The International Mutt - Worldguide

Nicaragua

2008-11-18T12:09:00.000+03:00

GRANADA
Accommodation: The Hotel Terrasol is a delightful, well-located and reasonably price (~$30) hotel near the centre run by Victor and Katya (no, not Russian).
Tours: Local tour operators are not a bad way to see the sights, many of which require boats and or long day trips. Tierra Tour seems to be the dominant local player, but I also had a good experience with "Va Pues".
Food: The best meal I had was at Jardin de Orion, but "Imagine" looked to have fantastic food (& great margaritas). I found the recommended "Tercero Ojo" to be very disappointing.

Belize

2008-11-14T04:22:00.000+03:00

BELIZE CITY
Transportation: The taxi from the airport to Belize city costs a whopping US$25. You can negotiate this down a little, but be prepared.
The Caye Caulker Water Taxi Association runs a brisk and professional service to Cayes Caulker and Ambergris for ~$8 from the Marine Terminal in Belize City.

If you can avoid it, don't spend more time in Belize City than you absolutely have to.

CAYE CAULKER
Accommodation: Manuel runs the delightful Lena's south of the ferry pier, and has cute self-contained (no A/C) rooms for ~$25/night, right on the beach. For more glamorous digs, the Seaside Villas and the Seaside Cabana's both looked pretty nice.
Food & Nightlife: I had truly exceptional meals at Don Corleone's, and the Jolly Rodger cooked up a great lobster. Femi's is overrated, and I heard Agave has great (but expensive) food. It's hard to go wrong if you go to any place that looks like they cook their seafood fresh. I&I has a good rooftop bar (with nice breeze), and Oceanside is the only place for partying after ~11.30pm.

Guatemala

2008-11-06T03:21:00.002+03:00

ANTIGUA
Accommodation: Casa Cristina offers reasonably priced ($20-$30) clean and well-appointed rooms in a good location.

TIKAL
Accommodation: Jungle Lodge provides the most luxurious accommodation within the park, but be prepared to pay over $100/night for a room.
Guides: Antonio at Jungle Lodge is a fantastic guide who has been around the ruins for ever. He's approx. $10/person for a group.

Wales

2008-09-21T21:44:00.001+04:00

CARDIFF
Accommodation:
We were happy with the Park Inn in Cardiff City Centre (90GBP), but again, no included wireless.
Nightlife:
Cardiff gets inundated with hen's parties and other debauchery along St Mary's St, wade into this at your own risk, but it is pretty entertaining!

Ireland

2008-09-19T21:26:00.000+04:00

BELFAST
Accommodation:
Jury's Inn (69GBP) was another decent hotel with a good location, but no included wireless.
Tours:
We had a fantastic taxi tour of the West Belfast (previous warzone) area with Harpers Taxi Tours (Ken) for 25GBP: 9074-2711.

SLIGO
Accommodation:
Pearse Lodge (70E), was a fantastic B&B near the city centre. High quality accommodation and great service.
Food & Nightlife:
We had our best meal of the trip at Coach Lane, with a fantastic menu and excellent service.

GALWAY
Accommodation:
We had a perfectly adequate stay with a great location and free wireless at the Galway Arms Inn for ~80E.
Food & Nightlife:
We went a few miles out of town for a superb seafood dinner at O'Grady's on the Pier in Barna, which was worth the trip!

DINGLE
Accommodation:
The lovely couple at Kirrary provide a friendly, homey service for about 70E.
Food & Nightlife:
The various bars around the town that double as shoe or bike repair shops, etc, are a blast, and have a great crowd of locals singing and blarneying the night away.

CORK
Accommodation:
The Victoria Hotel (90E) is well-located and reasonably priced in the heart of the city.
Food & Nightlife:
We needed a break from Irish, but Gino's has mean pizza & gelato!

DUBLIN:
Accommodation:
The Maldron Hotel Parnell Square was our favourite hotel of the trip. Business-quality hotel with free wireless for 90E
Food & Nightlife:
We had a fantastic meal at Gruel, and enjoyed the Temple area, although there are certainly trendier places to be found.

