War-Torn Tourism

Fancy a no-frills break? Then try Chechnya

On your right, ladies and gentlemen, please note the ruins of Grozny, and coming up on the left the renowned ORB-2 torture complex. At the end of the tour, please hand in your bulletproof vests. Although this scenario does not yet exist, the Chechen prime minister yesterday revealed plans to develop tourism in the war-torn republic, where pro-Russian forces clash each week with militants and swaths of the capital lie under rubble... Sights may also be sparse as federal forces levelled most large towns.

There are a few potential spots under construction - an enormous mosque in Grozny and a £3m aqua park in Gudermes - but minefields, firefights and piles of rubble are unlikely tourist attractions...