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Credit crunch: affordable things to do in non-euro destinations

Dubrovnik

With the credit crunch hitting hard and the pound still sinking against the euro, a lavish trip to Europe may not be on everyone's summer schedule. Nicola Iseard suggests some affordable things to do in non-euro destinations

 

Walk the mighty city walls in Dubrovnik, Croatia

This has to be one of the most memorable experiences in Croatia. Strikingly beautiful, Dubrovnik is a city best admired from above street level, atop its mighty 2km-long city walls, still standing after centuries. Pay a few Kuna for the audio tape and headphones (detailing Dubrovnik's fascinating history), and set off for the two-hour walk along the stone walls, where you'll pass magnificent fortresses and towers.

The best time to go is at sunset, when the ancient streets and terracotta rooftops become bathed in the most fantastic yellows and reds, giving the city a wonderful fairytale-like ambiance.

Ride the aerial tramway in Palm Springs, Florida

Opened in the mid-1960s, the tramway boasts the world's largest rotating cable car (accommodating 80 passengers), offering a breathtaking 360-degree view during the eight minutes it takes to climb almost 6,000ft to the top of Mount San Jacinto.

If you're visiting in summer, it is a wonderful way to escape the desert heat (the temperature can be 30 degrees lower in the mountains). While away the afternoon enjoying some iced tea and cake in the secluded picnic area or following the Desert View Trail, with its sweeping panoramas of the Coachella Valley.

Visit a Turkish bath in Budapest, Hungary

The locals in Budapest have been enjoying the benefits of thermal springs gushing from Buda's limestone bedrock for 2,000 years. Perfect for unwinding after a day's sightseeing, there are several baths to choose from.

Built in 1918, Gellért Gyógyfürdo is one of the city's most elegant spas. Boasting Roman style marble columns, beautiful majolica tiles and stone lion heads spouting water, it's rather like soaking in a grand cathedral. It has separate thermal baths - one for men and one for women - which lead off from the main swimming pool.

Take a mid-summer walk along Hengistbury Head near Bournemouth, Dorset

Breathe in the salty sea air with a ramble along Hengistbury Head, a mile-long headland of low hills, dunes and sandbanks, jutting into the English Channel. Take the easy climb to the top of the Head for fantastic views of the Isle of Wight, before descending to Mudeford spit, bordered on one side by Christchurch Bay and the Solent, and on the other side by Christchurch Harbour.

Having grown up in Bournemouth, this is one of my favourite places in the country; with its glorious sandy beach and multicoloured beach huts, it has a remarkable away-from-it-all feel.

Explore the colourful medina in Tunis, Tunisia

The streets of the ancient medina have changed little in the past 500 years; follow the narrow passageways that lead to palaces, fragrant courtyards and mosques, including the 9th-century Zaytouna Mosque. Non-Muslims cannot enter it, but if you arrive before noon, you can visit the vast courtyard, lined with elegant arcades. For an explosion of colour head to the souks, which are divided into specific areas, with streets specialising in perfume, jewellery or cloth.

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