English: Map of Cyprus showing districts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Roman Baths (Thermae) of Bath Spa, England. This is a 6 segment panorama taken by myself with a Canon 5D and 24-105mm f/4L IS lens. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reflecting back on our seven weeks road and sea trip from Bath, UK to Cyprus, most things went pretty well.

Here are a few pointers for other potential travellers:

1. …………….We found Tripadvisor.com very helpful in planning and costing our over-night accommodation.  We tended to make most of our reservations with Bookings.com on a cancelable basis.
2. We planned our route around places that we really wanted to see, and restricted the mileage that we covered on any one day.
3. We made extensive use of tourist buses to get our bearings and an excellent overview of cities that were new to us.
4. We checked out carefully, in advance, the neighbourhoods in which we were staying, so that we got away from tourists and met local people.
5. We walked extensively until we got our bearings in new cities.
6. We bought cheap passes for the Metro and used them extensively, especially in Vienna.
7. We built plenty of free time into our plans.
8. We planned plenty of variety into trip, so that we could experience the contrasts of seeing art and architecture one day but go hiking in the hills the next, sampling local food and drink along the way.
9. We kept a detailed log of events that was helpful in writing our blog.
10. We tried to keep clear of touristy restaurants, where we knew that prices would be higher and quality more variable and less authentic but most of all to be with local people to let all our senses loose on the experience.

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