This for me is the best place to sit back and relax, lie in a hammock drinking coconut shakes while looking out at the ocean. Paradise, is set in a idyllic location with a laid back atmosphere, welcoming and friendly staff, great food and cocktails.

www.paradisecottagekohchang.com/
104/1 moo. 1, south ko Chang, Ko Chang, Trat 23170, Thailand

Google map: tinyurl.com/36mboco

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Caged between the free flowing river Mersey and an idling pleasant suburbia on the Wirral Peninsula, Eastham's Country Park offers a haunting shaded respite being the overgrown pleasure gardens of the Victorian era, Asia's' rhododendrons rampage as Autumn approaches. Visit the mossy stoned vacant bear pit or imbibe at either of two pubs hanging above the river at Eastham Ferry's medieval crossing point; from here dream down-river to the Liver Buildings, to Jung's pool of life or likewise observe and imagine the destinations of aeroplanes departing from John Lennon airport directly opposite. You can dream here and for that it is a strange and remote place indeed.

Green Lane
Wirral, Merseyside CH62 0BH
0151 327 1007

Google map: tinyurl.com/3xfac2s

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Very interesting bar... quite expensive (for China) but worth it. I don't know quite how to describe the set-up, but there are water features running along the alleyways and under some of the seats. Each seating area is sectioned off nicely by decorative drapes. Cocktails are good too!

San Li Tun
Google map: tinyurl.com/37lhlna

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Ibiza isn't short of blissed-out bars or beaches. But Blue Bar on the neighbouring island of Formentera is both. Hire a bike and drift along quiet lanes to this chilled-out shack. Come for sunset, sip something long and cool and meet fellow drifters (just don't let their self-consciously wacky website put you off.)

www.bluebarformentera.com/home.html
E-07871, San Ferran, Formentara, Baleares, Spain
+34 971 18 70 11

Google map: tinyurl.com/23u82dx

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Aqua is quite possibly the best backpacker-style beach haunt I have ever come across. It is located on a small island in the group called Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama. Easily accessible from the mainland by small taxi boat, the hostel/bar has been built above the water with a swimming pool area cut out of the decking. The vibe is chilled out Caribbean with a characterful collection of international staff. Key attractions: cheap accommodation ($10 a night), amazing surfing and snorkelling opportunities accessible by boat, swimming literally off the decking, hammocks to relax in by day, a sea trampoline, AMAZING parties twice a week and easy access to the main island (a $1 taxi or 15 minute swim!) where there are cheap club nights every night. Also, on ladies' night, girls drink for free!

www.bocasaqualounge.info
507 6711 8264
507 6456 4659

Google map: tinyurl.com/397jbho

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When the sun comes out, and it doesn't often in these parts, the biergarten at the historic Rheinhotel is the place to go. With a dramatic view over the castles dotting Siebengebirge hills, a daily barbecue and a trampoline for the kinder, it's just the ticket to kick back and quaff a tranquil glass of Weissbier. Just forget the fact that this is where Chamberlain met Hitler to arrange the Munich conference.

Rheinstraße 45-49, 53179 Bonn
www.rheinhoteldreesen.de/en/home/
About 15 minutes walk from Bad Godesberg station

Google map: tinyurl.com/33f3upb

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Independent cinema/bar on the Parks Highway just out west of fairbanks on the the way to Ester. Get your food and drink from the bar and eat at a table in the cinema. Pretty cool.

2999 Parks Highway, Fairbanks 99709
www.theblueloon.com
Google map: tinyurl.com/2vtnz7c

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A haven for lovers of real beer, A traditional, basic boozer, Mori's is a real treat right in the heart of the city. There's plenty of choice from Scotland to Belgium to America on offer and - apart from nighclubs thronged with the fashionably sad - it's open after 11pm. You can also laugh at the more conceited French as they mince past.

5 Rue de France, Nice, France 06300
+33 (0)4 93 87 69 03

Google map: tinyurl.com/2w5q8gy

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Tucked away, a short walk away from the main tourist area this bar offers an impressive and varied collection of Italian wines along with a fabulous and relaxed atmosphere. They also shake up a mean cocktail (with generous measures too!). Free wi-fi also available.