England & Scotland

2008-09-13T21:20:00.004+04:00

MANCHESTER
Accommodation:
Hotel Britannia (39GBP) provided clean, cheap accommodation with free wireless in the heart of the city.
Food & Nightlife:
Yeah right. All I can say is don't arrive in the city after 9pm and expect to be fed. There's an area called the Printworks that has tons of drunk university students and cheap drinks.

EDINBURGH
Accommodation:
The Ibis (96GBP) had a fantastic location, but really limited amenities.
Food & Nightlife:
We had a fantastic steak dinner at SmokeHouse. Surprisingly, Gordon's Trattoria on the Royal Mile also has great food. Opallounge has a good late-night scene, as does Shanghai.

Greece

2008-08-29T02:13:00.001+04:00

SANTORINI
Accommodation:
We stayed at the Galaxy Suites in Imerovigli, which I can’t recommend enough for a quiet romantic getaway (less so for a party weekend- stay in Fira). Their modern suites are perfect, each with private (well, not completely private) jacuzzi, room 17 is the best.
Food:
For walking distance of Imerovigli, we had great meals at Skyros Taverna (ask for table on lower level), and Blue Note. Kapellino’s has great pizza.
Activities:
Santorini is a perfectly managable size to rent a car, scooter, or 4-wheel bike & just cruise around the island. There are zillions of tavernas, villages, wineries, beaches, and churches to keep anyone occupied. We loved Red Beach for its amazing colour & clear water, and of course Oia is famous for its sunsets. Skoros Winery has a great caldera view.

St Petersburg

2008-08-23T01:59:00.002+04:00

Accommodation:
The Pushka Inn is a great hotel with a fantastic location near the Hermitage. Its singles are around 4,000 RUB in high season.
Food & Nightlife:
Restaurant Restoran (traditional Russian), as is Aquarel (fusion, on a floating location). For bars on the off nights (Sun-Wed), the strip near Church on Spilled Blood (Depeche Mode, Bubble Bar, etc) are usually lively and friendly, but the crowd can be very young.

Moscow's Golden Ring

2008-08-14T20:45:00.000+04:00

Transport:
A car and driver is an extremely good way to explore this region, which may cost around $200/day, inc. car, plus fuel. Else car rental, train, or tours are an option.
Accommodation & Restaurants:
The Hotel Sokol in Suzdal is a clean, new, and extremely well-located place for approx $90/night. The eatery inside the Kremlin has good food, and “Salmon & Coffee” has great ice-cream.

Kazakhstan

2008-08-08T20:33:00.000+04:00

ALMATY
Nightlife:
Gas/Petroleum have a good party on Wed nights. Da Freak, Crystal, Most, Fashion, Grand Opera are great clubs on weekend.

Kyrgyzstan

2008-08-06T19:29:00.000+04:00

BISHKEK
Accommodation:
Silk Road Lodge is well-appointed, but location isn’t great.
Nightlife:
Apparently Retro Metro has a good retro foam party on Monday nights. I’ll leave it to you to verify.

Uzbekistan

2008-08-02T12:27:00.000+04:00

TASHKENT
Accommodation:
Recommend the Grand Mir (~$150) for location & amenities.
Food & Nightlife:
Al Dakhan does great Middle Eastern food, but we weren’t able to unearth anything resembling nightlife.

SAMARKAND
Accommodation:
Highly recommend the brand new Hotel Malika Prime (not to be confused with the old Malika) for excellent location.
Food:
Venezia does great pizza.

Ukraine

2008-07-28T19:54:00.000+04:00

ODESSA
Food:
Restaurants tend to be much better quality in the centre of town, rather than in Arcadia.
Accommodation:
Keep in mind Arcadia (where the beach and partying action is in the summer) is about 20mins from the centre of town, so depending on your interests, you’ll need to stay accordingly. My favourite in Arkadia is the Morskoy (~$100), but be warned, it’s RIGHT next to some of the biggest nightclubs, so unless you’re out partying, you won’t get much sleep.
Nightlife:
In Summer, all the action is at Arkadia. There are a strip of nightclubs along the beachfront. My pick is Ibiza, followed by Itaka, but you can find anything to suit your tastes.

