Tips & advice: The Tripologist

A guided tour is the only practical option in Iran. Although English is quite widely understood, you need a guide who speaks Farsi. There are also various protocols that apply to foreigners and without a guide to advise you it would be easy to transgress. Just organising transport and hotels becomes problematic. The clincher, however, is that one of the requirements for a visa to Iran is a reserved itinerary, and that's just too hard to arrange yourself. 

Several Australia-based adventure tour operators offer trips to Iran including World Expeditions , Peregrine Adventures  and Intrepid Travel . Rather than one of these small group tours you could book a personal tour with an Iran-based operator. One possibility is Uppersia , which does customised tours for just two, with a driver and an English-speaking guide. Their reviews on Tripadvisor are excellent and tours are available at different price points, depending on the style of accommodation. 

The best time to visit is the cooler months from mid-March to mid-May and October to the end of November. Note that the US Congress recently passed legislation that affects visitors to Iran. If you have visited Iran and you subsequently visit the US you will not be entitled to apply for admission under the Visa Waiver Program that normally applies to Australian citizens. In that case you will have to jump through a few more hoops, including attending an interview at a US consulate or embassy and paying a fee. 

MY WIFE, DAUGHTER AND I ARE PLANNING TWO WEEKS IN SOUTHERN FRANCE IN JUNE, ARRIVING IN TOULOUSE AND HIRING A CAR TO EXPERIENCE VILLAGE LIFE. WE WOULD LIKE TO DO DAY WALKS, BIKE RIDE AND BE ABLE TO WALK INTO VILLAGE MARKETS. CAN YOU SUGGEST SOME SUITABLE TOWNS AND ACCOMMODATIONS, STAYING AT TWO PLACES FOR A WEEK EACH.

A. SHAW, KOOWELONG

What a quandary this presents. There are so many glorious places within easy reach I'm having trouble deciding, but here's what I'd do. Go to the Sawdays website , type in "Sarlat-la-Caneda" in the search box, go to "map view" and see what fits your needs and budget. Sarlat-la-Caneda is in the Dordogne region, a part of France that sighs, and you won't be alone, although June is well ahead of the hordes that will arrive when summer reaches its peak. 

Bordering Dordogne to the south is the department of the Lot, and despite its credentials – rugged good looks, warmth, vivacity, natural charm – this is a haven of Frenchness that remains unmolested by foreigners. 

The characteristic feature of this landscape is the causses, dry limestone plateaux almost bare except for stunted oaks and maples. Only the river Lot, charging down from the peaks of the Massif Central to the east, rescues it from extreme poverty. 

The Lot makes much of its rugged credentials. Many of the villages along the river offer canoe and kayak safaris along The Lot and The Cele, its tributary. The hills are laced with the Grandes Randonees, the national system of hiking trails. Horse riding and scenic cruises are popular, and the quiet back roads are tailor made for cycling. 

For your second week, you could stay somewhere in the Auvergne region. Tucked into the folds of the Massif Central west of Lyon, this is a country that sings, a quilt of peaks, valleys, wild rivers, medieval abbeys, chateaux and small and perfectly formed villages. The best way to see the Auvergne is slowly. The Regional Park of Auvergne is the largest in France, and the area is riddled with hiking trails, especially in the area around Vichy, just one of the Auvergne's many spas. The region's catalogue of splendours includes such teasing possibilities as 12th century Le Puy-en-Velay, the main starting point for the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage trail, the gorges of the Tuyere, The Chataigneraie, a vast area of chestnut forests dotted with tiny villages, and Troncais, the most wonderful oak forest in all of Europe. Look for places to stay on Sawdays or Airbnb. 

WE FLY INTO LOS ANGELES AIRPORT AT 10:30AM AND OUT TO SYDNEY AT 10:30PM. WE WILL BE STUCK AT LA AIRPORT FOR 12 HOURS UNLESS WE CAN FIND A PLACE TO STORE OUR LUGGAGE. THERE ARE NO LUGGAGE STORAGE FACILITIES AT LA AIRPORT AND WE CAN'T CHECK IN THAT LONG BEFORE OUR SYDNEY FLIGHT. ANY IDEAS?

J. HUNGERFORD, NORTH CURL CURL

LAX Luggage Storage can take care of this problem. They operate a storage facility close to the airport, and they offer a kerbside pick-up so you can have your bags collected. When you want them back just give them a call. Rates are reasonable. 

CONVERSATION OVER TO YOU… 

The question was "What's the most amazing sight you've seen out an aircraft window?" and a record 34 readers responded. Thanks to all, and lack of space allows only a handful of edited responses.

P. Gilkes writes "Flying into Yangon from Bangkok, flat with palm trees everywhere  and golden stupas glistening in the brilliant sunshine, just a hint of things to come."

From M. Minogue. "The long, slow trawl north to south over Manhattan. We landed at La Guardia on our first trip to New York and were treated to an aerial view of all those landmarks – amazing and exciting."

From D. Smith, "While I'm fiercely patriotic, for razzamatazz and excitement, the descent into the "old" airport at Hong Kong past the neon-lit buildings at night had to be a world beater!"

J. Wardrop writes "Chile, Punta Arenas to Santiago, right-hand side of plane, window seat, view of snow capped Andes all the way." 

G. Clarke writes "I advise anyone flying into Tokyo at dusk to snare a window seat on the left-hand side. If the sky is clear you'll see Mount Fuji bathed in the red glow of the setting sun."

A. Thomas writes "I used to love geomorphology way back at school and university and I find flights over central Australia fascinating. What my teachers described is right there in the landscape, the wrinkle of dunes, the snaking of watercourses, the boomerang of billabongs: wind and water at work carving our ancient land."

From H. McHugh, "Flying with new pilot-husband  from Townsville to Cairns one perfect Sunday afternoon, gazing at the island jewels in a sparkling blue Coral Sea."

I. Rohr writes "Flying from Saigon to Paris with Vietnam Airlines I saw on the in-flight monitor we were flying over Agra, India. I looked out the window and saw a white building surrounded by a patch of green, the Taj Mahal, 30,000 feet below!"

From S. Loxton, "The Swiss Alps, watching the light from the rising sun glistening on the snow-covered mountains. I thought I must have gone to heaven."

A. Thomas writes "After six months working long hours at a remote, high-altitude mine site in Peru, the most amazing sight I saw on descent into Sydney was Australia, with Peter Allen singing "I still call Australia home" over the aircraft sound system. I burst into tears."

From I. Gillespie, "Last March I visited Bhutan and on the flight from Paro to Kathmandu I flew over the Himalayas. Mt Everest was completely clear as were the surrounding mountains."

A. Reis writes "The most amazing sight was a cyclone from well above, flying to Fiji."

Next question: The Zika virus is the latest mosquito-borne sickness for travellers to fear. What precautions do you take against mosquito bites when you're on the road? 

Send response to [email protected]. The best response will win a Lonely Planet guidebook.

SEND US YOUR TRAVEL QUESTIONS

Include your name and your suburb or town and send it to [email protected]. All published questions will win a Lonely Planet guidebook.