Borgo Ognissanti, 42/r
50123 Firenze, Italia
+39 (0)55 217791

Google map: tinyurl.com/3xnokg4

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This is a great small independent bar with a big heart. The music is always spot on whether it's laid back lunch or feel good Friday. This place does great Welsh food produced only from the local area. The Promised Land has a nice big city atmosphere that you would find in New York or Manchester. The best pubs and bars are catalysts...friendships can be forged in them, relationships can be made, business can be done and memories created. This is what The Promised Land is - a home from home, a place to meet and greet, a bolt hole, and a place you rest on your journey. You'll enjoy whether you are a romancer, dancer, soul boy, beat kid, young go-getter or should know better!

4 Windsor Place, Cardiff, 029 2039 8998
www.thepromisedlanduk.com

Google map: tinyurl.com/33g7ycx

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The best little bar in Boracay this hidden gem is a paean to quieter days in this increasingly developed paradise idyll. Weave your way down the path from Station 3 on the famous White Beach and you'll find this nipa thatched, sand floored drinking den, decorated in all manner of native artifacts and piratical nauticalia. Outside a beach garden has been created with seating and tables made from natural driftwood making for a genuine, organic feel. The combination of cold local beers, ice chilled cocktails and laid back sounds make it an ideal habitat for travellers of more independent minds and spirits. It's run by a delightful English girl, Jen - who's something of an expert on the locales - and her buckle-swashing Filipino partner, Joey, who'll take you out on his crimson red paraw sailing boat to such exotic settings as Crocodile Island and Puka Beach during the daylight hours. Hoist the jolly roger and succumb to its charms.

Angol Beach, Boracay Island
Google map: tinyurl.com/33yvxco


redpiratesboracay@hotmail.com

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There are many pubs with great music in Edinburgh and the first I visited was the "Sandy Bell's" on Forest Rd: really nice atmosphere thanks to the good traditional music played by anyone who would an instrument! But the best thing about this pub is that you just need to cross the road to find the fantastic "Monster Mash" where you can enjoy traditional dishes like haggis, neeps and tatties, at least four different kinds of mash and much more. Large choice for vegetarian as well! All served in huge portions for a low price. If you want to treat yourself and you love fish, you really have to go to the "Fishers in the city": located in 58 Thistle Street, this restaurant is perfect to appreciate the fresh local fish served by friendly and polite staff. A bit pricy but worth it: main course, dessert and a bottle of wine for £60 (for 2people). I consider it my best experience at eating fish in the UK. At the Kalpna (2/3 St Patrick Square, 0131 6679890) you can enjoy a totally different taste of Indian food: believe me, nothing to do with what we are use to! The prices are reasonable but the place is always packed so I suggest you to book in advance. I went for lunch in a lovely canteen, “Susie’s Wholefood Diner”(51-53 West Nicolson Street), where you can have the best vegetarian food; perfect to feel better after a few days of greasy food! Most of the customers are students/teachers so I would suggest you to go a bit earlier to avoid a huge queue. At last the “Bow Bar”, 80 West Bow: this is what I consider a REAL pub. Very friendly staff (it was the only time I didn’t feel myself a tourist),good choice of real ales, well kept, and a selection of 150 Scotch whiskies.
Enjoy!!!!!!

Google map: tinyurl.com/37xex7j

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There can be few more pleasant ways to spend a sunny Edinburgh afternoon than taking a stroll through Holyrood Park (strenuous climb up Arthur's Seat optional!) over to The Sheip Heid, which claims to be the oldest pub in Scotland. Built as it was in 1360, they may have a point. Traditional pub grub is the order of the day in the atmospheric interior, while in the summer months an extensive barbecue menu is served in the pub's courtyard. And if - as is perfectly likely - the weather turns inclement, you can always skip the walk in the park and take comfort in a pint of local ale and basket of scampi and chips over a game of skittles in the pub's old-fashioned alley hidden away in the annex.

www.sheepheid.co.uk
43-45 The Causeway, Duddingston, Edinburgh, EH15 3QA. Tel: +44 (0)131 661 7974
Google map: bit.ly/bgo7zT

