Krakow is, perhaps, the essential city for tourists in Poland. It claims the first cafe in the world, the largest old town square in Europe and the old town itself is surrounded by lovely parks. There are two big day trips out of Krakow: To the Wieliczka Salt Mines and to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. Organised tours are available for both, most around 100zl. In this post, Craig Martin is going to show the slightly more adventurous travellers how to visit Auschwitz for less than half of that. Read the rest of this entry »

The Ggantija temples on Malta are a little-known gem: the world’s oldest standing stone structures, built 500 years before the pyramids were a spark in a Pharoah’s eye. There isn’t much infrastructure; just a ticket booth and a standalone audioguide. We only had a couple of problems on our first visit: one was the car rally that stopped any buses running, leaving us with a choice between staying overnight or walking through farms back to the capital. The second was the amount of other tourists clutching their Lonely Planet guidebooks. Read the rest of this entry »

Read part one here

Travelling through Austria at the moment seems like a life-sized art experiment. Spring rains followed by unseasonable sunshine and heat have brought a deep vibrancy to the trees: greens, browns and yellows sit sharply against each other, especially contrasted with the occasional tree covered in pastel-pink blooms. Lush green fields are interspersed with light-brown patches of dirt where finances or crop management have stopped farmers planting. Every now and again, however, one comes across a field of rapeseed, looking like God decided to draw highlighter-yellow lines across creation.

Easy transport connections and cheap hostels mean most budget travellers are drawn from city to city but, like most of Europe, the “Europe we came to see” is in the towns. Last week we looked at Austria’s cities, so in this post I’ll discuss the Mostviertel, Styria and Neusiedl am See before giving some first-hand tips for getting into, around, and out of Austria. Summer’s coming and the ski season is drawing to an end, however there’s still plenty to do outside of Austria’s main draws. Read the rest of this entry »

Read part two here.

Austria is often overshadowed by its larger neighbours but holds a certain appeal as a quintessentially European travel destination. The glorious cities of Vienna and Salzburg contrast nicely with friendly little towns and farming communities. One can go skiing or hiking in the Tirol or simply meander pointlessly through the country’s many wine regions. I’ve just spend a few months there, so let me fill you in on a budget traveller’s Austria.

The hostels of Innsbruck aren’t up to much, in fact they’re mostly terrible, but with premier skiing on its doorstep and a lively atmosphere it’s lots of fun. During the warmer months the tourism board organises free guided tramps which include boots and bus transport from town to the mountains…Yeah, free transport, equipment and a guided day-trip in the Alps. This is a dream for budget travellers. Do bring some cash though to buy a drink or some hot food in the mountain houses.
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It’s the simple familiar things that one sometimes misses; things you don’t think twice about but you expect to see, to have, to use more than twice a day. Things like a cup of coffee.

It’s easy for me; espresso is as near to an international world as possible, but for Linda things aren’t so clear-cut. She drinks - in Kiwi parlance - a long black. A single shot of coffee topped up with two thirds hot water. Try explaining that in a language of your choice. Grofl espresso doesn’t quite do it, neither does Americano in many places. In fact, it’s near impossible to find, especially given that the concept doesn’t exist in many coffee drinking countries.

I don’t really eat breakfast either, that cup of coffee keeps me going until midday at least, but on those days that the urge to eat strikes…let’s just say a South Pacific breakfast doesn’t include cuts of cold meat or dripping after the Austrian fashion. Or marble sponge cake as I was offered in Greece. Needless to say an English breakfast contains enough cholesterol to stop an elephant dead in it’s tracks and a hot curry doesn’t appeal at 7am.

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