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Open 9am-5pm Thursday through Sunday, this market is a great place to pick up cheap ingredients when you’re in Sydney on a budget! Food fish, fruit, nuts etc. but also tourist souvenirs if this takes your fancy (lots of boomerangs in particular!) and handy backpacker essentials like socks and alarm clocks…
In Chinatown on Hay Street
Seattle is a long city with many neighborhoods some of them barely mentioned in the tour guides and yet still full of local colour. Columbia City is my neighbourhood and if you visit on a Wednesday afternoon between May and October, you’ll encounter the farmer’s market which draws producers from both west and east of the Cascades as well as local performers and organizations.
You can eat here, joining dozens of families picnicking on the sloping park ground adjacent to this weekly festival. The Sicilian style restaurant ‘La Medusa’ serves a Wednesday dinner that has been cooked up using only produce purchased fresh that day from the stalls in the market (book ahead).
Within a short radius Columbia City has a pub (great local microbrews), a bookstore (Bookworm Exchange), a gallery, restaurants, a bakery (which serves coffee and treats), a cinema, as well as ethnic and independent shops that beg to be browsed.
If you are in town on the first Friday of the month then come along to ‘Beatwalk’ which starts kicking in around seven in the evening; many of the places described above are open until late, each with their own band, one five dollar payment gives you the freedom to wander from venue to venue people-watching and relaxing (you might even enjoy the music too).
It’s a lot of fun and not set up with tourists in mind, many of my neighbours arrange to meet up or just wander down knowing they will bump into friends. The 'south end' is the 'social end'.
If you have a car (or ride Metro 39) go down to Seward Park and walk the perimeter path that follows the lakeside around this peninsula, looking across towards the downtown skyscrapers, it is hard to imagine that you are in a major US city. Within Seward Park there is old growth with the biggest Douglas fir inside city limits, bald eagles nest here and one particular nest is easily viewed from the internal drive that goes up by the amphitheatre.
I have lived in Seattle since 1989 and I love the south end, it doesn’t get the ‘travel show’ attention of other more northerly neighbourhoods but it’s a quiet gem of an experience waiting to happen.
Head south down Rainier Avenue
www.columbiacityseattle.com/
This large area of parkland and forest stretches from the eastern edge of Chamonix up to the Argentière valley. It's a peaceful haven for family picnics and strolls. It's a popular spot for hikers and cyclists as they continue towards Argentière and Vallorcine. You can also watch the paragliders take off and land on the parkland which surrounds Lac du Bouchet, there is also a fountain just beside the main road from which you can sample free and fresh-tasting mountain water.
From Chamonix train station go straight ahead down Avenue Michel Croz, then at the end of this road turn right onto Rue Whymper. Go straight across the roundabout. Pass the library on your right-hand side and keep going straight for about 500m and Lac du Bouchet is on your left-hand side.
Best beach in the north-west. Make sure you check for a low tide or call the Wirral Ranger service.
Set out from the marina from West Kirkby towards Big Eye (a small island off the coast) - wellies or bare feet best, and then walk towards Little Eye. On arrival is a small beach that is almost always sheltered from the wind, with caves and beautiful sandstone rocks.
It is the ideal place for a picnic and little children can play here for hours - just remember to leave on time before the high tide arrives! Of course you can always saunter on to Hilbre and look at birds, seals and the lifeboat station. A great day out for the kids!
You can walk from West Kirkby Merseyrail station to the marina, where you will see the three islands out in the Dee estuary. Just make sure to walk to Big Eye first rather than towards Hilbre, thereby avoiding any deep water. The picnic can always be picked up at the supermarket next to the marina as well!
There is a bench in Montmartre, two minutes' walk from Sacre Coeur, which has the most stunning views of Paris.
Buy a picnic of baguettes, some cheese, ham, olives and a bottle of wine from one of the many little shops in the village and just enjoy the amazing views.
The forest of Marselisskoven is right next to the city and can be reached from the centre of town within 10 minutes.
In the summer, stick a coin in one of the city bicycles and off you go (or catch a bus). There is a wonderful sandy beach all along the forest and in the forest itself there is a park with deer, a camping site, several great restaurants and a view over the sea to kill for.