KIEV
Accommodation:
As it’s difficult in Kiev to find reasonably-priced hotels, it is common to rent apartments. We had terrible experiences with Partner Guesthouse, who are an apartment firm, so do NOT recommend them.
Restaurants and Nightlife:
We had great meals at Shinook and Tsarskoe Tselo (both Ukranian), and Avalon is always a good bet for a decent meal and some drinks on an off-night.
Kiev has rocking nightlife, Buddha Bar has just opened for high-end cocktails (Safe is also good), Tsar and Barsky are top high-end clubs, and Patiba is still going strong for nightclubbing in a not quite so pasfusny environment.

LVIV
Accommodation:
We had good accommodation at Hotel Opera, a high-end pick.
Restaurants & Nightlife:
Partisan (“Kryvka”) bar is a must-do (but you’ll need a password at the door, and don’t try speaking Russian in there!)

POPOVKA
You’re kidding, right? ;-)

YALTA
Accommodation:
Highly recommend Hotel Bristol ($160) for amenities and location (& it’s duck-free (we checked)).

Armenia

2008-07-20T22:00:00.000+04:00

Accommodation:
James & I liked the location and amenities of the Hotel Avia Trans, located really near the centre ($120), but be advised it doesn't have internet in the rooms as advertised.
Restaurants and Nightlife:
There are a bunch of fun places down in the riverside canyon (the Hrazdan), which are fun family places where everyone goes to eat lots of Armenian (read: Georgian/Russian/Azeri) food and get drunk and dance. It's a really fun scene, but shuts down by midnight. A place we liked was called Parvana. Apart from that, on a Friday night, we couldn't find any nightclubs, it's really a cafe scene, which is pleasant during the day, but quiet at night.
Transport:
Most convenient way to get to/from Yerevan from Tbilisi is by taxi, we paid $100 for the ~250km trip, including various sidetrips including Haghpat.

Georgia

2008-07-18T13:30:00.001+04:00

Accommodation:
In Tbilisi, James & I recommend the ATA Hotel (~$70/night) for it’s comfortable rooms, air-con, great value, and fantastic location near the Old City, but it’s not easy to find, and they don’t speak much English.
Restaurants & Nightlife:
When in Georgia- eat Georgian food! In Tbilisi, we had a great meal at “Shadow of Metekhi” on the deck overlooking the river. Another great place for Georgian dinner, drinks, or hookah was the roofdeck at Kalakuri. For a lively scene, wifi, and a decent glass of Georgian wine, try Kala bar in the Old City, on a pedestrian walkway surrounded by other lively restaurants and bars.

Azerbaijan

2008-07-15T13:03:00.000+04:00

Accommodation:
Baku is expensive, locals exploit the limited accommodation options and wealth gap to obtain high rates. In the Old City, we found Old City Inn to be comfortable and helpful, at ~$140/night for a double.
Restaurants:
Karavan Sera was an overrated but decent Azeri meal in the Old City. Beyrut provided a delicious Lebanese dinner.
Sights:
Be warned there are no tour agencies or operators in Baku, so sightseeing outside Baku needs to be arranged through independent negotiations with taxi drivers, or via hotels, which tends to be very expensive (we were quoted $350 to go to the mountain village, and $200 for car & driver to go to the main sights within 100km of Baku). I do NOT recommend renting a car and driving yourself, as local traffic is crazy, police are over-enthusiastic, and most sights are well off main roads and not signposted.

Romania

2008-07-13T03:59:00.002+04:00

Accommodation:
Brasov: The Bella Muzica (www.bellamuzica.ro) is a delightful, recently renovated 3-star right on the main square (~70E/night). It's beautifully appointed and perfect for couples (which I wasn't).
Bucharest: Recommend the Hotel Rembrandt (www.rembrandt.ro), in the Historicla district (~80E/night). Again recently renovated, great service, and well-located for tourist stuff.
Restaurants and Nightlife:
Charme is a nice place for a drink and snacks, in the historic centre.
Fratelli is a hopping and packed nightclub with a good mix of friendly locals and reasonably upscale crowd. Music is a mix of recent pop mixes, but later in the night trends to local music and 80's hits.
Bamboo is a more "Moscow-style" nightclub, with the usual accoutrements (go-go dancers, lasers, girls in microskirts, local minigarchs, etc). Has great location on lake and has swimming pools.

