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It's written by a local person in Edinburgh, who provides honest and detailed reviews of restaurants and bars in Edinburgh. Photos are provided too, so you can see what your meal looks like and if it's appetising!
The 'In Your Pocket' series of guidebooks are well worth recommending. The guides are written by locals and expats and are updated on a regular basis.
Even better, they are free and can be downloaded as PDFs from the website.
Alternatively you can pick up free copies in some hotels.
Coming to Egypt, I’d expected the pyramids and temples, the Red Sea and St Katherine’s, even Cairo’s wonderful frenetic buzz. But not the desert! Egypt has an incredibly scenic and varied desert – full of fairy-tale rock formations, scarps and plateaus, petrified forests, dunes, caves, whale bones and sharks teeth, shells and fossils and an abundance of stunning views – even (or especially) at night under silent sweeping starry skies.
But the desert is also home to an astonishing wealth of man-made history. The earliest cultivation in the world is thought to have started not in the Nile Valley, but in what is now Egypt’s Western Desert, where Paleolithic and Neolithic grinding stones, arrows and cutting implements can be found (and left please!). Rock art (and a squinted gaze over lake and river like terrain) attest to earlier periods when the desert was green and watered. There are ancient Pharonic trading routes (some still littered with old pottery water vessels), Roman ruins (irrigation systems, fortresses, temples, tombs and houses) and even WWII memorabilia (a jeep and an aeroplane, as well as more prosaic food and fuel cans!). There are surprising trees and bushes, as well as interesting tracks to decipher in the morning, after desert foxes have checked out the camp overnight. The desert never fails to intrigue. The Bedouin guides, based in the oases, define themselves by their knowledge of the desert. The best of these are well-organised family operations, providing all your camping gear, food and drink, arranging connecting transport – or leading self-drive groups. With their strong traditions of hospitality, the food will be a highlight – local dishes, rustled up using fresh ingredients to great effect – tasting all the better around the campfire. Naturally discrete but quietly charming, they’ll share their stories with you around the fire – giving you privileged glimpses into this very different world. They carry satellite phones for back-up – but rely on their own networks for support when it’s needed. That’s how – a week into one trip – we managed to order, receive and fit a new gear box – with only a 24-hour stop! (Try that with your average break-down service…lucky if you get past “off-road, are we Madame?”). Each trip is individual – put together to accommodate your interests. Allow three days minimum – just a taster – or three months if you get hooked!
Esam Abdul Sayed: Bedouin Desert Guide (Western Desert, Egypt)
esamelsayed1@hotmail.com
+20 12 495 2362
www.desert5oasis.com
Excellent guide (76 pages in current edition) written by people who live in the city.
You can pick it up for €2 in Berlin from tourist and book shops.
Alternatively you can download the PDF version for free from their website.
Winter Under Water (Picador) by James Hopkin. I read this novel while in Krakow and it describes all the beauty and magic of the city, as well as the other side. Highly recommended! Also his stories, 'even the crows say Krakow' were pretty good too and perfect to take on a trip.
hetmanska bookshop, rynek
massolit, ul. felicjanek
american bookstore, galeria krakowska
A website for visitors that provides detailed street maps of the main Malta holiday resorts plus info on places of interest, bars, restaurants, scuba diving, car hire and much more. A comprehensive Malta guide, very user friendly and you can even ask them a Malta holiday question and they will get back to you.
For the benefit of the readers of this forum I would like to recommend on this website: www.restaurants.mu (Mauritius Restaurants Guide).
It is a great restaurants and bars guide for Mauritius offering up-to-date information on restaurants, bars and clubs in Mauritius (of course it is FREE).
The website is a great tool to find a restaurant, place to eat, catering service, food shops, and to find big selection of discount coupons, special promotions, restaurants tips, so check it before your arrival to Mauritius.
Hope this helps. Enjoy :-)
This is the definitive guide for fine dining in Buenos Aires. In English too and also makes comments on wines. Invaluable guide.
We used these video guides to find both our villa and to find out what's on in and around the place we stayed I thoroughly recommend them.
Anyone planning to visit Lanzarote can pick up a free 96 page Guidebook to the island, which is packed with information and illustrated with some great quality photos.
Travel Box is a travel items store that carries everything a traveller needs; maps, travel guides, luggage, tech stuch, first aid kits, personal care items, plug adaptors etc.
English spoken (a plus for Salvador) and very friendly staff.
They also sell a bus pass for a city tour "Salvador Bus". You must check this store out!
Rua Marquês de Caravelas, 148 - lj 3
Barra, Salvador
Tel: +55(71)3264-6793
www.travelbox.com.br
contato@travelbox.com.br
Very nice put together information about Prague. Real insider's guide. Definitely worth reading before travel.
Staying in Vinales at Casa Lucilo y Nirma was one of the highlights of our trip to Cuba!
The Casa is clean, safe, and Lucilo and Nirma were extremely friendly. They can arrange anything extra that you need in Vinales, have great ideas on what to do, and on top of all that Nirma is a great Chef!
They can also arrange any other Casas you may need for the rest of your trip in Cuba.
After long days of hiking and sightseeing around Vinales, our air conditioned room, and garden terrace at the casa were the perfect way to completely relax.
Vinales itself is a wonderful Cuban village. The town and surrounding area are picturesque perfect with beautiful tobacco fields, brightly painted Cuban houses and shops, and the amazing topography of the Vinales valley mountains as well that surround you.
