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This tip is for visitors to Spain who bank with Santander. When using Santander ATMs to withdraw euros, the usual cash handling fee and foreign exchange fee do not apply.
I'm not here to advertise Santander, but since this tip will save me lots of money I thought it might help others too.
Until the late '60s the only travel guides available were published by Shell Mex-BP, Berlitz, and Fodors. Then, in 1970, came The BIT Guide; roneo'd & stapled foolscap booklets for the adventurous heading overland to, or through, India, Africa and South America. It was, at times quite literally, a lifesaver for us naive hippy-trailers coming unstuck in Kandahar or Swat. Sadly, BIT collapsed in chaos and debt in 1979, their archives destroyed. The BIT Guide was the precursor and inspiration for Rough Guides and Lonely Planet, either of which now being the sine qua non for gap year teenagers or Third Agers.On the other hand, if you're on a SERIOUS expedition you can't beat Bradt. Weighty tomes, yes, but the porters can carry it for you. If you're more interested in a travel BOOK, rather than a guide, you really should invest in a copy of "A Short Walk In The Hindu Kush" by Eric Newby. Fabulous.
Basic rules to respect - having seen those come a cropper who didn't ...
DO respect the sun - this is tropical microwaving and do not initially expose yourself until after 4pm. Factor 50 recommended. And cover your head with a good white hat if you don't want blinding headaches.
DO take a roll of small bin bags - at any time a tropical shower can start and your western waterproof bag will offer woefully inadequate protection for your mobile and video camera. Plastic bags of all kinds come in useful.
DO take a plastic mac and plastic beach shoes for the same reason.
DO take a pocket torch and keep it with you. Lots of Seychelles roads are unlit and you see tourists hopping around with twisted ankles after they've fallen over in the pitch black. And night falls at around 7pm.
DO fall into conversation with the Seychellois. They are utterly charming and always gratified to talk about their beautiful islands.
DON'T drink the water unless you have an iron constitution. Bottled water is cheap and good. Fight shy of non boiled tap water served in tea in beach huts.
My wife and I visited Cambridge last weekend. Prior to visiting, however, we came across a concierge company that offers independent concierge services. We were intent on doing the usual stuff, like punting down the River Cam and looking at the University buildings, and maybe seeing a play or two, but weren't really sure what else we could do. Anyway we ended up arranging the whole weekend via the private concierge company. Upsides - we found out about some places in Cambridge we definitely would not have done otherwise. Downside - it was a little bit more expensive than doing everything yourself. To be honest though, I didn't mind paying the extra bit, as we could call them anytime during the weekend if we had any problems etc, or just wanted some advice on extra places to go. I'd recommend it:)
Welcome to Campobasso, the capital city of the Molise lowlands. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by the Sannio and Matese mountains.
You can visit :
The main attraction of Campobasso is the Castello Monforte, built in 1450 by the local Count, Nicola II Monforte, over Lombard or Norman ruins.
The church of San Bartolomeo is one of the many interesting churches in Campobasso. It is an 11th century Romanesque building, in limestone.
Events :
The Festival of Mysteries is one of the most significant regional events, centering around the passion, death and resurrection of Christ.
Another manifestation of religious feeling is The Procession.
Transport:
You may reach Campobasso by bus or train from Pescara Airport.
Cuisine:
Simple cooking, which despite the changes and the progressive enrichment, has preserved an irreplaceable authenticity. Expect dishes such as
pork tripe with chili, garlic, fennel seeds and salt or scapece of anchovies - a typical recipe with anchovies in vinegar.
Other favourites include corn pizza, with garden vegetables and “Fiadone” , a rustic pie made of cheese and eggs.
Among the delicious traditional liqueurs are the “Nocino”.
Official website: www.italiantourism.com/molise.html
Digame Mallorca is a fab website, that has everything that is going on in Mallorca. Whether it be a bar, club, restaurant, activity or music gigs that you are looking for, you can find it here plus much much more. Really user friendly site. They also have a monthly free magazine you can pick up.
If you want to be in on the local secrets of Marseille then you need to check out 'My Little Marseille', it is up to the minute, latest tips on food, fashion, chilling out, partying, shopping, pampering and lots more.
I get an update every week with tips on everything from Tom the resident Rasta tailor who will turn your chosen fabric into a stylish dress (and drives a rastafarian inspired London cab) to where to go for a fish pedicure (thats little fish nibbling your feet, a massage and exfoliation treatment all in one).
Its in french sorry, but better than any printed guide book by a mile! Even if you don't read french, its only a google translate away to discover these excellent recommended secrets of Marseille.
mygreatstay.com is an organisation which finds, assesses and monitors homestay accommodation in nine key Indian states and allows you to book with a UK credit card. At a homestay, you have a private room with attached bathroom and often breakfast and dinner. They are in fabulous locations throughout the country, including areas which have few hotels, and offer visitors a unique insight into the culture of the country. Your hosts are not intrusive but always available for advice and guidance. The last one I stayed in was with the delightful Mayekar family at Chivla Beach, close to the town of Malven in South Maharashtra, just north of Goa and nine hours by train south of Mumbai. I had a clean and comfortable double room for £12 a night, under the coconut palms with the Arabian Sea lapping only a few metres from the door. With a motor scooter rented for less than £4 a day to explore the pristine beaches and river valleys that are almost devoid of human beings, and two meals a day lovingly prepared by the ladies of the house for less than the cost of a capuccino at a coffee bar in England, I had an experience that no travel agent could ever devise, even for thrice the price.
www.mygreatstay.com
tel: (91) 970217 5257
I picked up a card for www.la-boca.com in my hostel reception. It's got a great listings sections and some good recommendations for bars and restaurants around town.
