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Granna and Vadstena lie on the east coast of Lake Vattern - that's the long sausage-like one heading
north from Jonkoping. They are recommended for two different reasons:
If you have children, Granna is "polkagris heaven" - polkagris are the Swedish equivalent of the English sticks of rock, pink and white sticks of sugar! It also has a lovely bathing area on the banks of the lake, with a sandy beach and very child friendly. Plus there are boats out to the island of Visingso, always nice for a day trip or more.
Further north up the coast, a beautiful trip in itself if you take the old coast road and not the motorway, you will find Vadstena, which is a gobsmackingly beautiful town with the old centre by the lakeside preserved in almost pristine condition. Spend hours wandering round the narrow streets and travel back in time.
East coast of Lake Vattern
A programme of morning and evening walking tours led by enthusiastic and knowledgeable guides, giving a good feel of the atmosphere of the different areas of Singapore.
They are run by JOURNEYS PTE.LTD: pick up a leaflet at a visitors' centre or see their website at http:www.singaporewalks.com
Changi beach is quite long and makes for a decent walk (e.g.,with good toilet facilities). The only thing to note is that there are homeless people (yes, even in Singapore) camping on the beach, but they pose absolutely no threat. There are also voluntary campers, as it is permitted to camp on beaches in Singapore.
Walk on the pavement that runs parallel to the beach until you get close to Changi airport, and then catch the awesome sight of the 747s which seem to descend to land just about 50 feet above your head.
You can see the planes queueing for miles on a clear day and about one a minute coming in which look like they are going to land on you. The wheels descend just before they reach the beach. It may seem surreal, but it is a truly awesome experience - bring a camera!
Changi beach lis ocated at the north eastern tip of Singapore.
An excellent noodle restaurant & bar. Lots of different noodles which will suit European palates a little more than the spicier native flavours.Then walk across China square towards the river and look out of the public statuary.
China Square, Chinatown.
Wetland - which largely means mangrove swamps. Well laid out walkways take you through a variety of natural habitats. The wildlife, especially the birds, is stunning. Gives two or three hours of peace in the Singapore experience.
On the north-west coast of Singapore.
www.sbwr.org.sg
Like everywhere on the island, it is easy to get to by public transport: the website explains all you need to know.
(Of course, even taking a taxi is not particularly expensive - at least not be European standards.)
An amazingly long and beautiful walk through the jungle. About 9 or 10 kilometres of walkway through amazing primary rainforest, perfectly preserved.
The Treetops trail is awesome - a walkway a hundred feet in the air, through the vegetation. The ground-level walkway is well signposted, and even though it feels like you're in the middle of nowhere, you're never too far away from civilisation.
Runners and walkers scoot round here every Sunday morning - it makes a great start to the day - but the shady paths make it a pleasant walk at any time of the day. A real treasure and a great alternative to hitting the malls while you're in Singapore.
Just get a cab and tell the driver Macritchie Reservoir. He'll take you to the front entrance. Walk so the reservoir is on your left, and keep turning left; after 9 or 10 kilometres you'll end up back where you started.
Perfect for Guardian readers, the Los Angeles Conservancy organises regular walking tours of the city's architectural delights and curiosities. Tours generally cost about $10, last for a couple of hours, and are informal affairs led by helpful and knowledgeable folk who don't press their obsessions too hard.
The downtown art deco and Broadway theater tours get you exclusive access into now privately owned and/or disused beacons of the city's gloriously ostentatious 1920s, 30s and 40s.
The Angeleno Heights tour is a relaxed stroll around the city's first middle class suburb, several streets of charming Victorian wood-framed houses perched above the freeways and steel monoliths of downtown. Other tours take in San Pedro, USC, and downtown at night. Book via the conservancy's website at www.laconservancy.org
Originally called Connaught Place, this is the centre of New Delhi. You find everything here - big shops, restaurants, art galleries, hotels and craft emporiums. More importantly, if you go to the lanes behind the main circle, you will find very good eating places. Now, with the Metro Station in the centre, you can go to the far flung parts of Delhi as well.
Underground Station of Connaught Place / Rajiv Chowk
This is a beautiful park used by locals for jogging and brisk morning walks. Here you can find a little peace and quiet, while admiring the stunning tombs of the 15th century Lodi dynasty.
Lodi Road and South End Road
Walking tours (lasting about three hours) around certain districts in Brussels. The tours give a fascinating insight into the city's distinctive wealth of art nouveau architecture, led by knowledgable and friendly guides. Lovely!
Visit www.arau.org/ct_home.php or get info from the tourist centre in the Grand Place
This is an area to be explored slowly from the lane which curves up the hillside, covered in parts by buildings with little stone-stepped alleys climbing into further shadows. Narrow entrances lead down darkened tunnels and up more steps to little shops, trattorias and strange blind alleys. This warren sprawls up the hillside to where vertiginous cliffs tower directly over everything and induce that uneasy feeling about falling rocks.
