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Singapore is located at South East Asia. It has an impressive Changi airport (code – SIN) is located around 20km north east of the main central areas of the city. The easiest route into the centre by far is to take a quick, regular and efficient MRT (Mass Rapid Transit) train to any of a number of city stations.

Buses are still available into the city, though we feel the arrival of the MRT has made these redundant – at least for international visitors. Passengers overburdened with luggage may wish to take a taxi – rides into the city are usually quick and not that expensive (particularly if sharing the cost with a friend). Estimated transfer time to downtown > about 45 minutes from clearance of immigration procedures

Many of the world’s top airlines have frequent flights to Singapore. Among them are British Airways, United Airlines, Air France, Air New Zealand, Qantas Airways, Cathay Pacific, Thai Airways and of course, Singapore International Airlines.

Getting Around In Singapore

The efficient and clean public transportation in Singapore makes getting around the Republic a breeze. Singapore’s transportation network offers access to every corner of the island, either by bus, MRT (Singapore’s underground rail network), taxis, rented cars and motorbikes or even by foot.

Public buses operate from 6 in the morning to midnight everyday and fares are a little cheaper than the MRT, and far more comprehensive. There are also several bus routes especially useful to sightseers. Singapore has two main bus companies plying its roads – the Trans-Island Bus Services and the Singapore Bus Service.

Most fares depend on distance travelled and range from 50c to S$1.10 for non-air conditioned buses, and 60c to S$1.40 for air-conditioned comfort. There are buses charging a flat rate to the destinations displayed on the destination plates in front of the bus.

A useful tip for travellers is to avoid rush hour traffic between 8 to 9 in the morning, and 5 to 7 in the evening. Singapore at anytime outside these hours still remains a pleasure to roam about in.

Where To Stay:

Hotels are plentiful in Singapore and many are world-class, you’ll have to kick yourself if you can’t find any around. However, I don’t think they have any really low cost dorms or rooms for backpackers. Hotels in Singapore may cost a bit more, but the service offered is very good.

In Orchard Road, a great place to stay is The Four Seasons Hotel. The rooms are spacious with tasteful artwork. I think there is like an attendant for each guest.

Where To Eat

Singapore is where you need to be if food and flavor have a special place in your heart: few spots on earth offer the variety of culinary temptations that can be found in the Lion City.

Chinese, Malay, Indian, or European – the huge range of choices are made even more appealing by the fact that eating in Singapore can be extremely inexpensive.

The Moomba. Upper Circular Road, serves great Australian food.

Michelangelos and Sistina. Authentic Italian food at Holland Village

What To See

Wild breakfast at Singapore Zoo. Fancy breakfast with one of the Singapore Zoo’s famed animals? This coach tour will give you the experience in a new concept in animal keeping with the zoo’s beautifully landscaped gardens and very few cages and of course you will enjoy a ‘Wild Breakfast’ with the friendly 10 metre python, the Orang Utan and a small-clawed otter

Where To Shop

Singapore’s main shopping district is at Orchard Road. You can find almost anything you can imagine in the shopping centers here. There is this place called The Forum; which has the biggest Toys ‘R Us in Singapore, kids love it.

Electronic goods are sold at duty-free prices in Singapore, and there are many great deals around. Many items are available immediately from their global launch in Japan or Europe.

Best places to shop for electronics in Singapore are at Sim Lim Square, Lucky Plaza and Far East Plaza. You can find everything from digital cameras, DV camcorders, DVDs, cell phones and even GPS equipment. Techie types are really spoilt for choice here.

Entertainment

The hip and trendy like to hang out at Zouk and Velvet Undeground. The two clubs are easily the best clubs in the island.

Thos who appreciate classical music would want to check out The Singapore Cultural Theatre and the Victoria Hall.

All domestic and international airlines use Prague’s Ruzyne international airport – (code-PRG). Fairly inexpensive minibus connections available to central Prague (17km away, over 30 minutes). Alternatively, there are public buses that call at the Nove Butovice underground station

Prague, the capital of Czech Republic, is situated in the heart of Europe.

