Most destination lists score a place on sunshine, culture and food. None of that tells you whether your mother can get from the hotel to the restaurant without needing to...

Jordan is not the bargain its neighbours are. Petra alone costs 50 JOD, about $70, for a single day. The visa is another 40 JOD. Before you have eaten a...

Singapore has a reputation as one of the world's most expensive cities, and the reputation is half earned. A hotel room costs what a hotel room costs in London. A...

A bowl of harira in Fes costs about 50 cents. A room in a 300-year-old riad with a mosaic courtyard starts at $25. Africa's only high-speed train runs Tangier to...

Ask five people what Greece costs and you will get five answers, ranging from bargain to eye-watering. Both camps are right, because they are describing two completely different countries that...

Australia is expensive, and most guides stop there. What they miss is that the expense is not evenly distributed. A coffee costs what a coffee costs. A hostel bed is...

Egypt is one of the cheapest major destinations in the world and one of the easiest to underbudget. Street meals cost under a dollar, a hostel bed is $9, and...

Vietnam is one of the best value destinations in the world, and also one of the most misleading to budget for. Every guide gives you a daily figure. Almost none...

Thailand has a reputation for being cheap, and it still is. What that reputation hides is how wide the range has become. You can sleep for 400 baht or 4,000...

Dubai has a reputation for being unaffordable, and that reputation is only half earned. You can do the city on $85 a day or $420 a day, and both are...

Turkey is the rare destination that still feels like a bargain without feeling cheap. You get Roman ruins, Ottoman palaces, a coastline that rivals Greece and some of the best...

Most guides tell you to go in December because the nights are longest. Ninety-five years of geomagnetic records say December is the weakest month of the season. Here is what the data actually shows about darkness, solar activity and cloud, why February and the equinox months win, and why the region you pick matters more than the month.