Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia

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"The Cross is a cocktail of strip joints, prostitution, crime and drugs shaken stirred with a handful of classy restaurants, designer cafes, upmarket hotels and backpacker hostels.

It attracts an odd mix of low-life, sailors, travellers, inner city trendies, tourists by the busload and suburbanites looking for a big night out.

The Cross has always been a bit raffish, from its early days as a centre of bohemianism to the Vietnam War era, when it became the vice centre of Australia. While the vice is real and nasty enough, [the City of] Sydney outsiders are quite fond of the Cross. It appeals to the larrikin spirit, which always enjoys a bit of devil-may-care and 24 hour drinking.

Many travellers begin and end their Australian adventures in the Cross, and its a good place to swap information, meet up with friends, pick up work, browse the hostel notice boards and buy or sell a car."

(Source: 'Australia', Lonely Planet Series, 10th Edition, P277, April 2000)