En route back to the UK from Tbilisi I decided to break up the journey by spending a week in Krakow, a city which had evaded me over the years and which I'd been meaning to visit.
A good range of modern and more traditional apartments are available on Airbnb. As such a popular weekend destination, book as early in advance as possible if planning an extended stay to get your pick of the choice.
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New legislation
Recent changes introduced by the Turkish government has made short-term rentals for under 100 days more restricted. Keep an eye on Reddit threads for up-to-date assessments of how the new legislation is impacting short-term rentals in practice.
No shortage of high quality options spread around the city. With lots of coffee shops there is no shortage of places to work from.
Poland still represents great value compared to some of it's European neighbours. Eating out is inexpensive and as you can imagine for a city so popular with British stag dos, alcohol is cheap.
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The yen is currently at a 34-year low
While this is undoubtedly a negative for the Japanese, it makes for an exceptionally good time to visit Japan from abroad. Although this trend is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short term, it's still worth checking before visiting.
Read moreWhile the charm of the Old Town makes Krakow an ideal candidate for a weekend city break, the city falls short in terms of excitement for a longer stay. Similar to Warsaw, it has strong fundamentals that make it a livable city but lacks the intensity that might keep it at the top of your destination list.
Poland operates on Central European Time (CET), aligning with the rest of Western Europe.
I've written a guide on how to structure your day to get the most out of the time difference.
Without doubt, being able to speak Spanish with a degree of fluency is a huge asset when visiting South America. I had always put off visiting the continent due to my Spanish skills not extending beyond requesting a "cerveza grande".
But even with my incredibly primitive linguistic capabilities, it was not in any way to the detriment of the trip. English is spoken sparsely, but armed with a few phrases, some polite enthusiasm and a translator, it shouldn't deter you from visiting.
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