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This National Park covers some territory, stretching from the Brindabella range which backdrops Canberra, through the Snowy Mountains and onto the Victorian high country.
The park offers some of the most unique landscapes found in south eastern Australia, and arguably the whole continent. Galcial lakes, unique flora and fauna, bushwalking, mountain biking, skiing, brumbies and impressive indigenious history.
Recent films such as Sommersault, and Jindabyne have been set amongst this landscape. Last visit whilst sitting silent beside a river, a platypus swam right up to the rock I was perched upon.
A long day trip from Valencia, but worth the effort. Why it is such an effort is anyone’s guess, but this is not straightforward.
The trains run at slightly odd hours, and when you get to the nearest stop (Benicarlo) there’s no information or even a bus. It leaves instead from a stop a good 15-minute walk away in the town. By the time the bus gets within view of this medieval walled city that juts out into the crystal blue Mediterranean, however, you’ll forget all that hassle.
Take as much time as you can to wander through its narrow cobbled streets, take in the views from the castle, eat lunch in one of its many restaurants, have a swim or a sunbathe. Just leave enough time to do the bus/walk/train back to the city.
Getting there: 3-4 trains per day from Valencia to Benicarlo or Vinaroz, followed by a bus to Peniscola.
Beautiful houses and cobbled streets lead to stone paths and elegant cedars with far views across the town - at sunset the warm light turns it all to intense gold.
Just walk up the hill from center of town, Saint Margaret is at the top.
A vast, shambolic natural stadium. Or is it natural? It's an enormous hole in the ground, anyway, the scale of which can't possibly be appreciated from the outside. It's where Bradford so-called "Bulls" play. (Yuk! that's Bradford Northern to anyone with a sense of history).
Despite recent reductions in capcity and demolition of the terracing at one end, I can't recommend a visit to this unique place too highly. It was once (before the legislation which followed the disastrous fire at Valley Parade) officially rated as the biggest stadium in England and held a crowd of 107,000 in 1954, which was more than Wembley could take.
If you have no interest in rugby league, never mind - this place is worth seeing anyway. I doubt if any professional sport is played in a more gloriously eccentic stadium anywhere in Europe.
As you enter, look between your feet and you'll observe there's a pitch down there somewhere. The vast expanse of concrete terracing reaches only half way up the hill. Ascending it from the bottom, you may find the graffiti I came across a few years ago still legible on one of the crush barriers about a third of the way up. "Chris Bonnington gave up here" it says.
The tip about the view from the top of Queens Park is fine, but Ruchill Park is even better. 360 degree panorama of the city, including the canal and Firhill Basin, Partick Thistle's ground (Firhill Park) is more or less below your feet and you can see half the game for free. Half is probably quite enough these days!
You also get a view down the river to Erskine Bridge, Dumbarton Rock and the Old Kilpatrick Hills, which are largely obscured from Queens Park.
A much less salubrious part of Glasgow, of course, than Queens Park.
Sawadee cap, must visit place is the 360 bar on the top floor of the Millennium Hilton. Great view and see the sunset. Make sure you be there around 17.30 hr, have a cocktail and enjoy the view of Bangkok and Chaopraya river.
After this have dinner at Spasso in the Grand Hyatt in Erawan. At 10 pm the live band starts, so if you are already in, you do not have to pay the cover charge of Baht 650.
Also try the lunch buffet at the Four Seasons Hotel and dinner Buffet at Novotel at Siam Square. The food and desserts are out of this world. Buffet at the Four Seasons is about 600 baht and at Novotel 650. But it's worth it. If you are looking for good DJ music than QBAR is your place.
Anyway Bangkok is a very polluted city but you can enjoy yourself very much. Watch out for the Tuk tuk seafood and jewelry scam and beware that if everybody is trying to making a living and tourists are part of it.
