Buyer beware: 10 common travel scams

While you’re often safer overseas than you are in your hometown, a few scams seem to pop up all over the world. Repeat the mantra: if it looks too good to be true, it must be too good to be true…

1. Fake police

Sometimes also the real police, they’ll demand to see your passport and find something wrong with your

In defence of the ‘tourist trail’

We’ve all met them on the road: the travel snobs who insist they’re not tourists and label major monuments as tourist traps. They wouldn’t be caught dead following the herd.

In a Cairo hostel, I met a girl who announced that she’d been in the city for three months and had yet to see the Pyramids. Her tone suggested she was waiting to be awarded a medal for most subversive traveller. Chatting away that evening, I told her I was off to explore some old mosques the next day. ‘You’re such a tourist,’ she sniffed.

For travellers of this mindset, the journey is all about getting off the beaten path. But does purposely steering clear of a country’s most famous places, just because other people want to see them, somehow make you a better traveller?

 

                             Tourists at souvenir stalls near the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt. Image by Richard I’Anson  / Lonely Planet Images / Getty Images .

Expensive experiences, cheaper alternatives

The world’s most iconic travel experiences don’t usually come cheap – but sometimes there are real alternatives. Here are some ideas for the budget-conscious, and expert advice on whether it’s actually worth paying the price for some of these bucket-list classics.

1. Orient Express vs InterRail pass, Europe

 

A steam train pulling the Orient Express / Tim Stocker Photography / Getty Images

The plush Venice Simplon Orient-Express exudes an irresistible romance – it’s all that wood panelling and polished brass. But it’s not cheap: the classic six-day Paris-Istanbul train jaunt costs GB£11,000 per person. An InterRail Pass to cover the same stretch costs from GB£161 (five days travel in ten); upgrade to a First Class version for £386 for a glimmer of glamour.
Worth the saving? Undoubtedly. But if you win the lottery…

Where to find the world’s most imaginative ice cream

Ice cream. Quite simply, it’s a holiday essential. And if you’re on the lookout for something more inspired than a predictable scoop of vanilla this year, there’s no lack of ice cream hotspots from which to choose – from London to Sydney, and Los Angeles to Tokyo, the world is full of innovators intent on infusing their cups and cones with unusual tastes. Go on, treat yourself!

London

London oozes culinary creativity and it isn’t restricted to formal dining tables. Down a cobblestoned street in Camden, North London, you’ll find Europe’s first liquid nitrogen ice cream bar, Chin Chin Laboratorists (chinchinlabs.com).
Magic happens daily at this quaint shop. Sporting white lab coats and science-class goggles, ice cream makers pour liquid nitrogen into a mixer where flavoured cream is churned. Beneath the cover of clouds of white gas, a dense, custard-like ice cream forms instantaneously. On a par with their inventive techniques are the changing flavours, which range from cigar-smoked salted caramel to Wimbledon-inspired, hay-infused strawberry.

Top 10 US travel destinations for 2013

Every year our US-based editors team up with Lonely Planet’s expert authors to compile a list of US destinations that are prime for the next year. Best in Travel 2013 already covered two places we think the world should be looking at – San Francisco and the Gulf Coast – but here we wanted to dig deeper and shine a light on 10 places in the US that travelers should add to their wish lists for the coming year. Our 2013 picks are literally all over the map: once-in-a-lifetime northern lights, new

How to eat Indian street food safely

Tucking into street food is one of the joys of travelling in India – here are some tips to help avoid tummy troubles.
1. Give yourself a few days to adjust to the local cuisine, especially if you’re not used to spicy food.

 

‘colors – indian street vendor’ by utpal. CC BY 2.0

2. You know the rule about following a crowd – if the locals are avoiding a particular vendor, you should too. Also take notice of the profile of the customers – any place popular with families will

How to travel with friends (and not want to kill them)

I have two permanent, oddly positioned bald spots on my head. Though my mother claims they’re from a scalp thing I had as a kid, I have it on good authority from my oracle that they’re probably where the Martians attached the electrodes.

However, spontaneous balding frequently has nothing to do with alien abduction. I’ve encountered many wretched travelers with unexplained bald spots formed during particularly challenging trips with incompatible friends. Whether they yanked that hair out during angry sleep or they were shaved by their vindictive companions is extraneous. What’s important is this hair-loss could have been easily avoided if these people had honestly communicated their travel styles and priorities during the trip planning stages.

