The Sino-Portuguese architecture creates an exuberant atmosphere in amongst a great mix of cheap food stalls and markets.

The weekend market on the outskirts of the town is a hive of activity on Friday and Saturday evenings. Food stalls, cheap clothing, trinkets and a vibrant atmosphere are the vital ingredients of a value-for-money night.

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Thais love to eat and don’t receive high salaries, so dining at any small Thai restaurant will be inexpensive. These styles of eateries are dotted over the entirety of Phuket Town, so don’t worry about choice because they are plentiful.

Most surprisingly, some of the cheapest places to eat on the island are the food courts inside shopping centers. You can find delicious and nutritious meals for the price of 40bht alongside a wealth of options.

Although Patong is accepted as the most expensive destination on the island, there is a wide choice of offerings of all price ranges. The old market on Nan Nai Road is full to the brim with food stalls where you can eat for amazing value. After 2am the market is like party central with girls and guys who have just finished work, eating and laughing until the early hours of the morning. This is a wonderful place to meet new and interesting people.

For cheap daytime entertainment you could visit the lofty heights of the Big Buddha perched on a mountaintop in Chalong. Or take in the numerous viewpoints which showcase dramatic views overlooking the Andaman Sea. Some of the island’s most untapped beaches are situated on the north-west coast such as Nai Yang or Nai Thon.

Phuket seafood is the freshest I’ve ever tasted, but the restaurants on the Patong beach road are expensive. If you have a fetish for red snapper and king prawns I would suggest the beachside restaurants at Rawai and Leam Hin for a real affordable and local experience.

Areas such as Patong are the most expensive and you can find yourself waking up in the morning wondering where $200 went! The biggest money traps are the girlie bars because you find yourself buying the girls drinks all night and not realizing the separate prices. A “girlie drink” can cost up to three times as much as your exact same drink. Beware of that one.

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Patong is indeed expensive for a night out and if you realize you are paying more than 100bht for a bottle of beer, you are being overcharged.

Karon, Kata, Chalong, Rawai and Kamala have much more reasonable bars, charging anywhere from 70bht to 90bht per beer. This is the going rate.

Nightclubs on Bangla Road, Patong will charge you 200bht for a bottle of beer and even more for spirits. So if you are on a tight budget its better to stay away from these places.

Karon and Kata have hundreds of girlie bars and normal drinking establishments with fairly priced drinks and friendly atmospheres. You will meet a wide variety of people from different countries and will soon make friends within the hedonistic holiday atmosphere.

One of the cheapest places for a night out is Chalong. Here you will find bars of all types and enjoying listening to the stories from the local expats who have resided in Phuket for years.

In the predominantly Thai Phuket Town, you can enjoy a great night out at discotheques such as Jammin’ and Timberhut. Although most of the party people will be Thai, there will be a fair few westerners dancing the night away to a mixture of DJs and live bands.

The cheapest aspect about Phuket Town is you can buy a bottle of Whiskey from the convenience store, take it inside Jammin’ and pay a small “corkage” charge. You are welcome to sit there all night sipping away on your whiskey and only paying out for mixers such as coke and tonic water.

Patong is the king for getaway package beach holidays and is the number one tourist destination on the island. The beach is fairly clean and provides a mass of water sports and convenient restaurants and bars within a short walking distance.

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While it is an exciting and enjoyable beach location, it does not provide much seclusion or tranquility. The overriding factor in Patong’s success is the diverse nature of the price ranges and things to do. You can enjoy a real low-cost holiday in Patong, but there are better value-for-money options on the island.

Karon and Kata are two smaller beachside resorts on the south-western coast within a ten minute drive of Patong. Karon is a very friendly area with an affable expatriate community with very fair priced accommodation.

Karon is more of a family destination than Patong and owns a much cleaner and uncluttered beach. The quality of life is much slower and pleasant than the pulsating heart of Patong.

Kata is very similar to Karon, with its family atmosphere and slower pace. The beach is much smaller, but very picturesque and a favorite with locals due to the surrounding palm trees that provide welcome shade. The accommodation is also very reasonable, not as cheap as the low end of the Patong scale, but much better value overall.

Nai Harn Beach is reputedly the finest in Phuket, and I wouldn’t dispute that! But the area is generally more expensive and home to high-end resorts and hotels, pricing itself out of the value-for-money stakes.

