SEVERAL years ago i visited Prague to see a friend lucky enough to have relocated to the Czech capital.
While she was hard at work, I toured the city on foot traversing from Prague Castle, ancient seat of the Kings of Bohemia and the Holy Roman Emperors, via Charles Bridge, with its fascinating statues and stunning views along the Vltava, and down into the city.
Following the tram routes, I walked from one side to the other back to my chum’s apartment with plenty of detours when something interesting caught my eye.
It took more than four hours and left me with aching feet, but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.
However, that was in the time before I worked for a travel magazine and holidays were just for fun.
Nowadays sightseeing opportunities are usually tacked onto the end of business trips and the idea of spending four hours just walking across a city... well, I wish I had the luxury.
Thankfully, someone else must have reached the same conclusion. And the answer? Enter the big red bus tour.
I first embarked on one of these when visiting Dublin with my sisters a few years back. Yes it was a holiday but we were due at a wedding on the opposite coast of Ireland and time was tight.
We hopped on a big red bus and learned more about our Irish heritage in just a couple of hours than any of us had managed in several years of schooling.
We all felt a stirring as we passed the steps of the GPO, from which Padraig Pearse read the proclamation of Irish independence during the 1916 rising.
And though the trip did not, at that time, take in the north quays, the informative commentary sent me off in search of the famine memorial and the haunting statues remembering the potato famine of the 1840s and 50s which claimed close to a million Irish lives and sent another million overseas in search of food and work.
I knew about the famine, of course, but without the bus tour I would never have discovered the memorial.
So, with learning in mind and, once again, on a tight schedule, I headed for the big red bus when I visited Sydney a short while later. And, once again, my old friend did not disappoint.
From the Harbour Bridge to Darling Harbour, Anzac Bridge to the heritage buildings of Macquarie Street, I hopped on an off as the fancy took me, learned a great deal about Sydney’s and Australia’s history and saw lots of the city despite my limited time.
My most recent red bus adventure came just last week at the end of ITB Asia with a whistlestop tour of Singapore. Deadlines looming, I’d spent most of the week either on the exhibition floor or working feverishly at my laptop, aided by the five hour time lapse which meant I was still tapping away at 3am.
But I had promised myself a look at the famous Raffles Hotel, and what better way to find it than by open-topped bus.
Once again the comentary was informative, the route well-chosen and the driver friendly and courteous and, yes, I made it to Raffles which I can highly recommend as well worth a visit.
Some laugh at the idea of bus tours and, I must admit, I would not be keen to sign-up for the 10 cities in seven days variety, but I reckon, when time is tight and you want to make the very best use of the hours you have in a new city, you really can’t do better than to jump on a big red bus.
I’m so impressed I’ve already checked out the route for my trip to London next week.
BY Liz O’Reilly