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Whether you choose to simply have a drink in the bar or enjoy dinner, this is an absolutely breathtaking option. The highest structure in the US, west of the Rockies, you will never tire of the view as the restaurant revolves 360 degrees during your dinner. Don't be put off by the location of the Statosphere at the end of the Strip - get a cab - don't walk as it looks deceptively close. The Stratosphere itself is a low budget hotel and you may feel dubious on your way to the restaurant, but don't be put off - the ambience in the restaurant does not reflect the rest of the establishment.
Stratosphere Las Vegas
2000 Las Vegas Boulevard South
Las Vegas, NV 89104
800-998-6937
Tel: (702)380-7777
www.stratospherehotel.com
Climb up to the Nonnberg Nunnery and follow the path upwards to the Museum der Moderne and from there onwards to the Humboldt Terrace viewpoint. There are a number of viewpoints on the way giving fantastic views of the city (as seen in the Sound of Music). It's also a beautiful woodland walk. Carry on down the hill towards the Augustiner Abbey for a stein of beer.
Nonnberg Nunnery to Augustiner Abbey
Spectacular scenery, scale is massive.
En route check out Pamrump - looks like Nevada of The Misfits - won't be like this long as it will become yet another suburb. Also Saturday night performance by solo dancer at 'opera house' in the middle of nowhere!
A super-stylish converted riad hotel down a quiet alley (but not far from the seafront) in Essaouira. Think World of Interiors or Elle Decor cover shots. It's also got a great roof terrace and rooms are spacious and not overpriced, though the rates do seem to be on the rise since I stayed in summer 2005.
2, rue Souss - Médina
44000 Essaouira
Tel. 00212 24 47 53 46
Fax. 00212 24 47 53 48
www.darloulema.com/
The best vantage point to sit and watch the world go by! It's directly on the Djemaa el Fna, with several tiers of balcony, depending on your desired viewpoint. A great place to sit in the sun in the morning with a cafe latte and write your postcards, an even better place to pitch yourself around an hour before sunset and watch as the square springs to life for the evening's activities and soak up the atmosphere. If you're a woman travelling alone it's one of the (sadly) few places to sit and enjoy where you'll feel relaxed and unhassled. Prices are reasonable, the food is pretty good and you won't feel rushed to leave. Be warned though, - get there early! It gets busy and in the evening you can only have a 'front row' seat on the balcony if you are eating.
Also, if you're in Marrakech for more than a few days, escape to the coast to Essaouira. It's a few hours drive away but well worth it, fabulously laid back, with a European hippyish feel to it, this is the place to chill with a beer and watch the sunset over the Atlantic.
Restaurant Argana - on the Djemaa el fna, Marrakech
Unassuming pub at the top of the hill in Arundel with lovely rooms. One of the doubles has views of the cathedral and the pub is very near the 14th century parish church and the castle. The ensuite rooms are very comfortably decorated and have TV, cd player etc. The pub itself is a local boozer - nothing too classy - but the accommodation is quite unexpected, and very reasonable. Decent English breakfast in the morning, and the service is straightforwardly helpful.
St Mary's Gate Inn
London Road
Arundel
West Sussex
BN18 9BA
Tel: (0)1903 883145
www.stmarysgate.co.uk
The little town of Swaffham is home to two outstanding green businesses. One is the Ecotech Centre, a visitor attraction bringing renewables to life with the back drop of the mighty Foster designed wind turbine. Visitors can climb the 300 step turbine tower for panoramic views.
Nearby Strattons Hotel combines luxury and green living with a touch of recycled art. The hotel has embedded itself into the local community to ensure it buys locally and its staff haven't far to travel.
Regular buses depart from King’s Lynn and Norwich. Alternatively arrive by bicycle; just a short diversion off the Sustrans National Cycle Network Route 13 on the Thetford to Fakenham stretch.
www.ecotech.org.uk
www.strattonshotel.com
Go up to the top on the roof and take your camera. It's great for views of the Tyne Bridges, over the station, over the river and out of the city.