Image by Ed Yourdon

Five reasons to wake a traveller at dawn

You snooze, you lose – if you’re a traveller, that is. Set your alarm clock for one of these unforgettable early-morning experiences.

Morning rush hour at Tsukiji Fish Market, Japan

 

‘Tokyo, Chuo Ward, vendors with tuna at Tsukiji Fish Market’ by Rich Iwasaki / Photographer’s Choice / Getty

Tokyo’s most famous market reaches fever pitch in the early morning. You’ll be deafened as buyers holler for the best catches at the tuna auction, and you’ll see frozen fish the size of grown men being hauled around with astonishing ease. If the sight of Nemo on the executioner’s block hasn’t tweaked

Germany dos and don’ts

Social rules. Germany’s got a lot of ‘em, and ignoring etiquette yields a puckered brow, pronto. But don’t fret – our tips will get you on the right track.

 

Do

• Shake hands when you’re introduced to someone – it’s impolite not to.

• Say Prost! (cheers!) before you sip your beer – and look your drinking buddy in the eye when you say it.

• Feel free to have serious discussions in social settings – Germans like talking politics and

Sydney’s top speciality drinking spots

It’s hard to know where to start in a city that sparkles with entertainment options after dark. There’s no shortage of clubs, pubs, big bars and, these days, small bars in Sydney. But if you’re looking for something a little niche, here is our pick of the best. All are conveniently located in the inner city.

Antarctica: planning the trip of a lifetime

A trip to majestic, remote Antarctica is truly the journey of a lifetime. Calving icebergs, breaching whales, deep-diving seals and cavorting penguins are just a few of the marvellous sights visitors can expect to encounter. Historic explorers’ huts emphasise the adventure that it is to survive on this, the

10 places of myth and legend

Even though we can get to the other side of the world in less than a day, there are still places that resist becoming everyday. Over the centuries they have accumulated tall stories like Manhattan accumulates tall buildings. So pack your compass, reading glasses and imagination for a journey to sites of myth and legend. Here are ten places that are caught in the imagination more tightly than on any map.

Zanzibar, Tanzania

40 free things to do in New York City Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-york-city/travel-tips-and-articles/76493#ixzz2OezaQJzJ

Seeing the bulk of New York City’s biggest attractions can mean spending a hefty chunk of a trip’s budget on tickets. Empire State Building? $23. The Met? $25. The Guggenheim and the Whitney go for $18 and $12, respectively. Even the Frick is $18. But there’s a lifetime of fun to be had without ever handing over a cent, and not just by taking on park trails, bike paths or window browsing. (Plus some ticket-admission spots have free times too – see the end of the post.)

The best travel apps

 

Smartphones have been to the Noughties what the internet was to the Nineties – nothing short of revolutionary. If you don't already have one, you soon will. And with a smartphone comes its innovative add-ons – apps, or applications.

Ten billion apps have been downloaded in the past three years. There are 17,000 travel apps on the market, and 160 million app-compatible devices are owned worldwide – iPhones, Androids, BlackBerrys and tablet devices such as the iPad.

Best in Travel 2013 - Top 10 countries

1. Sri Lanka

Cut-price paradise back on the map
Best for: Culture, off the beaten track, value for money

Battered tragically by the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami and wracked by civil war from 1983 to 2009, many areas of the country have remained off limits to even the most intrepid traveller. Now the bitter conflict is over, investment is fuelling the tourism industry, and visitor numbers are steadily increasing. Prices are affordable, and with low-cost flights from the convenient travel hub of Bangkok, Sri Lanka is emerging as one of the planet’s best-value destinations.

The world’s best aphrodisiacs and where to try them

What better way to start married life than a trip to tantalise the tastebuds and, perhaps, stir a few other parts of your anatomy? From creamy avocados in California to bitter chocolate in Belize and nutty ants in Colombia, here’s our rundown of where and when to try the world’s best aphrodisiacs.

Oysters

• Best place to try them: Prince Edward Island, Canada
• Best time of year to eat them: Prince Edward Island oysters taste strongest during the summer months of July and August