Corsica are two gems and in October the crowds will have gone home. The same applies to France's Provence and the Cote d'Azur and also to the great cities of Spain.If you want to experience some parts of Europe that are less visited, then a journey through Croatia, Montenegro and Albania and into Greece would deliver plenty of adventures, with the tantalising possibility of time in the Greek Islands at the end of the trip.

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