1 I’m after a cool apartment to rent for a long weekend in Paris. Where can I find one? Appartement de Ville (00 33-1 42 45 09 08, www.appartementdeville.com ) has a great selection, with a minimum stay of four nights; prices start at £280 for somewhere central sleeping 2-3 people. Other companies usually require a week’s minimum rental in summer, but offer long weekends at other times. Try A la Carte Paris Apartments (01 42 46 42 57, www.alacarte-paris-apartments.com), Guest Apartment (01 44 07 06 20, www.guestapartment.com) or Bonappart Appartements (01 43 25 72 19, www.bonappart.com).

2 Is there a good boutique hotel in Hong Kong for less than £100? The Minden (00 852 2739 7777, www.theminden.com) has 64 nicely decorated and spotless rooms, with doubles starting at £59. It’s on the small and lively Minden Avenue, a five-minute walk from the shops on Nathan Lane and 10 minutes from the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island.

Another option – a bit naughty, as it busts the budget – is the new, 54-room, Philippe Starck-designed Jia Boutique Hotel (00 852 3196 9000, www.jiahongkong.com), on Hong Kong Island. The designer rooms are all equipped with kitchenettes and studio-style lounging areas. Doubles start at £130.

3 What’s the best seat on a plane? That depends on what you’re after. For more legroom, bagsy an emergency-exit seat. With a toddler, sit near the toilet and galley, for a close loo and extra attention from the crew. For a stable flight, sit near the centre of gravity – just behind the front of the wing. Don’t want to be disturbed? Sit behind a bulkhead, so you’ll have no seat in front to recline into your lap. (On the downside, baby cots are positioned here too.) Visit www.seatguru.com and www.seatexpert.com for detailed seat plans.

50 best travel websites of 2007

Another year of innovation and refinement as travel websites continue to become more niche, focussed and useful

50 people to know in travel

Cath Urquhart, Travel Editor of The Times, reveals who you need to know in travel to get ahead

BACKGROUND

• Your Top 10 travel insurance questions

• Your Top 10 baggage questions

• Your Top 10 solo traveller questions

• Your Top 10 complaints about hotels

• Your Top 10 travel health questions

Related Links

• 50 people to know in travel

4 Can the queues at the Vatican be avoided? You can queue-jump at the Vatican Museum and Sistine Chapel with the help of Museum Rome (00 39 06 3972 2474, www.museumrome.com), which charges a flat booking fee of £12 for up to five people and £25 for groups of six or more. You present your booking number at the small prebooked queue and pay the standard entry fee. For fast-track entry to the Uffizi and Accademia galleries in Florence, visit www.weekendafirenze.com.

5 I’ve got two weeks in Argentina and no idea how to fit it all in. Any advice? The country is 11 times bigger than Britain, so planning is vital. Start with three nights in Buenos Aires, then swagger down to gaucho country, a couple of hours’ drive south, for two nights. Next, fly to Patagonia for three nights to see the Perito Moreno, one of only two advancing glaciers in South America. After that, stay overnight at the thrillingly remote Estancia Cristina, which overlooks the snout of the Upsala Glacier, then fly up to Iguaçu Falls for your last three nights. It’s easy to fly back to London from Iguaçu via Sao Paulo or Buenos Aires.

6 How do I know if a country is safe to visit? The most frequently updated and authoritative information is from the Foreign Office (www.fco.gov.uk/travel). Beware: if the advice is not to travel, but you still do, your insurance may be invalid.

7 How do I get a refund on an unused airline ticket? First, look at the booking conditions, as the chances are you can’t. You can, however, reclaim the unused taxes and fuel surcharges – up to £217 on a return to New York – for an administration fee of up to £30 per ticket. Get the refund from whoever sold you the ticket, whether that’s your local travel agent or the airline itself.

8 Can I hire a car and driver in India? You don’t have to be posh to be chauffeur-driven on the subcontinent. Avis (0844 581 0147, www.avis.co.uk) has offices in the main tourist towns, with self-drive starting at £132 per week, as against £150 with a driver. Or try Hertz (0870 844 8844, www.hertz.co.uk).

9 How can I find a tour operator that specialises in a particular country? The Association of British Travel Agents offers a useful search tool at www.abta.com, but it’s far from comprehensive. For independent operators, look at the Association of Independent Operators website, www.aito.co.uk. Tourist boards often have details of operators, too – find their official websites through Antor (www.antor.co.uk).

10 Which airline has the best in-flight entertainment system? The most up-to-the-minute ones have about 500 channels of films, television shows, music and games, all on demand. About 1.6m passengers voted in the 2007 Skytrax awards (www.worldairlineawards.com) – Emirates came top for entertainment, followed by Singapore Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and Virgin Atlantic.

11 If I go to Cuba, will the passport stamp prevent me from travelling to America? No – the Tourist Card, £15 from the Cuban embassy (020 7240 2488, www.cubaldn.com) or your tour operator, is a separate document from your passport. US immigration need never know.