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A good breakfast is a Sydney institution. From fresh fruit to slap up eggs and bacon with all the trimmings. Washed down with a cup of the best coffee to set you up for the day. Don't miss out, avoid the hotel smorgasbord rip offs and you won't blow the budget either.
The best cafes are in the Inner West (Glebe, Rozelle, Balmain), Eastern Suburbs and the sea side suburbs (Bondi,Bronte, Manly). The locals have their favourites and don't like to broadcast their location. But just head for the ones with a crowd and enjoy.
Fascinating place that feels like a throwback to the Iron Curtain days, with fur-coat wearing, sharp-eyed merchants selling everything from gas masks and old Soviet coins to bootlegged pornographic DVDs. There is also plenty of, ahem, knock-down vodka and cigarettes on offer, but not to the naked eye. And whatever you do, don’t try to take any photographs. Stalin may be long dead, but paranoia is still alive and well in certain parts of his old domain.
Location: Stadion Dziesięciolecia.
Getting there: Number 12 tram from Srodmiescie Station.
If you are flexible about when you take a ski holiday; you want value for money and don't mind where you go providing there is plenty of snow, this is my suggested plan.
- pack your bags 1st January;
- subscribe to Snow Forecast Website, £10 for 3 months (last year), they can provide good 6 day forecasts for anywhwere in the world and their regional summaries are excellent;
- watch the snow trend daily but on Monday in particular;
- when there is buckets of snow forecast go to the on-line agencies (Neilson, Crystal, Inghams, Iglu etc) and look for their late deals or 'square deals' in your chosen area;
- book on Tuesday the best have gone by Wednesday;
- many of the low resorts in Austria are wonderful when there is loads of snow;
- avoid the school holidays;
- look for the higher altitude resorts as the season gets past Easter;
- the bigger agencies operate a clearing system so they can tell you the airport you will go to and accommodation is allocated on arrival.
We have had three excellent value for money holidays using this method.
A no-frills vegetarian restaurant situated in the Old Town. There are usually only a couple of choices but the food is always delicious and plentiful, Vegan friendly too. Free bread and coffee are provided, they are fine about you bringing your own drink (alcoholic or not). Meals work out at about a fiver a head which is very cheap for Stockholm.
Stora Nygatan 11, Gamla Stam
Wonderful, family-run neighbourhood Greek restaurant. Fresh fish and meat are cooked on an open charcoal grill and there is a great selection of starters. This place is better than many tavernas in Greece and is very reasonably priced. Try the lamb chops or any of the fish/sea food dishes.
122 Junction Road
Upper Holloway
London
N19 5LB
020 7272 0318
Tufnell Park or Archway tube (Northern Line). Also on 134 and 390 bus routes.
A fascinating collection of rock-carvings, thought to date from the Upper Palaeolithic or Mesolithic eras (between 20,000 and 30,000 years old, although estimates seem to vary depending on who you ask).
These include an X-Ray style bull, a dancing woman, several maze-like whorls and a mysterious symbol which defies identification.
The site is next to a marvellously tranquil little river. The exposed rock can get very hot, so keep your sandals on!
The site was free when I went, but there's a guide who'll need a tip. Don't forget to sign his visitor's book.
The site is situated in or near an open-cast Iron Ore mine in South Goa. Approx 15km south of Rivona. It isn't easy to find and is a little bit of an adventure.
Find a friendly taxi-driver to take you there - it's about two hours drive from Calangute, and you'll almost certainly need to ask someone for directions in Konkani.
Cafe/bar/restaurant - a well known Copenhagen hangout off the main drag for brunch and at any time - not posh, reasonably priced, with decent food, good beers, great bohemian crowd and atmosphere (always great looking crowd!! - but you are in Scandinavia!) so, students, old folk, artists, trendy types - usually all locals etc.
Ahlefeldtsgade 27-29
1359 Copenhagen K
Tel: 0045-33936988
Nearest station: Noerreport
We were told by a local that these are cheaper as they're government funded - we found the drivers more helpful and didn't rip you off.
The Grand Theatre hosts the National Opera of Bordeaux, with a season of opera, ballet and classical music running largely from September to June. The building itself is beautiful and ornate.
Concerts en balade are held on the first Sunday of every month and have a uniform seat price of 5 euros. They usually take place in the morning or early afternoon and cover music from Mozart to Messaien and Holst to Haydn. You can reserve online.
www.opera-bordeaux.com
Place de la Comédie
This is the real Egyptian deal - stuffed pigeon. Eat it at Farhaat in Khan el-Khalili market.
