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The best part of Tirana is the 'blloku' (block) area - the streets in the old Commie Party residential area - now full of shops, bars, restaurants. Especially lively in early evening when everyone comes out for a stroll between here and Rinia park.
Central Tirana
More on nightlife at bit.ly/1awq7m
Sky Bar, Trader's Hotel, off Jln Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur:
This bar has incredible views and the best time to get here is around 6.30pm to watch the sunset and the fantastic views of Kuala Lumpur. It is expensive and when busy with all the wannabees and wannabeseens, service can be poor. But it is definitely worth a visit.
Hakka Republic Wine Bar, Level 2 Menara Hap Seng, 1-3 Jln P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur:
This Chinese styled bar has everything going for it. Great music, incredible wine and drinks list and innovative Western food all at a reasonable price. They have a popular set lunch and a great value Sunday Brunch. Good crowd that is focussed on food, drinks and having a good time.
No Black Tie, 17, Jalan Mesui, Off Jalan Nagasari, Off Jalan Raja Chulan, KL:
This quaint little bar that serves Japanese food is a pioneer of live jazz and music in Kuala Lumpur. Great atmosphere though slightly pretentious crowd. Call to find what's on and charges if any.
Sky Bar Tel 03 2332 9888
Hakka Republic Tel 03 2078 9908
No Black Tie Tel 03 2142 3737
Imagine its 1966 and your in the heart
of the rocking reeperbahn ... Sweat, German beer, psychedelic rock and hotter than the sun - it had me from the moment I stepped through the door. Literally like stepping through a time warp, very loud live music and a real mixture of different types of people. You really feel like you're in Hamburg.
Reeperbahn - Hamburg
Independent recommendations, bookings and itineraries from a well-connected team. From villas to hotels, staff to boat hire, tours to restaurant bookings.
On a visit to Cairo, as well as the usual tourist places, take a trip to Heliopolis, a suburb to the north-east of the city. It was built in the early 20th Century by a Belgian and hence has some fantastic European-style architecture (and his own palace, which is a wonderful Taj Mahal-esque structure). Within the district is the centre of Heliopolis, El Korba, whose Bagdhad Street has some amazing colonnade type arches running along in front of the shops; you could almost be in Venice's St Mark's Square! (or somewhere similar..)
Helipolis has a large, wealthy Christian community of a range of different denominations, something you will notice by the proliferation of churches there. It has a nice feel to it with a number of cafes, bars and one of the British club's branches is here. One of the two British Council offices is also in Heliopolis which means there is a small-ish community of British teachers in the area too.
Pop up there and spend half a day especially if you're interested in architecture, churches and an alternative tourist experience. The Presidential Palace and a number of official government buildings are in Heliopolis as well, should you be interested in that.
Just mention Heliopolis (Arabic: Masr Gadida) to any taxi driver, they will know it. It should take about 20 mins from Downtown, much longer at busy times.
Go to Iceland. Iceland is currently having a few economic problems so perhaps you can get cheaper hotels and food than in Tromso. Reykjavik is more lively than Tromso but the city skies are not quite as dark due to more street lighting. I only saw a poor display of aurora here but enjoyed the atmosphere of the city more.
Avoid the UK stag parties around Central Station, and discover the local brown bars for beer, gin and good conversation.
During a trip to Australia in 1997, I was lucky enough to have been invited to have dinner at Doyle's on the beach in Sydney.
One of the enduring images and impressions I have of that very warm February evening, was to see the sun set over the harbour looking towards the city far away in the background.
The sun was sinking fast behind the skyscrapers - it was an amazing sight, and at that moment I had the urge to call home. I took the mobile out of my pocket, and rang to speak to my mum and brother. It was early in the morning in the UK (11 hours behind Sydney at that time of year) and I said to them, "Has the sun come up over there yet?". They replied: "Yes, just about. Why?"
My response was: "I just realised this is about the only time of the day we can see the sun at the same time from opposite sides of the world."
Lots of nice pubs and good corner shops for well priced food. Worth checking out Krua Thai for Thai food and Runtgang for records and gewgaws.
Also most of the interesting clubs and nights happen up there, and there is Folketspark for wandering about and on special occasions, like Christmas, a funfair.
Follow Sodra Forestadsg. as far as the supermarket ICA - about 1km from the centre of town - beyond the shopping centre at Triangeln.
The Ouseburn Valley is perhaps Newcastle's best-kept secret: family friendly, a stone's throw from the city centre and stuffed full of characterful pubs, music venues, art galleries and culture hubs. It's got Seven Stories - the Centre for Children's Books - next to 36 Lime Street; a rabbit warren of artists' studios next to the Round; a brand new theatre in the round specialising in theatre for young people which is next to the Cluny, Newcastle's famous live music venue.
Up the hill is the Stepney Bank Stables, the City Farm is over the road, there's the anarchist cinema The Star and Shadow nestling up to the ArtWorks Gallery and the Tanners pub.
The river itself winds through the valley, passing most of the sights - a wander along the path next to it is a relaxing way to get your bearings.
The whole area is bursting with fun and unusual activities for all ages. Highly recommended, whether you want to enjoy a nice beer on the Green or spend a whole day exploring the best of Newcastle's culture.
Lime Street is the heart of the regenerated Ouseburn, slap-bang underneath Byker Bridge. Nearest Metro stops are Manors and Byker. Nearest bus stop is St Dominics (cross the road to the Tanners and head down Stepney Bank towards the massive factory chimney). The Q2 Yellow Bus stops at St Anne's Steps, a 5 minute walk from the Ouseburn.
I lived in Madrid for two years. The best place has to be the birthplace of La Movida. In this barrio you can find excellent alternative bars from cafe Isadora to bar el 2 de. To get a feel for the area sit on the western side of the square in Bar Arco (the other side is full of tourists.) Enjoy.
Malasaña district. Metro station: Tribunal (Lines 1 & 10)
Whatever you do, remember that Sweden operates a state-run alcohol retail outlet - Systembolaget. This has very precise opening times so make sure you know them, otherwise you will be very frustrated. The good news is that booze bought at the Systembolaget is far cheaper than at bars. There is also a fantastic choice of wine.
Systembolagets are in most towns and have a very distinctive logo.
www.systembolaget.se
"Die Langste Theke die Welt". The world's largest bar. Over 400 bars and restaurants make up the Altstadt (old town) area of Duesseldorf. If you're anywhere near, you should try and plan a night here. Wednesday to Saturday nights are liveliest, but any night during the summer is normally pretty good.
Also home of Alt beer (old beer, although don't let this put you off).
Additionally, the Rhine Promenade, stretches from the Altstadt to the Hafen (Harbour) area and is crowded with open air bars, events, and people for most of the summer.
www.duesseldorf.de/thema/sights/altstadt/index.shtml (mostly in German, but it's easy enough to find, just ask someone to point you to the "altstadt"
Remarkable panorama, historic town high above valleys, but dwarfed by high Sierra Madre del Sur, almost like a Hollywood set!
Magnificent cathedral, plaza, stunning churches, fabulous hotels, roaming minstrels, bars and restaurants.
Southern Mexico, 6.1/2 hours by luxury coach from Mexico City
A cracking microcosm of life in London - stalls selling things you never knew existed, from clothes to food to jewellery to furniture to art. stunning food served too, really cheap but authentic food from all over the world.
To get a taste of what London really is about, go to Camden Market.
Camden Town tube
Attractive square for drinking and eating in the sun. But when we were there (July 2005), the venue for what seemed like the All-German scaffold throwing championships, as some sort of event was packed away.
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