Cornwall and all

Our travel expert answers queries on routes and destinations around the world

I would like to rent a cottage, house or flat in Cornwall for two weeks in April next year. The first towns that spring to mind are Newquay and St Ives, but I don't really mind. The most important things are affordability and at least two bedrooms, to sleep a family of four. - Jenny Gladstone

Start off by checking out the places on offer in Cornwall at www.bluechipholidays.co.uk. It has a wide variety of apartments and cottages, particularly in Newquay. One place that caught my eye was Little Barn at Glebe House Cottages in Bude, North Cornwall. Priced from £409 to £819 per week, it has three bedrooms and an open-plan living area with exposed beams and stonework. Facilities on the property include a heated outdoor pool and tennis court.

In St Ives, you can rent 2 Oceanis, a two-bedroom flat only a five-minute walk from the harbour. Weekly rates are £379 to £719.

Another website you can try is www.cornishcottageholidays.co.uk. I found a really nice stone barn conversion in a secluded setting just 4.8km from the Trebarwith Strand on the north Cornish coast. Named Fig Tree Barn, it is near Port Isaac and offers two bedrooms from £280 to £679 per week.

For a good selection of properties in St Ives, try the www.ownersdirect.co.uk website. One I liked there was the charming Sunflower Cottage, which has three bedrooms and a lovely sea view. Rates range from £650 to £2150 per week.

By train from Moscow to Beijing

I would like to find out about the new Moscow to Beijing tourist train, particularly its schedule and itinerary. Where can I get information? - Diana Erskine

This new luxury train service had its inaugural run in August, leaving from Moscow's Kazansky railway terminal to Beijing. The 15-day trip makes stopovers in Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Ulan-Ude, Ulan Bator and Erlian. Included in the journey is a sojourn at Baikal Lake and a night in a Mongolian nomadic tent. Accommodation is in first-class compartments with shared bathrooms and luxury compartments with their own shower and toilet. The train has two dining cars, a bar car and a café car. The next trips take place in 2012: from July 1 till July 15 and August 11-25. The listed prices range from $7380 per person sharing to $13993 per person sharing in a deluxe compartment. The price includes all meals and hotel accommodation in Moscow and Beijing. The organisers are Russian Railway Tours and Intourist. You can e-mail them at info@travelallrussia.com or visit www.travelallrussia.com.

The train trip referred to above is the "Grand Deluxe" service. There are more affordable train trips from Moscow to Beijing. One passes through Ulan Bator (priced from $3038 ), while the other travels via Irkutsk ( from $3825 ). These trips also have stops along the way and use standard Russian trains, with first- and second-class cabins.