Hello and welcome back! Time has flown by, I can’t believe this is my last post and I’ll be coming home soon!
Let me get started with a little travel recap – you might also want to visit some of these places!
- I went to Scotland for a nice little weekend, spent one day in Glasgow and 2 days in Edinburgh! I travelled there by train, which was really nice and scenic, travelling up through the Cotswolds! I explored Glasgow solo, mostly using buses and walking which was super easy.
- My Glasgow highlights included going out to Pollok Country park to see some Highland cows, and seeing the Glasgow Cathedral and University – both are a sort of gothic style which felt straight out of Harry Potter.
- I spent the next two days in Edinburgh where I met up with some friends from NZ (who are living in London). My highlights for Edinburgh were definitely Arthur’s seat (hike), the castle, and walking around the historical streets – its so beautiful!
- I also went to Ireland for a week! I spent 5 days in Belfast, seeing and catching up with some of my family that live there before heading to Dublin for my last 2 days. Belfast highlights: the peace walls and driving around the mourne mountains! Then my Dublin highlights included the Guinness storehouse, Trinity College and St Patricks Cathedral.
So now that we have got travel out of the way, I thought I would wrap up my last post with some highlights in London. I said in my introduction that I hoped to give you the best recommendations, and through my numerous adventures over the past five months, I think I’m ready!
One of my favourite things about London is its incredible green spaces. As a big nature lover, these have been some of my favourites.
- I loved exploring Hampstead: its got the famous swimming ponds, and even a historic lido (outdoor pool). The heath – an area of open land (aka the park) is also so gorgeous. You can climb the short ascent to Parliament Hill to get a glimpse of the London skyline. On the other side of the park is the Kenwood house and estate – a historic house that was left to English heritage on the condition that the house, along with its art collection, would be free and accessible to the public. It’s definitely worth a trip out there!
- St Jame’s Park is another standout (I may be bias as it is my local park). It’s got iconic views of Buckingham Palace, as well as a big pond, home to some surprising wildlife— including pelicans! Some pelicans were originally gifted to King Charles I in 1664 by a Russian ambassador, and pelicans have remained there ever since. You can catch them being fed fish each day at 2:30pm! There are also lots of squirrels, various breeds of geese and swans.
- Richmond
Richmond is also incredible. The park has wild roaming deer, which is an amazing sight to see! There is also Richmond hill, which offers a lookout over the Thames. Richmond itself is also an cool area, with lots of little stores in alleyways and cafes along the river. If you’re a Ted Lasso fan you can also check out all the different filming locations!
I also made time for a few of London’s incredible museums and galleries. Many of these are free, which is incredible!
- The Wallace collection is a hidden gem, hidden away in Marylebone.
- The Natural History museum and the V&A museum are both worth a visit as well, with incredible architecture and history.
- I also visited historic spots like the Painted Hall in Greenwich (pro tip: it’s just £5 on the first Sunday of every month, so make sure to book then!).
Theres a ton more museums and galleries, there were just a few of my favourites!
There’s also a ton of other fun activities to do—whether it’s catching a west end show (you can get discounted tickets on TodayTix), watching a premier league football game, or attending a comedy show (The top secret comedy club is a big one). And this is just a small glimpse of what London has to offer!
Now… if you’re wondering why I haven’t done much travel around Europe – I’m saving that for June! My family is coming over and we are hopping around Europe for a month, visiting Amsterdam, Brussels, Switzerland, Italy, Croatia, Greece and France! Unfortunately I won’t be doing a blog post on them, but I’m sure it will be amazing.
Time to sign off! A big thanks for tuning in to my adventures, it’s been an amazing experience <3