The same can be said of the north-western beach resorts of Surin, Kamala and Bangtao. All three are beautiful beaches in their own right, but are generally dominated by five-star resorts and slightly expensive pricing.

I would personally recommend Karon or Kata for a value beachside holiday with good standard beaches, restaurants and overall atmosphere.

The cheapest form of travel from Bangkok to Phuket (or from every other destination) is via the excellent Thailand bus service. Although the journey from Bangkok can take up to 12 hours, this is the cheapest and most scenic route by far.

Although Patong is the island’s number one tourist destination, the sheer amount of hotels and restaurants will guarantee a competitive choice of price ranges to suit the individual needs of everybody.

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The Nan Nai Road stretch of Patong is roughly situated a kilometer away from the beach and the famous Bangla Road area. Nan Nai is home to a large expatriate community, inexpensive guesthouses, restaurants and a wide range of bars where the prices are substantially cheaper than Patong’s main Bangla Road stretch.

Ironically, getting around the island can be the most expensive aspect of your vacation due to the stranglehold the tuk-tuk drivers have over the local authorities. The cheapest form of transport is the Song Taew bus. The open back buses charge anywhere from 10bht to 40bht depending how far you travel. Be aware that the Song Taew only operates from early morning to 6pm.

Rawai Beach is situated at the southernmost tip of Phuket and the cheapest and most beautiful place to eat fresh seafood straight off the fishing boats. There are a number of restaurants situated directly on the beach. Rawai is the perfect place to eat top-quality seafood at bargain basement prices with immense views.

Chalong bay is situated on the south-east coast and one of the best value-for-money places in Phuket. This is where the majority of the island’s English teachers and journalists live and hang out. In Chalong you will find very affordable accommodation and restaurants while meeting the colorful and intriguing expat community.

No trip to Singapore would be complete without a visit to the Merlion Park, the Merlion which is a massive statue of a lion’s head with the body of a fish. It was originally designed by Mr Fraser Brunner in 1964 and was specifically used as the emblem for the Singapore Tourism Board and since then has become an icon to the world. It stands over eight and a half metres high and weighs seventy tonnes. The head itself represents a lion which was seen by Prince Sang Nila Utama in 11AD and represents the actual beginning of Singapore when it was a small fishing village. It is constantly spraying a water fountain into the river which it watches over, a must see and absolutely free.

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Singapore Botanical Gardens

The Singapore Botanic Gardens is a stunning monument to Sir Stamford Raffles, who was one of the founding members of Singapore. At its present site which was founded in 1859 and was originally meant to be an ornamental park and leisure garden. It has seen much change over many years and management of the garden has changed hands many times. You can wander the grounds and take in all its beauty free of charge, it has many new attractions such as the ginger garden and a spectacular children’s garden and much more besides. It is a great day out for all the family and will not cost a thing. This tropical paradise garden is renowned as a very popular tourist attraction and should not be missed.

Phuket Town is the most affordable place on the island, as well as the capital. There are numerous hostels and cheap guesthouses from as little as 200bht per night. The town is the perfect backpacker paradise with vast amounts of affordable restaurants and nightspots for those travelling on a tight budget. Phuket Town is predominantly Thai and the prices reflect the lack of real tourist facilities, which could be a good or bad thing depending what you’re looking for.

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If you’re looking for cheap accommodation within a more densely populated beachside tourist region, Patong would be the perfect choice. Although it does have some of Phuket’s most expensive hotels and resorts, there is an infinite choice. There are a handful of hostel dormitories and cheap low-end guesthouses that start from 200bht per night up to 500bht per night. This would be a better option for those who seek a sundrenched holiday within close proximity to modern facilities.

Chalong is a mostly expatriate area situated on the south-east coast of the island and is home to quite a few reasonably priced guesthouses. Chalong is also a great place to rent a cheap bungalow if you’re wishing to stay in Phuket for over a month. A two bedroom townhouse or bungalow could cost within the region of 8,000bht to 15,000bht per month, which is ideal if two or three of you are willing to split the rent.

The more quieter and tranquil areas such as Surin, Kamala and Nai Harn are generally more expensive due to the insufficient amount of accommodation, so they become more exclusive and expensive.

