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It is that rarity for Geneva: an inexpensive, unpretentious restaurant, popular with students, immigrants and UN employees. A plate of delicious lamb couscous is 15 Swiss francs and the wine list, while limited, is very reasonably priced. It is in the funky Paquis district. In the summer, there is a casual outside terrace for dining or just sipping the soothing mint tea. And there is even a no smoking section - also rare for Geneva.
In the Paquis district, at 11, rue du Dr. Alfred Vincent
I have eaten at a lot of Indian restaurants, but this is the best. It has won lots of awards and you can tell why. There are only two kitchens I will eat from - one is my mum's, and the other is Zouks.
Zouk
1310- 1312 Leeds Road
Bradford
BD3 8LF
01274 258025
www.zoukteabar.co.uk
To avoid the Campo dei Miracoli crowds or when you've had enough of them, walk into the centre of town (10 minutes away) and straight into this café that serves very affordable and tasty food (open also for drinks). It's set within an arcade square where the market is held. Friendly service too!
Piazza delle Vettovaglie 33/37
Pisa
A great Viennese bar nestled off Graben Strasse, near Stephen's Platz. The only thing better than the excellent beer is the friendly, efficient staff who make sure your tankard is never empty.
The Klinic is not too pricey, and pretty decent food to boot makes this a must for any visitors to Vienna.
Steindlgasse 4, Vienna.
www.goesser-bierklinik.at/
Google map: tinyurl.com/no2soa
A restaurant near Porta Elisa that employs disabled people alongside trained staff. Highly recommended by local friends, I was unable to test it as it was fully booked on the night. Affordable local fare.
Piazza S. Francesco 4
Lucca
Spiz is a pub on the corner of the Rynek market square. It is a microbrewery serving the best beer in Wroclaw, perhaps even Poland. Plus you also get a free bread and smalec (dripping).
I found Wroclaw to be a very romantic city where you can always see couples wandering the streets. I always enjoyed meandering around the beautiful old town and relaxing in the park overlooking the cathedral.
Spiz is on the corner of the Rynek facing the flower market (Plac Solny).
This bar might appear a trifle tacky, but the great live music, good drinks and friendly service more than offset the dubious visuals. Here, one can enjoy good clean fun. Beer starts at 20RMB.
13 XingFu Rd near FaHuaZhen Rd
logoshanghai.com
Nanluoguxiang is a great mix of west meets east, you can walk to Hoi Hai lake from here, ten mins from the subway line. 10 mins in a taxi from Sanlitun bar street, in good traffic (not from 5-6pm) and ghost street on your door step for the late night hot pots.
Also on Nanluoguxiang you will find the best fish and chips in the city as well as a great curry house and the pass by bar and a good hostel. Best bet when coming to Beijing is to check out 'That's beijing' which will offer a good inside guide to the city.
Tasty and healthy Lebanese food from a restaurant often overlooked despite its great position in the Northern Quarter. Better still, if operates a bring-your-own-booze policy, meaning an already cheap meal works out even cheaper. Well worth considering, both by travellers on a budget and locals out to try something new.
69 Thomas Street, Manchester M4 1LQ
+44 161 834 5016
A friendly, bohemian cafe-bar in the Gothic quarter, just off Carrer de Ferran. Expect to be sitting alongside writers and artists - writing and drawing, no less - during your stay. Food is reasonably priced (eg soup and a main - the 'combi of the day' - for 6 euros). Plus the staff all seem to know English, but avoid speaking it if possible - usually a good sign.
5 Calle de Arai
The hotel Omm is one of the coolest in the city with a price tag to match. In the lobby is the restaurant Moo (equally expensive) and also brasserie Moovida.
Although having different names, the restaurant and brasserie tables are almost next to each other so there's not too much difference in atmosphere, the food and wines (try the rose) are delicious and it's a fraction of the price.
Perfect place for taking friends to impress them!
Lobby of Hotel Omm. Rosselló, 265, Barcelona, Barcelona 08008.
There's a magical Arctic experience hidden away behind the busy shopping hell of Regent Street. The build up to going inside is part of the fun.
First, you raise your body temperature by a few valuable degrees in the normal, heated Below Zero bar downstairs, which serves creative fresh fruity cocktails such as a scrummy apple and blackberry crumble concoction.
Everyone is allocated a 40 minute time slot so when your time comes they give you space-age silver cloaks, thick gloves and snow boots and you go into the Ice Bar. Inside it's minus five degrees and everything inside is made from clear crystal ice from Sweden – the walls, the bar, the tables and the chunky glasses, which you slurp simple but super-strong vodka cocktails from. Drinking doesn't get more refreshing than this.