Nearest station - Central Station.
Near the quayside
museums.ncl.ac.uk/keep/
Drive up through twisting streets and lanes to The Old Fort and prepare to have your breath taken away. This 18th Century, stone-built, hill-top plantation house must be the most romantic villa in the Caribbean. Once you breathe again, you'll be in love. This isn't just a villa, it's a very comfortable, welcoming home - and it's yours from the moment you walk in. If that's not enough the views out to other islands - including Mustique will just sweep you away.
Visit www.theoldfort.com then visit Bequia:
you'll never want to leave!
Three weeks on and the book I bought for the flight remains unopened. I couldn't drag my eyes from the window on the day and I've not got the dream out of my head since.
Fly north to St Vincent if you can - I flew from Trinidad - and you'll be captivated by the Grenadines, floating in the clearest, bluest ocean you'll ever see, long before you land. A friendly taxi driver will soon get you to Kingstown, check ferry times and probably suggest breakfast at Cobblestones restaurant. It's good advice!
Don't rush to the ferry; amble, soak up island life - chill and connect.
Soon the Bequia Express ties up and discharges passengers with efficient chaos. Climb aboard for the one-hour crossing - and relax!
Bequia's silhouette crystallizes into an intricate, green paradise, as Admiralty Bay embraces the returning ferry. Port Elizabeth grows from hillside specks and soon you'll see its streets merging seamlessly with the tree-lined, restaurant-fronted beach.
Wander around and look up to enjoy the combination of some of the finest neo-classical and contemporary architecture in the country. The gorgeous golden sandstone in the Grainger Town area and the cutting edge developments on Gateshead Quays will finally put pay to any of your southern preconceptions that it's grim up north!
Classical: Grainger Town, Grey Street, Grainger Street, Monument area.
Contemporary: Gateshead Quays
From the outside this looks as if it could be the scariest bar in Newcastle.
However once you've plucked up courage and opened the door, you'll find that although stuck in a time warp decor-wise - somewhere in the mid70s, this serves the best beer in Newcastle with views to better those from the Baltic.
Oh and the graffiti in the toilets contains some absolute masterpieces – well worth a read. A perfect place for a Sunday afternoon pint. Well worth the hike along the quayside & up the nettle strewn path.
St Lawrence Road, Byker
0191 265 5764
Nearest Metro: Manors
A nicely designed bar with a beautiful view on the ocean. Cocktails, different kind of beers and good personnel makes this bar the best one in Cumbuco.
In the main street in the centre where you find most of the restaurants.
Overnight trains are fun, but this one comes with the added bonus of a brilliant view between Da Nang and Hue (on the right hand side of the train going north).
We paid 450,000 dong (about $30) each for a top bunk berth in a four-bed carriage. Lower bunks are more expensive, but probably nicer for views and storage space.
The train comes all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi. If you are getting on half way then you may need to strip the bed of its old linen and ask the not very helpful guards for 2 new sheets.
Food is included, but not particularly nice (cabbage and mackerel stew on boiled rice anyone?). Vendors follow the official trolley selling much nicer fare.
There are several trains a day. We caught the 14h15 from Da Nang so that we'd get the coastal views up to Hue. Everyone seemed to bunk down and sleep by about 20h30 so arriving in Hanoi at 04h30 did not seem too traumatic! And then you are just in time to dump your luggage and join the early morning crowds at Hoan Kiem lake.
Buy tickets in advance from the train station (not sure if you can buy from a station other than your departure one- tried to find out and failed). The earlier you buy the better as tickets do sell out.
Between 408 and 450 Theodosius II constructed a wall arching round the city of Constantinople and providing a land defence running 4 miles (6.5 km) from the Sea of Mamara to the Golden Horn.
The walls served the city well protecting it from invading forces for nearly 1000 years until, in 1453, Mehmet the Conqueror breached the walls and entered the city.