Four Seasons: Poenchit Road
Grand Hyatt: Poenchit Road
Novotel: Siam Square
Qbar: Sukhumvit
As you take a well-earned rest after ascending 1000m, a feeling of warmth seeps into your trousers - which is par for the course when you are sitting on an active volcano. Regular and spectacular eruptions, as well as the sight of all the cruise ships watching these from the water, are the very convincing reason to make the three hour guided climb up here.
Coming down, although slightly disconcerting as you slide down the ashy slopes, is much quicker. The climb is enlivened by the amazing variety of flora and fauna and of course, the views. It's necessary to have a guide, and trips can be booked from Lipari and the other Aolian islands.
Stromboli, Aolian Islands
A gorgeous terrace with swimming pool and stunning views and in-house beauty treatments more than compensate for plain rooms, but it's the staff who really make this hotel. A room covered in pre-wedding chaos, including floral trimmings, was completely spruced up by bedtime; a late-night impromptu drinks party on the terrace met with free pizza rather than shushing. Drop by for all you can eat breakfast on the terrace, only 15 euros. NB: insurance costs means no irons in hotels.
Most people know of Châteauneuf-du-Pape because of its excellent wines, which are known worldwide. However, as well as the wine growing area of the name, there is also an historic village of the same name well worth a visit.
The old village sits on a hillside overshadowed by the ruins of the old chateau (from which the name comes from). Go explore the narrow streets.
Don't forget to taste and buy the local wines. A visit to the weekly market (held on Fridays) is also recommended.
Châteauneuf-du-Pape is 20 km from Beaumes de Venise by car.
Orange is 24 km away.
www.beyond.fr/villages/chneuf_pape.html
www.beyond.fr/map/map2p12.html
This is a delightful family-run B&B type hotel. It consists of about 14 small, simple but utterly charming rooms on the edge of the sea, put together round a small courtyard in the style of the old Greek 'village rooms'.
You can swim in the clear sea just below, or you can simply sit on one of the small terraces, drink in hand, and contemplate the view of Aegina across the water. Once there, you may find you have little inclination to move very far! Rosy provides delicious lunches, and in the evening two minutes' stroll will take you to the open-air restaurant, the Alkyone, from where you can continue your contemplation of Aegina and the sea as long as you want.
The Roman citadelle is open from 9.30am-11.30am and 2pm-5.30pm (6pm in July and August). The citadelle is an extremely rare example of Romanesque palatial architecture and is a powerful symbol of the power of the Adhémar de Monteil family.
The views from the towers take in the Alps to the east and the flatter valley of the Rhone river to the north and to the south.
The Pyrenees are full of natural beauty, and Landes as well but the area around Bayonne has been built up a bit as tourist centres, although in a much less unpleasant way than in the Cote d'Azur.
In les Landes you will find quiet areas of exceptional beauty and the dunes du Pilat are also worth a visit. If you go swimming ALWAYS stick to the areas with lifesavers on standby, because currents can be very strong indeed.
In les Landes you can stop by farms and village markets with the most wonderful food produce in France. As well as fresh and safe seafood, unlike mediteranean seafood that is always to be avoided.
Great fun and so inexpensive, especially in awful weather. A rucksack with a flask, sausage rolls, ham sandwich, jaffa cakes, thornton's choccies, warm clothes and a travel card. In between peak times you can sit almost alone upstairs near the heater and you're warm and comfy while London rolls by. Enjoy festive decorations you can't see from street level. See lovely balconies and secret gardens. Meet gargoyles face to face. Marvel at the architecture. Read all the blue plaques and pub signs - hop off at a really interesting one, have a pint (and a pee) and get on a bus in another direction.
Watch London life unfold at the traffic lights. Read famous street addresses. Actually visit places you've only seen pictures of. Get lost somwhere amazing and ask the driver how to get back when you've had enough. Revisit. Take pictures, keep a journal. Do it again the next day.
Get your travel card at any news agents. The bus employees are great to deal with in most cases and ask other travellers at the bus shelters for directions. Read your A-Z and the fronts of the buses or contact the London bureau.