Istanbul

2008-07-09T18:43:00.001+04:00

Accommodation:
Highly recommend the Zeynep Sultan (http://www.zeynepsultanhotel.com/) for 59E/night. Clean and friendly place with fantastic location (Next to Aya Sofia in Sultanahmet), but free wireless access doesn't reach all rooms. Also great is the Hippodrome Hotel (http://www.hippodromehotel.com/) for 65E/night, next to the Blue Mosque in Sultanahmet. Zeynep has slightly better location.
Restaurants & Nightlife:
Reina has a fantastic "Modern Turkish" (Turkish+Mediterranean) menu right on the Bosporus, and turns into a happening (but young) nightclub most nights (particularly Tue/Thu/Fri/Sat). It also hosts a great Chinese restaurant, but both are pricey. Also pricey, on the water at Ortakoy, is Anjelika, with stunning open-air location, decent food, and good crowd (but more of a bar/restaurant, less of a club).

In a similar vein- Sunset has great drinks and view (especially at sunset, surprisingly enough), but Ulus 29 has to take my pick as best food of the upscale bar/lounge/restaurants.

For a more relaxed (and cheaper) traditional Turkish meal, try Hamdi's near the New Mosque. Their flatbreads and kebabs are delicious, and they have a beautiful rooftop deck overlooking the Golden Horn.

Other recommendations I didn't have a chance to try:
360 - restaurant/bar in center of town on the top floor of a residential building with great (360) views of all the key sites. Turns into a little bit of club after dinner.
Leyla/Sortie - huge open air place on the water with a number of restaurants there and a big club on the water (there is a good turkish place there too).
Mangerie - very cute little cafe and restaurant in Bebek (part of town on water with a marina where lots of smaller yachts are moored). Top floor of a building with great views. Good for lunch, coffee or dinner.
Lucca - similar to above. Also in bebek.
Iskele - very good traditional fish restaurant on the water.

Thailand

2008-06-04T20:05:00.001+04:00

Hotels:
Ko Pha Nang: Highly recommend the Sunrise Resort on the beach. Great location and good cafe below.
Bangkok: the Dream Hotel in Bangkok (http://www.dreambkk.com/) is fantastic 5-star value in the heart of Sukhumvit. Suggest booking through other websites to get their sub-$100/night prices

Australia

2008-05-28T20:14:00.000+04:00

This is a tough one.
Hotels:
Love Lizard Island, Silky Oaks Lodge (all at www.voyages.com.au), the Sheraton Mirage at Port Douglas is well past its prime and isn't great value, but does have an excellent location.
Restaurants:
Sydney: Tetsuya's in Sydney is exceptional (and expensive). My old favourites include Montezume Crow's Nest (Mexican), O Galo Portuguese Chicken Crow's Nest (Burgers), Bravo Crows Nest (Italian and gelato), Arthurs Pizza (renamed "Love Supreme"), pizza, Paddington. For views it's hard to go past the Watson's Bay Hotel for fish & chips, but Cucinetta in hunters Hill is really good italian and views. The Oaks in Neutral Bay is a fanastic location for a genuine pub meal.
Port Douglas: Salsa is my favourite restaurant in the region.

Bhutan

2008-05-10T20:01:00.003+04:00

Guides:
We also used Getaway for this tour. Our guide Ugyen was extremely knowledgable and passionate about his country and culture. He also loves butterflies and orchids. Would recommend him (bum_ugyen@hotmail.com).

Note about Bhutan: If you're planning a trip to Bhutan, I recommend you spend some time researching the places you want to go to, and have a tour agency (required, unfortunately) to tailor a trip (and the accommodation locations) to your interests. I think this is the best way to avoid the Disneyland/North Korea sense that I found in Bhutan.

Nepal

2008-05-04T19:57:00.000+04:00

Guides:
Getaway (http://www.trekking-in-nepal.com) runs a good operation, we were happy with their responsiveness and service. Our guide Dawa (dawasherpa_2007@yahoo.com) was very competent, always friendly and responsible. Would definitely recommend him (although his English isn't perfect).
Hotel:
Yak & Yeti (http://www.yakandyeti.com/) is a decent hotel (believe it's the best located in town- Hyatt is way out of the centre), but it's past its prime.

