38. Hire a bike
First of all, don’t turn your nose up at e-bikes: they are wildly popular in China, Germany, Spain and Denmark, and for very good reason: you can still get a workout on one, but if you are in hilly terrain or covering long distances, or if you have troublesome knees, this may be the help you need to get back out on the road. To hire e-bikes or classic bicycles, you will have to search locally. To navigate in Britain, the charity Cycling UK’s journey planner (cyclinguk.org) and Euro Bike (eurobike.at/is) are my go-to apps. And if you find yourself in a bit of trouble on the road, check out the repair tutorials on Bike Repair (bikerepairapp.com) which also shares riding tips.
39. Decode exotic nature
Want to impress your travel companions with your encyclopaedic knowledge of flora, fauna and everything in between? You can decode mysterious shapes in the sky with CloudSpotter (cloudspotterapp.com), identify the beast bugging you with Picture Insect (pictureinsect.com), put a name to a flower face on Seek (inaturalist.org) and use leaves, bark and blossoms to determine the species of tree with the ID app (woodlandtrust.org.uk). Those are the visual crowd – perhaps even more exciting, you can identify bird species through their song, via ChirpOMatic (chirpomatic.com).
40. Have a rainy backup plan
Summer 2022 is so far bringing waves of heat around Europe; North America, too, is sweltering. Even if you don’t require a rainy-day plan, you may want a cool-down fallback should all that fun in the sun become too much. My family’s air conditioning back-up plans include bowling, museums and shopping. Netflix travels better than many streaming rivals, with a varied and interesting amount of local programmes per country – don’t call it “binge watching”, call it “cultural appreciation”.
By Sally Peck
Eating and drinking
For most people, good food and drink are a big part of a holiday – here are some ways of getting better value and enjoying it even more.
41. Step into the back streets
Restaurants and cafés away from the big sights or the seafront are not only invariably cheaper but likely to be better than those whose main trade comes from passing tourists. Good signs include lots of locals, menus without an English version and blackboards, which are re-written each day. In short, a 10-minute walk can slash your bill and get you a much better meal.
42. Linger over lunch
You are on holiday. You have time to linger, and you could even indulge in a siesta if you feel so inclined. So if you are keen to try some special restaurants – perhaps bag one or two Michelin stars – but are worried about the cost, book a table for lunchtime. Set menus are always far cheaper than in the evening and you’ll probably drink a little less too, which will keep the wine bill down. Be sure to book in advance though, even for lunch.
