Insight Guides - Insight Guides Explore Fiji (Travel Guide eBook)

How To Use This E-Book

This Explore Guide has been produced by the editors of Insight Guides, whose books have set the standard for visual travel guides since 1970. With top-quality photography and authoritative recommendations, these guidebooks bring you the very best routes and itineraries in the worlds most exciting destinations.

Best Routes

The routes in this book provide something to suit all budgets, tastes and trip lengths. As well as covering the destinations many classic attractions, the itineraries track lesser-known sights, and there are also excursions for those who want to extend their visit outside the city. The routes embrace a range of interests, so whether you are an art fan, a gourmet, a history buff or have kids to entertain, you will find an option to suit.

We recommend reading the whole of a route before setting out. This should help you to familiarise yourself with it and enable you to plan where to stop for refreshments options are shown in the Food and Drink box at the end of each tour.

Introduction

The routes are set in context by this introductory section, giving an overview of the destination to set the scene, plus background information on food and drink, shopping and more, while a succinct history timeline highlights the key events over the centuries.

Directory

Also supporting the routes is a Directory chapter, with a clearly organised AZ of practical information, our pick of where to stay while you are there and select restaurant listings; these eateries complement the more low-key cafs and restaurants that feature within the routes and are intended to offer a wider choice for evening dining. Also included here are some nightlife listings, plus a handy language guide and our recommendations for books and films about the destination.

Getting around the e-book

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights mentioned in the text are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map] just tap this to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

Youll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of the destination. Simply double-tap on an image to see it full-screen.

2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Recommended Routes For...

Beach bums

Fiji is synonymous with sun-bleached white beaches, brushed by gently lapping waters. If this is your scene, head to the Blue Lagoon in the Yasawa Islands ().

Turtle Island

Fijian culture

Visiting a real Fijian village is an utterly unforgettable experience. The most authentic encounters can be enjoyed in the highland village of Navala ().

Shutterstock

Island hoppers

Theres no better cure for itchy feet than travelling around an archipelago of tropical islands, so get a multi-trip ferry ticket and begin bouncing around the Mamanuca ().

Captain Cook Cruises

Explorers

Independent travellers will relish getting away from the tourists and into the real Fiji during 4x4 adventures in the Highlands ().

Alamy

Scuba divers

Amazingly, Fiji is even more gorgeous below the water than it is above it. Dive into a kaleidoscope of coloured coral and fabulous fish in Fijis north ().

Beqa Lagoon Resort

Surfers

Wave riders will delight in the breaks served up by Malolo Barrier Reef in the Mamanuca Islands ().

iStock

Tropical train spotters

You dont have to be a nerd to get a kick out of riding on the Coral Coast Railway ().

Getty Images

Urbanistas

Nobody visits Fiji looking for a gritty city, but Suva ().

Alamy

Explore Fiji

From the reefs that surround its many tropical islands, to the friendly villages and verdant heights of its highlands, theres so much more to explore in Fiji than just the first gorgeous beach you reach although thats not a bad place to start.

For most people, mere mention of the word Fiji conjures up mental images of sun-soaked beaches, luxurious lagoon-based resorts, coral reefs scantily covered by a gentle gin-clear ocean, and tropical islands populated by welcoming and laidback locals, ever-ready with a smile and a cup of yaqona . And, true enough, you can find all of the above, but theres more to Fiji than kava and clichs.

Visitors often land in Nadi and immediately go seeking sun, sand, sea, snorkelling and surf in the archipelagos of Mananuca and Yasawa. For many, the Fiji experience is defined by the countrys island culture, where time is an abstract concept, primarily measured by daylight hours and not marks on a clock, and everything that matters in life happens on the beach.

Yet Fiji is so much more than simply the sum of its islands. As somnambulant as it may sometimes seem, this is a modern country with a thriving economy and several vibrant multicultural urban centres, which offer the best restaurants in the region. The cultural mix that underpins 21st century Fiji is the subject of much internal debate, but for visitors, the countrys ethnic diversity gives it a depth not seen elsewhere in Oceania, making it an even more sensational destination to explore.