Maps in Korea come in many languages but unfortunately they aren't usually bilingual. In countries that use the Roman alphabet this isn't usually a huge problem but with Korean (and other languages that use a different alphabet) this can cause some problems because the romanised Korean on most maps is frankly appalling and taxi drivers and the like will very often not understand you. Getting two maps, one in English and one in Korean however means you can navigate the English map and just point to the corresponding place on the Korean map, hopefully reducing the number of times you end up in the wrong place (although hopefully not completely eliminating this rite of passage for travellers.)
Tourist offices all over the world
A webpage with many photos from Samos.
It is the only city in the world to straddle two continents, and the only one to have been a capital during two consecutive empires - Christian and Islamic.
This is an online cultural review with insider info on what's going on and the best places to see in Paris - events, restaurants, bars, fashion, shops etc - written in English, equally useful for tourists on first trip to Paris to expats living in the capital (like me!)
This is a really nice and complete guide for restuarants and bars in Buenos Aires. It's in English too and provides you with good and helpful information about the places.
Situated 180 km from Antalya, Gazipasa is a charming little town with a beach 10 km long, beautiful forests and turquoise blue coves. Iskele, the site of the Koru and Kahyalar beaches, is an important breeding ground of the caretta caretta turtles. Mostly undeveloped up until the present time, Gazipasa is on its way to being an attractive tourist centre with accommodation, recreation facilities, an airport and yacht harbour still under construction, as well as the natural and historical treasures of the area.
Antiocheia Ad Cragum 18 km east of Gazipasa, and within the village of Guney. These ruins get their name from the Commagene King Antiochus IV, and are found on the three hills that stretch out towards the sea. It has the ruins of a castle dating back to the Roman and Byzantine era, a column-lined boulevard, agora, baths, victory arch, a church and the city necropolis. The barrel-vaulted memorial tombs with their pre-entrance porticoes are well preserved and reflect a style peculiar to the region.
Adanda (Lamos) This ancient city is located 15 km northeast of Gazipasa, and was founded two km north of the present-day village of Adanda, on the top of a high and steep hill. It is a walled city with a large tower south of the city gate, and among the ruins are a fountain carved into the living rock and two temples. Other significant ruins are the tombs in the necropolis made of single pieces of carved stone. These remains are a good representation of the culture and art of the mountainous Cilician region.
Nephelis. This ancient ruin can be reached by going through the village of Muzkent 12 km out on the Gazipasa-Anamur road and taking the gravel road south for about 5 km. The southern area is surrounded by the sea and steep cliffs. The city consists of the acropolis and the remains of dwellings spread out in an east-west fashion. The only standing structures date back to the Roman and Byzantine periods and include a Medieval Castle, a temple, a musical hall, irrigation system and the necropolis.
Selinus Located on the slopes in southwest of Hacimusa Creek by Gazipasa Beach, the ancient city of Selinus is one of the most important cities in the mountainous Cilician region. On the top of the hill is the acropolis as well as the walls and towers of a medieval castle, which are fairly well preserved. In the Acropolis, a church and cistern have survived the ravages of time. The other buildings of Selinus are near the beach and on the slopes, among which are the baths, agora, Islami Yapi (mansion), aqueducts and the necropolis. Most of the bones in the Alanya Museum were brought from the Necropolis and allow the workshop in the museum to exist.
The area has a unique ecosystem which is in danger of vanishing and has the only fir tree grove growing naturally in İstanbul. Other tree species include chestnut, lime, horn-beam and hazelnut.
The well known Pause-pipi guide for Paris is already in Readers' tips but www.wcpublics.chez.com gives similar information for many towns in France.
I don't know what I would have done the last few days in Montevideo without the UruguayNow internet travel guide. It's helped me discover a load of cool restaurants and bars and is full of insider tips. I had previously had trouble finding info about Uruguay in English, but it's all here and it's brilliantly written too.
I see Porto da Barra has once again made it onto the Best Beaches list. There’s a lot that’s fun about this beach – the communal spirit, the song of the gambas sellers, the five minutes of madness before the sun goes down – but it also has a dark side. As I watched the sun set I was accosted on this beach by a man with a blonde afro who grabbed my leg, held it under his arm in a vice-like grip and dug his fingernails in for several minutes. When he finally let me go he claimed I owed him money for reflexology. I had only the money for the deckchair on me, which the vendors don’t collect till the evening so they are not robbed. Foolhardy it might have been, but I felt the deckchair man deserved my money more than this conman and also that these deckchair men could somehow protect me. They blanched when they saw this guy. He threw some capoeira moves and asked me to take him to my apartment and give him money. I went instead to the hotel that had rented me the apartment, rang the doorbell, the hotel manager pulled me, slammed the door and said “That guy’s really dangerous. He just got out of jail for raping and beating up a girl.” When the sun goes down, which happens really suddenly and very early, the streets empty and you see the deckchair men and snack sellers literally running to safety. Though my last image of Barra was the beautiful, poignant silhouette of people throwing flowers into the sea to protest against the murder of a gay journalist, I never want to see this beach again. My 40th birthday was spent prisoner in my apartment with Mr Reflexology waiting outside and he dogged me for days.
Salvador de Bahia
These guys are fantastic at sorting out visas, trains, planes - anything to do with visiting Russia and all online with super friendly phone backup.
We did the Trans-Siberian last year and they sorted out all our tickets and hotels so we could concentrate on enjoying Russia. Wow, what a place - don't hold back just go. It will really blow your mind!
Is this your business?