If you are going to Cuba I highly visiting Vinales... and if you are going to Vinales then go to Casa Lucilo y Nirma where you will experience great Cuban hospitality and be treated like family!
I can`t wait to go again!
They were nice enough to meet us at the local bus station! See their web page for more info...
Gocar is a whole new way to explore and discover a city. It is a GPS guided tour that once you step on the Gocar will start telling you all about Lisbon but in a funny way. The car tells jokes, teaches you to speak Portuguese and even tells you all about the main sights of Lisbon. As a Portuguese, I tried and had a lot of fun.
Rua dos douradores,16
Really Discover offers short (2.5 hrs) tours of Seville. The walking tour is limited to 10 people so you are never so far from the guide that you can't hear what is being said.
We chose to start our first full day in Seville with the walking tour in order to get our bearings and plan our week better. Our guide, Luis, really knew his city and obviously loves it as well. They have a basic plan but are flexible so that they can skip over places you've already been if you wish.
We were met by David, a Brit who moved to Seville, and Luis our guide who spoke very good English. Both were friendly and helpful. A later call to David helped us sort out a taxi back to the station very early in the morning.
They are also happy to recommend their favourite places to eat or visit. Luis recommended a restaurant called Taberna del Alabardero which we visited twice for their Menu del Dia.
Luis also took us to the Archivo General de Indias which was a treat that we would probably have skipped had it not been for the tour. This place is particularly interesting for US visitors interested in their own history.
Carneiros is not the most popular beach in Brazil, but that's a plus. It feels far more remote than it is because it is so unspoilt.
Long palm tree lined beaches, tropically warm shallow waters, natural reefs with pools full of tropical fish, river bank mud baths and rustic bars in the mangrove.
This paradise is a short distance from several other fantastic beaches, from Recife and from the World Heritage city Olinda with its charming colonial architecture that dates from the early 1500s.
If you want a tropical holiday at a fraction of the cost of more popular destinations, then this is your solution.
Recife is the capital on the northeast coast of Brazil and enjoys a tropical climate and 12 month summer. Being just 8° 06′south of the equator topical means hot, but the humidity is not too high and Recife benefits from onshore trade winds that make things more comfortable.
These great weather conditions can be enjoyed along the 190 km coastline of the state, and beyond in neighbouring states. Many beaches are protected from the Atlantic ocean by reefs that create natural swimming pools at several points during low tide. It is these reefs that gave the city of Recife its name.
Sea temperatures make you feel you are in a tropical aquarium. Often a mask and snorkel are all you need to enjoy the abundant ocean life. The region also offers good deep sea diving experiences for the more adventurous.
Recife and nearby Olinda are amongst the oldest cities in Brazil and its Portuguese, Dutch and colonial past are still much in evidence. Olinda is a hill top town established by the Portuguese in 1534 and Recife is the nearby port that was developed by the Dutch. Sugar made Recife the richest city in Brazil and its position was maintained for several years with the addition of the cotton industry. These industries were largely dependent upon the slave trade giving Brazil its African influence. There is also a significant Jewish influence. They controlled fifty percent of the sugar industry, and Recife is home to the first synagogue in the Americas dating from 1641. It was from here that the first jews in New York originate.
Nearby is Porto de Galinhas, voted number one beach in Brazil by Brazilians. It is a perfect area that offers a mix of safe bathing, water sports and some of the best surf conditions in the country. The waters are an aquatic paradise teaming with ocean life. You can literally feed the fish here by hand.
All these influences make for a lively and diverse culture, most in evidence during carnival. Carnival here is the most authentic. Unlike carnival in Rio and Salvador, you don't spectate, you take part, and it is free.
The region is popular with Brazilian tourists from the south who come here in their winter months. There is no winter here in the northeast. Temperatues rarely fall below 26C. It is growing in popularity with foreign tourists but guides and information in English are hard to find. The most comprehensive guide in English is Recife Guide, a website with all you need to know. Recife Guide also offers Guided Tours and other services.
Almost certainly you will arrive by plane either on an international or national flight. There are direct scheduled flights from Europe (from Lisbon on TIP, or from Paris on TAM). Charter flights operate during high season, but usually as package holidays rather than flight only. I would strongly advise against a package holiday to Brazil. There are far better ways to experience the country.
Recifes international airport is the largest and most modern airport in the northeast. It serves the main tourist destinations in the region, Recife (10mins by car), Olinda (30mins) and Porto de Galinhas (1 1/2hrs).
Almost every type of accommodation is available, from hostel to five star hotel. A nice and very affordable option are beach guest houses called Pousadas. They vary in price and quality but most offer good clean accomodation with breakfast. At the moment the price range of accommodation is from R$26 (8 Euro) per night in a hostel, from R$100 (28 Euro) in a 3 star like hotel, and from R$300 (85Euro) in a luxury hotel. Prices may be higher in high season (Oct - Mar), or less in low season (Apr-Sep).
If you're travelling on UK motorways you can get routes for short country walks close to all the junctions. It's written for dog owners, but also has kids' activities, dog-friendly pubs and places to visit. Great way to make full use of your petrol and see new parts of the country as well.
A new site has been launched online. It gets new content added each day and is aimed at British travellers to Las Vegas.
It's a reliable online restaurant guide that also has background info e.g. a recurring piece on Spanish food and wines. Useful for general info and also for making online reservation. Check it out.
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