Is it possible to make a stopover on the way to Dubai? - Bill Twidale, Coventry

Sunday Times travel expert Richard Green responds: It is, but it might take a bit of lateral thinking to achieve, because most airlines with hub airports between the UK and the Gulf will whack up the price of a flight if you want to stop for a few days on one leg of your journey.

Stopovers are extremely popular on the longer long haul destinations, but the majority of people making the seven-hour flight to the Gulf prefer a non-stop flight. Partly for this reason, the idea of a stop on the way to Dubai is completely under the radar of your average travel agent.

However, hunt around and there are a few good options. The Flight Centre (0870 499 0040, www.flightcentre.co.uk) for example, has fares with Cyprus Airways to Dubai with stopover options in Larnaca - from £349.

Or if you use the multi-sector search option on a site like Opodo (0871 277 0090, www.opodo.co.uk), say by typing in London to Istanbul, then Istanbul to Dubai, and then Dubai back to London, you can get a great value Turkish Airlines fare from £294 return. You¹ll have to change planes in Istanbul in both directions, but you can make one of them a stopover for as many days as you like. Or there is routing via Vienna with Austrian Airlines from £440.

Another option is to fly to a destination of Air Arabia (www.airarabia.com), spend a few days there, and then fly to the Gulf with them. It is a no frills airline that is based in Dubai¹s next-door emirate of Sharjah (just 10 miles to the northeast of Dubai¹s airport), and although at the moment it¹s most westerly flight is to Kiev, but keep an eye out as it is expanding. By matching a flight from the UK up with an Air Arabia flight, you could break your journey in Amman, Damascus, Alexandria, Aleppo, Luxor, or Istanbul. Fares from Sharjah to any of the above start at about £80 each-way.

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