The Rheinfalls is the largest waterfall in Europe. Located about 1/2 hour by car and under 1 hour by train from Zurich, they are a great day trip when you are visiting this pretty city. What is particularly interesting is how close you can get to the falls. There is a platform extending out over the water so that you can feel the power of the water as it rushes beneath you. If you still have not had enough, you can take a boat excursion right to the foot of the falls and even disembark and climb stairs to the top of a huge rock that is sitting squarely in the middle of the falls. For the less adventurous, there is a nice cafe that is well positioned so that you can enjoy watching the others while you stay warm inside.
For photos and a video, click the link below.
This Benedictine Monk retreat makes for an amazing break from the bustle of Barcelona. You can get a combined ticket from the station which includes the cable car.
The views from the top are stunning. Inside you can visit the Holy Grotto and listen to the world renowned Montserrat Boys Choir. Time your visit so you are there before 13:00 when the choir sing.
www.barcelona-tourist-guide.com/montserrat-spain.html
www.pbase.com/ralf/montserrat
www.funimag.com/funimag14/montserrat01.htm
I've been there twice and would love to return!
Very interesting to walk up and down the Strip to look at all the hotels and their themes.
For the adrenaline junkies, try the rollercoasters at New York-New York and on top of the Stratosphere Tower.
The food is great - especially the all-you-can-eat buffets.
If you want to see the most wonderful scenery in America, then I suggest you take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon. The feeling you get from hovering above the canyon is quite amazing.
During a holiday to Las Vegas with my husband we were able to witness a storm which passed across the canyon. To stand there and watch the forks of lightning crossing the sky was quite magical, especially when you're standing in hot sunshine on the other side.
For the more romantic of you, there is an option to actually land in the canyon and have lunch over looking the truly wonderful scenery.
During the flight back you fly over the strip which is lit up in all its glory. All I can say is "wow". This has to be one of those trips you certainly have to make in your lifetime.
You can get a trip to the canyon from most tourist shops along the strip, or your hotel will have information.
St Andrews is on the east coast of Scotland, in the county of Fife, north of Edinburgh.
It is best known for golf and the university (of which Prince William is a graduate). However you can visit St Andrews Castle, walk on the long golden beach and visit the nearby Neuk of Fife with its quaint fishing villages.
Glass flowers in the lobby of the Bellagio lead to real flowers in the Conservatory; a glass domed botanical garden that contains a butterfly cage, trees and floral displays, which are changed seasonally.
When we visited there were a number of flower sculptures in the shape of snails and ladybirds.
It is free to visit, a good place to re-charge your batteries before heading back to the casino or Strip and even if you are no gardener (like me) you’ll still appreciate the colour, variety and beauty of the plants.
Bellagio Hotel, 3600 S. Las Vegas Blvd.
www.bellagio.com
Accordion music, fountains and a cheery greeting of “Bonjour” from the hotel staff and you have to be in Paris. Or do you?! Well, you could also be in the Paris Hotel Las Vegas and, of course, you can’t have Paris without the Eiffel Tower.
The Eiffel Tower at Paris Las Vegas is not quite as tall as the original, in fact it is exactly half the size, however it has been reproduced with a superb eye for detail. An elevator whisks you to the observation deck, 460 feet above the Strip. The lift attendant was extremely friendly and informative. I can’t remember exactly how much he told us it cost to build the tower but it was in the millions of dollars range. However he also told us that they had recouped all the building costs in about six months of opening.
The views across Las Vegas are fantastic, taking in a 360 degree panorama that includes the Strip, the city and the mountains in the distance. In the evening it also allows wonderful views across to the Bellagio fountain display.
The observation deck is quite small (holding about 30 to 40 people at a time) so you may have to queue to get in and, needless to say, it is not for those at all nervous of heights.
Paris, Las Vegas, 3655 S. Las Vegas Blvd
www.paris-lv.com
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