Instead of packing your tiny hold-all for a weekend break in boring old Paris or Rome, you can now opt for Beirut or Khartoum.
Tour operator The Traveller has added these unusual city breaks, so you can explore the Sahara desert on a Sunday morning, or drink cardamom coffee above ravaged Byblos on a Saturday night, and only miss a day or two of work.
'We are very conscious that weekend breaks are becoming increasingly popular but the range hasn't expanded as much as the demand. People are looking for something different,' said a spokesman.
A 10-hour flight away, Khartoum, the capital of the Sudan, was once the home of the Nubians - a civilisation that existed alongside the Egyptians - and has inherited a legacy of ancient buildings such as Pasha's tombs, the 200 Royal Pyramids, and Sun Temple on the Island of Meroe.
A three-night break in Khartoum with The Traveller (020 7436 9343) begins on Thursday, flying at 9.50am from Heathrow. The next day you tour the city, visit sites such as the Shambat Bridge over the Nile and Pasha's tombs, before an evening watching dances by whirling dervishes. You ride to Meroe on Saturday, haggle for treasures in Khartoum's souks on Sunday, before a flight that gets you back to London on Monday at 10.25am. Prices are from £998pp, based on two sharing.
If you prefer independent travel, British Airways (0870 850 9850) launches a three-times-a-week service to Khartoum from Heathrow this Friday (9 April). Flights are from £392 return including taxes.
The flight to Beirut, Lebanon, takes just four-and-a-half hours from Heathrow. A fashionable hot spot in the 1960s, its glamour was devastated by the war, but it now claims to be re-emerging as a desirable destination, offering fine wines and cuisine, the 5,000-year-old ruined city of Byblos and gorgeous surrounding countryside.
The Traveller's four-day, three-night trip leaves Thursday at 1pm, with two full days in Beirut to explore the ancient city of Byblos, nearby mountain ruins, and the Byzantine mosaics of the nineteenth-century Palace of Beit Eddine.
Ravers can head to clubs such as Losers, La Boom or Black Wild Pussycat (see www.downtownbeirut.com). You return to London on Sunday at 11.15am. The trip costs £595 pp including flights and five-star B&B accommodation. There is an additional £50 for a visa, plus £20 UK departure tax.
The company wants to introduce further unusual weekend breaks, including Bulgaria's capital Sofia, Tunis and the Syrian city Aleppo. It is confident city-breakers won't be put off by price tags five times that of European weekends away.