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Elegant boutique guesthouse and restaurant in the most unspoiled part of Turkey. The interior design is exquisite, rooms are comfortable and the food rivals that in any of the best restaurants I have eaten at in Paris, London, Istanbul, Melbourne or New York. The price is very reasonable considering the excellent quality.

www.sudan.com.tr

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I go here a lot, it's one of my favourite places in Edinburgh for music, drinks and food. The food is really excellent for a bar/restaurant and although the menu is quite limited they do have specials on to supplement choice. I think the food offers pretty good value for money too, although the drinks are certainly approaching typical George Street prices.

www.thevoodoorooms.com
19a West Register St, Edinburgh, EH2 2AA
(above The Cafe Royal) which is located on small (and quite dingy) side street accessed from either Princes St or St Andrews Square. Note that there are quite a lot of steps to get up there.)

Google map: tinyurl.com/2uzhc6d

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OK, it's rather grand for a beer garden - but if there is a more peaceful and beautiful spot to sip your after-dinner drink or while away a long afternoon, I've yet to find it. Even though The Village (yes, the one from 60s TV hit The Prisoner) is a major tourist spot, its artfully artless design creates tiny oases of quiet and country-house comfort. When the sun shines (and it does, often) Portmeirion's secluded mountain setting with its forests and riverside beaches feels more like Italy than Wales, and is irresistibly photogenic. If it's cold, there's a beautiful bar and restaurant in the hotel. Perfect white sands, deep green forests, gardens to rival any in Britain, unique settings, a luxurious interior and great food and drink - why would anyone try to escape?

Portmeirion, Gwynedd, LL48 6ER, Wales
01766 770000
www.portmeirion-village.com
Nearest stations: Minffordd is a 20-minute stroll up a tree-lined lane; Porthmadog is less than ten minutes away by taxi.
Google map: tinyurl.com/3a2jdwj

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This sophisticated bar serves good cocktails for $20 in an amazing setting. An ornate ground floor lobby - this is an art deco masterpiece (or remaking of). Soft live music plus 15m high wine case equipt with floating barmaid to retrieve bottles. Great place to go before dinner.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parkview_Square
Google map: tinyurl.com/3xnp9kz

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Situated on one of Edinburgh's most wonderful streets (Victoria Street) with all its multicoloured independent boutique shops and restaurants, the Bow Bar is a step back in time to the days when you could spend an entire evening in the local and still leave without having tasted every ale on offer.

Classic interior with friendly, extremely knowledgeable staff, its a small, cosy kind of pub that locals and an increasing number of tourists frequent.

Come the Edinburgh festival, it will be heaving, but you'd be daft to let that put you off - afterall, so will everywhere else!

If you're after an excellent choice of (mainly British beer) and a chance to chat without blaring music, then do yourself a favour and give the Grassmarket with its hen and stag groups a swerve and hit the Bow Bar instead.

80 West Bow Edinburgh EH1 2HH
0131 226 7667

Google map: tinyurl.com/2wputu8

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Spread over a number of floors with erm gas lamps providing illumination, this bar has a really nice vibe and a great roof terrace with views of the Armenian Cathedral and Town Hall.
The beer was good and the cocktails bizarrely came served in laboratory beakers, but the beer snacks were excellent. One word of warning: the very steep stairs after a few!
Open 11 - 02

20 Virmenska Street
+380 32 235 7550

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Dzyga is an arty cafe-bar at the northern end of Virmenska. You can't miss it as the street is a dead end and the bar is at the very end! It's only a stones throw from the Rynok and is quieter and has some nice views. It's a nice place to start or end the night sitting outside in the atmospheric old Armenian quarter. If it's not the weather to sit outside the inside was cool too with lots of local art on display. The beer was a good local wheatbeer and washed down the pork fat in chocolate perfectly - which is not as bad as it sounds - I had to give it a try. The rest of the food that we tried (the bar was located just below our apartment) was good - the breakfast and ice-cream mainly!

35, Virmenska street, Lviv, Ukraine
+38 32 276 7420, dzyga.com

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