Find the old paper mill beside the underground river which can be continually heard underfoot. Inside what looks like a derelict mill, an aged person sits eating his midday meal, but is welcoming with a “Prego, prego!” as he gestures for intruders to look around. Hand made paper is made in this damp smelling hovel, but no finished products are on view. Leave the aged one to his lunch and return to the square.
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This is a time to sit, have tea and devise a plan of attack. As there doesn’t appear to be one, the usual default system comes into play. Just wander about. Suddenly a vista of a square opens out through an alleyway. The Piazza Flavio surrounded by a jumble of shops and apartments slants upwards into the narrow Via Genato. But breathtakingly on the right at the top of fifty six huge steps sits the Cathedral of Santa Monica with its beautiful Renaissance facade.
And if there is a wedding in the cathedral and an usher brings you in to sit at the back while the Mass is being celebrated, and all the other onlookers are being kept out, don’t question it. Take a photo of the little Italian bride gazing adoringly at her spouse and wish them luck. Avoid being near them on the steps outside where they are showered with sugared almonds. The bride may now spend the next ten minutes emptying her bodice of these missiles which end up being crushed underfoot providing the local pigeons with mega calories.
A hilarious walking tour of the Old Town. If you're lucky you will get the guide who took us on a leisurely stroll, stopping off to play us his djembe drum in the park, and to buy some sandwiches. He didn't try to tell us too much, giving us a chance to meet the others on the tour.
Get tickets from the tourist info tent - meets there at 4pm. Corner of Harju and Niguliste Street;
tel: +372 5814 0442;
email: tallinn@traveller.ee;
www.tourism.tallinn.ee/fpage/explore/sightseeing
The river has green and beautifully arranged parks alongside it, with big trees all the way, which you can walk under to enjoy the shade (necessary in summer). There is a lot of water in the river, surprisingly, since the city is situated in the desert. It was once a stop on the silk way to China and some of the bridges are from the 16th and 17th century. Their architecture is outstanding.
Fancy a walk or a bike ride? The pathway around Glenmore Reservoir is 14 km long and leads you through gorgeous forests as you skirt around the reservoir. You actually leave the city limits. If you ride a bike, wear a helmet or risk a fine or, even worse, dirty looks from everyman and his dog.
Start at Heritage Park.
Take the tram up to the castle entrance (saves a steep walk up) and, after enjoying the cathedral and Golden Lane, don't walk down the road with the guided groups. Pay the small amount required (£2 each) for the privilege of enjoying a delightful walk through some amazing terraced gardens. Each level is different with a range of plants, flowers, fountains and statues - very relaxing and quiet. Excellent views all the way down. You end up on the street after a welcome beer in the cafe at the exit. A good way to spend an hour or so.
Prague Castle
A walk around Bristol that provides immensely valuable insight into the city's 150 year involvement in the transatlantic slave trade and its subsequent legacy. There's an online guide that can be downloaded or maps are available from the City Museum.
Download the guide: www.englandpast.net/education/bristol_index.html;
City Museum & Art Gallery: Queens Road, Bristol BS8 1RL
Cayo Macho is a nature reserve off the coast of Cuba not far from Trinidad. It has only one old guy living there to look after the endanged lizards, which are quite tame and will happily run over your feet. It takes around 45 minutes to walk around the island, but watch out for the stretches of path covered with baby crabs.
Catch a ferry from from Trinidad.
The Saxon gardens were designed and laid out in the early 18th Century and were, originally, the private gardens for the royal residence of Morsztyn Palace. In 1727 they became a public park and in the middle of the 19th Century were re-designed.
At the Eastern end of the park is Pilsudaki Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Solider. Inside the park are a Fountain and Watertower – designed by the architect Henryk Marconi – some pieces of 18th Century statuary and an ornamental lake.
To the west of Krakowskie Przedmiescie and the east of Marszalkowska.
It's what's left of the famous old historic Bucks County. Most of the county has been paved now, but there still is this chunk north of New Hope and Doylestown and east of Quakertown. The best towns in the area are actually across the Delaware River in New Jersey - Frenchtown and Milford, where the best restaurants are (almost anything in those towns).
It's a really nice area, not all sprawl and subdivisions and traffic, like the rest of the county has become. Lots of great historic parks, areas and villages, also wild places like Haycock Mountain, the Nockamixon state game lands with Lake Warren, Lake Towhee and the Tohickon Creek (which has whitewater rafting sometimes). And don't miss Ralph Stover park High Rocks, near Point Pleasant, for the grand canyon type view.
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