Prague International Airport is served by dozens of international carriers from most major cities. A convenient Airport Shuttle Bus service operates between the airport and the center of Prague. Other means of transport are avaliable as well.

Trains run daily between Prague and most major European cities; Paris, Amsterdam, Munich and Vienna are some major hubs.

Getting Around In Prague

Central Prague is very compact and walkable. If your hotel is in the Old Town, or almost anywhere in Prague 1, you can probably walk wherever you want to go. If you need transportation, Prague offers a multitude of options.

Metro: Prague’s metro is fast and reliable. There are several metro lines and all come thru the center of the city, with the main stops at Staremeska (Old Town) and Mustek (Wenceslas Square). It costs only 12 crowns per trip (about 40 Eurocents). There are discount cards for 3 or more days, but you are unlikely to need public transport that much to realize any savings.

Trams: The trams are very convenient and travel surface routes that the metro misses. Especially useful to visitors are the lines that run along the river. The trams use the same tickets as the buses and metro, and transfers are allowed between them. Trams allow you to see much more of the city than the metro, but they can get very crowded during the rush hour.

Buses: Like the trams the buses run outward from the city towards the suburbs. These can be useful if your hotel is outside the city center or you have a reason to venture further.

Taxis: Public transportation peters out around 1:30 am so many people need to take a taxi back to their hotel late at night. Prague’s taxi system is notorious for ripping off unsuspecting tourists.

Their methods are many, but often involve no meter or a meter that runs too fast. The best idea is to negotiate a price before going anywhere. It shouldn’t cost more than 300 crowns (about 10 Euros) to go anywhere within the center of the city, up to around 500 crowns for outlying regions.

Where To Stay

Prague has a long tradition of hospitality having hosted generations of travellers, thinkers and invading armies. However, to the modern guest this may not be immediately apparent as the tradition of customer service is somewhat shorter. Generally, centrally-located hotels are more expensive because of their proximity to Prague’s sights, but the further you travel into residential Prague, the cheaper the rooms become.

Élite Hotel. Praha 1, Ostrovni 32.

With a history that dates back to the 14th century, the hotel Élite, a member of the Small Charming group, is another of those gems that keep popping up.

Where To Eat

One of the great pleasures of life is to dine well. In Prague this pleasure is considered to be part of life, not something reserved for special occasions. In fact few European capitals can claim a greater variety or more sophisticated cuisine than can be enjoyed in Prague’s hundreds of restaurants.

And when you consider the low cost of dining out in Prague, you can understand why it’s so hip to visit this culinary mecca.

U Fleku Brewery and Restaurant. Authentic Czech food in the heart of the city.

Govinda Vegetarian Club. One of the best vegetarian restaurant in the worlds is in the middle of Prague city.

What To See

Visit Hradcany. (Prague Castle) The largest ancient castle in the world – 570m (1870ft) long, an average of 128m (420ft) wide and occupying 7.28 hectares (18 acres).

Visit the Strahovsky Klaster. (An old monastery). Don’t miss Prague Castle’s less famous attractions, such as the network of tunnels the communist government built in 1950 for easy access to the bomb shelters.

Entertainment

Prague is not only a major historical and cultural site but a fun city to visit. It offers many restaurants, traditional Czech pubs, jazz clubs, concert halls, discos, etc. One can attend the ballet, opera, philharmonic, or theater for just a few dollars.

The Prague Spring International Music Festival, the Agharta Jazz Festival, and the Prague Dance Festival (Tanec Praha) attract some of the world’s top talents as well as audiences from around the world. Prague is also the home to many museums and galleries such as the National Museum, the National Gallery, the Prague Castle Picture Gallery, the Mucha Museum, etc.

Aviemore is based in the highlands of Scotland, with impressive mountain views, and surrounded by country-side it stands 26,000 feet above rural farmland. The area is renowned for skiing, having recently had 2 European Level Competitions on its snowy peaks in the last two months. The ski resorts success, with professional skiing has also lead to success with tourists, having 12,000 people hitting the slopes each month. These massive numbers are also attributed to snowboarding, with boarding specific slaloms on one side of the mountains.

