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February 24, 2015

Top 10 Favourite Trips To Europe

One of the main reasons I moved over to London was to be close to Europe and spend my time traveling. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of using my annual leave, bank holidays and weekends to see as much as I can. After visiting 22 different countries in Europe its pretty hard to narrow it down to just 10.

  1. Russia

Before moving over to Europe I had never really considered Russia as a top destination but after hearing a friend rave about her fantastic time there and being tempted by a cheap EasyJet flight I was keen to check it out. Six days and two Russian cities later I had had a trip of a lifetime with six other girlfriends. Moscow and St Petersburg were so different to the rest of Europe, with amazing history and culture. If its not already – put it on your to do list.

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September 30, 2014

Santorini Diaries: Road Trip

Catch part one and two of my Santorini diaries.

One of the best ways to explore the island is to hire a car or quad bike and have a drive around on your own. We paid about 40 Euro for a small air conditioned car for the day. We thought about quadbiking but since we were planning on being out from first thing in the morning to late in the evening, we wanted somewhere to keep our things and more importantly, proper headlights for the windy cliff roads.

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September 29, 2014

Santorini Diaries: Fira

Before reading this post, catch part one of my Santorini diary.

We decided to head to Fira for an afternoon and explore a different part of the island. After getting off the bus we started the uphill windy walk through alley ways to reach the cliff side view. The views are spectacular and it’s a photographers dream as you look out over the white and blue houses and the caldera. It was thirsty work so it wasn’t long before we stopped for some food with the view. We found a great place to grab a sandwich and a beer but once we got the bill we were relieved we were staying in Kamari – as it was nearly 20% more expensive.

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September 27, 2014

Santorini Diaries: Kamari

In his mid twenties my Dad spent some time traveling around Europe, and he once told me his favourite spot was Santorini, Greece. With a recommendation like that it had to go to the top of my to do list. Well that was in 2010!  So don’t ask my why it took me nearly 4 and a half years to make it to number one on my to-travel list but I finally got a chance to spend a lovely sunny week in Santorini, Greece.

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August 25, 2014

The Land of Many Danishes

I’ve been a huge fan of traveling through Scandinavia with all my ‘new favourite places’ being from my trips to Iceland and Norway so it wasn’t long before a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark shot to the top of my to-travel list.

Unfortunately for us it looked like it was going to rain all weekend. We didn’t let that stop us though and after arriving to the airport and making our way to our AirBnb apartment (I would totally recommend the location of this place!) we headed out into the city to go on the Copenhagen Free Walking Tour. On the way we stopped off for what would be the first of many Danish pastries and perfectly made coffees of our trip.

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June 22, 2014

Ladies in Lake Como

If you are looking for a nice place for a girly weekend away to Europe, I highly recommend Lake Como. A friend of mine, Vanessa, had spent a week in Italy and so the rest of us decided to join her for her final weekend and spend three days relaxing in the Italian sun and eating and drinking to our hearts content.

We decided to stay in Varenna one of the little villages on the side of Lake Como. Once we arrived at our airbnb flat and looked out the window we instantaneously relaxed. It was such a beautiful view it’s hard to think about anything else but the blue water, cool breeze and sunshine.

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January 28, 2014

Incredible Iceland

Visiting Iceland has been near the top of my to do list since I first saw the posters around the tube stations and hearing from friends who have been how amazing it is.  Everyone kept raving about how awesome it was to see the Northern Lights.  So I finally booked it – and I am so glad it did as it totally lived up to the hype!

My first day in Iceland was a relaxing one – as all holidays should be but rarely are! I woke up at my leisure, had an extensive buffet breakfast (i.e ate way too much) before setting off for the Blue Lagoon. Thermal pools not far from Reykjavik the Blue Lagoon is one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions and for good reason – its amazing.

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June 22, 2013

Medieval Tallinn

After our ‘diplomatic encounter’ at the Russian/Estonian border I was glad to be on the friendly and more helpful side of the border. Those of us who got left behind checked into Monk’s Bunk, had a shower to freshen up and then headed out to explore downtown Tallinn. Our travel buddies had already done some scouting around and found a cute little medieval themed bar, Ill Draakon, that served hot elk stew and cold beer by candlelight. The perfect place to catch up with the girls, see the guys for the first time and recount our story.

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May 7, 2013

Weekend in Venezia

With the makings of a tradition James and I headed to Italy for the first bank holiday in May. Last year we had been to Cinque Terre to spent 3 days devouring pizza, pasta and pesto in the sunny seaside. This time we headed to the seaside again but this time on the opposite side of Italy in one of the more famous cities – Venice.

I had been to Venice previously on my Topdeck Adventures however most of the time was spent wandering the streets hungover after an epically crazy toga party. This time I was glad to be actually seeing much of the city sans headache.

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June 15, 2012

Weekend in Hamburg

I’ve been lucky enough to visit to Germany four times now and have always really enjoyed my time there. Even though after eight years of school lessons I’m completely rubbish at the language. This time I got to visit the lovely city of Hamburg, thanks to my work writing for the Australian Times, to stay at and review the newest Generator Hostel. Thankfully I got to add two more nights onto my trip and spend the weekend touring the city.

Hamburg was great to visit as you can see much of it on foot. I set off from the hostel along the canal and like a good shopaholic discovered the Gansemarkt – the central shopping and café area. I spent a little while wandering around this area before weaving my way back through and finding the town hall. The ‘Rathaus’ as the Germans say is right by the canal and directly in front of a large square where you can find a perfect spot to grab a currywurst or bucket of frittes with a bier before settling down on the many steps and watching the crowds go by.

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