A short, scenic cable-car ride (recently renovated) that whisks you from Chavchavadze Avenue over leafy Vake Park up to Turtle Lake – one of the city’s favourite recreation spots – in about 3 minutes, with sweeping views along the way. Tip: a ride is ~1 GEL, paid with a Metromoney card.
A vast open-air wholesale bazaar on the city’s edge (on the road to the airport) where locals go to buy just about anything – carpets, jackets, pans – cheaper than in town. Huge, with parking, maps and sector signs to help you navigate. Tip: there’s a shuttle bus and even a shipping service.
Tbilisi is said to have been founded on its sulphur springs, and beyond the historic Abanotubani baths in the Old Town you’ll find modern ones like this by Lisi Lake – sleek interiors, private rooms, a shared women’s sulphur pool (rare in the old baths) and a terrace for tea afterwards. Tip: towels rent onsite for ~1 GEL.
A tiny fishing borgo below Posillipo where time seems to slow – walk down Via Marechiaro and the city melts away into a peaceful, almost-island calm of sea views and swimming off tufa-stone lidos. Splurge on a seafood dinner over the water. Tip: find the marble plaque to the classic Neapolitan song ‘A Marechiaro’ with its famous window.
A sprawling Sunday flea market by the Agnano racecourse where, it’s said, the whole universe turns up for sale – emptied cellars, Murano glass, old clocks, Eastern-bloc relics and endless curios. Worth it just to marvel at the strange character of the objects. Watch your belongings.
One of Naples’s most-loved local markets, up in Vomero – less touristy but packed with stalls of food, clothes and accessories at bargain prices, complete with folkloric shouting vendors. Great for shoes especially. It’s a market, so mind your belongings and don’t get talked into ‘leather’ that’s plastic.
The one venue in Naples that truly earns the name jazz club – cosy, welcoming, and home to the city’s best live jazz and open jam sessions (musicians can sign up free at the start of the night). Open for dinner too. Tip: grab a good table and a salami-and-cheese platter.
In the heart of the Quartieri Spagnoli, Fernanda fries her legendary pizza fritta from her ‘basso’ (ground-floor Neapolitan home) – light, delicious and pure street-food soul, in the neighbourhood that is the real heart of Naples.
One of a handful of central Prague shops selling genuine Czech-made souvenirs – beautiful hand-blown glass from the country’s renowned glassworks, plus decorated metal and wooden pieces and lovely books about Prague. Tip: for kids, pick up a figure of Krtecek (the Little Mole), a beloved Czech cartoon character.
Prague’s little-known third funicular (besides Petrin and the ZOO) – a tiny red cable car in Smichov linking the two buildings of the NH Prague City hotel, free to ride. A 156 m track climbs to an upper vantage point and restaurant; the ~10-person cabin is often all yours.