When did you first go abroad, I wonder? I was aged 13, on a day trip to France with my Sussex school trip. Carefree times, with no passport necessary: the teacher carried a sheet of paper with our names, quite sufficient for un jour in the port of Dieppe.

Namibia's Dune 45 – an amazing experience at any age

Get inspired...

Simon’s dispatches

The ferry trip from Newhaven to France was the absolute highlight of my life to that point (agreed, being brought up in Crawley, the bar is fairly low). This week I compiled a definitive guide to the 50 ages of travel, from minus 12 weeks (at which expectant mothers must tell airlines of their condition) to 99 years (when many car rental companies will decline to hire a vehicle). And it got me thinking about the prime time to be a traveller.

There is much to be said for being aged between nine and 11, particularly if you are also 140cm or higher (that is the minimum height for the most exciting rides at Alton Towers). At nine, you are eligible for some of Exodus Travels’ family activity holidays, and by 10 you can travel on your own on a Flixbus long-distance coach within the UK (with signed permission from a parent).

Make the most of youth: on your 12th birthday, travel gets much more expensive, with many transport operators deeming you to be an adult (and boys are banned from ladies’ carriages on trains in Pakistan). Sixteen is a tough age in travel terms, too: you become subject to Air Passenger Duty and are expected to pay full fare on British trains, but cannot drive in the UK for another year. At the other end of the age spectrum, 60 confers many benefits: residents of Wales and London win free local transport, Interrail offers a 10 per cent discount and the National Trust cuts its membership subscription by a quarter.

Yet there is a perfect age that offers the best of everything: the sweet spot when you are still young enough to get one-third off train tickets with a railcard and sign up for a Working Holidaymaker visa for Australia, yet are old enough to be able to rent a Ford Mustang, a Bentley GTC or a Lamborghini from Hertz. If you are currently 30: congratulations and please make the most of your year in the sun.

The joys of travel to northern France, including Dieppe

Tip of the week: Aladdin’s cave

The location for the new exhibition at the Royal Festival Hall is tricky to find – look for the southeast corner on the ground floor – but the cave-like venue is a wish come true for any fan of David Bowie. The story of how the iconic image on the cover of the 1973 album Aladdin Sane came to be is told in its social context, with new prints from the original slides – and Bowie’s soundtrack to so many lives playing constantly. Admission is a modest £5, and the information desk on level 1 sells tickets to walk-ups if space is available.

Bowie’s Aladdin Sane artwork ‘as powerful today as it was then’

Deal of the week: Extra days on Swiss Travel Pass

The Swiss Travel Pass has long been the ideal way to explore the Alpine nation. The ticket provides unlimited travel by train, bus, boat and local city transport – and free admission to more than 500 museums. You would normally pay £256 for a four-day pass or £354 for eight days. But anyone buying during a special promotion from 15 April to 14 May gets a day or two of extra time: five days instead of four, and 10 days instead of eight. You can start to use it on any day up to and including 13 November. The offer goes live from Sunday, and so I have not been able to test it, but I am assured this link will provide the deal during the sale dates.

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Question of the week: Best day trips from Gibraltar?

Q We are taking your advice and spending the first week of May in Gibraltar. We want to take day trips into Andalucia by bus or train, rather than renting a car. Where do you recommend?

A Gibraltar is an excellent base for exploring the southern tip of the Iberian peninsula, and some decent deals are available: from 1 to 7 May, British Airways Holidays is offering a stay at the central four-star Eliott for £762 per person, or the five-star yacht, the Sunborn, for £924 – including flights from Heathrow.

My latest 48-hour guide to Gibraltar

Every journey from Gibraltar into Andalucia begins with a walk across the airport’s runway along Winston Churchill Avenue to the Spanish frontier (or take a bus or taxi through the new tunnel). On the other side, the border town of La Linea has a busy bus station about 10 minutes’ walk from the checkpoint. From here there are frequent fast and comfortable buses around the Bay of Gibraltar to the atmospheric port of Algeciras. Change buses here for the lovely town of Tarifa, southernmost in Continental Europe, with a fine beach and a community of kitesurfers. If you are prepared for a long day, make the journey to the spectacular city of Cadiz – about two-and-a-half hours each way.

Read more: Our Cadiz city guide

STAT OF THE WEEK

8

Time, in minutes, that French frontier police at the Port of Dover took to process all 50 people aboard the Flixbus I took from London to Calais on Good Friday.

What you might have missed...

• Lights out: Summer smoking ban on many Ibiza and Mallorca beaches

• Long wait: Why the ‘10-week rule’ for passport issue is here to stay

• Lost links: Train misery to continue until June for many rail passengers

SIMON'S DIARY

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