Greece has a strong tradition of open air cinema in the summer months, and Athens has a startling number of venues. They can often be a bit shabby, and you'd best bring your own refreshments but with the right movie it can be great. I saw Tarantino's Death Proof on a rooftop in Exarchia, and it's hard to believe it could be better viewed any other way.

www.travelling.gr/helloathens/Cinemas.html

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Small but perfectly formed cafe next to the Arcohotel in Mitte. Great espresso, big bowls of latte plus free wireless internet (admittedly a bit intermittent).

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The best chips in the world, at least if you're wet and bedraggled.

On the west coast, across the Waitakeres, at Piha surf beach

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Top quality NZ restaurant and tapas bar (no, me neither) on Marylebone High Street. The accents can be a bit grating, and the clientele includes some of the big sunglassed emigré types the area specialises in, but the food and wine is simply fabulous.

Marylebone Hight Street

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Perhaps the best view of Auckland apart from the revolving restaurant in Sky City is from the top of One Tree Hill in Cornwall Park. It has history too; a monument dedicated to the memory of the Maori people, who it was thought at the time were on the verge of dying out. Their resurgence has included activists making persistent attempts to chop down the eponymous tree.

The park itself is a great place for a family picnic, with barbeques for hire.

Cornwall Park

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They roast their own coffee, brunches are fabulous, the atmosphere laid-back, and there's a good newsagents with a wide range of imported magazines and newspapers (including the Guardian Weekly) just a few doors away. Open air seating out back with a small sandpit for the kids. The Atomic has been around so long that it's become a bit of an institution and so a wee bit shabby. But then shabby is part of the NZ experience.

121 Ponsonby Road, Ponsonby, Auckland; Tel:09 376 4954

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Smack in the middle of Waitemata harbour, Rangitoto Island (not that silly casino-tower) is Auckland's real landmark. Black rock and shrubby vegetation cover a steep volcanic cone. It can be a hot and mildly strenuous walk to the top, but worth it. Rumoured to be dormant rather than extinct, but unlikely to erupt anytime soon. Hopefully.

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The Maori name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, meaning "Land of the Long White Cloud" - and not without reason. A thin sliver of land in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, NZ has weather that defies prediction. Even in mid-summer, you can count on the odd hour or day of rain.

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London's best coffee, using beans sourced and roasted by the cafe's own staff. They know everything there is to know about coffee. Fairly cramped confines if you're drinking in, and long queues on market days (Friday and Saturday) - at other times, laid-back and friendly staff. Note that they do not sell tea or hot chocolate, nor do they offer low-fat milk.

Stoney Street, alongside Borough Market.

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