A wonderful blog giving you an insiders guide to everything you need to know. From simple workers cafes to specialist restaurants. We did the guided walking tour even though we had been to Istanbul many times and learnt more than any guide book can offer. It's a wonderful cultural event and you get a real feel for Istanbul , it's people and especially it's food! The guided walk may seem pricy, but proved to be worth every penny.
A very informative site for everything that is Buenos Aires. Events, culture, things to do are updated regularly through out each week. Also good for reserving activities and tours easily that good value.
A Christmas Fair in Barcelona. Lovely atmosphere and very pretty figurines and decorations. Don't miss the little crouching man "giving back to the earth" what he has taken from it. An essential figure in any Catalan Nativity scene.
Right in front of the Cathedral and on this blog I found:
bloggingbarcelona.wordpress.com/barcelona-christmas-fair-santa-llucia/
A blog on the curious world of the croqueta. Where to enjoy a cuttlefish croqueta sitting by Pep Guardiola. Homemade classic in working man's bar. Some people take them really seriously.
A cosy tapas bar locally known as Peregil by Sevillanos, named after the owner, local showman and singer. It is tiny although you can have a sit down meal in the restaurant next door. It is known for its orange wine (vino de naranja) and has a wide range of tapas and manzanillas. It is a quirky little place with a tiny W.C. which has a sign saying, "No running in the toilet corridors". On the wall there is a bird cage with a stuffed canary, and another sign reading "Está mu cayoa" (He's very quiet!) and ironically another which prohibits singing in the bar, (Prohibido el cante).
Their montadito de pringá (small roll with meaty mixture) is also considered to be rather tasty.
To find out more about Seville in general, visit my blog:
Mateos Gago, 20 (just outside Barrio
de Santa Cruz)
becomingsevillana.blogspot.com/2010/11/tapas-2.html
+34954 218 966
Google map: bit.ly/ehXyLx
A wonderful blog, generally of day trips from Limassol, to scenic places all around around Cyprus with a decent assessment of their worth (and which season to go), clear directions and lovely pictures.
Now this is the best City blog ever. No seriously, it is.
Mainly photographs and music videos coming from a shy paparazzo, with an exquisite eye and a great soul.
A blog available in both English and French giving recommendations on shops, restaurants and events in Paris. It's nicely presented and easy to navigate. There's also the option to receive a weekly e-mail. I moved to Paris and it was a great way to visit and explore places that normally would have not come to my attention.
Buenos Aires is a city you'll really want to get under the skin of and this excellent blog covering music, art, film, going out and more is a great start. Plus it's in English so there's no problem if your South American Spanish is a little rusty.
This is a blog about life in Singapore city written from the perspective of a German expat. It highlights all the best places to eat, go out, past times etc while highlighting the chaotic cultural influences which make Singapore a unique melting pot.
I recommend this city blog because it not only brings to attention good places to eat, but also the neighbourhoods in which they're located, which are usually left out of the guidebook.
There's a real buzz about city blog vingtparis.com. A team of excellent and knowledgeable writers highlight and review a superb leftfield, less mainstream, unpredictable selection of music, art, literature, theatre and dance events. And the occasional picnic too! Each event I've found through vingtparis.com has had the same buzz and gave me that great but rare feeling when you're in Paris: 'This is the right place to be. This is where I should be right now.'
vingtparismagazine.com
Google map: bit.ly/dlZYwq
The photos in this blog simply make your mouth water.
What's more, the information is incredibly detailed and the guy is really helpful whenever anyone posts a question. The same applies to other parts of his blog which focus on West-Central Japan as well as Italy, Central Europe and Canada.
paulstravelpics.blogspot.com/2007/08/tokyo-food-trip-quick-navigation-guide.html
Getting to know a city by walking through it is an endless pleasure. How about getting to understand a city that you already know and live in by seeing it with new eyes?
PatternLondon is a blog written by Lucy Elder, a Londoner who appreciates an overlooked yet perfectly accessible world of pattern that exists within a city she clearly loves and knows well.
And oh it’s a visual treat! A blog that’s far from vacuous, it gently flits across the patterns that decorate a multitude of subject matter including art, architecture, textiles, design and the built environment. Elder’s own photography is combined with well chosen images of ephemera- patterns in their loosest sense that adorn London. Each post involving a specific location is also lovingly plotted on its own Google Map should they wish to visit the site of the aforementioned patterns.
It appears as a well informed anti-guide; the kind of guide that deserves to grow slowly over time, developing hidden gems and pearls of wisdom within its neatly linked posts.
It is a new blog, but already the amount of well-referenced tone of voice makes viewing compulsive. One finds themselves compulsively returning to the blog to check whether an interesting window display or tile that you’ve just seen might have peaked the interest of the blogs magpie author.
PatternLondon is as much of a tool as it is a guide. It wants the viewer to leave the blog, walk outside and explore London themselves with fresh eyes.
www.patternlondon.com
Google map: bit.ly/8YV2FM
Partly a blog, mostly a comprehensive information site about Rio de Janeiro and the area around. Yes the inclusion of the word 'gringo' conjures up certain negative images (until you get to Brazil and realise all foreigners are referred to as 'gringo' in a purely friendly way), but it's jammed full of great tips you won't find in any guidebooks and gives an enticing and realistic picture of Rio. I met the author of the website in person at the hostel I stayed at and he was an absolute gem!
www.gringo-rio.com/
Google map: bit.ly/ctjD3Z
This blog helps visitors understand Paris as it appears to residents, with fascinating insights into 'the parts of Paris that would be refused entry to the ville musée if they tried to get in today.' It's full of virtually unknown places, Parisian people, evocative stories and above all, the atmosphere of the city. There are also suggestions for each weekend and a collection of excellent walks on unusual themes.
parisisinvisible.blogspot.com
Google map: bit.ly/95dFQv
A great foodie blog by two people who love eating: where to eat fabulous food when you are there and how to cook the food when you get home. And all with luscious photos.
tasteforbologna.blogspot.com/
Google map: bit.ly/9giviJ
It is a blog written by an American living in London for five months. It gives insight into England that only an outsider can provide. And wry comments on his son's adventures at an urban school unlike his private Catholic one in Texas.
I highly recommend the 'Disappearing Budapest' blog for those visitors (and locals) to Budapest who want to discover the city beyond the usual guidebook info.
This guide was written by a travel writer, who obviously adores Budapest, speaks Hungarian and has spent more than 20 years researching the hidden heart of the city.
A series of articles on the undiscovered, yet sadly fast-disappearing features of Budapest - a city of neon signs, presszó bars, secret cemeteries, steamy Turkish baths, faded coffee houses, hidden water reservoirs, changing far too swiftly into yet another homogenous mall-packed European metropolis.
There isn't that much info available in English on Østfold and Southern Norway on the net, but this blog covers quite a bit of ground, from cool hikes to art exhibitions, recipes, architecture, shopping, news, things to see and do, and a lot more. Plus photos and videos, to bring it all to life.