Aviemore recently commissioned a $4 Million state of the art ski lift that can travel up to 25 miles per hour, withstand winds in excess of 110 miles per hour, and has a total weight of 450 tonnes. The amazing structure travels over 15 miles and is certainly an amazing sight for any avid skier. Aviemore’s tourist based facilities are also highly impressive with 900 square feet, and a verging patio area that looks down the 26,000 feet mountain face.

Aviemore is an unfortunate to only have snow for 7 months in the year, ruling it out of hosting some of the worlds greatest competitions, and really placing Scotland up their with France, Switzerland and now Bulgaria as one the top skiing destinations around the world. The skiing destination has recently hosted the snowboarding world freestyle championships, where the facility had to compete with many countries where the sport has far greater uptake than in Scotland. Scotland’s success would have came as a result of many factors, however it was said that the accommodation facilities were said to be significantly more robust than other countries that had placed similar bids.

With a thriving economy that survives largely of the tourism industry, Aviemore had the facilities to bed over 10,000 people a night, significantly higher than any other bid. The reasons for this was largely down to its proximity to a local town that was also able to provide bed and breakfast accommodation, which ensured that more tickets could be sold, and exposure maximised. Despite this, only 21% of ticket buyers were Scottish, leaving the rest of the 79% to fly in from around the world.

The success of the tournament has lead to speculation of Aviemore building on its initial success to host more tournaments in the coming years, and with this the value of property has risen and the hotel industry is also becoming savvy to the prospect of high demand in the area. The Aviemore mountains have an average gradient that well exceeds most skiing locations in the west of Europe making Aviemore the place to visit for a European Skiing trip, providing the time of year is correct.

With only 7 months snow, Aviemore is considering a contained facility, where it will continue to provide skiing and snowboarding indoors. The thought of this, also would raise ideas and suggestions as to how they intend to go about this, and on what scale? Would they be looking to compete with the indoor facilities in Berlin, or would they be looking for something basic? The fact is, speculation as to a large scale indoor facility is mounting, and this is certainly something that would benefit the hotel industry in the area that is growing rapidly, however experiences a less-busy spell for 5 months in the year where Aviemore is in no condition to allow snowboarders or skiers to hit the slopes. Despite this freestyle snowboarding still continues, where the snow is artificially maintained in a half-pipe with which the snowboarders can practice and perfect tricks in a similar way to skateboarders.

If you have never been to Aviemore then I recommend you visit, whether or not you are a skier. The fact is, the views are amazing, the fresh clear air is refreshing and the people are fantastic. If you have never skied before, then what better place to learn than Aviemore.

I dont know whether or not you have considered not only a vacation in South Africa, or even got as far as the planning stage. For most people a visit to South Africa tends to be in the middle of the European Winter, because of the attractions of blue sky and a much better temperature.

Naturally enough this is high season time in South Africa, and we should all know exactly what that means.
It of course means high prices, and crowds, two things that would put me right off.

Going to South Africa has to include at least a few days spent on Safari, so what does that mean in high season?
The first thing it means is a 40% hike in hotel room rates, and in the same vein, a substantial rise in air fares especially around the Christmas to New Year period.

In addition why dont you consider the following thoughts:

If you want to fly from Europe to Cape Town, then fares drop sharply in mid August, and hotel rates stay low until September. It is true that the temperature in Cape Town over Christmas are around 25 degrees centigrade, and in August only 18 degrees. There is far more rain in August, but what are the advantages of a low season visit apart from the obvious financial one?

The first thing is, that you dont hopefully go to South Africa to sit and vegetate on a beach, after all you can go to many other less interesting places and do that.

Tehre is more rain so in the Western Cape, The Namaqualand is in full bloom, just for a very short period of time.
It is a great time to go whale watching in Hermanus, and a wonderful time to visit Kruger Park, because this is when the animals congregate around water holes.

So in conclusion the best time to visit South Africa is not December/January, but August.