Khan el-Khalili market is just north of the Citadel in central Cairo.
It's actually possible to escape the crowds and the noise in Cairo, although you have to put up with a lot of both on the way. I would recommend Beit el-Suhaymi, a wonderful, labyrinthine Islamic house-turned-museum where you can really picture how the large families used to live.
Before or afterwards take a stroll around the north of Khan al-Khalili market. Away from the hassle of the market stalls you see a bit of real innercity life. I am female and, being there on my own, I didn't feel hassled at all in this part. Be sure to respect their dress code though.
Another tip is go to the Mosque of Sulayman Pasha when at the Citadel. Around the Citadel itself, in particular the Muhammad Ali mosque, was very busy, but the simpler, smaller mosque felt like a peaceful oasis and has lovely mosaics.
Beit el-Suhaymi, Khan al-Khalili market and the Citadel are all located within the city centre.
A great backpacker hostel. Possibly the cheapest yet most well-developed place to get all sorts of information.
Decorated with IKEA furniture, free kitchen use, free breakfast and free internet use. Excellent service and location in Little India district.
73 Dunlop Street, Singapore 209401
Tel: (65) 6296 9169
Fax: (65) 6396 6694
www.the-inncrowd.com
Email Information
Inquiry: inquiry@the-inncrowd.com
Reservations: reservations@the-inncrowd.com
MRT
Bugis (green line)-from the airport
Little India (purple line)
It is a friendly backpackers' place for those who are on a tight budget and want somewhere clean to crash. They also organise activities for their lodgers and there are people from all parts of the world.
Owned by 2 Singaporeans, Hai & Ping, the place is always fully booked. So booking in advance is definitely recommended!!
73 Dunlop Street
Singapore 209401
Tel: (65) 62969169
www.the-inncrowd.com
Located right in the heart of Little India and just a 10 minute walk from the "Little India" MRT station.
A fish'n'chip joint par excellence! Situated on the PCH (Pacific Coast Highway), you sit at tables overlooking the ocean eating superb freshly-cooked fish and seafood from an extensive menu. Line up at the cooking shack, choose your food, and it is cooked to order. Those in the know bring their own plates and cutlery, wine etc. Watch the sun set over the Pacific, it's magical - or go anytime for a cheap delicious meal.
PCH (Highway 1), Malibu.
This modern Indian restaurant is tucked away on Rose Street North between Princes and George Street. Not a salubrious location but well worth seeking out. The food is sublime, tasty, imaginative, well presented and unlike any Indian food I have ever been offered. Both food and wine prices very reasonable.
70 Rose Street North Lane, Edinburgh. Tel 0131 225 1233
We can recommend the really nice restaurant 0031 in down town Cumbuco. Nice atmosphere and most importantly, very good food for a very good price.
Downtown Cumbuco
www.0031.com
Fabulous hotel/guest house - relaxed atmosphere, upmarket travellers haunt mixed with regular holiday makers - great pools, rooms, location etc.
Poppies Lane I/27, Kuta Beach
Tel: 62 361 758 507
masainn.com
Wonderful food, although to be honest I can't get past the fabulous lamb curry. Incredibly busy with lunchtime specials from under £3.00, but a la carte is excellent too. Take away, sit in the cafe style downstairs restaurant, or in the more traditional upstairs restaurant.
129 Paisley Road West - a 10 minute walk from Central Station;
tel: 0141 429 4610
Both the Damai Beach and Damai Lagoon Holiday Inn resort hotels are excellent places to stay in a secluded, beach area surrounded by jungle, about 45 minutes drive from Kuching. Double rooms go for a mere £30 per room.
Damai Beach: Teluk Bandung Santubong, Kuching; tel: 60-82-846999;
www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/dmbmy?_requestid=1569234
Damai Lagoon: Teluk Penyuk, Santubong, Kuching; tel: 60-82-846900;
www.ichotelsgroup.com/h/d/hi/1/en/hotel/dmblg?_requestid=1567669
There is a shuttle bus to both from the Holiday Inn in Kuching.
Large and airy, this hostel is in an old textile warehouse. It is in a great location for exploring the city centre by day and the Northern Quarter bars by night. Some of these drinking holes are quite difficult to spot, so sign up for the bar crawl, if you don't mind Australians.
50 Newton St, The Northern Quarter, Manchester; tel: 0800 083 3848 (free in the UK);
www.hattersgroup.com
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