Just before the forest you pass the royal family's summer residence, Marselisborg Slot. When the Queen is in Aarhus, you can watch the change of guards every day at noon. The castle is surrounded by a beautiful memorial park which is perfect for a picnic or a barbecue. When the Queen is not in residence, it is even possible to walk around the castle's own gardens.
Just south of the city centre. Walkable distance on a nice day.
This is a fantastic London institution. In the centre of Regent's Park it is a little piece of magic. You enter through a small gate and the softly draped fairy lights around the bar, the smell of barbecued meat and the excited buzz of over 1,000 fellow attendees makes for a really exciting night. Many start with a picnic on the lawns outside in the park which is a fab way to feel really summery. Tickets start from ten pounds. Every year performances include Midsummer Night's Dream, a children's play and something contemporary (this year it is the Boyfriend). It also stages comedy nights and concerts on Sundays. Comedy Store Players is fantastic but sells out quickly every year. It is a completely unpretentious night out, you can take wine and crisps etc. into the auditorium. Advise that you also take warm clothes and possibly waterproofs, depending on the weather!
openairtheatre.org/
Regents Park, 10 minutes walk from Baker Street tube.
Newborough Warren is a nature reserve near the village of Newborough, on Anglesey, and includes two beaches: Maltraeth Bay and Llanddwyn Bay, separated by Llanddwyn Island. The beaches are a walk away from the car park, but are absolutely beautiful clear stretches of sand, backed by dunes, and with views to Snowdonia. A walk to the lighthouse and cross on Llanddwyn Island is rewarding, and there are smaller beaches here: a wonderful find.
Photo at: www.anglesey-history.co.uk/places/llanddwyn/AerialLlanddwyn.html
Coastal walk at: www.bbc.co.uk/wales/northwest/sites/walks/pages/newborough.shtml
Signposted from the A4080 in Newborough
This is a 26km drive from Cardwell which takes in Cardwell lookout and a number of areas for swimming and picnicking. I recommend the 'spa pool' which is just what it sounds like - a lovely swimming hole and spa effect created by water rushing into a pool over rocks. Go in the week and you will probably get it all to yourselves as we did.
Turn off the Bruce highway onto Brasenose Street, follow the road over the railway crossing, straight ahead onto a gravel road and follow the 'forest drive' road circular drive.
It is bigger, quieter and in my opinion the most beautiful park you will find in Paris. Parisians will actually leave central Paris to go to this park in summer- that's saying something!
You cannot help but be impressed by its scale. It has the 'grand canal', fountains, a chateau and huge expanses of immaculately kept lawns. But what is also nice is that you can take smaller plane tree lined paths that guide you through a series of more secluded areas. Both elements work seamlessly together.
Undoubtedly the best place to have a picnic in summer!
Parc de seaux is approx. 15/20 minutes from zone 1 on RER line B
nearest RER stations: parc du seaux & la croix de berny
www.ratp.com
Rabbit Island's a fantastic, huge beach which all of the locals go to (I'm from Nelson). Loads of room to spread out for lounging, beach cricket, safe swimming, and huge picnic areas under the pines.
Past Richmond on the road towards Motueka/Abel Tasman.
Mazes and Botanical Gardens
Why? It's weird and passionate
It's entertainment with an educational twist.
Visitors can 'taste' flowers in a wine tasting area.
The most diverse collection of succulent plants from all over the world under the open sky.
The world's largest hedge-maze but also unique for other qualities.
See their website for more details including accommodation in the area.
Adress: Klaas Voogds West which is 8 km East of Robertson on the Route62 towards Ashton/Montagu; approx. 2 hrs easy driving from Cape Town (Capetonians make daytripping picnics to this place).
Website: www.soekershof.com
Contact details, road directions etc. all on this very informative website.
Huge amazing rock formations that look like temple ruins. In the summer there are ferns everywhere and orange flowers and it almost feels like Mexico. Perfect for scrambling, picnics and climbing.