So, Phuket Town would be ideal for those looking for a piece of real Thai life, while Patong would sit well with the more hedonistic traveler. Chalong rests soundly in between, offering a little bit of the two other main options.

Although Phuket can be an expensive holiday, there are loads of things to keep you occupied for free.

Obviously the beach is the perfect starting point. Sun loungers cost money to hire, so take a beach mat and wile away a few hours gazing out to the crystal blue waters of the Andaman Sea.

If you have access to transport you could drive along the west-coast and enjoy the breathtaking views and luscious jungle scenery. The south-western coastline is home to the Kata Viewpoint perched amidst the lofty heights of a dramatic mountainside. From this beautiful vantage point you can overlook the ocean, Kata Noi and Kata Beach.

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At the southernmost tip of Phuket you will find the Laem Promthep Viewpoint at Rawai. This is where everybody congregates around 6:15pm to watch that famous Phuket sunset. This is a purposely built viewpoint with a lighthouse and everything is for free, so enjoy the sights.

Chalong Temple

Visiting a Buddhist temple is always a perfect opportunity to soak in the famous and colorful Thai culture. I would recommend Chalong Temple because it’s one of the most aesthetically pleasing and within a five-minute drive from the ever-growing reputation of the Big Buddha Temple, also situated in Chalong.

Big Buddha is a large golden Buddha statue and temple positioned upon one of Phuket’s highest mountains. The views are the most dramatic you will find on the island. There is also the added bonus of viewing the monkeys which live on the mountainside. The Big Buddha monument isn’t fully completed, but this matters not. The views are well worth the journey alone and you will absolutely love it, everybody does!

The main entertainment zone in Phuket which provides this service is Bangla Road in Patong. The neon-lit bars are packed with beautiful young ladies who are willing to leave the bar in your company for the price of 200bht to 700bht.

When walking into such an establishment, the girls who work at that bar will motion towards you or introduce themselves. If the chemistry is right for you, the “bar fine” will be added to your drink bill and the lady will be yours for the rest of the night, until the next morning.

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You can decide to take the girl to another bar or for a spot of food. But usually you take the lady back to your room for a night of unbridled passion you will never forget.

In the morning you will pay the girl a further “tip”, usually somewhere between 1,000bht to 2,000bht. Please note that the girl is not forced to leave the bar with you, it is totally her choice and you MUST respect that.

There is a right and wrong way to make this happen. The right way is to negotiate an agreed “tip” beforehand, so confusion in the morning is eliminated. The average price in Phuket is 1,500bht for the night, and I would suggest you stick to your guns on this one.

The wrong way to do it is to pick up a “freelance” girl from the street and take her back to your room. A girl who works for a bar will almost virtually never steal anything from your hotel room because you know where she works and can track her down.

A girl who is a freelancer could be anyone from anywhere and you would not have a leg to stand on if you wake up with your money and passport gone.

Don’t get me wrong, the vast majority of girls are lovely individuals who wouldn’t steal from you, but why take the risk!

The Ocala National Forest can be found in Orlando and is free to all visitors, it has a lot to offer and so much do here. It is a place where you get to see natural Florida at its finest, with specially marked walking and hiking trails which take you deep into the forests and swamp lands. Lake Eaton Sinkhole is one and offers stunning scenery and beautiful spots which are ideal for picnics or just taking in the wonderful surroundings. It is full of natural springs where you can relax and listen to the sounds of the waters trickling by, it is the perfect place to take the whole family as there really is so much to see and do here. There are even campsites so you can enjoy the sights at night, an ideal place for everyone to enjoy and without costing you a penny.

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Fort Christmas Historical Museum and Park

Fort Christmas Historical Museum and Park is a fantastic day out for the whole family and is completely free to everyone. Discover how the Pioneers lived way back in the late 1800’s, from homesteading and how they reared their cattle, to how they survived from living off the land, learn how they would hunt and trap. There is a full size replica of Fort Christmas which has many exhibits of great historic value and video presentations to give you more of an idea about how the lived. The park itself plays host too many events throughout the year, from a cowboy reunion to the bluegrass and craft festival where you can just sit and listen to the sounds of local bands. There really is so much to do here that you may have to come back again, just in case you missed something and all this is available to you free.