Travel: Departures - Tibetan handful

MOON Publications is stretching the meaning of the word 'handbook' to describe its new Tibet Handbook ( pounds 19.95), a weighty volume of more than 1,100 pages. It is written from the perspective of a would-be pilgrim walking from one shrine to the next, taking the country's monasteries as a central theme.

Some might say that Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands are not the most enticing of places, but there is sufficient demand for Lonely Planet to have brought out a second edition of its Travel Survival Kit ( pounds 10.95) to this group of countries. One notable change since the last edition is that beer is now much easier to obtain in the Faroes. Until 1992, visitors had to apply for a tourist ration card to buy anything stronger than shandy, and wait a week after ordering before getting a drink. Now, however, state liquor stores sell alcohol for a few hours each day (but not at weekends). No change, however, to the Faroese diet: roast puffin remains the main delicacy.