Summerbridge, Harrogate, North Yorkshire HG3 4DW
www.yorkshire-dales.com/brimham-rocks.html
St Mary's is the largest Island out of all the Scilly Islands, it also is the busiest. I'd recommend St Mary's because it's a nice place to go and have a break and since you're only allowed a car if you live there, it's quite a 'Global Friendly' place. It's also brilliant for a midnight cycle adventure!
It has a lot of great beaches to picnic on, where you can paddle in the sea even in April! Watching the gigs race whilst having fish and chips is fun too. There are plenty of interesting little shops to potter around in. You can get to any of the islands by boat.
My favourite island is Tresco because of the Abbey Gardens and the shell grotto inside it.
From Katie Lawrence (age 10) from Pembrokeshire.
Turkey is more than just Istanbul and the coast! The old cities of medieval Anatolia and Armenia are not to be missed.
Sivas is on a high plain in the middle of the country, and boasts some interesting monuments from the Ilkhanid and Seljuk periods. It was also the site of one of the early Republican congresses. A short drive takes one into the surrounding hills, where lakes, caves, and pastures make great hiking, fishing, and picnicing.
Divrigi is in a mountainous area, and may not be reached in the winter. It has, hands down, the most spectacular mosque in the country. Built in the 1220s, the carving on it has no parallel in architecture anywhere, which gives rise to theories about the workers and designers: crusaders from the British Isles, Georgian stone masons, etc. It is now a UNESCO site, but probably the least visited in the world, due to its remote location.
The town itself has some pretty old houses, two ruined churches, a crumbling citadel and some tombs. The mountains, and valley of one of the tributarties of the Euphrates, contribute to the atmosphere, which is helped by the fact that there are almost no tourists. The locals are v. friendly and helpful, but v. little English is spoken. Look carefully at a map, and drive in and out in a day, as there is no truly recommendable hotel here.
Divrigi mosque
archnet.org/library/images/one-image.tcl?location_id=9590&image_id=60254&start=28&limit=9
Any decent guidebook will carry the name of a few reputable, and friendly, establishments. If you're leaving from Istanbul, the concierge of your hotel there may be able to help.
Besides the obvious walk through the stones, go up the small hill right oposite the archeological site and behind it you will find a nice slide of stone and a small field away from guides and tourists! Great for a picnic or siesta.
Sacsayhuaman, take a taxi from the main square in Cuzco to the site, 5 min from Cuzco, don't pay more than S/.5 and get the taxi driver to come and pick you up later, for another S/.5. You need a ticket to get in, S/.35 but gets you into more than 8 other sites.
Hamburg's Alster is not just the big lake in the middle of the city - it spreads all over the city via various canals. You can rent boats, bring some wine, bread, cheese, and see the city from the water.
I found a company - Bootshaus Silwar - that hires out canoes (note that I am not affiliated with them nor know if they are the best and cheapest or anything, but it should help a bit).
Eppendorfer Landstraße 148b;
tel: 040 47 62 07;
email: info@bootshaus-silwar.com;
www.bootshaus-silwar.com
Spend a lush day strolling around the network of parks just south-west of the city’s inner core. Beginning just behind the Neues Rathaus and sprawling out towards the leafy Plagwitz district, the Johanna Park and the Clara Zetkin Park (into which the Johanna merges) are filled with gardens, woodlands, lakes, Japanese-style bridges, inquisitive red squirrels, and eventually a full-blown river (Weisse Elster).
This is a beatiful walk along one of the sides of Södermalm. Very popular with locals but tourists don't find their way here.
Exit tube station Hornstull and take the closest way down to the water. When you are down there you should have where you came from behind you, big lawn to your left and the water to your right. Start walking and escape the noises from the city above. Perfect for contemplation or picnic. You can walk along until you come to the big Skanstull bridge, there you can walk up to your left and you are back in the hectic city agailn.
Tube station: Hornstull.
Huge park in the city centre (five minutes walk from Leidseplein). Lovely for walking/lazing/picnicking on warm spring/summer days. Bring your own food/drink or stop in one of the bars for snacks etc.
Amsterdam city centre
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