World’s top affordable beach resorts

Top 10 tips for cutting your travel costs

Well, here are some suggestions extracted from Lonely Planet’s “Best In Travel 2009″: 2009’s hottest travel destinations.

Here are some great choices across the 5 continents: The greatest walks on earth.

20 great spots by 20 great Aussies

I am ashamed to say that pit of the list I have only been to Sydney Harbour (>4x), Wilsons Promontory (1x), Grampians (2x), part of Blue Mountains (1x) and Noosa (2x).

During the weekend of 11-12 February, took some time out and went up to Sydney with colleagues attending the same Workshop. There was a couple of “firsts”. This was the first time I travelled by coach to Sydney; this was also the first time in many years that I was in Sydney as a complete tourist. On previous trips, I was usually the unofficial guide, mostly for the international students at ANU. This time I had a local guide - I have known her and her boyfriend since the days at ANU and who is currently working in Sydney - and I was able to fully enjoy myself. Nice to have such good friends and I do wish her all the best in her life in Sydney, also far away from home.

Spent the first afternoon milling about George Street, then travelled up to Circular Quay, by strolling through the Botanic Garden - a first experience for me, as a matter of fact. After the obligatory photo-taking at the Opera House, went to the ferry terminal and caught a ferry to Darling Harbour. Had a slow dinner at Harbourside and then headed to our hotel on the north side. The “slowness” was not by choice but simply poor service, by the way.

The following day started off nice and cool, but the temperature quickly picked up. After a nice breakfast of French toast and latte - loved the coffee in Sydney!! - went over the Milson’s Point to begin the harbour bridge crossing. You can see many of the shots I snapped here.

This was followed by a nice relaxing lunch at the Rocks, with full view of the opera house and harbour bridge. A bit pricey but at least worthwhile for its location and ambience, for lunch. Later, headed over to Paddy’s Market where you can pick up many souvenirs, but most are made in China these days.

What are the main attractions here? Well, lots and lots of medieval castles and chateaus! Most (mainly the ones belonging to the royal family directly), such as Chambord and Amboise, have been turned into museums, while some (mainly the properties of prominent officials in the French court) are still in private hands - but portions are open to the public, such as Cheverny with its large pack of hunting dogs. If you are a lover of history, this is definitely the place to be. The Loire Valley is the home to Leonardo da Vinci in the final days of his life; Catherine Medici of the Medici family in relation to the Renaissance movement was also active in this area. The end of the prominence of this region also marked the shift of royal power towards Paris.

Finally, to get around, from personal experience it was quite easily to find a comfortable hotel for about AU$15 per night, shared bathroom, very close to the station. There were many day-tours to the various castles to choose from; Amboise itself is reachable by train, although you should always check the departure time of the last train.

To Gallery

The final day in Munich was actually quite sunny and warm.

Spent the morning at the Olympic Stadium, which was as usual very easily reachable by the efficient subway system. Sadly, however, this stadium (and the Games) will always be associated with the terrorist massacre which led to the deaths of a number of Israeli athletes in 1972.

Then it was lunch at Marienplatz, followed by some obligatory shopping, before boarding an evening flight to Singapore.

Photos from the Olympic Stadium (opens a new window)