A mere two kilometres off the Pennine Way in the moors above Oldham, The Rams Head is a 450- year-old-inn specialising in local produce and warm welcomes. Heat yourself in front of one of the log fires and treat yourself to some of the finest local game and seafood.
Wash it all down with some local beer or something from the extensive wine list while looking out over the moorland views.
As an extra treat pop into The Pantry shop next door and buy a pork, game or ploughmans pie to enjoy later.
The Rams Head Inn, Denshaw, Saddleworth, OL3 5UN, 01457 874802. www.ramsheaddenshaw.co.uk
Grid Reference SD977119
Salzburg has a reputation as a beautiful but sleepy little city. However, look under the surface and Salzburg offers a quality night out.
If you fancy a day of drinking, the Augustiner Braustubl (mentioned previously) is a definite must and a good place to start. Great beer at an affordable price with plenty of food vendors to cap it all off.
The alternative is a pub/restaurant called Raschhofers; you can, depending on the time, turn up and order a barrel of beer which is then placed under your table and costs around 85 euros. In a group of four, this can last for 4-5 hours. Highly recommended. The Stiegl Keller is another that is recommended.
For a night out, the Rudolfskai area is the place to go. Vibrant and loud, it's popular with Austrian youngsters. There is plenty of bars to keep you occupied. Bar Flip is the one we enjoyed the most.
Nightclubs, just ask about and follow the crowd!
Two of the best places in the entire world to have a cocktail are the Moon Bar at Vertigo on the 61st floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel and the Sky Bar at Sirocco on the 63rd of the State Tower Hotel.
Both are in the heart of the city and have jaw-dropping views where you feel as close to the aeroplanes overhead as the ground below. The Moon Bar, especially, seems to hover over the city. Brilliant fun and very surreal — like sipping cocktails on the set of Bladerunner.
A tiny dark wood bar where the ageing white-suited cocktail barmen expertly mix all the classics. It has no menu so this isn’t the place to go for a passionfruit vodkatini, but if you want to experience all the understated glamour of a bygone era, there’s no better place. Go for its simple signature gimlet cocktail or a martini. Heaven.
Calle Rec 24 (metro Jaume 1
In the country that invented three classic rum-based cocktails (the mojito, daiquiri and cuba libre) it’s no surprise that you can get one in every bar in town. The bars of the city’s many historic grand old hotels are the best places for a pre-dinner sundowner (but eat in a paladar rather than the hotels — the food is rank).
Some of the best are the elegant garden at the Nacional and the rooftop bars of the Moorish-style Sevilla (the setting for Our Man in Havana) and Ambos Mundos (where Hemingway wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls). The two more famous Hemingway haunts (Floridita and La Bodeguita) are just tourist traps these days.
For those into something a little alternative (dub, indie, electronica etc), numerous small clubs around the Warschauer Strasse metro stop such as Cassiopeia and Rosis Bar are highly recommended. Relatively inexpensive with a great crowd and good music.
Belgrade has everything to offer on a night out, from hardcore clubbing to intimate bars to chill out and relax in.
The Club of World Travellers is the coolest little place I've ever been. A 'secret' bar, it took us a while to find but it was worth it. Extensive cocktail list, good prices and weird decor all make it a place worth visiting.
For those into their history, how can anyone look past Tito's grave and museum? A definite must and, if you're into football as well, a mere 5-10 minute walk from both Red Star and Partisan Belgrade's ground (and the kindly staff even let you have a look around).
Croatian design team Gharani Strok designed the interiors for the recently opened five-star Hotel Bellevue.
The hotel itself is like something from an old James Bond film with its lift to the private beach below built into the rock face.
The cocktails served in Vapor's bar are something quite special. The terrace is split in two with Vapor on one side and the other side being home to one of the best restaurants in Dubrovnik. The terrace has a wonderful view out over the Adriatic where you can sip your cocktail while watching a whole variety of craft from tall Pirates of The Caribbean ships to little island-hopping taxis moving in and out of Dubrovnik harbour framed by a glorious sunset.
The Adriatic's most friendly barman made us the perfect Vodka Martinis and told us tales of having to fight in the Balkan war and then finding work on a cruise ship where he learned the art of perfect mixing. My boyfriend and I spent a magical evening sipping amazing cocktails and watching the moonlight dance over the Adriatic. Bliss!
Hotel Bellevue - Pera Cingrije 7, 20000 Dubrovnik, Croatia
T +385 20 330 000 F +385 20 330 100
www.hotel-bellevue.hr
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