Something To Declare: Germany, slowly; Egypt; Boston, the pretty way; high-speed Italy

Bargain of the week: Germany, slowly

Deutsche Bahn, which runs the vast majority of trains in Germany, has two excellent unlimited-travel deals for those prepared to stick to Regional Express services. On Saturdays and Sundays, the Schönes-Wochenende ("Beautiful weekend") ticket costs €39 and allows five people to travel together from a minute past midnight on day one to 3am on day two.

DB has now brought in a weekday version: Quer-durchs-Land Ticket ("Across the country ticket"). For one person it costs €42, and allows travel anywhere in Germany from 9am on day one to 3am the following morning. You can take a partner for another €6 – and three more friends for €6 each. To book, contact DB in the UK (08718 80 80 66) or see bit.ly/railbarg.

Warning of the week: Egypt

Ahead of the first round of presidential elections in Egypt in late May, the US State Department has issued an alert about the risks associated with demonstrations: "Even peaceful ones can quickly become violent and a foreigner could become a target of harassment or worse". Travellers should "remain alert to local security developments and carry identification and, if moving about alone, a cell phone or other means of communication that works in Egypt". But the travel alert also points out that life in Luxor, Aswan and the Red Searesorts, such as Sharm el Sheikh, "continues to be calm".

Destination of the week: Boston, the pretty way

The new non-stop link between Gatwick and Ponta Delgada in the Azores, mentioned on pages 4 and 5, opens up the intriguing possibility of a new route to North America. The airline of the Azores, SATA, also flies from Ponta Delgada to Boston, pictured – one of the quickest Atlantic crossings, taking under five hours eastbound. Returns are available as low as €465, to which you need to add £307 for the return from London to the Azores. This represents a total of about £700.

Tip of the week: High-speed Italy

The latest Thomas Cook European Rail Timetable reports that a new operator, Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori, will soon start competing with Trenitalia on the high-speed line from Turin, via Milan and Rome, to Naples. The blog at www.blogitalo.it suggests that the first departure will be on 28 April.