The walls consisted of a main inner wall, 16 feet (5 m) think and 40 feet (12 m) high, a terrace, then an outer wall 7 feet (2m) thick) and about 30 feet (8.5 m) high, this outer wall overlooking a moat. The double walls also included a total of 192 towers plus 11 fortified gateways which gave access to the city. It was an amazing feat of engineering and must have been an incredible site to those approaching the city, especially if contemplating how to overcome this almost impenetrable barrier.
Now the ravages of time and neglect have meant that many areas of the wall have fallen into disrepair, though they are, as ruins so often can be, still very impressive, their shapes making jagged shapes, like broken teeth, against the sky. Other sections have been restored and these give a good indication of how the walls used to look.
We decided to walk along the walls from Yedikule Fortress to Edirnekapi before cutting inwards to the Kariye Camii Museum – a distance of about 3 miles. Walking ‘along’ the walls is a bit of a misnomer as though some guide books say it is possible to climb onto the inner or outer walls, access is not easy and the walls themselves, at times almost in a state of collapse, don’t always look safe enough to climb on. This did mean that for the first part of our journey following the route of the walls we were walking next to a busy main road and exhaust fumes are not the most pleasant accompaniment. However, next to the walls, in, I assume, the old moat are a string of allotments and the exhaust fumes were mitigated by the smell of growing vegetables and plants drifting across from them.
The old gates to the city are generally in quite good repair and close to one we were able to gain access onto the, reconstructed, outer wall and terrace, the latter also filled with allotments.
Though a bit ramshackle and rather a rubbish dump in places this part of the walk was fantastic as hidden from view we walked in solitude between the inner and outer walls watching butterflies flit between vegetables and trying to imagine what it must have felt like to be hunkered down in one of the towers waiting for an incursion or attack.
Later we passed through some more traditional neighbourhoods and stopped for tea at an outside café near the Topkapi Gate where we had a wonderful part English, part Turkish, part sign language conversation with some of the other customers who were interested to know where we had been, where we were going and how we liked Istanbul.
All in all it took us about 2 hours to complete our walk, arriving at the Kariye Camii Museum with a sense of achievement and some good memories. I wouldn’t recommend this walk for everyone it was tiring, it wasn’t always attractive – meaning the main road really – and certain sections of the walls are rather deserted and I wouldn’t want to tackle them on my own, however, it provided some of my most abiding memories of Istanbul and I am really pleased we did it.
You can join the walls at various places – bus 80 goes from Eminonu to Yedikule and buses 37E and 38E go from Edirnekapi, near the Kariye Camii Museum
This cable car - the Transbordador Aeri - takes you from Montjuic Park to the beach at Barceloneta. It travels over the harbour, suspended across two 400m-high towers. Not advisable if you are in any way scared of heights, but the views across the city are amazing, particularly around sunset.
Leaves from Montjuic, Barcelona's World Trade Centre and the Torre de San Sebastián. Usually open 10.30am-5.30pm and later in summer. Single journey €7.50 or €9 return.
The Angel of the North is an amazing peice of art and is over 20 metres tall. It welcomes people to Gateshead and Newcastle and there's a great view of it from A1 motorway. I would really recommend standing at the Angel's feet and looking up - its a sight to behold.
About 3 miles from Newcastle city centre, next to the A1. Get the bus from Pilgrim Street, Newcastle.
Unique to Newcastle and situated above a door way behind St Nicolas' Cathedral. A strange rabbit gargoyle – no-one knows why it's there or how it got there in the first place.
Behind St Nicolas' Cathedral
Take a ferry from downtown Auckland across to Devonport and head up Victoria St to Mt Victoria. From the top you get a 360-degree view of Auckland and the North Shore. Pure Magic.
Have a day trip to the beautiful, cosy fishermen’s village on the southeast coast of Amager island.
Have a glass or two of firewater (akvavit) chased with Danish beer accompanied by various herring (sild) specialities, and ponder about the long forgotten (in other words never forgotten) Danish domination over the southern tip of Sweden across the Sound. You will not regret it.
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