Shrewsbury is like England's hidden gem. I had never heard of it until my friend popped it into my itinerary as a stop between my Wales wanderings. It's just 9 miles east of the Welsh border, but the accents are notably different (posh, like Windsor status a bit) and the weather warmed up …
Chester, the Pretty City
Chester is probably one of the prettiest cities in England. Considering that it's up north, it might be surprising - most of the "pretty cities" are down south in the swanky part of England. Similar to the weather yesterday, I got really lucky - blue skies and sun! River Dee looked absolutely …
Racing Through Liverpool & Manchester
Liverpool is fantastic. So is Manchester. I want to kick myself for not spending at least two separate nights in each city. This was the worst-planned day because I chose to squeeze in BOTH Manchester and Liverpool (two hub cities of England) in less than 24 hours because I had already …
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12 Reasons to Visit the Lake District in the UK
The Lake District is one of my absolute favourite regions of the UK: It's tranquil, stunning anytime of the year, and it's a national park. [Note: This post was originally written in February 2017 and updated June 2020] Despite getting a lot of rain when I went in the winter, I still loved …
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Lake District: Keswick
Lake District in northwest England is probably the most beautiful place I've ever seen. (I might say this about every new place I visit in the UK) I can't stop raving about it. In many ways, it's (once again) similar to Lake Wanaka and Queenstown, NZ... but it's also so different. When I was …
Lake District: Windermere, Ambleside, Grasmere
I'm still in heaven out here. How can one national park be so stunning? I passed by a bookshop today and noticed a book on all the films that were filmed out in Cumbria (Lake District) - Harry Potter and Star Wars: The Force Awakens included. I'm not surprised! For future reference, and to …
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Hull: UK’s City of Culture
Oh, Hull. I can't say that I was overly impressed with this place, but it's my fault for opting to go here against my gut that Scarborough would have made a much better day trip. Still a good experience nonetheless, and I got to try a proper pattie buttie (which is only in Hull) and some …
York: City of History
York is like of a hybrid of Southampton and Cambridge, except I like Cambridge the most out of the three. It's a stunning city (there's really no other word to describe them because I love all of them). It's also known as the City of History, especially with ruins of walls from the 1800s at …
Mine Exploration
It was my final day exploring with Amy and Ben today (sadness). Even with the forecasted rain which didn't really affect us, we made the most of the day. We watched Ben's kids bravely climb the indoor walls at Wirksworth Leisure Centre and I made it a goal to become a climbing expert …
Bear Grylls-ing it up in Peak District
I'm currently in the East Midlands (Pilsley, to be exact) and it's absolutely picturesque. The past 48 hours have been a whirlwind of amazing outdoor adventures all thanks to one of my amazing friends onboard the Pacific Aria (Amy!). I'm not sure how I've managed to meet up with nearly all my …
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