Q. We've booked to go to Quito in Ecuador, but the advice from the FCO is scary to say the least. Can you advise?

Mike Pennick, Hindhead, Surrey

Something to Declare

Sixty years after the first successful ascent of Everest, Sue Watt finds ancient temples, royal palaces and rooftop restaurants in the Nepalese capital

The Hedonist: What to see and where to be seen

Keen to get in the mood for the Chelsea Flower Show centenary next week, Mark Rowe travelled to the mid-Atlantic for one of the Royal Horticultural Society's first garden holidays

This Golden Age silk-weaver's workshop has been refashioned into a stylish guesthouse, says Sarah Gilbert

If you want a metaphor for modern Istanbul, look no further than the Marmaray tunnel. It's currently being dug under the Bosphorus to link Sirkeci Station, near the Grand Bazaar, with the ferry port of Uskudar on the Asian shore. The work will take three years to finish; maybe more because workmen keep discovering ancient objects that have to be removed and lovingly catalogued.

The Barista World Championships are coming to Melbourne, says Chris Lawrence, and in this coffee-obsessed city, it's easy to see why

Escape to the sandy beaches and clapboard villages of Cape Cod, says Kate Simon

It may not have all the trappings of tourist-friendly Marrakech, but this medieval Moroccan marvel reveals its charms slowly, says Stephen Bayley

The region has long been a thriving hub, but it's still looking to the future, says Tom Peck