Something to declare: Rail links from London to the Midlands; Greeks bearing drinks; St Albans

Bargain of the week: Rail links from London to the Midlands

Virgin Trains offers plenty of cheap "Mobitix" – tickets sent direct to your mobile, and starting at just £1 each way – but at present, they apply only between London Euston and Manchester Piccadilly, for journeys of up to one month ahead. You can find them at virgintrains.com; click on "e-ticketing & m-ticketing".

The company has not yet extended the offer to its other big destination, Birmingham. Happily, two other train operators compete on the London-Birmingham route, though not serving the main New Street hub.

Chiltern Railways sells tickets from London Marylebone to Birmingham Moor Street and Snow Hill, both well placed for the city centre, for as little as £5 each way through chilternrailways.co.uk (click on "tcktsbytxt or print@home").

Wrexham & Shropshire (wrexhamandshropshire.co.uk) offers one-way fares of £9 from London Marylebone to Tame Bridge Parkway, between Birmingham and Walsall.

Warning of the week: Greeks bearing drinks

"Friendly Greek approaches solo male traveller and asks for the time or where he is from; friendly Greek then reveals that he, too, is from out of town and suggests they go to a bar for a drink." That is how the new Lonely Planet guidebook to Greece (£15.99) describes a popular scam in Athens targeting men on their own.

This is what happens next: "Before they know it, women appear and more drinks are ordered." The conman disappears, leaving the victim to pay a bill running into hundreds of euros – with "help" offered if a visit to a cash dispenser is necessary.

During the research for a recent 48 Hours in Athens, the opening gambit of this scam happened twice within a few hours in the streets south of Plaka.

Destination of the week: St Albans

"Labour of love" sums up the new edition of the MapGuide to this fascinating city, in which the leading cartographer – and St Albans resident – Michael Middleditch describes some fascinating locations, such as an example of a Roman hypocaust (underfloor heating system), the oldest inhabited pub in Britain (Ye Olde Fighting Cocks), and a monument to the makers of pre-war intercontinental aircraft, Handley Page.

Other cities covered in the series are somewhat larger, though arguably no more interesting, than St Albans: New York, London, Paris and Amsterdam.

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