Kamchatka

2008-04-17T19:50:00.003+04:00

Restaurants:
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky: Decent dining options are limited. Korea House is supposed to be the best in the city. We liked the Pizza joint in the mall.
Nightlife:
Best and fanciest club was "Nebo" ("Cloud"), located in Yelizovo (Fri/Sat). "Sports Club" was great on Wednesday.

Stockholm

2006-07-01T19:51:00.000+04:00

Hotels:
Hotel Elite, Birger Jarlsgatan, Stureplan. Great value 3-4 star hotel, right next to all the bars & nightclubs in Stureplan.
Restaurants:
Grill, Drottninggaten 89. Great fajitas & grilled food & atmosphere. Trendy bar/restaurant.
Kungsholmen, located in Kungsholmen. Great sushi, variety of foods, and its own ice cream bar! Trendy bar/restaurant scene.
Nightlife:
F12 Terrassen, Fredsgatan 12. Awesome summer outdoor nightclub, located on a staircase.
White Room: Jakobsbergsgatan, Good club, more of a NY-type scene, and naturally- all white.
Plaza Club, Spy Bar, Solidaritet, Sturecompaniet, Bistro Jarl, East, Café Opera. Other bars & clubs, scene varies depending on the night and time of year.

Copenhagen

2006-04-01T19:14:00.002+04:00

Restaurants:
Cafe Victor is always a favourite for good brunch, and a decent evening bar scene (plenty of other good bars on same street- Ostergade), http://www.cafevictor.dk.
Zeleste is a lovely tucked-away seafood and steak restaurant near Nyhavn on St. Strandstrasse that resembles a farmhouse.

Jordan

2005-06-01T19:46:00.001+04:00

Guides:
Adnam Al-Haj. Great guide, very personable & professional. Good recommendations. ~$100/day, incl car. jordan_sights@yahoo.com

Tokyo

2005-04-01T19:21:00.001+04:00

Nightlife:
After 30 years, The Lexington Queen still packs in a ridiculous crowd of Eastern European models every night of the week, attracted by the "all-you-can-drink" door policy.
http://www.cyberjapan.tv/contents/tokyoclubguide/indexE.html has a good English-language guide to Tokyo's nightlife.

Portugal

2004-10-01T19:50:00.001+04:00

Restaurants:
Lisbon: KAIS - Restaurant Bar, Stunning waterfront restaurant/bar in Lisbon. Cais da Viscondessa, Rua da Cintura - Santos, 1200 - 109 LISBON - PORTUGAL. Tel.: +351 21 393 29 30, http://www.kais-k.com.

Cambodia

2004-07-15T19:48:00.000+04:00

Angkor Guide:
Sopheap Chhung, Great Guide, took us to some great out-of-the-way places. chhungsopheap@yahoo.co.uk

Beijing

2004-07-01T19:03:00.000+04:00

for great Peking Duck, try Beijing Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, 14, Qianmen Xidajie, Beijing (South of Tian'men Square), Tel: 86-10-6511 2418

Iceland

2002-10-01T19:20:00.000+04:00

Guides:
Ásgeir Ásgeirsson is a fantastic guide with a souped-up 4WD to take you anywhere you want to go in Iceland. Tel: 899 - 8189, lanki@isl.is

Prague

2002-06-01T19:12:00.001+04:00

Accommodation:
For a really cheap location at a fantastic price, try Hostel Ritchie, at Karlova 9, right near the Charles Bridge. (+420 222.221.229, http://www.ritchieshostel.cz/)

Budapest

2002-05-15T19:17:00.000+04:00

Restaurants:
The Arcade bistro is an outstanding Modern French restaurant. Located at Kiss Janos Alt. Utca 38, BP XII, Tel: 225-1969

Croatia

2002-05-01T19:06:00.002+04:00

Accommodation:
Grand Villa Argentina (www.gva.hr), ~$250/double, at 14 Frana Supila, Dubrovnik (+385-20/440-552), is located within City walls, beautiful views, great service, saltwater pool beneath walls a few feet from the sea.
Places to Visit:
Other than the obvious Dubrovnik, Split, etc, I find that both Zagreb and Zadar are underrated, and the islands off the coast between Dubrovnik and Split are fabulous (Hvar, Korcula, Brac). A place that I love which rarely gets a mention is Plitvice Jezera Nat'l Park, about halfway between Split and Zagreb by road.